Recognition Of Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Ecosystem Service Reason to Save Wetlands: A Case of Geray Wetland, North Western Ethiopia

Efforts to conserve wetland ecosystems depend on the recognition of ecosystem services they provide. Hence, the study was conducted to analyze the ecosystem services of the Geray wetland and the driving force of its degradation. Structured questionnaires, personal interviews, focused group discussions, and field observations were used in data collection. Questionnaires were administered to 114 respondents obtained through random sampling of households. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression. Descriptive statistics like mean, percentage and frequency distribution were used to analyze quantitative data. The binary logistic regression model was applied to evaluate the impact of household-related independent variables on the dependent variable. Results showed that Geray wetland provides provisioning services (fish, fresh water, fodder and grazing services, firewood, crop, and fruit), regulating services (temperature regulation, water purification, sediment retention and erosion control), cultural services (recreation, tourism, and aesthetic) and supporting services (nursery, habitat, and accumulation of organic matter). Farm expansion, sedimentation, overgrazing, uncontrolled irrigation practices and deforestation of wetland vegetation, which are rooted in rapid population growth, open access to wetland resources, lack of awareness, lack of clear boundaries and weak institutional framework, were the main causes of the wetland degradation. Predictor variables like household size have a negative, and landholding size and age have positive significant impacts on the Geray wetland ecosystem. A high number of respondents were also aware of the measures (planting trees, trace building as a controlling method of erosion and conservation education to the community) to be taken to overcome the problems that face the Geray wetland. Thus, participatory sustainable wetland management is recommended to obtain more benefits from the wetland and minimize its destruction

A Text-Mining Approach to Compare Impacts and Benefits of Nature-Based Solutions in Europe

Worldwide, a large set of initiatives have been carried out aiming to understand the benefits offered by Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in urban areas. The European Commission (EC) has founded different projects that have performed scientific literature reviews regarding this topic. To objectively compare their results and consolidate the consensus about the impacts and benefits of NBS, we performed a text mining analysis. This methodology coupled with a visual representation of the data allowed to convert the EC funding projects reports (corpus) into a meaningful structured analysis. This method demonstrated that despite the different literature review methodologies of each report, there are common trends exhibited by the results, e.g., the NBS installation as a strategy of urban resilience, the recognition of ecosystem services (ESS) delivered by nature in urban spaces, or the importance of the EC’s supporting role in the promotion of NBS. In addition, some network specific trends have also emerged and complemented the analysis: the assessment of the NBS performance with indicators, the participatory planning approach to NBS (involving citizen and local communities) and the economic value of their services.

Public perceptions of ecosystem services and preferences for design scenarios of the flooded bank along the Three Gorges Reservoir: Implications for sustainable management of novel ecosystems

The newly formed extensive flooded land associated with the Three Gorges Reservoir hold great potentials to provide ecosystem services (ESs) for surrounding cities and communities. Conflicting values and conventional management strategies may complicate and inhibit broad-scale decision-making for this novel ecosystem. Public attitudes are a crucial influence in the way this process plays out. This study was conducted to assess how the reservoir bank is perceived by the general public of Chongqing Municipality in terms of importance of riparian ESs, and preference for corresponding landscape design styles through photo-questionnaire interviewing. Although Chongqing citizens know little of the “ecosystem services” concept, they do recognise riparian environmental and ecological benefits especially the bank protection and pollution interception functions, while benefits of habitats for wildlife and flood attenuation were of less concern. Recreational values were least appreciated, which is inconsistent with other studies. This may be attributed to a wider, intensive environmental education in various social media in today’s China. But publicity has been dominated by toxic air, water and soil pollution control rather than the benefits of nature conservation and personal contact with nature. In line with recognition of ESs, there is quite strong preference for the forested design scenario and particularly vegetation components across the socio-demographic spectrum. Overall, socio-demographic variables have very low explanatory power for the perceptual responses. Our study also revealed misunderstandings around riparian functions and a gap between public expectations and special abiotic and biotic prerequisites in restoring novel ecosystems. Finally, we discuss the relevance of this research to urban novel ecosystems in general, and implications for raising public awareness, engaging appropriate public values in sustainable design and management of such ecosystems.

Editorial

On Sunday 3 July 2011 the Research Committee of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, Bonn and the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law organised a pre-conference workshop entitled “Towards the legal recognition and governance of ecosystem services” at Mpekweni, Eastern Cape, South Africa. At this workshop, papers were delivered on various aspects of ecosystem services. These included an introduction to ecosystem services from a legal perspective by Alejandro Iza of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, and an introduction from a scientific perspective, by Christo Marais of the South African Department of Water Affairs. Justice Antonio Benjamin from the High Court of Brazil gave a presentation on Jurisprudential experiences in Brasilia and the importance of the legal recognition of ecosystem services; Alistair Rieu Clarke (University of Dundee) spoke on “The 1997 UN Watercourses Convention and Ecosystem Services: Can a Combined Reading Ensure that International Watercourses are Utilised in an Equitable and Reasonable Manner?”; Jamie Benidickson (University of Ottawa) presented the new IUCN “Guidelines for Protected Areas Legislation” and David Hodas (Widener University) gave a presentation entitled “Seeing into Law's Blindspot: Ecosystem Energy Services”. The discussions during the workshop enabled participants to realise that there were numerous angles to the topic of ecosystem services and that the discussion had not been fully explored, in particular concerning the human livelihoods aspect and the intricate relationship between ecosystem services and rights. It was therefore decided that there would be an open call for papers for publication on these issues, which would contribute to furthering this important discussion in the light of the major world conferences that would have taken place from 2012 onwards.

Recognizing Ecosystem Services from Wetlands of International Importance: An Example from Sussex, UK

The benefits human societies derive from wetlands are well established, although not necessarily enshrined in legislation or incorporated into local management regimes. The wise use of wetlands, as promulgated under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, is intended as a mechanism to ensure that the benefits delivered to society through ecosystem services are maintained and, where appropriate, restored. The designation process for Ramsar Sites explicitly records information on ecosystem services as well as the more traditionally recorded information on the biodiversity and management procedures. Analysis of four Ramsar Sites from the county of Sussex in southeast England showed that even for internationally important wetlands there is a failure to recognize the full value of the benefits provided and, importantly, several valuable ecosystem services remain unrecognized. The gap between recognized and unrecognized ecosystem services has implications for the consideration of wetlands in decision-making and the protection and wise use of all wetlands within Sussex and beyond. Conclusions drawn from the analysis of the examples presented are used to assist the future development of guidance for wetland managers and decision makers regarding the recognition of ecosystem services.

The Niger Delta wetlands: threats to ecosystem services, their importance to dependent communities and possible management measures

The Niger Delta wetlands are changing rapidly, raising concern for the wetlands' health and for communities relying upon its ecosystem services. Knowledge on ecosystem service provision is important for effective ecosystem and livelihoods management, but is currently lacking for the Niger Delta. We synthesised literature and used the ‘Drivers–pressure–state–impact–response’ (DPSIR) framework to structure information on changes in the wetlands' ecosystem services and implications for dependent communities. The wetlands' ecosystem services are being eroded through oil and gas exploration, dredging, invasive plant infestation and wetland reclamation. This is exacerbated by rising demand for oil, population growth and weak governance. Mass fish migration, water pollution and reduction of wetland area are also evident, impacting ecosystem services and traditional livelihood systems. This has caused poverty; people have to buy goods that previously could be obtained from the wetlands. Effective wetland management will be aided by: recognition of ecosystem services' contributions to community well-being; understanding how benefits are distributed over time, space, stakeholder; and how these changes in response to pressures. Since key pressures in the wetland are anthropogenic, understanding the role of institutions in relation to the Niger Delta's ecosystem services is imperative.

Knowledge and recognition of ecosystem services among the general public in a drainage basin in Scania, Southern Sweden

Human preferences are likely to depend on such things as knowledge and information, propaganda and advertising, and formal (laws) and informal (norms) institutions. We focus on knowledge about how nature works and how this may be manifested in recognition of ecosystem services among the general public. Participants and non-participants in a plant nutrient abatement programme with detention ponds in a river drainage area in Scania, Southern Sweden, were asked to rank some selected ecosystem services, classified as visible services, invisible services and services involving human activities in nature. Three studied groups of local actors were originally not familiar with the concept of ecosystem services, but the concept was easily grasped. The results of the study include the following findings: (1) The groups of local actors were consistent in ranking the groups of visible and invisible services higher than the group of services involving human activities, but there were considerable differences in their ranking of individual services. (2) The generally high priority given to invisible services can partly, but not fully, be explained by the existence of the abatement programme. (3) There was uncertainty regarding relationships among and the relative importance of different ecosystem services. (4) Some informants had multiple preferences. In fact the role people chose to play may have larger impact on preferences than the level of information. (5) Several interviewees objected to the idea of ranking services, and preferred to view nature as a whole. The results are discussed from a knowledge perspective, and we conclude that a widespread recognition of ecosystem services in policy and economics cannot be expected until the general public has gained some critical level of basic knowledge about functions in nature.