Sustainable Use Of Ecosystems Research Articles

New Steps of Change: Looking Beyond Protected Areas to Consider Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures

In 2010, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Aichi Biodiversity Targets as part of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Target 11 calls for ‘at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas’ to be conserved by way of ‘well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures’. Yet four years after their adoption, parties to the CBD and other rights- and stakeholders have not received guidance about either what kinds of arrangements do and do not constitute ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’, or how best to appropriately recognise and support them. The paper argues that without clear guidance on the issue, conservation law and policy will continue to inappropriately and/or inadequately recognise the great diversity of forms of conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their constituent elements across landscapes and seascapes, including by Indigenous peoples and local communities. In this context, and in line with calls from the Convention on Biological Diversity and the IUCN, it proposes the establishment of an IUCN Task Force to further explore the issues with a view to developing clear guidance on ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ as a means to effectively and equitably achieve Aichi Biodiversity Target 11.

동해 후포퇴 왕돌초 주변의 정밀해저지형 및 해저면 특성 분석

동해의 주요 어장이고 레저 관광과 동해 해양환경 연구 등에서 매우 중요한 역할을 하고 있는 후포퇴 왕돌초 주변해역에 대한 정밀해저지형을 분석하고, 해저면 영상 자료 및 퇴적물 입도 결과를 이용하여 해저면 특성을 분류하였다. 후포퇴는 동해의 해안선과 평행하게 나타나며 가장 수심이 얕은 지역은 후포항 동쪽에 위치하고 있는 왕돌초 지역이다. 이 왕돌초는 셋잠(북쪽), 중간잠(중간), 맞잠(남쪽)이라는 3개의 봉우리로 구성되어 있다. 세 개의 봉우리 중 가장 수심이 낮은 지역은 중간잠으로 약 6 m의 가장 얕은 수심을 보이고, 북쪽의 셋잠은 약 8 m, 남쪽의 맞잠은 약 9 m의 수심에서 가장 얕은 지역이 나타난다. 왕돌초의 세 봉우리 주변으로는 얕은 해저지형을 보이며 복잡한 지형 기복과 많은 암반들이 산재한다. 그 암반들 사이 및 북동쪽의 평탄면과 급경사면의 서쪽 주변부로는 모래질자갈/자갈질모래 등의 비교적 굵은 조립질 퇴적물이 관측된다. 왕돌초 서쪽으로는 불규칙한 지형보다는 지형 기복이 감소하고 급격한 경사면이 존재하며 후포분지와 연결되는데 이 후포분지 지역은 니질/실트질 모래류의 퇴적물이 나타난다. 왕돌초 주변의 정밀해저지형과 해저면 특성 분석자료는 향후 왕돌초 해역의 해양환경연구 및 생태계의 지속적 이용을 위한 관리에 기여할 것으로 판단된다. The Wangdol-cho area, in the Hupo Bank, plays a very important role in main fishing grounds, leisure tourism and marine environmental researches of the East Sea. We analyzed the detailed bathymetry and classified the seabed characteristics of the Wangdol-cho area, based on seafloor backscattering images and sediment grain size. The Hupo Bank is developed in parallel with the eastern coastal line of Korean peninsula, and the shallowest area (Wangdol-cho) of the Hupo Bank is located along the eastern part of Hupo Port. The Wangdol-cho comprises three summits; north summit, middle summit, and south summit. The middle summit area among the three summits has the most shallow water depth with minimum about 6 m. The north summit shows about 8 m minimum depth and the south summit about 9 m. The bathymetry data around three summits represent undulating seabeds with many scattered underwater reefs and shallow water depth. The area between the underwater reefs, the flat seafloor in the northeastern part of the survey site, and the western steep slope area have relatively coarse sediments such as sandy gravel and gravelly sand. The bathymetry in the western side of the Wangdol-cho shows steep slope seabed, extending to the Hupo Basin. Fine sediments including mud and silty sand occur in the Hupo Basin area of the survey site. The submarine detailed topography and the analysis of the seafloor characteristics of the survey area are expected to contribute to management for marine environmental researches and sustainable use of ecosystems in the Wangdol-cho.

More than total economic value: How to combine economic valuation of biodiversity with ecological resilience

The assessment of total economic value has become a pragmatic and popular approach in nature valuation, yet criticisms have been raised. One major point of critique is that total economic value bases the monetary value of ecosystems purely on the flow of human benefits of services of ecosystems and consequently ignores questions of sustainable use of natural capital per se. This paper explains why total economic value by itself is in principle an inadequate concept to guide sustainable use of ecosystems and gives an overview of essential ecological theory that needs to be taken into account in addition to total economic value to fully include ecosystem sustainability. The paper concludes with a framework for combining ecological theory with economic valuation. The key elements here are theoretical ecological insights about ecosystem resilience and portfolio theory which offers an economic perspective on investment in biodiversity. Portfolio theory puts total economic value in a framework where investment in biodiversity is expanded to cover functional diversity and mobile link species in order to maintain ecosystem resilience and so fosters sustainable use of ecosystems.

Achieving Coherent Policies for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Ecosystems

Achieving Coherent Policies for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Ecosystems

Examining barriers and opportunities for sustainable adaptation to climate change in Interior Alaska

Human adaptation to climate change is comprised of “adjustments” in response to (or anticipation of) climatic impacts. Adaptation does not necessarily imply favorable or equitable change, nor does it automatically imply sustainable use of ecosystems. “Sustainable adaptation” in this case implies strategic, collective action to respond to or anticipate harmful climate change to reduce disruption to key resource flows and adverse effects on general well-being. This research examined social-ecological system responses to recent warming trends in the remote northwest region of Interior Alaska using a unique vulnerability and adaptive capacity assessment (VA) approach that integrated indigenous observations and understanding of climate (IC) with western social and natural sciences. The study found that Alaska Native communities that were historically highly mobile and flexible across the landscape for subsistence hunting are increasingly restricted by the institutional rigidity of the regulatory system for wildlife and subsistence management. This has resulted in negative impacts to game harvest access and success threatening food security and community well-being. This suggests that policies limiting the ability of natural resource-dependent societies to be flexible, diversify, or innovate can threaten livelihoods and exacerbate vulnerability. Nevertheless, opportunities for sustainable adaptation exist where wildlife management is adaptive and includes an understanding of and response to climate variability and slow-onset climate change with the human dimensions of subsistence hunting for more effective “in-season” management.

Fisheries buybacks: a review and guidelines

AbstractBuybacks of fishing vessels, licences, access and other rights, and gear, sometimes called decommissioning schemes, have traditionally been a key policy tool to address overcapacity, overexploitation of fish stocks, and distributional issues in fisheries. Two more issues can be added, sustainable use of ecosystems and conservation of biodiversity (i.e. ecological public goods and services) and providing a transition to a more rationalized fishery. This study discusses reasons for buybacks; examines consequences; considers asymmetric information, design of buyback auctions and other design issues; buybacks as a transition to a rationalized industry with strong property rights and governance, financing and transnational fisheries; draws out key lessons from the international experience; and provides an overall evaluation.

Rapid Recovery of Damaged Ecosystems

BackgroundRecent reports on the state of the global environment provide evidence that humankind is inflicting great damage to the very ecosystems that support human livelihoods. The reports further predict that ecosystems will take centuries to recover from damages if they recover at all. Accordingly, there is despair that we are passing on a legacy of irreparable damage to future generations which is entirely inconsistent with principles of sustainability.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe tested the prediction of irreparable harm using a synthesis of recovery times compiled from 240 independent studies reported in the scientific literature. We provide startling evidence that most ecosystems globally can, given human will, recover from very major perturbations on timescales of decades to half-centuries.Significance/ConclusionsAccordingly, we find much hope that humankind can transition to more sustainable use of ecosystems.

Ecosystem services

Ecosystem services

Socioeconomic Mechanisms Preventing Optimum Use of Ecosystem Services: An Interdisciplinary Theoretical Analysis

Ecosystems provide a wide range of services to society. Some forms of use affect the quality of the ecosystem, reducing its value for other users. This leads to a conflict of interest that is often settled through political processes, resulting in some form of regulation. We link theory on ecosystem response to theories from the socioeconomic branches of science to analyze the mechanisms behind two widespread problems associated with such political solutions. First, they often represent a compromise rather than an integrative solution. We demonstrate that, particularly in sensitive ecosystems, integrative solutions yield a higher average social utility and imply a higher ecosystem quality. Integrative solutions require insight into ecosystems responses to different forms of use and a complete overview of ecosystem services to society. Second, there is a systematic bias away from optimal shared use toward activities that are detrimental to ecosystem quality. This bias arises from the fact that utilities depending on ecosystem quality are often shared by large diffuse groups, whereas pollution and harvesting activities can usually be traced to relatively small and well-organized groups. Theory and data indicate that this type of concentrated group is systematically better at mustering political power than large groups, which find it difficult to realize collective action due to what is known in game theory as “free-rider problems.” Our analysis suggests that the following three key ingredients are needed to correct the problems of bias and compromise: (a) clear insight into ecosystem dynamic responses to human use, (b) a broad inventory of credible measurements of ecosystem utilities, (c) avoidance of bias due to differences in the organizational power of groups of stakeholders. We argue that good ecosystem models, institutionalized ecosystem valuation, and innovative tax-setting schedules are essential to achieving a socially fair and sustainable use of ecosystems by societies. In addition, we highlight the fact that many environmental problems remain unresolved for a long time and briefly identify the social mechanisms responsible for this delay.