5.4 Factors that enable ecosystem service approaches to succeed (feat. Emily McKenzie)

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Del curso dictado por University of Geneva

Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development

121 calificaciones

University of Geneva

Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development

121 calificaciones

Ecosystem services are a way of thinking about – and evaluating – the goods and services provided by nature that contribute to the well-being of humans. This MOOC will cover scientific (technical), economic, and socio-political dimensions of the concept through a mix of theory, case-studies, interviews with specialists and a serious-game. By the end of this course, our aim is to enable you to: • define the concept of ecosystem services, its principles and limitations • understand the key services associated with any ressource (e.g., fresh water) through readings and case-studies • appreciate the advantages and potential risks of monetising ecosystem services • appreciate the social dimensions (power issues, cultural biases) embedded within any method • integrate tactical advice on mainstreaming this approach into policy and standard government practices • Optional: learn how to map ecosystem services with GIS tools The session that runs May 29th- July 10th will be actively monitored by the instructors, and learners will have the opportunity to ask questions. This course was developed by instructors from the University of Geneva with the help of numerous researchers and input from the Geneva Water Hub and the Natural Capital Project. The course was financed by the University of Geneva, the Global Programme Water Initiatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Luc Hoffmann Institute. This MOOC is supported by the Geneva Water Hub and the University of Geneva along with the MOOC in « Water Resources Management and Policy » (www.coursera.org/learn/water-management) and the one in « International Water Law » (www.coursera.org/learn/droit-eau). We look forward to you joining us!

De la lección

Module 5: Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services into Decision-Making Process

The ecosystem service approach is based on the premise (and promise?) that more sustainable use of natural ressources can be identified through a scientific and social process (Modules 1-4). But how does one get governments (international, national, local) to adopt such practices and then to implement the policy recommendations? This is the challenge of "mainstreaming" a new idea. In this module, you will learn about the challenges and some tips for mainstreaming ecosystem services.

5.2 What is mainstreaming?4:23

5.3 Governance, rules, regulations and legislative context (feat. Constanza Martinez)4:00

5.4 Factors that enable ecosystem service approaches to succeed (feat. Emily McKenzie)9:26

5.5 Critical assessment3:23

Conoce a los instructores

Martin Schlaepfer
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Environmental Sciences
Anthony Lehmann
Associate Professor
Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute for Environmental Sciences and
Juliet Jane Fall
Professor
Department of Geography and Environment, Geneva School of Social Sciences

[MUSIC]

So in this next sequence, I wanted to invite someone who had firsthand

experience dealing with governments and

decision makers on implementing some of these ideas.

So we're fortunate to have Emily McKenzie, who works for WWF and

she's joining us today via Skype from her home office in London in the UK.

Emily has over a dozen years of experience

as the lead responsible on ecosystem services and natural capital.

She worked for about eight years with different governments in the UK,

in southeast Asia, and in the Caribbean.

Helping governments integrate some of theses decisions, and

some of these approaches.

And for the last eight years, she's also worked with private companies,

such as Coca-Cola, setting up the Natural Capital Coalition and trying to get

them to appreciate the value of their natural capital and how to protect it.

So Emily, thanks for joining us today, and the voice, the floor is yours.

>> Thank you Martin.

So WWF has been working for over a decade on natural capital approaches.

And ten years ago, WWF along with The University of Minnesota,

Stanford University, and The Nature Conservancy

founded a partnership called The Natural Capital Project.

So this partnership develops and applies tools and

practical approaches to incorporate natural capital into decisions.

To date, the natural capital project and

its partners around the world have worked in more than 40 places.

So this map shows just 12 of these places where we've worked most closely at WWF.

You can see they cover diverse locations around the world and

then cover diverse decision contexts.

In each case, scientists work closely with stakeholders and decision makers to co

develop ecosystem services assessments and apply this information in decision making.

So a few years ago when we had had about eight years of experience,

we decided to evaluate what we'd learned.

We did both quantitative and

qualitative research to uncover the key lessons about what factors enable success.

And we defined success in different levels which included

changing and informing the way people think and understand problems, stimulating

action and changing decisions, through to actually leading to real changes and

outcomes for biodiversity and human development.

So I'm now going to share some of our findings.

I'm going to focus on three of the most striking lessons that we learned.

So our first lesson was counter intuitive for many of our scientists.

We originally started out thinking we would start developing simple ecosystem

service models and then have to get increasingly complex in our science.

But actually, the opposite was true.

Decision makers Instead of develop even simpler models.

I'm looking at relative change rather than absolute change.

And so, we did develop those models and it didn't form decisions.

So, what we learned was that more combat purchase

are not always necessary to inform decision making.

Our second lesson

was that we did not necessarily have to develop monetary metrics.

So estimate system values in monetary metrics like dollars to have impact.

Sometimes that information was required, but often decision makers,

there was unmet demand by development banks and governments in particular, for

measures of ecosystem service value that were in social or biophysical terms.

For example, how ecosystems support food security and

prevent malnutrition or how green space supports improvements in mental health.

And those did not have to be in monetary metrics to have impact.

So that was our second main lesson.

And our third and

final lesson which maybe the most important one was that the legitimacy of

the information we're producing that was really fundamentally important.

The most important factor in determining whether how do you on decision making.

And by just legitimacy, what we defined legitimacy as,

is the information being perceived as unbiased.

And being seen as representing multiple, views of multiple stakeholders.

So what was interesting to me about this finding, was that it indicates

that the process for us doing our science is as important as the results themselves.

I would now like to tell you a story from Belize that illustrates these lessons.

So the oceans and coasts are very important for the Belizean economy and

society, and the tourism sector is important for their economy.

It constituted 36% of GDP in 2013.

They have habitats like sea grass, mangroves and

coral reefs that are preventing erosion over 300 kilometers of coast,

preventing property damage of almost two and a half billion US dollars a year.

And a particular fishery from the spiny lobster is very important.

Brings in $8 million US of revenue every year.

So the oceans ans coast very important for their economy and society.

The Belizean government recognized this and

asked a local authority called the Coastal Zone Management Authority and

Institute to develop a coastal zone management plan.

And the challenge they faced was how to balance multiple objectives.

Grow their fisheries, sector, grow their tourism, protect communities on the coast,

and still conserve habitat for species.

And so how could they do all of this in a balanced way?

So the team co-developed ecosystem service information in order to develop this plan

and it really had an impact, it was used to develop this first plan,

the first one we know of in the world that really systematically plays natural

capital information.

The information showed how nature benefits people in multiple ways and

then they co-developed these scenarios which are basically zoning schemes

around the coast and the ocean to say what activities can be permitted, where,

in a way that is acceptable to balancie across the multiple objectives.

So the breaking news is that the Belizean government recently approved this plan.

And UNESCO dubbed it one of the most forward thinking

ocean management plans in the world.

So it's projected to increase coastal protection from storms by

more than 25% and also double revenue from fisheries.

So at the same time as balancing needs for habitats and species.

So what enabled your system service information to play such a pivotal role in

planning and decision making in the Belize example, well,

I'd like to just illustrate, I think it's a great example that illustrates the three

points I made earlier from our research across 30 places.

First, in Belize, the plan was based on relatively simple ecosystem

service production function models that are in the InVEST software, and

that simple information was sufficient to inform this plan.

Second, although the decision makers did use some information in monetary metrics

like the value of fisheries that were caught in local currency,

and the value of property that was avoiding damage from storms.

They also wanted information in social and biophysical metric, like the area of

the coastline that was protected, the tourist visitation rates, and so on.

So this mix of metrics was needed.

No one asked for one big dollar value.

And in fact, decision makers proved adept at making decisions based

on multiple metrics.

And finally, this case in Belize really exemplifies this lesson

about the importance of an iterative, strong science policy process.

It went through two years of planning with multiple stakeholder groups where

the scientists were really listening, learning,

and co-developing the approaches with stakeholders so that the information

ultimately was trusted, legitimate and could inform the plan.

>> Thanks, Emily, for showing those experiences.

So just one quick follow up question.

Can you briefly tell us what changed in practice

based on the scenario that was finally retained by the Belizean government?

Are there more marine protected areas or

more restrictions on where fisheries can occur?

And how did, perhaps, those industries take the news that they would

be limited in where they could conduct their activities.

>> So I think what's exciting about this approach is that you're balancing multiple

objectives.

So conservation and important sectors of the economy that rely on the environment.

So the plan that was agreed has different activities permitted as well as

conservation areas where no activity is permitted.

And it actually improves both fishery,

all the fisheries revenue, but also improves the amount of habitat and

species that are protected in mangroves, coral reefs, and sea grasses.

So an example whereby balancing across multiple objectives and

using rigorous science, you can improve on the status quo.

>> This has been very interesting.

It's also great that we now have, at least a few years of experience so

can gain from the insights and it's nice to see the papers that you've co-authored

that were going to make available for the learners where they can read more about

these studies and appreciate some of these important take home messages for

mainstreaming the ecosystem services approach.

Emily, thanks again very much for your time.

[MUSIC]

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