Global Biodiversity Outlook 2

Marine Spatial Planning advancing the Ecosystem-Based Approach to coastal zone management: A review

Uptake and implementation of Nature-Based Solutions: An analysis of barriers using Interpretive Structural Modeling.

The ecosystem approach—as endorsed by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) in 2000—is a strategy for holistic, sustainable, and equitable natural resource management, to be implemented via the 12 Malawi Principles. These principles describe the need to manage nature in terms of dynamic ecosystems, while fully engaging with local peoples. It is an ambitious concept. Today, the term is common throughout the research and policy literature on environmental management. However, multiple meanings have been attached to the term, resulting in confusion. We reviewed references to the ecosystem approach from 1957 to 2012 and identified 3 primary uses: as an alternative to ecosystem management or ecosystem-based management; in reference to an integrated and equitable approach to resource management as per the CBD; and as a term signifying a focus on understanding and valuing ecosystem services. Although uses of this term and its variants may overlap in meaning, typically, they do not entirely reflect the ethos of the ecosystem approach as defined by the CBD. For example, there is presently an increasing emphasis on ecosystem services, but focusing on these alone does not promote decentralization of management or use of all forms of knowledge, both of which are integral to the CBD’s concept. We highlight that the Malawi Principles are at risk of being forgotten. To better understand these principles, more effort to implement them is required. Such efforts should be evaluated, ideally with comparative approaches, before allowing the CBD’s concept of holistic and socially engaged management to be abandoned or superseded. It is possible that attempts to implement all 12 principles together will face many challenges, but they may also offer a unique way to promote holistic and equitable governance of natural resources. Therefore, we believe that the CBD’s concept of the ecosystem approach demands more attention.

La Necesidad de Desenredar Conceptos Clave del Argot Ambiente-Estrategia

Resumen
La estrategia ambiental – como es promocionada por la Convencion Biologica sobre Diversidad en 2000 – es una estrategia para un manejo holistico, sustentable y equitativo de recursos naturales, que habra de implementarse por via de los 12 Principios de Malawi. Estos principios describen la necesidad de manejar la naturaleza en terminos de ecosistemas dinamicos, mientras se compromete totalmente con las personas locales. Es un concepto ambicioso. Hoy en dia, el termino es comun en la investigacion y la literatura de politicas sobre el manejo ambiente. Sin embargo, se han relacionado multiples significados con el termino, lo que resulta en confusion. Revisamos referencias a la estrategia ambiental de 1957 a 2012 e identificamos tres usos principales: como una alternativa para manejo ambiental o basado en ecosistemas; en referencia a una estrategia integrada y equitativa para el manejo de recursos segun la CBD; y como un termino que indica un enfoque en el entendimiento y la valuacion de los servicios ambientales. Aunque los usos de este termino y sus variantes pueden traslaparse en su significado, tipicamente no reflejan en su totalidad los valores de la estrategia ambiental como fue definida por la CBD. Por ejemplo, actualmente hay un enfasis creciente en los servicios ambientales, pero enfocarse solamente en estos no promueve la descentralizacion del manejo o el uso de todas las formas de conocimiento, siendo ambas integrales para el concepto de la CBD. Resaltamos que los Principios de Malawi estan en riesgo de ser olvidados. Para entender mejor estos principios, se requiere de mas esfuerzo para implementarlos. Dichos esfuerzos deben ser evaluados, idoneamente con estrategias comparativas, antes de permitir que el concepto de la CBD de manejo holistico y comprometido socialmente sea abandonado o reemplazado. Es posible que los intentos por implementar los 12 principios juntos enfrentaran muchos obstaculos, pero tambien pueden ofrecer una forma unica de promover el gobierno holistico y equitativo de los recursos naturales. Asi, creemos que el concepto de estrategia ambiental de la CBD exige mayor atencion.

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cobi.12331

The need to disentangle key concepts from ecosystem-approach jargon.

Located in a relatively dry region and characterized by mainly sandy soils, the German Federal State of Brandenburg (surrounding the capital city of Berlin) is especially vulnerable to climate change impacts (e.g., summer droughts) and cascading effects on ecological systems (e.g., decreasing ground water tables, water stress, fire risk, productivity losses) with socioeconomic implications. Furthermore, a complex interplay of unemployment, rural exodus, and an aging population challenges this structurally weak region. We discuss adaptation measures that are either implemented or planned, as well as research into adaptation strategies to climate change for the sectors forestry, agriculture, and water management as well as in nature conservation in light of socioeconomic and ecological challenges and benefits. In doing so, we adopt a systemic view of Brandenburg where the sectors discussed are seen as subsystems embedded in a larger regional system. This at least partially holarchical approach enables the identification of conflicts between adaptation measures, but also of synergies among the sectors that pertain to successful adaptation to climate change. The insights gained ultimately highlight the need for cross-sectoral, adaptive management practices that jointly target a sustainable regional development.

Katrin Haggenmueller

Papers

Stuck in the clouds: Bringing the CBD's Ecosystem Approach for conservation management down to Earth in Canada and Germany