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Applying an Ecosystem Approach in Scotland: a Framework for Action

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Applying an Ecosystem Approach in Scotland: a Framework for Action Applying an Ecosystem Approach in Scotland: a Framework for Action Introduction: Healthy ecosystems are the basis for sustaining people and biodiversity 1. An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. 2. Human well-being depends on healthy ecosystems. This is an idea that in past centuries, people who lived directly from the land and sea may have understood better. Now people feel more detached from nature but our actions have much greater impact. However people are beginning to realise that damaging the natural environment has consequences not just for nature but for human well-being, that humans are part of ecosystems. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment recently highlighted the effects that human activities have had on the world’s ecosystems 1, and on the public benefits that ecosystems provide 2. A recent international report ‘The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity’ 3 has said, ‘Ecosystems don’t depend on economies but economies depend on ecosystems’. Further information on the background and context to an ecosystem approach is set out in Annex 1. 3. The natural environment is one of Scotland’s greatest assets. For a country of its size, Scotland has a great diversity of landscapes, habitats and wildlife. Much of it is apparently thriving and in some areas past damage has been restored, such as previously polluted rivers in some cities or birds of prey, like the red kite. It is easy to think that damage to ecosystems is more of a problem in other parts of the world, such as where soil erosion leads to food shortage and hunger. However most of Scotland’s ecosystems are highly modified and have suffered significant losses in the range and abundance of species and habitats as human activities have intensified. Moreover continuing declines in Scotland’s biodiversity – such as some bird populations – are one symptom, or indicator, of problems that still exist, in spite of a range of environmental policies that have been developed. As Scotland seeks to increase economic growth in a sustainable way, in the face of a changing climate and other pressures, for example on land use, it is important to find ways to sustain, and where necessary restore, the health of Scotland’s ecosystems: to build a sustainable future for people and nature. 1 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 2 Through ecosystem services that are based on the processes or functions within ecosystems – see Figure?. Examples include supporting services such as nutrient cycling, provisioning services like food, fibre, fuel and water, regulation of climate and water, and cultural services like recreation. 3 The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity: An interim report. European Communities 2008. 4. This paper has been prepared to provide a framework for various initiatives that are seeking to take better account of how ecosystems work and the benefits they provide to people in a more integrated way, using the thinking that has developed worldwide on an ecosystem approach. It describes this ecosystem approach in general, and seeks to identify how it can be applied in Scotland. What is an ecosystem approach? 5. The ecosystem approach has been described as a method, a tool, a delivery mechanism, a framework or a strategy. It can be all of these things in different contexts, but it is essentially a set of principles to apply to any policy, plan or project that manages the natural environment, whether directly or indirectly. 6. A commonly-used definition comes from the Convention on Biological Diversity 4 (CBD) which defines the Ecosystem Approach as: a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way, and which recognises that people with their cultural and varied social needs are an integral part of ecosystems. 7. A definition of the related term, ecosystem-based approach, comes from marine management 5: the integrated management of human activities based on knowledge of ecosystem dynamics to achieve sustainable use of ecosystem goods and services and maintenance of ecosystem integrity . 8. A US Federal Government interagency policy 6 describes the goal of the ecosystem approach as: to restore and sustain the health, productivity and biological diversity of ecosystems and the overall quality of life through a natural resource management approach that is fully integrated with social and economic goals. 9. So an ecosystem approach is about integrating conservation of natural resources with social and economic needs and objectives, in a way that sustains the health of ecosystems on which they depend (see Box 1). The approach is therefore a way of delivering sustainable development (unsurprising given that the CBD arose from the 1992 Summit on Sustainable Development). It follows many sustainable development principles 7. The rest of this paper refers to ‘an ecosystem approach’, 4 Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties 2000. Decision V/6 5 Seas the Opportunity , Scottish Executive 2005. This definition is close to that used in the development of the EU Marine Strategy Directive 2007, although the ecosystem approach is not defined in that Directive (See Articles 1(3) and 3(5)) 6 Memorandum of Understanding to Foster the Ecosystem Approach. December 1995. 7 See, for example, Sustainable Development and the Natural Heritage . SNH 2003. encompassing these different elements but without referring specifically to the CBD definition of ‘The Ecosystem Approach’. 10. An ecosystem approach is achieved through applying a set of key principles. Various sets of principles have been defined, in particular the 12 principles of the CBD 8. They can be boiled down to three aspects: a) take account of how ecosystems work, for example how species interact through competition and predation, how species move across landscapes, and how water temperature affects fish species or nutrient levels the balance of plant species. This implies a need to consider the broad scale as well as the local, the long term as well as the immediate; recognising that change is inevitable; environmental limits – the consequences of resource use and pollution for natural processes; using up-to-date scientific information and applying adaptive management 9 to deal with uncertainty. b) take account of the services that ecosystems provide to people , including those that underpin social and economic well-being, such as flood and climate regulation, resources for food, fibre or fuel, or for recreation, culture and quality of life. For example, the way that floods affects people’s homes depends on how the land is used in the surrounding catchment. The carbon in Scotland’s soils, if released through human activities, could affect the global climate. Everyone’s food resources depend on clean water and productive soils. Quality of life is enhanced by pleasant surroundings to live and work in. c) involve the participation of people – those who benefit from the ecosystem services and those involved in managing them need to be engaged in decisions that affect them, following principles of equity and environmental justice. Their knowledge will often be critical to success. Public participation should go beyond consultation and use tried and tested techniques to improve public involvement in decision-making 10 . Management of natural resources is often improved by decentralising decision-making which creates greater ownership and responsibility. Box 1: What is ecosystem health? A healthy ecosystem, like a healthy person, is one where all parts continue to work well individually and together. A related term is ecosystem resilience which is: the ability of an ecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning, the capacity for self-organisation, and the capacity to adapt to stress and change 11 . 8 See Background and Context Paper for more details. 9 Adaptive management involves learning-by-doing, with actions responsive to changing circumstances, increasing knowledge and regular reviews of methods used 10 E.g. see www.dialoguematters.co.uk 11 From the Glossary of the Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II, 2007 The ability to recover after natural disturbances or impacts from human activities is only possible for impacts below a certain level or threshold. If the threshold is exceeded the structure and functions of the ecosystem change in ways that may not continue to deliver the services that they did before. These thresholds are referred to as environmental limits. For example, in some fisheries (e.g. the Grand Banks cod fishery off east coast North America) the capacity of the ecosystem to provide a harvestable surplus of fish has been exceeded and, even with no fishing, the ecosystem has not regained this capacity. Often not enough is understood about how ecosystems function to know where the environmental limits lie. In cases where there is a risk of irreversibly exceeding these thresholds and damaging ecosystem resilience, a precautionary approach should be taken to avoid this risk. Benefits of an ecosystem approach 11. The main benefit of an ecosystem approach is in achieving a balance between conservation and use of biodiversity. This means promoting human well-being without unsustainable loss of natural capital, and ensuring that the natural environment can continue to provide us with essential
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