Development of Ecosystem Service Opportunities in the Nemunas Delta in the Context of Global Climate Change
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ECONOMICS DOI: 10.22616/rrd.26.2020.024 DEVELOPMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NEMUNAS DELTA IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE Vytautas Pilipavičius1, *Jan Žukovskis2 1Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania 2Klaipeda University, Lithuania *Corresponding author’s email: [email protected] Abstract The second half of the 20th century brought to light the consequences of human activity, when Humanity was confronted with demiurgical complexes and realized that the planet Earth was not only nature, but a complex system that today could no longer be operated by traditional methods and logic. While until the middle of the 20th century man used natural resources only to meet his needs, the 21st century poses new challenges for mankind to manage the consequences of human activities and to use them rationally and sustainably. The paper presents a study aimed at assessing the potential of ecosystem services development in the Nemunas Delta and anticipating their development directions. As a result of the research, the possible development directions of the Elderships were presented. It was done in two scenarios. The research was carried out in six municipality subdivisions (elderships) of the Nemunas Delta area in the framework of the Lithuanian Science Council project ‘Interaction of ecosystem services and human activities in the context of climate change’. Preparation of this paper was supported by funding from European Social Fund (project No 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0178) under the grant agreement with the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT). Key words: climate change, development, ecosystem services, elderships. Introduction The aim of the study is to evaluate the development Rapid economic development in the 20th century possibilities of ecosystem services in the Nemunas has shown that a Man, believing in the absolute power Delta and to predict the directions of development. of scientific and technical progress, has become the Objectives: master of nature, able to transform nature in its own • To provide methodological provisions for the way so that it can meet its ever-increasing needs. study of the development of ecosystem services; There is a widespread belief that increasing material • To conduct empirical research on the production is the only true measure of society’s development of ecosystem services in the progress and prosperity. By the end of the 1960’s, Nemunas Delta; environmental pollution had reached a level where it • To summarize the data of empirical research was no longer possible to devote no attention to the and to envisage directions of development. problem. For the research, scientific literature and Managing the consequences of human activities, documentary sources have been analyzed, and the through the rational and sustainable use of natural content analysis and empirical research methods have resources while ensuring the repeatability of been used. living conditions for future generations, poses new challenges for the 21st century community. Materials and Methods The European Union has linked the development The turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, with the to a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU 2020 acceleration of scientific and technological advances strategy), taking into account the consequences and and new socio-economic opportunities and prospects, projections of global change. is characterized by radical changes (Melnikas, 2002). The Lithuanian Parliament approved the National Change can be perceived in two ways: change is Climate Change Management Policy Strategy for one of the common causes of human development 2013–2050 (National Climate Change ..., 2012). This and progress; change is an essential result of global strategy foresees the need to formulate and implement development and progress. In other words, change Lithuania’s climate change management policy – is determined by the existence of human beings in mitigation and adaptation, defining short-term (by the evolution of human life – natural processes and 2020), medium-term (by 2030 and 2040) and long- change initiated by organized human activities that term (by 2050) goals and objectives. shape the progress of human life – artificial processes The Lithuanian Science Council project (Grigaliūnienė, 2000). ‘Interaction of Ecosystem Services and Human Ecosystem services are opportunities provided Activities in the Context of Climate Change’ aimed by the ecosystem as natural artefacts that become to highlight the directions of ecosystem services resources in the human development process. development in the Nemunas Delta in the context of Today, the complexity of the interaction between global climate change. the worlds of nature and human activity is being 162 RESEARCH FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT 2020, VOLUME 35 ECONOMICS DOI: 10.22616/rrd.26.2020.024 ECONOMICSToday, the complexity of the interaction between the worlds of nature and humanDOI: 10.22616/rrd.26.2020activity is being actualized.024 inDEVELOPMENT terms of global climateOF ECOSYSTEM change. 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