THE CONTEXTUAL IMPORTANCE for ECOSYSTEM SERVICES and ITS CONTRIBUTIONS to WELLBEING a Case Study of Urbanising Coastal Areas in Karnataka, India
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INSTITUTIONEN FÖR BIOLOGI OCH MILJÖVETENSKAP THE CONTEXTUAL IMPORTANCE FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO WELLBEING A case study of urbanising coastal areas in Karnataka, India Linnéa Bergdahl Uppsats för avläggande av naturvetenskaplig masterexamen med huvudområdet miljövetenskap 2016, 30 hp Avancerad nivå Table of Contents Summary .................................................................................................................................... 3 Sammanfattning ......................................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Aims, objectives and limitations ................................................................................. 6 2. Theoretical framework ........................................................................................................ 7 2.1 The place-based approach ........................................................................................... 7 2.2 The cascade model ...................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Wellbeing ..................................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Classification of ecosystem services ......................................................................... 10 3. Material and methods ........................................................................................................ 12 3.1 Study site description ................................................................................................. 12 3.2 Selection of study sites .............................................................................................. 15 3.3 Considerations of ethics and biases ........................................................................... 15 3.4 Data collection ........................................................................................................... 16 3.4.1 Direct observations ............................................................................................. 16 3.4.2 Focus group discussions ..................................................................................... 16 3.4.3 Interviews ........................................................................................................... 17 3.4.4 Structured household interviews ........................................................................ 17 3.5 Data analysis .............................................................................................................. 18 3.6 Development of categories for quantitative data collection ...................................... 19 3.6.1 Connected ecosystem services ........................................................................... 19 3.6.2 Constituents of wellbeing ................................................................................... 20 4. Results ............................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 Identification and description of connected ecosystem services ............................... 22 4.2 Use of ecosystem services ......................................................................................... 26 4.3 Acts of mobilisation and valuation ............................................................................ 29 4.4 Changes in supply and use of services over time ...................................................... 31 4.5 Importance of services for wellbeing ........................................................................ 33 4.6 Contributions to the constituents of wellbeing .......................................................... 35 5. Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 39 6. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 45 Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................... 46 References ................................................................................................................................ 47 Appendix A .............................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix B .............................................................................................................................. 53 Appendix C .............................................................................................................................. 54 Appendix D .............................................................................................................................. 57 Appendix E ............................................................................................................................... 59 2 Summary Many coastal areas worldwide are today undergoing rapid development and urbanisation, Mangaluru on the south west coast of India is an example of such an area. Coastal ecosystems are at the same time seen as important for a wide range of purposes contributing to human wellbeing. Development is aimed at improving the human wellbeing but may also alter the ecosystems and their capabilities to cater for it. The ecosystem services concept has become a widely used framework for describing the link between ecosystems and human wellbeing and assessment of services are being carried out worldwide. Critique has however been raised against assessments for overlooking context and disregarding values attached to the use of the services. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the existence and importance of context and values and the social processes involved in creation of services, with two fishing villages in Mangaluru as case study sites. The study had a mixed methods research design where initial qualitative data provided the foundation for subsequent quantitative data collection by structured household interviews. The results showed that 1. Multiple social processes defined and affected the creation of ecosystem services. 2. A service could contribute to different constituents of wellbeing to varying degrees, depending upon context. 3. Non-material values were present, and often highly rated, in not only cultural but also provisioning services. 4. The context – by whom, where and at what time the services were used – did affect both the use, the importance and the wellbeing gained. Assessment of ecosystem services should therefore be undertaken with high attention to the context in which the services are being used and the values that surround them and the wellbeing they provide, otherwise one might run the risk of creating unreliable assessments of poor use. As coastal areas and their ecosystems are rapidly changing today, the more important it becomes to understand our dependency upon them and their links to our wellbeing. Keywords: ecosystem services, wellbeing, cascade model, mixed methods research design, coastal development, India 3 Sammanfattning Många kustområden runt om i världen genomgår idag snabba förändringar vad gäller utveckling och urbanisering. Mangaluru på Indiens sydvästkust är ett exempel på ett sådant område. De kustnära ekosystemen ses samtidigt fylla en rad viktiga funktioner när gäller att bidra till det mänskliga välbefinnandet. Målsättningen med utveckling är förbättra välmåendet för människor, men den kan också förändra ekosystemen och deras förmåga att tillgodose välmåendet. Ekosystemtjänster har blivit ett populärt koncept för att beskriva kopplingen mellan ekosystemen och det mänskliga välmåendet, och idag utförs ekosystemtjänstanalyser världen över. Dock har en viss kritik lyfts fram mot att analyserna förbiser kontexten samt de värden som är knutna till användningen av tjänsterna. Syftet med denna rapport var därför att undersöka förekomsten och vikten av kontexten, värderingar samt de sociala processerna som finns med när ekosystemtjänster skapas. Till detta syfte användes två fiskebyar i Mangaluru som studieplatser. Studien bygger på en så kallad “mixed methods research” där kvalitativ data först samlades in och analyserades för att sedan utgöra grunden till den efterföljande kvntitativa datainsamlingen genom intervjuenkäter. Resultaten visade att 1. Multipla social processer definerar och påverkar skapandet av ekosystemtjänster. 2. En tjänst kan bidra till olika komponenter av välmåendet, i varierad utsträckning, och beror av kontexten. 4. Kontexten – av vem, var samt vid vilken tidspunkt – påverkade både användningen, vikten samt välmåendet som tjänsterna bidrog till. Analys och utvärdering av ekosystemtjänster bör därför göras med största möjliga uppmärksamhet på kontexten inom vilken tjänsterna används samt påde värderingarna som omger dem.Sker inte detta löper man risken att analyserna blir otillförlitliga och undermåliga. Eftersom kustområdena och deras ekosystem står under snabb förändring idag har det blivit extra viktigt att vi förstår vårt beroende av dem samt deras effekt på vårt välmående. 4 1 Introduction The development and utilization of coastal zones has increased substantially within recent decades. Today approximately half of the world’s population lives