IUFRO International Union of Forestry Research Organizations Union Internationale des Instituts de Recherches Forestières Unión Internacional de Organizaciones de Investigación Forestal Internationaler Verband Forstlicher Forschungsanstalten Ecosystem-Based Management of Natural Resources: a Step Towards Sustainable Development Prof. Rodolphe Schlaepfer Occasional Paper 6 ISSN 1024-414X International Union of Forestry Research Organizations Union Internationale des Instituts de Recherches Forestières Unión Internacional de Organizaciones de Investigación Forestal Internationaler Verband Forstlicher Forschungsanstalten Ecosystem-Based Management of Natural Resources: a Step Towards Sustainable Development By: Prof. Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Visiting Professor, College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States Permanent address: Ecosystem Management, Department of Rural Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. February 10, 1997 IUFRO Occasional Paper No. 6 ISSN 1024-414X Copyright by IUFRO IUFRO OCCASIONAL PAPER NO. 6 ISSN 1024-414X Printed in Slovakia Imprimé en Slovaquie Gedruckt in der Slowakei Imprimido en Eslovaquia 1997 By Arbora Publishers spol. s r.o. SK - 960 06 Zvolen 6 This book may be ordered from: Ce livre peut être obtenu de: Dieses Buch kann bezogen werden bei: Se puede pedir este libro en: IUFRO Secretariat Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8 A-1131 Wien, AUSTRIA TEL. +43-1-877 01 51 FAX: +43-1-877 93 55 E-MAIL. [email protected] i Foreword As we can read from Risto Seppälä in the IUFRO News Vol. 25, 1996, issue 3, the scientific community has become increasingly interested in sustainability, and IUFRO, to demonstrate this has established a special Task Force on sustainable Management. The following paper is an attempt to give an overview of the recent developments mainly in North America, in the field of sustainable and ecosystem-based management of natural resources, including forest resources. The subject is in line with the actual preoccupation of IUFRO and should be of interest to all division. ii Acknowledgments This paper was written during a sabbatical leave at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA. I am grateful to my host, the Department of Forest Engineering of the College of Forestry, and to the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology who made the sabbatical leave possible. During my sabbatical leave I was in the most friendly and competent way guided by Bob Buckman. Very important were the discussions with many colleagues from the Oregon State University (OSU), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), the University of Montana, Missoula, and the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. I thank the following reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts: Bernard Bormann, Jill Bowling, Jim Boyle, Martha Brookes, Bob Buckman, Steve Hobbs, Logan Norris, George Stankey, Fred Swanson, and Steve Tesch. I also thank IUFRO for accepting the publication of the paper. iii Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Background and recent developments 2 2.1. International efforts 2 2.2. Sustainability, its potential and its limitations 4 2.3 The Notion of Ecosystem 6 2.4 Ecosystem Management 8 2.5 The scientific contributions 11 3. A vision of managing natural resources for sustainable development 14 3.1 Introduction 14 3.2 Principles of managing natural resources for sustainable development 15 3.3 Ecosystem-based management 18 3.4 The instruments of ecosystem-based management 19 3.5 Implementing of ecosystem-based management 23 3.6 The scientific challenges 26 4. Conclusions 27 5. References 28 1 Abstract Some international efforts, including the Earth Summit of Rio in 1992, as well as the notions of sustainability and ecosystem are briefly introduced. The concept of ecosystem management developed recently in the United States is discussed. Principles of managing natural resources for sustainable development are presented. A definition of ecosystem-based management is proposed. Instruments and scientific challenges are identified. A series of questions which should be answered for the implementation of ecosystem-based management are presented. 1. Introduction The idea of using an ecosystem approach in managing natural resources is not new. In the preface of his remarkable book The Ecosystem Concept in Natural Resource Management Van Dyne (1969) wrote: "This volume will be timely because of the widespread interest in ecosystem approaches". The book is based on a symposium held at the annual meeting of the American Society of Range Management in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 12-15, 1968. Since then, progress has been realized. However, the world's awareness of the emerging problems due to different pressures on the ecosystems on which our society depend for its well being has increased considerably. It has also become clearer, that plants, animals, microorganisms, soils, air, and water constitute a natural heritage of social, economic, ecological, and intrinsic value that needs to be preserved, where possible enhanced, and handed on to future generations.The need to improve the protection and management of ecosystems in a way that balances and integrates environmental and development questions, is now recognized as an important challenge for sustainable development. This new awareness has led to a series of international and national efforts aimed at assuring the quality of life to both present and future generations. An objective of this paper is to review ideas on how natural resources can be managed for sustainable development. A second objective is to provide a general conceptual framework within which the research and the teaching of the new professorship in Ecosystem Management in the Department of Rural Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, can be defined. Although the paper was developed during a sabbatical leave at Oregon State University in Corvallis, USA and is therefore essentially inspired by North American work for forest ecosystems, the described ideas are applicable for other natural resources and in different ecoregions. 2 2. Background and recent developments 2.1 International efforts Five documents resulted from the Earth Summit held in Rio in 1992. • The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development includes 27 principles defining the right and the responsibilities of nations as they pursue human development and well being. The following principles are especially important for management as well as for research: - People are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature (Principle 1). - The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet development and environmental needs of present and future generations (Principle 3). - In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it (Principle 4). - States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem (Principle 7). - States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological knowlege, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies (Principle 9). - In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by the States according to their capabilities (Principle 15). - Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a competent national authority (Principle 17). • Agenda 21 reflects a global consensus and commitment at the highest political level on how to make development socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable. Among other options it includes protecting the atmosphere, an integrated approach to planning for and managing land resources, combatting deforestation, managing fragile ecosystems: combatting desertification and drought and sustainable mountain development, promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development, conservation of biological diversity, managing biotechnology, protecting and managing the oceans, protecting and managing fresh waters, and supporting science for sustainable development. • A non-legally-binding, authoritative Statement of Forest Principles to guide managing, conserving, and sustainably developing all types of forests, which are essential to economic development and maintaining of all forms of life. • The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change aim is to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at concentrations that will not dangerously upset the global climate system. • The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed by more than 150 governments at the Rio "Earth Summit" in 1992. It became effective on 29 December 1993 and has become the centre-piece of international efforts to conserve the planet's biological diversity, ensure the sustainable use of its components, and promote the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from use of genetic resources. 3 The Ministerial Conference