Ecosystem Approach
Dr. Marina Rosales Benites de Franco
Professor National University Federico Villarreal
Professor National University Federico Villarreal
The
ecosystem approach are principles to use the ecosystems with holistic overview.
The Convention on Biological Diversity recommended application of the
principles of ecosystem approach by Decision V/ 6[1]
and agreed the priority on facilitating the implementation of the ecosystem
approach as the primary framework for addressing the three objectives of the
Convention in a balanced way by Decision VII/11[2].
The ecosystem approach is
a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources
that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. This strategy should follow and complement with
policies on sustainable development. It is based on appropriate scientific
research and traditional knowledge, focuses on levels of biological
organization which encompass the essential processes, functions and
interactions among organisms and their ecosystems. This document has as
objective to does an analyses on ecosystem approach. Fig.1.
The following 12
principles are complementary and interlinked.
Principle 1: The
objectives of management of land, water and living resources are a matter of
societal choices.
The ecosystem management has influence on social needs. Different actors of
society use ecosystems by their own interest and outlook. They value ecosystems
resources by direct use, but they also need to take account their intrinsic
values and for the tangible or intangible benefits for humans, in a fair and
equitable way.
Principle 2: Management should be decentralized to the
lowest appropriate level.
Decentralized systems may lead to greater efficiency, effectiveness and
equity. They are essential requirements for good governance. Management should involve all stakeholders
and balance local interests with the wider private and public interest of urban
areas.
Principle 3: Ecosystem managers should consider the
effects (actual or potential) of their activities on adjacent and other
ecosystems.
Managers should take account unpredictable effects on other ecosystems, and
possible negative potential impacts.
They need careful consideration and analysis. This may require effective
monitoring systems, early warning systems, assessment scenarios and models and
local organization, to take rapid decisions and appropriate compromises.
Principle 4: Recognizing potential gains from
management, there is usually a need to understand and manage the ecosystem in
an economic context.
Any such ecosystem-management
programme should:
a. Reduce those market distortions or market
failures and externalities, that adversely affect ecosystems and biological
diversity;
b. Align incentives to promote land use plans and
legal orders to enhance ecosystems and biodiversity conservation and
sustainable use;
c. Internalize the costs and benefits in the
ecosystem use.
The greatest threat to ecosystems and biological
diversity lies the land change use without planning land use and legal order,
this management and policies not take account natural capacities of ecosystems
and safe ecological limits. This often arises through market distortions and
externalities, which undervalue natural systems and wild populations and
provide perverse incentives and subsidies to favor change land use to lead less
diverse systems, affecting their resilience.
Principle 5:
Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain
ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.
Ecosystem structure and
functioning are needed to give resilience. The economic human activities affect
ecosystems and some of them are threatened as coral reef, wetlands, tropical
and driest forest, as well as, marine ecosystem production. These results lead
to prioritize restoration, improve effectiveness and protected areas management
and their connectivity
The ecosystems management should develop on
policies that respect limit natural productivity, ecosystem structure,
functioning and diversity. The limits to ecosystem functioning may be affected
to their goods and services by different degrees with economic and social
consequences in the short and long term.
Principle 7: The ecosystem approach should be
undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales.
The ecosystems management should be bounded by
spatial and temporal priorities, taking account the Aichi Targets and the National
Country Strategy and Action Plan on Biological Diversity (NBSAP)[3]
at national and local scales. Boundaries for management will be defined
operationally by users, managers, scientists and indigenous and local peoples.
Connectivity between areas should be part of sustainable use areas on the
framework landscape use planning and legal order.
Principle 8: Recognizing the varying temporal scales
and lag-effects that characterize ecosystem processes, objectives for ecosystem
management should be set for the long term.
Ecosystem processes are
characterized by varying temporal scales and lag-effects. This characteristic
should consider on monitoring activities and strategies for sustainable
development.
Ecosystems change, including
species composition and population abundance, it is part of evolution and their
resilience for human activities. Hence, management should adapt to the changes.
The ecosystem approach must utilize adaptive management in order to anticipate
and cater for such changes and events and should be cautious in making any
decision that may foreclose options, but, at the same time, consider mitigating
actions to cope with long-term changes such as climate change, pollution and
overexploitation.
Principle 10:
The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and
integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity.
Biological diversity is critical for its intrinsic
value, bequest value and existence value.
It plays a key role in providing the ecosystem and other services upon
which we all ultimately depend. There is a need for a shift to more flexible
situations, where conservation and use are seen in context and the full range
of measures is applied in a continuum from strictly protected to sustainable
use ecosystems.
Principle 11: The ecosystem approach should consider
all forms of relevant information, including scientific and indigenous and
local knowledge, innovations and practices.
Information from all sources is
critical to arriving at effective ecosystem management strategies. All relevant
information from any concerned area should be shared with all stakeholders and
actors, taking into account, inter alia, any decision to be taken under Article
8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Assumptions behind proposed
management decisions should be made explicit and checked against available
knowledge and views of stakeholders.
Principle 12:
The ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of society and
scientific disciplines.
The ecosystem management is
multivariable, since there are many interaction natural and human, with many implications,
and therefore should involve. This lead to the necessary expertise and
stakeholders at the local, national, regional and international level.
Source: Own elaboration.
Fig. 1.Management conditions for the
ecosystem approach
Conclusion
The ecosystem approach promotes and
improves good governance[4]
with landscape overview, giving balance on conservation and use of ecosystems
and biological diversity, this approach leads to a green economic[5].
References
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity. (2004). The Ecosystem Approach, (CBD Guidelines) Montreal.
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity 50 p. https://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/ea-text-en.pdf
Convention on Biological Diversity - CBD.
(2015). Ecosystem Approach. 15.06.2015, de Secretariat CBD Sitio web: https://www.cbd.int/ecosystem/
Convention on Biological Diversity.
(2015).COP 5 Decision V/6. Ecosystem approach. 15.06.2015, de Secretariat CBD
Sitio web: https://www.cbd.int/decision/cop/default.shtml?id=7148
Convention on Biological Diversity . (2015). COP 7 Decision VII/11. Ecosystem approach . 15.06.2015, de
Secretariat CBD Sitio web: https://www.cbd.int/decision/cop/default.shtml?id=7748
United Nations - UN. (2015). Governance. 15.06.2015,
de Secretariat UN Sitio web: http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/governance/
United
Nations Environment Programme - UNEP. ( 2011). Towards a Green Economy:
Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication - A Synthesis for
Policy Makers, www.unep.org/greeneconomy
© "Unless otherwise indicated, figure included in
this paper have been drawn from Marina Rosales Benites de Franco".
[4] Good governance promotes equity, participation, pluralism, transparency,
accountability and the rule of law, in a manner that is effective, efficient
and enduring. http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/governance/
