Course for RSPO CB Forum

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Biodiversity The Big Challenge

• Course for RSPO CB Forum Workshop No. 3

• What are ecosystem services?

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Biodiversity
What it is, what it is worth, what is happening
to it, and what to do about it
Objectives

• Key concepts related to sustainability,
  biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• The value of biodiversity, what is happening to
  ecosystem services, understanding habitat loss
  and fragmentation, and the importance of scale.

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The concept of ecosystem
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Landscape types
Communities, ecosystems
Habitat structure
Species, populations
Genes
Genetic processes
Demographic processes, life histories
Interspecific interactions, ecosystem processes
Landscape processes disturbances, land use
trends
Diagram modified from Noss, 1990. Indicators for
monitoring biodiversity A hierarchical
approach. Conservation Biology Vol 4, No 4,
355-364.
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The concept of ecosystem
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant,
  animal, and microorganism communities and the
  nonliving environment, interacting as a
  functional unit. Humans are an integral part of
  ecosystems. 1

• How do we define its boundary?
• Distribution of organisms
• Drainage area
• Soil types
• Depth in a body of water.

Scale dependent
1 MA, 2003. Chapter 2. Ecosystems and their
services. In Ecosystems and Human Well-Being A
Framework for Assessment. Island Press,
Washington, DC.
5
Ecosystems according to distribution of habitat
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• Healthy ecosystems are the equivalent of
  essential life-support systems
• They provide a full suite of services and
  processes absolutely critical to our well-being

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Ecosystems according to drainage area
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• A well-defined ecosystem has strong interactions
  among its components and weak interactions across
  its boundaries.

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What is a drainage area?
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• It is an area from which a stream or river
  collects the water that runs in it

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Ecosystems according to habitat drainage area
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Maidment DR (ed). 2003. Arc Hydro GIS for water
resources. ESRI Press. ESRI. Redlands, California.
Maps (to the left) based on DWNP, 1996. Capacity
building strengthening of the Protected Areas
System in Peninsular Malaysia. A master plan.
Department of Wildlife National Parks, Economic
Planning Unit, and Danish Cooperation for
Environment and Development Danced.
Land use data from Department of Agriculture,
1990 (DWNP, 1996). Vegetation model (left) from
Symington CF, 1974. A forester's manual of
dipterocarps. Malayan Forest Records No. 16. FRIM.
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What are ecosystem services?
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Biodiversity Life on Earth
Ecosystem services are the benefits that people
obtain from ecosystems 1

• BioD underpins ecosystem services

1 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003.
Ecosystems and Human Well-Being A Framework for
Assessment. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Modified from Pereira, H.M. and Cooper, H.D.
2006. Towards the global monitoring of
biodiversity change. TRENDS in Ecology and
Evolution. Vol. 21, No. 3, March 2006.
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Ecosystem services from the marine system
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Modified from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
2006. Marine and Coastal Ecosystems and Human
Well-Being. UNEP.
Bennett, G. 2004. Linkages in practice - a review
of their conservation value. IUCN, Gland.
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Linkages between ecosystem services human
livelihood
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• However, first a few words about economic growth
  versus human well-being

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Economic growth versus human well-being
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• You earn US 50,000 per year in a world where
  average salary is US 25,000 per year

• You earn US 100,000 per year in a world where
  average salary is US 200,000 per year

• You earn US 50,000 per year in a world where
  average salary is US 25,000 per year

• You earn US 100,000 per year in a world where
  average salary is US 200,000 per year

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Economic growth versus human well-being
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
http//www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/10/03/scien
ce/20051004_HAPP_GRAPHIC.html (accessed 28 Nov
2008)
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Economic growth versus human well-being
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• Britain is less happy than in the 1950s - despite
  the fact that that UK is three times richer
• In almost every developed country, happiness
  levels have remained largely static over the past
  50 years - despite huge increases in income

http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/happiness_fo
rmula/4771908.stm (accessed 28 Nov 2008)
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Economic growth versus human well-being
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Bhutan

• Bhutan has
• One of the worlds lowest GDPs
• Has made great leaps in terms of life expectancy,
  stability, and environment

• Consumer Confidence progress and public welfare
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicate
  well-being of a nation

• Attempts to quantify progress by using also Gross
  National Happiness (GNH)

http//www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/science/04happ.h
tml?_r2 (accessed 28 Nov 2008)
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Economic growth versus human well-being
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• Economic growth is not always synonymous with
  progress
• In early stages of a climb out of poverty (for a
  household or a country) income and contentment
  grow simultaneously
• But various studies show that beyond certain
  thresholds happiness does not keep up (roughly
  when annual per capita income passes US 10,000
  to US 20,000) 1
• A sound economy is not an end in itself, but
  should serve a purpose, to improve society
• A well-being index will not replace GDP but
  understanding what leads to well-being can help
  policy makers decide how to shape legislation and
  regulations
• It may matter less that there is no definitive
  consensus as to what constitutes happiness

1 http//www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/science/04happ
.html?_r2 (accessed 28 Nov 2008)
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Economic growth versus human well-being
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• Gross Domestic Product consumption gross
  investment government spending (exports -
  imports)
• Drawbacks include that GDP does not consider
  (among others)
• Natural capital
• Damage to the environment
• Sustainability of growth

• Alternatives to GDP
• Human Development Index
• Genuine Progress Indicator
• Wealth Estimates
• European Quality of Life Survey
• Gross National Happiness
• Happy Planet Index

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_produc
t (accessed 28 Nov 2008)
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Linkages between ecosystem services human
livelihood
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Derived from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being
Biodiversity Synthesis. WRI, Washington, DC.
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How can biodiversity underpinecosystem services?
Module 1 Setting the stage for biodiversity
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Vegetation Cover
Maps based on DWNP, 1996. Capacity building
streng-thening of the Protected Areas System in
Peninsular Malaysia. A master plan. PERHILITAN,
EPU and Danced. Land use data from Department
of Agriculture, 1990 (DWNP, 1996).
Yew Kiang Teh
Symington CF. 1974. A foresters manual of
dipterocarps. Malayan Forest Records No. 16. FRIM.
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How can biodiversity underpinecosystem services?
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Vegetation Cover
StructuralComplexity
Species Composition
Yew Kiang Teh
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How can biodiversity underpinecosystem services?
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Vegetation Cover
StructuralComplexity
Ecosystem processes and resilience
Ecosystem Services
Species Composition
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Ecosystem services global change
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?
Chapin et al. 2000. Consequences of changing
biodiversity. Nature Vol 405, 11 May 2000.
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Conclusions
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of living
  organisms and non-living environment interacting
  as a functional unit. Humans are an integral part
  of ecosystems.
• How we define the boundary is scale dependent
  (distribution of organisms, drainage area)
• Healthy ecosystems are the equivalent of
  essential life-support systems (through processes
  and services)
• Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans
  obtain from ecosystems

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Conclusions
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• They may be considered as provisioning,
  regulating, cultural and supporting services
• Economic growth does not correlate with increased
  human well-being
• Economist, social scientist, corporate leaders
  and bureaucrats are trying to develop
  measurements that take into account not just the
  flow of money
• There are important linkages between ecosystem
  services and human livelihood

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Conclusions
Lesson 3 What are ecosystem services?

• Ecosystem processes, resilience and services are
  supported by biodiversity through complex
  interaction between vegetation cover, structural
  complexity and species composition
• All human activities depend on the environment
• Our very activities lead to global changes
  affecting biodiversity and thus the ability of
  ecosystems to maintain essential processes and
  supply valuable services
• The costs of loss of biotic diversity must be
  recognised in our accounting of the costs and
  benefits of our activities