Principles of Ecosystem Management

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Principles of Ecosystem Management

• by
• Peter-John Meynell

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What do we mean by ecosystem management?

• Ecosystem approach tries to regulate our use of
  ecosystems and natural resources so that we can
  benefit from them, while at the same time
  modifying the impacts on them so that basic
  ecosystem functions are preserved.
• An essential element of sustainable development

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A definition

• UN Convention on Biological Diversity 1992
• Ecosystem and natural habitats management seeks
  to meet human requirements to use natural
  resources, whilst maintaining the biological
  richness and ecological processes necessary to
  sustain the composition, structure and function
  of the ecosystems concerned

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What do we mean by ecosystem structure and
function
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What do we mean by ecosystem structure and
function?
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Objective of ecosystem management

• Management objective is to ensure that goods and
  services from ecosystems and habitats are
  available on a sustainable basis
• Management of ecosystems is applied within
  identified boundaries ecosystem managers need
  to understand different societies interact with
  the systems within which they live

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Focus of management actions

• Human actions are the focus of ecosystem
  management
• Adjusting chemical conditions
• Regulating physical parameters
• Altering biological interrelationships
• Controlling human use of biological productivity
• Intervening in cultural, social and economic
  processes

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Maintaining ecosystem function and integrity

• Structure and functional integrity of the system
  should be maintained
• There are few natural ecosystems that have not
  been modified by human activity
• Use of functions purposefully, but be aware of
  natural limits
• Use it, dont lose it

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Recognising ecosystem boundaries and
transboundary issues

• Primary focus for actions should be on human
  activities that affect the components and
  processes within the boundaries of ecosystem
• Ecosystem processes do not respect administrative
  boundaries these may cut across functional
  linkages of an ecosystem
• Ecosystems may be affected by distant actions,
  outside the management boundaries
• Concepts of Core Zones, Buffer Zones, transition
  areas
• Consider ecological corridors between core areas
  and buffer zones that allow for plant and animal
  migrations

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Maintaining biodiversity

• Loss of biological diversity in an area can lead
  to loss of goods and services provided by the
  ecosystem
• Management should try to maintain biological
  diversity
• Important to monitor biodiversity since change is
  a sensitive indicator of damage
• Some species are an indicator of ecosystem health
• Some species are important as flagships which
  people can understand and work to conserve

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Recognizing the inevitability of change

• Change in ecosystems is occurring all the time,
  some may be
• Natural and geological processes and events
• Human activities agriculture, dams, urban
  growth and pollution
• Climate change induced drought, rainfall
• Need to be aware of inevitable changes, decide
  what changes to mitigate against.
• Social Choice

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Recognising people as part of the ecosystem

• People are an integral part of most ecosystems
• People are using and depending upon natural
  resources
• Decisions about the use of these natural
  resources should involve the people using them

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Reasons for involving local communities

• They have an interest in the management process
• They have considerable, relevant knowledge of the
  ecosystem and its management
• Cultural, ethical and spiritual values have
  developed because of the interaction with
  ecosystem
• Traditional use and tenure systems can be adapted
  to aims and objectives of ecosystem management

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Recognising the need for knowledge based adaptive
management

• Ecosystem management should incorporate a
  knowledge-based adaptive management approach
  but
• Beware of top-down information imposed from
  outside
• Information gathering is an integral part of
  management, this must be analysed and decisions
  taken

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Existing Scientific and social information
Define
Management Actions
Identify further research needs
adapt
Ongoing Research
New Management Actions
Ongoing adapted management actions
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Knowledge-based management

• Precautionary principle if you dont know,
  proceed with care, it is better to be safe than
  sorry
• Be aware of functional limits of the system, try
  to define the limits of acceptable change, or
  critical loads.
• Adjust resource use levels to be within these
  limits

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Recognising the need for multi-sector
collaboration

• Different sectors have different expectations and
  uses of the ecosystem
• Need for multi-sectoral collaboration,, need to
  maintain these uses
• Identify the sectors involved, consult, reach
  agreement on management methods

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Multi-sectoral partnerships

• Review policies of different sectors to identify
  areas of conflict and compatibility
• Share information about methods, activities and
  results
• Agree where data is stored and access
• Share ideas for actions based on other
  organisations experiences
• Coordination and integration of information
  gathering
• Avoid duplication and work for synergy
• Spread the workload and responsibility for
  management
• Identify sites and habitats that are critical to
  ecosystem services and that require special forms
  of management and co-operation

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Making ecosystem management a mainstream
development approach

• Ecosystem management is not just a tool for
  protecting special areas
• It should be applied in all development
  initiatives, e.g. infrastructure, dams etc.
• The principles provide guidance on things such as
  social choice, stakeholder involvement, adaptive
  management, impact assessment

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Practical exercise

• Divide into small groups of about 5 8 persons
  in each
• Each person identifies 3 issues that they are
  dealing with in their work and these are listed
• The group then discusses how the ecosystem
  principles can be applied in dealing with these
  issues