T h e E c o s y s t e m A p p r o a c h : F i v e S t e p s t o I m p l e m e n t a t i o n
Step A involves the most difficult issues:
• determining the main stakeholders;
• defining the ecosystem area; and
• developing the relationship between them.
Stakeholder analysis
Identify all the key stakeholders with interests in the proposed ecosystem.
Weight them as primary, secondary or tertiary stakeholders, and assess their views in that light.
Primary stakeholders
Those who are most dependent upon the resource, and most likely to take an active part in managing it, must usually be strongly weighted as primary.
Secondary and tertiary stakeholders
Over-powerful voices which may need to be weighted as only secondary or tertiary may include local government officials and those who live near theresource but do not greatly depend on it (secondary); and national level government officials and international conservation organisations (tertiary).
Assess relative stakeholder management capacity and commitment, in regard to the ecosystem.
Set up a stakeholder forum that will meet regularly. Primary stakeholders may not be experienced in speaking at such events, and may need help in discussing issues and preparing presentations for the main forum.
Area analysis
What size of ecosystem management area is going to be chosen, using what criteria?
An appropriate size and scale (Principle 7) is one which does the following:
• meets scientific criteria (Principle 11 and Principle 12);
• is appropriate to existing management capacity, knowledge and experience (Principle 11);
• takes account of administrative, legal and cultural boundaries where possible, to simplify liaison with existing institutions (Principle 11);
• understands that a long-term ideal area may be constrained by what is likely to be an effective management unit in the short term; and
Step B involves characterizing the structure and function of the ecosystem, and setting in place mechanisms to manage and monitor it.
Ecosystem structure and function
How can we identify the characteristics of ecosystem structure and function that are needed to deliver key ecosystem goods and services? How can we tell when an ecosystem is under threat because it is being used beyond its capacity (Principle 5 and Principle 6)?
The most productive way forward involves scientists and local inhabitants working together, in the office as well as in the ecosystem. Each group’s knowledge is likely to be different and complementary.
Principles related to Step B
2. Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level.
5. Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, to maintain ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.
6. Ecosystems must be managed within the limits of their functioning.
10. The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity.
Ecosystem management
Applying Principle 2 involves working as far as possible with local stakeholders. It is necessary to accept that even if local concepts of ownership and responsibility differ from “official” views, they will need to be respected — and accommodated — if primary stakeholders are to make a commitment to long-term cooperative management.
It will also be necessary to accept that some, possibly much, of the ecosystem may effectively be private land.
Accepting these realities will make the following more clear:
• which areas or aspects of the ecosystem local people want to manage;
• the areas or aspects for which they want help and support; and
• which areas or aspects they want others to manage.
Management at the “lowest appropriate level” (Principle 2) is likely to mean management at different levels (individual farmers, community groups, district, national, even international) in various parts of the ecosystem. A management mosaic will evolve. This management mosaic will need to be monitored from time to time, given the evolving understanding of issues concerning ecosystem structure, function and health.
Using the stakeholder forum developed in Step A (page 8), and the experience of its members, will raise topics for discussion and field verification. These might include the identification of areas in the ecosystem where management is weak but the need for ecosystem protection is strong; or areas of poor connectivity. The forum can also identify and deal with any management coordination problems that emerge
Step C
Economic issues
Principle related to Step C
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:
i) reduce those market distortions that adversely affect biological diversity;
ii) align incentives to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use; and
iii) internalize costs and benefits in the given ecosystem to the extent feasible.
It is important to identify important economic issues that will affect the ecosystem and its inhabitants. Which economic issues will drive management choices in the ecosystem?
Incentives and disincentives
Points i and ii of Principle 4 concentrate on reducing market distortions that have a negative effect on biodiversity, and the creation or strengthening of incentives for the protection and wise use of biodiversity. Both these tasks demand thorough analysis in the early stages of ecosystem management.
For instance, what negative incentives, or subsidies, are causing people to work natural resources unsustainably?
Step D
Adaptive management over space
Principles related to Step D
3. Ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their activities on adjacent and other ecosystems.
7. The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales.
Adaptive management over space refers to the likely impact of an ecosystem on adjacent ecosystems. Changes in the management of one ecosystem may affect adjacent ecosystems, even though attempts have been made to internalize costs and benefits (Principle 4: Point iii).
Some unforeseen negative impacts will inevitably occur. For instance, if certain agricultural or livestock-raising practices are disallowed in one ecosystem, they might cluster in the next.
Inevitably, management will have to adapt. But better management in one ecosystem often induces better management in an adjacent one in due course.
Step E
Adaptive management over time
Principles related to Step E
7. The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales.
8. Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag-effects that characterize ecosystem processes, objectives for ecosystem management should be set for the long term.
9. Management must recognize that change is inevitable.
Planning for adaptive management over time involves long-term goals, and flexible ways of reaching them.
The principles relating to this last step (Principle 7, Principle 8, Principle 9) all make the point that, while long-term goals must be spelled out, inevitably, unforeseen issues will modify those goals and/or show new ways to reach them.
In order to address this challenge, long-term goals — and the management tools used to achieve them — must be regularly revisited.
Good adaptive management requires excellent monitoring methods, so that indications of potential problems are spotted early.
