An overarching challenge of natural resource management and biodiversity conservation is that relationships between people and nature are difficult to integrate into tools that can effectively guide decision making. Social-ecological vulnerability offers a valuable framework for identifying and understanding important social-ecological linkages, and the implications of dependencies and other feedback loops in the system. Unfortunately, its implementation at local scales has hitherto been limited due at least in part to the lack of operational tools for spatial representation of social-ecological vulnerability. We developed a method to map social-ecological vulnerability based on information on human-nature dependencies and ecosystem services at local scales. We applied our method to the small-scale fishery of Moorea, French Polynesia, by combining spatially explicit indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of both the resource (i.e., vulnerability of reef fish assemblages to fishing) and resource users (i.e., vulnerability of fishing households to the loss of fishing opportunity). Our results revealed that both social and ecological vulnerabilities varied considerably through space and highlighted areas where sources of vulnerability were high for both social and ecological subsystems (i.e., social-ecological vulnerability hotspots) and thus of high priority for management intervention. Our approach can be used to inform decisions about where biodiversity conservation strategies are likely to be more effective and how social impacts from policy decisions can be minimized. It provides a new perspective on human-nature linkages that can help guide sustainability management at local scales; delivers insights distinct from those provided by emphasis on a single vulnerability component (e.g., exposure); and demonstrates the feasibility and value of operationalizing the social-ecological vulnerability framework for policy, planning, and participatory management decisions.
Mapping the spatial allocation of fishing effort while including key stakeholders in the decision making process is essential for effective fisheries management but is difficult to implement in complex small-scale fisheries that are diffuse, informal and multifaceted. Here we present a standardized but flexible approach that combines participatory mapping approaches (fishers’ spatial preference for fishing grounds, or fishing suitability) with socioeconomic approaches (spatial extrapolation of social surrogates, or fishing capacity) to generate a comprehensive map of predicted fishing effort. Using a real world case study, in Moorea, French Polynesia, we showed that high predicted fishing effort is not simply located in front of, or close to, main fishing villages with high dependence on marine resources; it also occurs where resource dependency is moderate and generally in near-shore areas and reef passages. The integrated approach we developed can contribute to addressing the recurrent lack of fishing effort spatial data through key stakeholders' (i.e., resource users) participation. It can be tailored to a wide range of social, ecological and data availability contexts, and should help improve place-based management of natural resources.
Sustaining human well‐being is intimately linked to maintaining productive and healthy ecosystems. Avoiding trade‐offs and fostering co‐benefits is however challenging. Here, we present an operational approach that integrates biodiversity conservation, human development, and natural resource management by (1) examining resource and resource user interactions through the lens of social–ecological vulnerability (i.e., encompassing exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity); (2) identifying “ecocentric” and “sociocentric” interventions that directly address the ecological or social sources of vulnerability; (3) prioritizing those expected to yield co‐benefits and minimize trade‐offs; and (4) selecting interventions that are best suited to the broader local context. Application of this approach to a coral reef fishery in French Polynesia recommended a portfolio of development‐, livelihood‐, and ecosystem‐based interventions, thus suggesting a shift from the current resource‐focused approach toward a more social–ecological perspective. Our vulnerability‐based approach provides practitioners with a valuable tool for broadening their set of management options, leading to escape from panacea traps.
1. The concept of vulnerability as the combination of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity to a stressor is gaining traction outside of the climate realm, opening new avenues to address contemporary sustainability issues more holistically. Yet, critical notions that underpin vulnerability have yet to be integrated into its application to natural resource management and non-climatic stressors. In particular, the way generic and stressor-specific facets of vulnerability interact and can inform decision-makers about how interventions combine and/or trade-off remains unexplored.2. Here, we investigate the salience of the generic/specific framing in the context of Chilean artisanal fishing communities engaged in rights-based co-management and experiencing pressures from two stressors: poaching and market volatility.Specifically, we draw on market data combined with socio-economic surveys conducted with 446 members and leaders from 42 fisher unions to quantitatively investigate potential trade-offs and synergies between facets of vulnerability to poaching and markets.3. Generic adaptive capacity (i.e. flexibility, assets, learning, organization and agency) likely facilitated stressor-specific adaptive capacities to both stressors. High levels of specific adaptive capacity to one stressor neither increased exposure nor undermined specific adaptive capacity to the other stressor. However, adaptive capacity did not translate into exposure reduction as expected, suggesting that adaptation barriers may prevent fishers from mobilizing adaptive capacity into effective adaptive action.
This study illustrates how breaking down vulnerability into generic and specificfacets can help us better anticipate important trade-offs and synergies in management interventions. More generally, it highlights the potential of the climate 574 | People and Nature THIAULT eT AL.
Le 6 février 2020 a eu lieu, à l’auditorium de la grande galerie du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, le colloque intitulé « Mer et Anthropocène », organisé par H. Artaud, F. Chlous et É. Mariat-Roy. Cet évènement entendait réfléchir à un objet devenu désormais incontournable et pourtant relativement peu exploré dans une perspective interdisciplinaire par les études récentes menées sur la mer : la notion d’Anthropocène. L’objectif du colloque était donc d’ouvrir frontalement ce débat, en interrogeant le caractère tardif et relativement marginal de son application à la mer, et en précisant les façons dont ces mers anthropocéniques se déclinent dans l’histoire environnementale, l’anthropologie, l’histoire de l’art, l’art plastique ou les sciences politiques. Nous présentons dans ce compte rendu le contexte scientifique qui a stimulé cet évènement, l’apport de chacune des communications ainsi que les principales pistes de réflexion ouvertes par les débats.
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