Cumulative Effects Assessment: Linking Social, Ecological, and Governance Dimensions

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Setting social, economic, and ecological objectives is ultimately a process of social choice informed by science. In this special feature we provide a multidisciplinary framework for the use of cumulative effects assessment in land use planning. Forest ecosystems are facing considerable challenges driven by population growth and increasing demands for resources. In a suite of case studies that span the boreal forest of Western Canada to the interior Atlantic forest of Paraguay we show how transparent and defensible methods for scenario analysis can be applied in data-limited regions and how social dimensions of land use change can be incorporated in these methods, particularly in aboriginal communities that have lived in these ecosystems for generations. The case studies explore how scenario analysis can be used to evaluate various land use options and highlight specific challenges with identifying social and ecological responses, determining thresholds and targets for land use, and integrating local and traditional knowledge in land use planning. Given that land use planning is ultimately a value-laden and often politically charged process we also provide some perspective on various collective and expert-based processes for identifying cumulative impacts and thresholds. The need for good science to inform and be informed by culturally appropriate democratic processes calls for well-planned and multifaceted approaches both to achieve an informed understanding of both residents and governments of the interactive and additive changes caused by development, and to design action agendas to influence such change at the ecological and social level.

The Social Dimensions of Sustainability and Change in Diversified Farming Systems

“…A central theme of many articles published in Ecology and Society remains the interdependencies that link ecosystems to socioeconomic-cultural issues across local, regional, national, continental, and global scales (Folke et al 2007, Kok and Veldkamp 2011, Weber et al 2012. In addition to developing frameworks useful for the interdisciplinary assessment of social-ecological systems, several recent articles have directly addressed the challenge of developing appropriate social indicators (Weber et al 2012).…”

“…In addition to developing frameworks useful for the interdisciplinary assessment of social-ecological systems, several recent articles have directly addressed the challenge of developing appropriate social indicators (Weber et al 2012). The multidisciplinary problem of identifying the key social variables for studying complex social-environmental realities is often exacerbated by academic models that reward disciplinary-based research, the intellectual blind spots that prevail among many academics when it comes to critical issues and categories outside of their disciplines, and commonly shared perceptions about the feasibility of what can, or should, be measured (Norgaard and Baer 2005).…”

Assessing cumulative effects of multiple activities in New England watersheds

“…For example, the CEA of the Ghost River watershed in Alberta, Canada, uses existing data, acquired additional measurements, and integrated simulations to determine the projected future of the specific watershed components (Ghost Watershed Alliance 2011). Recent advances have demonstrated the detailed modeling necessary to characterize potential futures resulting for cumulative impacts (Weber et al 2012;Francis and Hamm 2013) and vulnerabilities (Füssel and Klein 2006). The effort presented here is unique in that the scope of the analysis was large, temporal historical data were not available, the potential effects of individual actions were only described as ''minimal,'' and no monitoring data were available.…”

Integrated cross-realm planning: A decision-makers' perspective

“…For example, scenario planning (Peterson et al, 2003) can allow for the envisioning of multiple futures that include different impacts of threats on assets and actions on threats, and thereby inform variable achievement of explicit objectives by feasible actions/uses. In considering multiple threats operating across realms, an understanding of interactions and cumulative impacts of threats becomes critical (Weber et al, 2012).…”