Disentangling ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘nature’s contributions to people’

Abstract

People depend on functioning ecosystems, which provide benefits that support human existence and wellbeing. The relationship between people and nature has been experienced and conceptualized in multiple ways. Recently, ecosystem services (ES) concepts have permeated science, government policies, multinational environmental agreements, and science-policy interfaces. In 2017, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) introduced a new and closely related concept-Nature's Contributions to People (NCP). The introduction of NCP has sparked some lively discussion and confusion about the distinguishing characteristics between ES and NCP. In order to clarify their conceptual relation, we identify eleven specific claims about novel elements from the latest NCP literature and analyze how far ES research has already contributed to these corresponding conceptual claims in the existing ES literature. We find a mixed-picture, where on six specific conceptual claims (culture, social sciences and humanities, indigenous and local knowledge, negative contributions of nature, generalizing perspective, non-instrumental values and valuation) NCP does not differ greatly from past ES research, but we also find five conceptual claims (diverse worldviews, context-specific perspective, relational values, fuzzy and fluid reporting categories and groups, inclusive language and framing) where NCP provides novel conceptualizations of people and nature relations.

Perception of conservation strategies and nature’s contributions to people around Chingaza National Natural Park, Colombia

“…In a second section, we assessed people's perceptions of conservation, NCPs, problems associated with nature and governance aspects. Based on conversations with Park personnel and past experiences, we used 'benefits' in our instrument rather than more technical metaphors such as 'ecosystem services' or 'nature's contributions to people' (Kadykalo et al 2019) so as to not confuse respondents.…”

“…Located near Bogotá with c. 8 million inhabitants, the study area presents a unique opportunity to explore the perceptions of urban and rural citizens regarding a unique, socio-ecologically diverse PA in the highland tropics subject to historical resource and armed conflict. Similarly, although the benefits from nature are often reported in terms of the ecosystem service framework, recently the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has introduced the NCP concept (Kadykalo et al 2019), which provides for more flexible contextspecific conceptualizations of people-nature relations, particularly in low-and middle-income countries, and merits application in tropical contexts such as Colombia.…”

A Practical Index to Estimate Mangrove Conservation Status: The Forests from La Paz Bay, Mexico as a Case Study

“…[3,4]. The presence of coastal wetlands such as mangroves helps contribute to human wellbeing [5,6]. However, mangroves are one of the most threatened coastal ecosystems due to changes in environmental factors and impacts induced by human activities [7].…”

The 2019 review of IPBES and future priorities: reaching beyond assessment to enhance policy impact

“…Although this concept is still debated in the literature, nature's contributions to people attempts to recognize that there are multiple worldviews about the Earth system. Whether such significant changes in conceptual thinking should originate from the assessment work of an organization such as IPBES, rather than from debates in the scientific literature is still an open question (Braat 2018;Kadykalo et al 2019;Sala and Torchio 2019).…”