Halting biodiversity loss: how social–ecological biodiversity research makes a difference

Abstract

In 2010, there was a bold commitment to take action in halting global biodiversity loss by 2020. Now, half way through the Convention on Biological Diversity strategic plan 2011-2020, the success of the mission is under discussion. With the Twelfth Conference of the Parties attesting a lack of action, attention is now focused on the science-policy interface. This article offers a critical examination of the current debate on the science-policy interface and its implications for biodiversity research. The aim is to demonstrate the need for a social-ecological perspective. First, we argue that there is not only a lack of action but also a lack of knowledge. Second, we present socialecological systems as a common framework for biodiversity research. Third, we explain the potential of transdisciplinarity in biodiversity research. We finish by calling for a decisive turning point to consider the hybrid notions of biodiversity in science, politics and conservation activities.

How the Social-Ecological Systems Concept Can Guide Transdisciplinary Research and Implementation: Addressing Water Challenges in Central Northern Namibia

“…The various types of services within the ESS concept also extend the potential to interlink different areas of critical human-nature interactions, such as water, food and energy supply. In this article, the latter discourse is referred to in the integration of the SES and ESS concepts, and the conceptual work published by [12,43,47,48]. The above human-nature interactions are interpreted as 'societal relations to nature' [49,50], in accordance with the formal research programme of the Frankfurt Social Ecology [14].…”

“…Ostrom and her colleagues conceive of SES as a general framework with which to analyse institutions and governance systems, and then apply this framework in particular to the area of common-pool resources [41] or questions of the systems' robustness [42]. However, more recent studies link and integrate the concepts of SES and ecosystem services (ESS) [12,[43][44][45][46]. This development allows mutual reinforcement when it comes to systematically conceptualising their benefits to society and reveals the underlying structures and processes that drive it.…”

“…The SES concept formalises the relationships between nature and society [12]. On this basis, it can serve as a starting point for operationalising transdisciplinary research by creating a link to research practice [11,14].…”

“…The concept of social-ecological systems (SES) is very well suited to transdisciplinary research for sustainability because these systems can be understood as concrete epistemic objects in the real world of spatio-temporal phenomena [11]. These phenomena are viewed and conceptualised differently by various authors, e.g., as 'human-nature relations' by Glaser [11,12] or as 'societal relations to nature' by Becker [13] and Hummel et al [14]. SES support the structuring of real-world problems on a clear conceptual foundation, thereby taking into account the aforementioned interplay between society and nature which is a typical issue that can be addressed by transdisciplinary approaches.…”

Social-Ecological Dynamics of Ecosystem Services: Livelihoods and the Functional Relation between Ecosystem Service Supply and Demand—Evidence from Socotra Archipelago, Yemen and the Sahel Region, West Africa

“…It acts as a regulator of the ecosystem processes that underpin ES, and can be a final good in its own right [17,18]. Hence there is an urgent need to consider biodiversity in all its complexity, including its relation to and interaction with the ecosystem and society [9,[19][20][21][22]. The ES concept is generally discussed as being adequately conceived to address the relation between nature and society [6].…”