Interplay of multiple goods, ecosystem services, and property rights in large social-ecological marine protected areas

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Protected areas are a cornerstone of biodiversity conservation, and increasingly, conservation science is integrating ecological and social considerations in park management. Indeed, both social and ecological factors need to be considered to understand processes that lead to changes in environmental conditions. Here, we use a social-ecological systems lens to examine changes in governance through time in an extensive regional protected area network, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. We studied the peerreviewed and nonpeer-reviewed literature to develop an understanding of governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and its management changes through time. In particular, we examined how interacting and changing property rights, as designated by the evolving marine protected area network and other institutional changes (e.g., fisheries management), defined multiple goods and ecosystem services and altered who could benefit from them. The rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in 2004 substantially altered the types and distribution of property rights and associated benefits from ecosystem goods and services. Initially, commonpool resources were enjoyed as common and private benefits at the expense of public goods (overexploited fisheries and reduced biodiversity and ecosystem health). The rezoning redefined the available goods and benefits and who could benefit, prioritizing public goods and benefits (i.e., biodiversity conservation), and inducing private costs (through reduced fishing). We also found that the original conceptualization of the step-wise progression of property rights from user to owner oversimplifies property rights based on its division into operational and collective-choice rule-making levels. Instead, we suggest that a diversity of available management tools implemented simultaneously can result in interactions that are seldom fully captured by the original conceptualization of the bundling of property rights. Understanding the complexities associated with overlapping property rights and multiple goods and ecosystem services, particularly within large-scale systems, can help elucidate the source and nature of some of the governance challenges that large protected areas are facing.

‘The tragedy of the commons’ by underuse: toward a conceptual framework based on ecosystem services and satoyama perspective

“…In this sense, socioecological system (SES) debates should be further investigated (e.g. Ostrom 2009;McGinnis and Ostrom 2014;Ban et al 2015;Partelow and Winkler 2016) if policy or practical agendas for solving underuse problems are to be seriously considered. Second, the theme of local peculiarities should have greater recognition and be subject to more exploration.…”

Interlinking ecosystem services and Ostrom’s framework through orientation in sustainability research

“…Ban et al (2015) demonstrate how the coconsideration of multiple ES in an analysis structured with the SESF can help better understand complexities in a large-scale marine system. Grêt-Regamey et al (2014) suggest incorporating Ostrom's tiered structure of multilevel interactions to map ES assessments.…”

Advancing social-ecological research through teaching: summary, observations, and challenges

“…Lacroix and Richards (2015) applied the design principles to the carbon tax in British Columbia, Canada, and found that their assessment added insights beyond those provided by existing policy analyses. Ban et al (2015b) used a SES lens to examine changes in governance through time in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Australia, assessing changes in property rights and multiple goods and ecosystems services.…”

“…This special feature thus had two objectives: (1) provide examples and support for teachers committed to engaging students with ideas around complex SESs (Ban et al 2015a, Cox 2015, and (2) provide a set of case studies led by or involving students that examines large case studies (> 10,000 km²; Ban et al 2015b, Lacroix and Richards 2015, Lancaster et al 2015, Taggart-Hodge and Schoon 2016, Tyson 2017, Villamayor-Tomas et al 2016). …”