Moving beyond the ecosystem in ecosystem health report cards

Laumann, Katie May; Nastase, Emily A.; Vargas-Nguyen, Vanessa; Kelsey, Heath; Carew, Annie; Donovan, E.; Fries, Alexandra; Spitzer, Suzanne E.; Dennison, William C.

doi:10.1080/14660466.2019.1689087

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

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“…However, in a review of more than 100 water-related indices, Vollmer et al ( 2016 ) concluded that, in spite of the proliferation of water-related indices during the last two decades, it has been difficult for end-users to navigate and identify appropriate assessment methods for their informational needs and/or to understand and interpret results in a useful manner for decision-making. This suggests a need to not only better integrate environmental and socioeconomic indicators (Sullivan and Meigh 2007 ; Robinson et al 2019 ; Laumann et al 2019 ), but also engage with the end users and tailor indicators to the unique context in which they are being applied (Benavides et al 2019 ; Bremer et al 2020 ). This should contribute to more effective IWRM as watershed management needs to be grounded on issues and concerns that matter most in a particular place at a certain point in time (Watson et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Operationalizing Integrated Water Resource Management in Latin America: Insights from Application of the Freshwater Health Index

Bezerra

Vollmer

Acero³

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

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Water crises in Latin America are more a consequence of poor management than resource scarcity. Addressing water management issues through better coordination, identification of problems and solutions, and agreement on common objectives to operationalize integrated water resources management (IWRM) could greatly improve water governance in the region. Composite indices have great potential to help overcome capacity and information challenges while supporting better IWRM. We applied one such index, the Freshwater Health Index (FHI) in three river basins in Latin America (Alto Mayo, Perú; Bogotá, Colombia; and Guandu, Brazil) to assess freshwater ecosystem vitality, ecosystem services, and the water governance system in place. The approach included convening management agencies, water utilities, planning authorities, local NGOs and industries, community groups and researchers to co-implement the FHI. The results provide detailed information on the ecological integrity of each basin and the sustainability of the ecosystem services being provided. All three basins show very low scores for governance and stakeholder engagement, thus improving both in the region should be a priority. The results also shed light on how the FHI framework can help inform decision-making to improve IWRM implementation by facilitating stakeholder engagement while contributing to coordination, identification of problems and solutions as well as agreement on common objectives. Because implementation of IWRM is part of the solution for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.5 (“By 2030, implement IWRM at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate”), our case studies can serve as examples to other Latin American countries to achieve SDG 6.5.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Operationalizing Integrated Water Resource Management in Latin America: Insights from Application of the Freshwater Health Index

Bezerra

Vollmer

Acero³

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

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Agricultural Use Report Card development: A case study in the Fitzroy Basin, Queensland

Johnston

Flint

Rolfe

2022

Ecological Indicators

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Assessment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed socio-ecological system through the Circles of Coastal Sustainability framework

Leyva Ollivier,

Newton,

Kelsey

2024

Front. Water

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The concern with preserving natural resources for the future has been capturing global attention due to the state of decline of productive ecosystems. Chesapeake Bay, a large estuary located on the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States of America is such a productive ecosystem supporting thousands of animal and plants species, and the surrounding human population. Despite the concept of sustainable development, there has been continued pressure on the natural resources and the ecosystem services of the Bay. Institutional restoration and management efforts have been extensive, generating organizations, agreements, regulations and projects, among others. This research assesses Chesapeake Bay’s sustainability in four domains: environment, social, economy, and governance, using the Circles of Coastal Sustainability methodology. Each of the four domains has five categories, and each category is evaluated by the authors’ expert judgment using indicators related to the socio-ecological system and the definition of sustainable development. The article proposes a global sustainability score developed by a literature review of sustainability evaluated through the expert judgment of the authors. The results from the framework gave a “Satisfactory” score to the overall system; the environment and economic domains obtained the “Satisfactory” score, whilst the government and social domains obtained “Good” and “Poor” scores, respectively. The categories ranged between “Excellent” and “Poor” scores. The “Excellent” score was obtained by organization. The “Poor” score was obtained by five categories across the domains including social benefits, demographic, identity, security, and economic wellbeing. The assessment showed that the system has degradation problems, but the results have provided a general foundation for management bridges and barriers for sustainable development, with the barriers used to discuss new bridges towards holistic management proposals. The framework is a tool in progress to communicate to various actors the current sustainability development with the available information, provide a holistic system view, and find knowledge gaps in the research of a system. Similarly, the framework and assessment can be complemented, adapted, refined, and improved with each application as part of an adaptive management iterative cycle.

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Moving beyond the ecosystem in ecosystem health report cards

Cited by 4 publications

References 7 publications

Operationalizing Integrated Water Resource Management in Latin America: Insights from Application of the Freshwater Health Index

Operationalizing Integrated Water Resource Management in Latin America: Insights from Application of the Freshwater Health Index

Agricultural Use Report Card development: A case study in the Fitzroy Basin, Queensland

Assessment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed socio-ecological system through the Circles of Coastal Sustainability framework

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