On the use of multicriteria decision analysis to formally integrate community values into ecosystem‐based freshwater management

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are essential to peoples' economic, cultural, and social well‐being, yet are still among the most threatened ecosystems on the planet. Consequently, a plethora of recent regulations and policies seek to halt the loss of restore or safeguard freshwaters, their biodiversity, and the ecosystem services they provide. Ecosystem‐based management (EBM), an approach that considers human society as an integral part of ecosystems, is increasingly being promoted to help meet this challenge. EBM involves an overarching regulatory framework and local solutions with trade‐offs and compromises—factors that not only make decision processes complex but also provide the means for combining top–down regulation with bottom‐up priorities into collaborative management strategies. Although stakeholder participation is encouraged in most modern freshwater management, community values are often largely neglected. Here, we introduce a well‐known participatory decision support framework based on multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) to operationalize EBM and promote community‐inclusive decision making in freshwater management. We explain the different steps that this approach comprises, which lead to the prioritization of a management strategy in a collaborative way. We also show how cultural values that inherently embed strong links between the environment and people can be used together with typical ecological and socio‐economic values. We illustrate the MCDA‐based EBM‐approach for New Zealand, one of the few countries in which regional freshwater management is mandated to uphold environmental quality standards, while safeguarding local community values and ecosystem services. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges, which are increasingly emerging as a result of mandated community collaboration in environmental management.

Integrating multiple aquatic values: Perspectives and a collaborative future for river science

“…How, then, can scientists best acknowledge, and work alongside, different forms of knowledge to view and manage rivers as social‐ecological systems? Five papers in the special issue examine this challenge and recommend methods for integrating different forms of knowledge (Brierley et al, 2019; Kauffman, 2019; Knight, 2019; Langhans, Jähnig, & Schallenberg, 2019; Parsons, 2019).…”

“…It can be difficult to incorporate a wide range of views and different information types when making management decisions. To address this challenge, Langhans et al (2019) propose a decision support framework based on multi‐criteria decision analysis to facilitate ecosystem‐based management of fresh waters. Ecosystem‐based management is a potential approach for halting the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.…”

“…It involves a process for collaborative management that considers human society as an integral part of ecosystems and seeks to combine top‐down regulation with bottom‐up priorities. Langhans et al (2019) suggest a transparent approach for combining science‐based limits with local cultural knowledge in a participatory process, which seeks to improve participation by stakeholders.…”

“…Threats to managing rivers as social‐ecological systems can arise at all three levels, and an approach for addressing threats at one level may not be appropriate for all levels. Furthermore, as noted by Langhans et al (2019), policy direction from central government has often lacked the accompanying policy guidance to assist effective implementation. The translation and implementation of theoretical concepts and policies in practical settings therefore need to be considered.…”

“…Furthermore, as noted by Langhans et al (2019), policy direction from central government has often lacked the accompanying policy guidance to assist effective implementation. The translation and implementation of theoretical concepts and policies in practical settings therefore need to be considered.…”