Understanding the Use of Ecosystem Service Knowledge in Decision Making: Lessons from International Experiences of Spatial Planning

McKenzie, Emily; Posner, Stephen; Tillmann, Patrícia; Bernhardt, Joanna R.; Howard, Kirsten; Rosenthal, Amy

doi:10.1068/c12292j

Cited by 199 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Natural ecosystems such as wetlands, forests and coral reefs provide valuable goods and services to people, and there is now strong interest in understanding these ecosystem services as a step towards sustainable natural resource use McKenzie et al 2014;Potschin and Haines-Young 2013). The value of ecosystem services globally was first estimated by Costanza et al (1997), at around $33 trillion per year, after which interest in ecosystem service valuation has grown strongly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inequality and ecosystem services: The value and social distribution of Niger Delta wetland services

2015

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The Niger Delta wetlands are of international importance for their biodiversity, and support a large human population. The value and distribution of wetland ecosystem service benefits and costs across the three main stakeholder sectors (local community, government and corporate) were investigated. Results show that the net monetary value of the wetlands is $11,000 per delta household of which $9,000 was generated as cash income supporting household activities such as education and healthcare. The total annual value of provisioning services to local people is approximately $25 billion, about three times the value of oil production in the region. However, local communities also bear about 75% of the environmental costs of oil extraction, equivalent to about 19% of the oil industry profit. Local people, who experience considerable economic hardship and lack alternative income sources, receive little compensation from the oil sector. These results highlight the importance of understanding not only the benefits provided by Niger Delta wetlands, but also the distribution of the environmental costs associated with their use. We conclude that ecosystem service valuation studies should give greater attention to the social distribution of identified values. Such distributional analyses, rarely available, provide insight into how sustainable natural resource management policy and practice could be better aligned to social justice concerns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inequality and ecosystem services: The value and social distribution of Niger Delta wetland services

2015

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“…To more generally understand this issue, however, we also need quantitative, empirical research into how and why ES knowledge has an impact on decisions (5,7,13,14). This topic is an understudied area of research, not least because empirical data on impacts from replicate cases are difficult to compile.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…A few recent studies have focused on this issue with qualitative, in-depth case studies (13)(14)(15).…”

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confidence: 99%

Policy impacts of ecosystem services knowledge

Posner

McKenzie

Ricketts

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Research about ecosystem services (ES) often aims to generate knowledge that influences policies and institutions for conservation and human development. However, we have limited understanding of how decision-makers use ES knowledge or what factors facilitate use. Here we address this gap and report on, to our knowledge, the first quantitative analysis of the factors and conditions that explain the policy impact of ES knowledge. We analyze a global sample of cases where similar ES knowledge was generated and applied to decision-making. We first test whether attributes of ES knowledge themselves predict different measures of impact on decisions. We find that legitimacy of knowledge is more often associated with impact than either the credibility or salience of the knowledge. We also examine whether predictor variables related to the science-to-policy process and the contextual conditions of a case are significant in predicting impact. Our findings indicate that, although many factors are important, attributes of the knowledge and aspects of the science-to-policy process that enhance legitimacy best explain the impact of ES science on decision-making. Our results are consistent with both theory and previous qualitative assessments in suggesting that the attributes and perceptions of scientific knowledge and process within which knowledge is coproduced are important determinants of whether that knowledge leads to action. ecosystem services | science policy interface | conservation | knowledge systems | boundary organizations T he ongoing loss of biological diversity and persistence of poverty have sparked interest in policies that protect, restore, and enhance ecosystem services (ES). In response, there has been a growth in ES research that aims to inform policies, incentives, and institutions on a large scale (1-3). Despite this goal, scientific knowledge about ES continues to have limited impact on policy and decisions (1, 4-7).The fact that most land-and resource-use policy decisions still do not take ES into account stems in part from an ineffective interface between ES science and policy, a need for scientists to better understand decision-making processes, and challenges in clarifying conflicting stakeholder values (8-11). In some cases, the science-policy interface is an important aspect of decisionmaking, but often the ES research and policy communities are disconnected from one another, with limited interactions, infrequent exchanges of information, and different objectives that hinder coordinated science and policy processes (12). Many scientists conduct ES research without fully considering how the knowledge they are producing might be used (5). If we want ES information to be incorporated into decisions, then we need to understand how and why decision-makers use certain kinds of information. We define "information" as a tangible, factual output of scientific research produced through specific ES analyses; "knowledge" as a body of information learned and conveyed through scientific and policy processes; ...

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“…The presence of brownfields and abandoned areas is a key issue for today's cities, with strong economic and social implications (Nassauer and Raskin 2014), hence their regeneration is promoted amongst the strategies for sustainable urban development (European Commission 2016). Recent studies have analysed how, depending on their actual conditions, brownfields are or may be turnedthrough interventions that range from simply changing the management of the areas to demolishing, de-paving and regreening -into sources of ES for the urban population (Beames et al 2018, Collier 2014, Mathey et al 2015, McPhearson et al 2013). Our analysis focused specifically on the expected benefits in terms of improved cooling effect by vegetation and enhanced opportunities for nature-based recreation, thus addressing two of the most critical issues for citizens' well-being in Trento.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The regeneration of existing brownfields through their conversion to new urban parks is an opportunity to enhance several key ES for urban areas (Collier 2014, McPhearson et al 2013, including the two ES selected for the study. Urban green areas, especially when carefully designed (e.g.…”

Section: Selection Of Key Esmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping and assessing ecosystem services to support urban planning: A case study on brownfield regeneration in Trento, Italy

Cortinovis¹,

Geneletti²

2018

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This study explores the use of ecosystem service (ES) knowledge to support urban planning in the assessment of future scenarios. The case study concerns the prioritszation of brownfield regeneration interventions in the city of Trento (Italy). Alternative planning scenarios considering the conversion of existing brownfields into new urban parks are assessed and compared. The assessment focuses on two ES of critical importance for the city, namely microclimate regulation and nature-based recreation. The benefits of the different scenarios are quantified based on the number of expected beneficiaries broken down into different vulnerability classes and then compared through a multi-criteria analysis. Three combinations of criteria and weights reflect different planning objectives and related decision-makers' orientations about what ES and beneficiary groups should be prioritised. The application demonstrates the potential for ES assessments to support urban planning processes in the specific phase of assessment and selection of alternatives, by meeting the requirements in terms of both sensitivity to small-scale changes in land uses or management activities and capacity to capture simultaneous variations in supply and demand of multiple ES. convey information about ES in planning decisions. Multi-criteria analysis is an effective way to integrate multiple ES assessments with other information about costs and benefits of planning scenarios, exploring diverse stakeholder perspectives and balancing competing objectives in a rational and transparent way.

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Understanding the Use of Ecosystem Service Knowledge in Decision Making: Lessons from International Experiences of Spatial Planning

Cited by 199 publications

References 59 publications

Inequality and ecosystem services: The value and social distribution of Niger Delta wetland services

Inequality and ecosystem services: The value and social distribution of Niger Delta wetland services

Policy impacts of ecosystem services knowledge

Mapping and assessing ecosystem services to support urban planning: A case study on brownfield regeneration in Trento, Italy

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