Transcript Ecosystem Services Approach - Northern Ireland Environment Link

Ecosystem Services
What Nature Does for Us
www.nienvironmentlink.org
Ecosystem Services Approach
• Ecosystem – environment
• Ecosystem Services – the
goods and services which the
environment provides for
people
• Ecosystem Services
Approach – putting a value on
these services and considering
that value when making land
and sea use decisions
Provisioning Services
The products obtained from ecosystems
Renewable
Energy
Livestock
Timber
Crops
Fisheries
Drinking Water
Regulating Services
The benefits obtained from ecosystem processes
Pollination
Flood Control
Water
Purification
Climate Change
Mitigation and
Adaptation
Carbon Storage
Cultural Services
The non-material benefits of ecosystems
Scenery
Tourism
Sense of Place
Archaeology
Supporting Services
The functions necessary for ecosystems to deliver services
Biodiversity
Water Cycling
Soil Formation
Nutrient Cycling
Northern Ireland’s Ecosystem Services
Scenery
Renewable
Energy
Livestock
Tourism
Crops
Timber
Fisheries
Drinking Water
Flood Control
Biodiversity
Water
Purification
Soil Formation
Sense of Place
Carbon Storage
New Jargon or New Thinking?
• Accepted Internationally and at
UK level – Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment, UK
National EA, TEEB, Nagoya
treaty, UK Environment White
Paper
• Natural Capital, Green
Infrastructure
• Criticised for being ‘too human
oriented’ – but any value is
better than zero value
New Approach!
• Holistic, integrated, long term
• Identifying ‘win-win’ outcomes
• Way to deliver legislation and policy
– Water Framework Directive
– Greenhouse Gas Targets
– Energy and Resource Efficiency
– Food and Energy Security
• Deal with Climate Change – resilience and
adaptation; Low Carbon Economy
Integration
‘Effectively establishing coherent and
resilient ecological networks on land and
at sea requires a shift in emphasis, away
from piecemeal conservation actions and
towards a more effective, more integrated,
landscape scale approach.’
Biodiversity 2020;
a strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services
DEFRA 2011
Framework & Evidence
• Baseline assessment – to monitor change
• Linkages to other major strategies & themes
– Biodiversity – TEEB
– Landscape scale conservation
– Green infrastructure & Natural capital
– Climate change adaptation & mitigation
• Evocative & understandable language &
rationale
• Highlights local action & financial benefits
The NI NEA
Northern Ireland’s
Ecosystems
Land Uses
Broadleaf
Coniferous
Agricultural Land Classification
Ancient
Other
Mountains Moors and
Heaths
SNG
Agricultural Land Use
Enclosed Farmland
Woodlands
Freshwater
Urban
Habitats
Coastal Margin
Rough Grazing
Grass
Agricultural Crops
Woodland
Horticulture
Other Agricultural Land use
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
% of Total Land Area (Northern Ireland)
80%
90%
100%
Changes in Land Use 1998 - 2007
NEA – Next Steps
• Defra – £1.2 million / 18 months; Scottish
Government – £10 million/ 5 years
• UK 4 priority areas
– Research and valuation
– Cultural Services
– Scenarios – future planning
– Promotion and Communication
• NIEA – Peatland Services
• DARD – Policy review
Value and Price
• Functioning ecosystems deliver Goods (public
and private)
• These ‘goods’ have value (but are they valued?)
• Without a price, value is underestimated or
ignored completely in political and developmental
decisions
• Not easy
• Only provisioning is commonly given a financial
value
• Others complex to evaluate - use proxies, partials
Globally
degradation of
ecosystems &
services costs
$50 billion
annually
Ireland’s
National
Biodiversity
Plan estimates
value of
ecosystem
services at
€2.6 billion/year
ACTIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY 2011-2016
IRELAND’S NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY PLAN
Is our Environment
Valuable?
In 2006 the
environment
contributed
£573 million
and accounted
for 32,750 FTE
jobs
In 2011 the
historic
environment
of NI
generated
$287 million
of output and
sustains
5,400 FTE
jobs
Valuing an Ecosystem
What does Peatland do for us?
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Livestock grazing
Fuel peat
Wind farms
Carbon storage
Flood prevention
Water purification
Tourism
Archaeological heritage
Scenery
Soil formation
Biodiversity
How can we
obtain many of
these outputs
without
endangering the
ability to provide
the others?
Ecosystems work for free!
But only if they’re
cared for
Sustainable Catchment
Management
Good
Carbon
WTW
Bad
Carbon
WTW &
Extension
Drivers of Change
The Ecosystem Services Approach
• Determine what public goods – including
energy, food and their security – Northern
Ireland wants its land to provide
• Compare this with the capacity of
different ecosystems and areas to deliver
different services
• Develop policy and fiscal incentives to
encourage the use of land to provide multiple
ecosystem services suited to the capacity of the
land to deliver, taking care to avoid unintended
or perverse outcomes
Realising Land Capability
•
The capability of land to provide different services
depends upon its inherent characteristics and land
use history.
type
– Soil
quality
– Soil
– Water availability
ecosystems
– Natural
– Current and historical vegetation
•
Not all land is suitable for all uses. Land use
decisions should be based on capability of the land
and society’s needs
How Do We Manage Land?
We are Ignorant – but it’s no Excuse
• No perfect valuation for ecosystem services in
NI (or anywhere else)
• We do know:
– What they are and what they do for us
– They need to be actively protected
– They incur costs if degraded (fire, alien species)
– They cost to replace (pollination, water purification)
• Try to avoid unintended consequences
• Manage to enhance resilience
A Systems Approach
Moorland
Aesthetic
this?
• What type of system is
Cultural Heritage
Educational
•
How
can
we
describe this
system?
Forest
Water
Wood
Water
Regulation
Nutrient cyclingFuel and Energy
Pollution Control
•Bare
How
does this system work?
Soil formation
ground
Inspirational
Grass
Spiritual
Waterworking
Purification
Disease Regulation
• Is this system
well – is it
Food
Primary production
Freshwater
sustainable?
Fibre
Genetic resources
Pollination
• How
do we value this system?
• How is this system changing?
• What causes this system to change?
• How might this system change?
• What differences will system change
produce?
• How should this system change?
Benefits of the Approach
• Increase long term resilience of policies
and actions
• Reduce risks from failure of natural
systems
• Reduce public costs of degraded systems
• Help to deliver policy objectives
• Delivers other aspects of legislation and
policy
Today’s Work
How can adopting the ecosystem services
approach help to address many of the
issues facing Northern Ireland’s
environment, economy and rural
community?
How can the ecosystem approach help
DARD deliver its legislative requirements
and policy commitments?