Provisioning Ecosystem Services in Rural Savanna Landscapes of Northern Ghana: An Assessment of Supply, Utilization, and Drivers of Change

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaw Agyeman Boafo ◽  
◽  
Osamu Saito ◽  
Kazuhiko Takeuchi ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Provisioning Ecosystem Services ◽  
Study Sites

As a fundamental element of human lives, ecosystems and the services they provide across all socioecological regions are now under threat from human and natural activities. An assessment of the different categories of ecosystem services at various levels has become necessary for sustainable use and conservation. This study seeks to identify and characterize provisioning ecosystem services affecting rural households in the Tolon and Wa West Districts of northern Ghana. It examines the key dynamics of these services and discusses the major factors influencing their supply and utilization. The study employs rapid rural appraisal methods, including key informant interviews, household questionnaires surveys, focus group discussions, and participatory observations for collecting primary data. Findings indicate an extensive use of all provisioning services examined: bushmeat, crop and animal production, fish catches, fodder and forage, fuelwood, building materials, fresh water, and wild plants by households at all study sites. Averagely, 80% of households across the study sites collect and utilize these variety of services to support livelihood strategies. Our study also identified major challenges for sustainable supply and use of these ecosystem services, including the growing scarcity and decline in these services attributed to closely connected drivers such as cyclical drought, climate variation, land conversion, overharvesting, and a decline in traditional ecological knowledge. This study thus demonstrates the need for an integrated assessment that examines, at the local level, the interactions of various ecosystem services and human well-being to provide a scientific basis for formulation of effective coping and adaptation strategies in the midst of these challenges.

scholarly journals Towards an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Bethwell ◽  
Benjamin Burkhard ◽  
Katrin Daedlow ◽  
Claudia Sattler ◽  
Moritz Reckling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Conceptual Base ◽  
Provisioning Ecosystem Services ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Anthropogenic Contributions

AbstractProvisioning ecosystem services play a vital role in sustaining human well-being. Agro-ecosystems contribute a significant share of these services, besides food and fodder and also fuel and fibre as well as regulating and cultural ecosystem services. Until now, the indication of provisioning ecosystem services of agro-ecosystems has been based almost only on yield numbers of agricultural products. Such an indication is problematic due to several reasons which include a disregard of the role of significant anthropogenic contributions to ecosystem service co-generation, external environmental effects and strong dependence on site conditions. We argue for an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services that considers multiple aspects of their delivery. The conceptual base for such an indication has been made by prior publications which have been reviewed. Relevant points were taken up in this article and condensed into a conceptual model in order to develop a more holistic and expanded set of indictors, which was then exemplarily applied and tested in three case studies in Germany. The case studies represent different natural conditions, and the indicator set application showed that ecosystem services (ES) flow—in terms of output alone—does not characterise agro-ecosystems sufficiently. The proposed aspects of provisioning ecosystem services can give a fuller picture, for example, by input-output relationships, as it is possible by just using single indicators. Uncertainties as well as pros and cons of such an approach are elaborated. Finally, recommendations for an enhanced indication of provisioning ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems that can help to integrate agricultural principles with ideas of sustainability and site-specific land use are derived.

scholarly journals Nexus between Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Ecosystem Services: A Socio-Ecological Analysis for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manob Das ◽  
Arijit Das ◽  
Selim Seikh ◽  
Rajiv Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Demographic Attributes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The well-being of the human society cannot be ensured and sustainable unless the flow of Ecosystem Services (ESs) would be matching with their consistent demand. The consistent flow of ESs required sustainable management of ecological resources of the ecosystem. The management of ecosystem can be ensured with variety of approaches. Integration of indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) in management prescription with the view that IEK based extraction of ESs ensures removal of resources from the ecosystem within the limit thereby ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem. Present study is an evaluation to understand the nexus between ESs and IEK for sustainable environmental management. The focus of the study was a tribal dominated socio-ecological patch of Barind Region of Malda district, Eastern India. The assessment of ESs and IEK was based on the data collected from the randomly selected tribal households following the pre-tested questionnaire containing questions on ESs as per millennium ecosystem assessment. The data were analyzed following social preference approach, and statistical tests (Krushkal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). General linear model (GLM) has also been used to examine the impact of socio-demographic attributes on the perceived valuation of ESs. The results revealed that the provisioning ESs (such as water, fuel wood, medical plants) was most preferred followed by cultural and regulating ESs by tribal. Differential importance of ESs was observed among tribal and accounted by gender, education as well as age of the tribe. A gap between the actual accessibility and evaluation of ESs by the tribal communities was also apparent. The socio-demographic attributes have an immense impact on the valuation of ecosystem services and also governed based on the IEK. Various types of indigenous ecological belief systems were closely linked with conservation of ecosystem and sustainable supply of ESs. Present study can contribute to understand socio-ecological nexus with the lens of IEK in tribal dominated ecological landscapes for improved ecosystem and environmental management besides ensuring sustainability of flow of ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Local perceptions and factors determining ecosystem services identification around two forest reserves in Northern Benin

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard N. Gouwakinnou ◽  
Séverin Biaou ◽  
Fifanou G. Vodouhe ◽  
Marc S. Tovihessi ◽  
Beranger K. Awessou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Wild Food ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Poverty Index ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Identification Rate

Abstract Background Ecosystems provide humanity with goods and services known as ecosystem services. The value of these services represents a basis for political decision-making. To be sure that these decisions are made on a valid basis, policymakers require an understanding of the biophysical processes involved. This study was carried out around two forest reserves (Alibori-Supérieur and Ouénou-Bénou) in Northern Benin. It aimed to highlight the knowledge of the surrounding communities and their perceptions about the importance of the ecosystem services provided by these forest reserves as well as the factors that influence their knowledge and perceptions. Methods Primary data were collected from 25 group discussions in 25 villages surrounding the forest reserves based on predefined ecosystems services of the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MA). Multiple linear regression models were used to examine how socio-economic characteristics of the communities influenced the ecosystem services identification rate. Perceptions of importance, levels of satisfaction, and trends of services provided were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Our results showed that education level, poverty index, household size, and proximity to forests played an important role in the variation in knowledge of ecosystem services (P < 0.05). Provisioning services (such as crops supply, fuelwood, lumber, wild food, and medicinal plants) were mostly identified by the poorest villages located very close to the forests (P < 0.05). The importance of the provided services for well-being has been unanimously recognized. The most recognized cultural services were education and knowledge facilitation (84%) and spiritual value (76%). Climate regulation (84%) and pollination (84%) were the best-known regulating services. However, supporting services (soil formation and pest regulation) that are important for improving production systems were unknown to the communities. Conclusion Education level, poverty index, and village proximity to the forest were important predictors of regulating and supporting services identification. But use of non-tangible services by local rural communities will require more emphasis on targeted environmental education specifically designed according to the needs of each group.

scholarly journals Community Based Assessment of the Changes of Provisioning Ecosystem Services of Aral Haor of Sylhet District

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (09) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Siddique Mim ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Mapping ◽  
Provisioning Ecosystem Services ◽  
High Sedimentation ◽  
Community People ◽  
Provisioning Services

Haor is a well-known wetland feature in Bangladesh because of its dynamic ecosystem which is changeable with the seasonal variation. The majority people of the community are critically dependent on the haor. This paper attempts to analyse the provisioning ecosystem services of Aral Haor of Sylhet District, their changes and why the changes occurred during the last 30 years since 1990 to 2020 through community assessment. The papers argues that the community based approach integrates the local people to reveal the actual scenario of the livelihood dependency on the provision ecosystem services as they are the main user of the provisioning services. Thus the primary data were collected through observation, FGD, Community Mapping and interview with experts. The study found that community the service providing area of the Aral haor have not been changed in mentionable level over the 30 years, however the shape of the haor have been changed slightly due to high sedimentation. Along with rice cultivation during dry season, natural irrigation, fishing and bird nesting were most important to provisoing services to the community which have been changes due to both natural and anthropogenic activities. The study concludes that even having importance of the Aral hoar, not any measurer has been taken by local authority to conserve the Aral hoar ecosystem services those are very vital for the livelihood of the thousands of community people living nearby.

scholarly journals The development of the concept of ecosystem services: A review of foreign Publications

2015 ◽  
pp. 26-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Konyushkov
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Recent Decade ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Market Values ◽  
Valuation Of Ecosystem Services ◽  
Number Of Publications

Foreign publications devoted to the problems of determination and valuation of ecosystem services and their practical application in planning economic activities are under review. This direction of studies is being rapidly developed. It was clearly shaped after the global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment performed in 2005 on the initiative of the United Nations. In the recent decade, this direction has got an official status; specialized journals have been founded; regular conferences and workshops have been conducted. The number of publications in this field has increased considerably. The contribution of soil scientists to the valuation of ecosystem services remains modest. It is argued that the assessment and valuation of the ecosystem services of soils is a promising direction for soil science. Ecosystem services are subdivided into the groups of provisional, regulating, cultural, and supporting services. The latter group is considered the natural basis ensuring the efficient performance of other ecosystem services with their direct or indirect impact on human well-being. The assessment of ecosystem services implies three major directions: ecological, economic (monetary), and social. For each of the groups of ecosystem services, specific methods of their economic valuation are applied. Thus, provisional services are mainly assessed according to their market values. The contribution of provisional services to the total value of ecosystem services is relatively small. Regulating services are often estimated by the avoided cost and replacement cost methods, and cultural services (recreation, inspiration source, aesthetic value, spiritual value) are valued by the travel cost method. The methods of nonmarketable valuation are essentially based on the willingness-to-pay approach. Upon valuation of ecosystem services at the local level, a systems approach should be applied; it is necessary to taken into account cooperation bonus obtained by the particular stakeholders. It should also be noted that the removal of additional pressures from ecosystems in a given place might result in the increase of the anthropogenic loads on ecosystems in other places. The separation, mapping, and valuation of ecosystem services are performed with an ultimate goal to ensure sustainable development of the society and human well-being. The ecological and economic approaches in this field are actually aimed at strengthening of the role of market mechanisms in the environmental protection policy.

scholarly journals From City- to Site-Dimension: Assessing the Urban Ecosystem Services of Different Types of Green Infrastructure

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrycia Brzoska ◽  
Aiga Spāģe
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Scale Structures

Cities have a wide variety of green infrastructure types, such as parks and gardens. These structures can provide important ecosystem services (ES) with a major impact on human well-being. With respect to urban planning, special consideration must be given to such green infrastructure types when implementing measures to maintain and enhance the quality of life. Therefore, generating knowledge on the urban ES of differently scaled green infrastructure types is important. This systematic literature review provides an overview of existing studies which have explicitly investigated the urban ES of differently spatial-scaled green infrastructure types. By reviewing 76 publications, we confirm rising academic interest in this topic. The most frequently assessed urban ES belong to the category Regulating and Maintenance. Only a few have considered individual small structures such as green roofs or single gardens; green spaces are often aggregated into one, mostly city-wide, object of investigation, with resulting oversimplifications. Moreover, generalizing methods are mostly applied. Simultaneously, many studies have applied methods to evaluate location-specific primary data. More research is needed on small-scale structures, in particular to consider site-, and thus location-specific, parameters in order to successfully implement the ES concept into urban planning and to obtain realistic results for ES assessments.

scholarly journals Identification, Prioritization and Mapping of Ecosystem Services in the Panchase Mountain Ecological Region of Western Nepal

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shankar Adhikari ◽  
Himlal Baral ◽  
Craig Nitschke
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Cultural Services ◽  
The Status ◽  
Ecological Region ◽  
Forest Users ◽  
Provisioning Services

Ecosystem services (ES) are critical to human well-being, especially in developing countries. Improved understanding of the status of ES is required to help people improve their quality of life. The status of ES is largely unknown in many regions of Nepal. This study was carried out in one of Nepal’s biodiversity hotspots, the Panchase Mountain Ecological region (PMER), to identify, prioritize and map the major ES in the region. Primary data for the study were collected through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, a transect walk, and field observations. Similarly, secondary data were obtained from published and unpublished reports and satellite images of the study area. The data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Thirty-seven ES were identified from the study landscape. Among them, nine were provisioning services, thirteen regulating services, nine cultural services, and six supporting services. Interestingly, the prioritization of ES among stakeholders differed on the basis of their background, particular features of their landscape, professional engagement, and individual interests. For instance, forest users prioritized provisioning services for their daily needs whereas forest managers prioritized regulating and cultural services for overall ecosystem management and aesthetic values. Mapping of the ES from the landscape for 1995 and 2015 identified that forest area and associated ES have likely increased, especially in the upland regions, while agricultural land and their associated ES have decreased. The study can be used as a reference by planners and policy makers in managing ES in the PMER to increase synergies and reduce trade-off among various services.

scholarly journals Economic Value of Cultural Ecosystem Services in India: A Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muniyandi Balasubramanian
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Future Generation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Service

Cultural ecosystem service (CES) is one of the important components in the ecosystem services framework which was designed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Cultural ecosystems services are the non-material benefits provides by various ecosystem services such as forest, wetland etc. CES is the vital contribution in the human well-being such as good physical and mental health. Further, CES is the major role in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for health and well-being. CES is still less primary investigation the economic literature especially in the Indian context link with the sustainable ecosystem management. Therefore, economic value of cultural ecosystem services is needed to study in the local level aspects. In the above mentioned context, this chapter is present the economic value of cultural ecosystem services in India. The main policy implication of the study is to design entry fee for many protected areas such as wildlife sanctuary, national park as well as sustainable environmental management for the present and future generation.

scholarly journals Integration of Ecosystem Services and Green and Blue Infrastructures Concepts in the Land Use Planning Process: The Coimbra Case Study

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Luís Valença Pinto ◽  
Carla Sofia Santos Ferreira ◽  
Paulo Pereira ◽  
Sander Jacobs ◽  
Ieva Misiune ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
National Level ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Eu

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) initiated in 2001 aims to assess the impacts of human pressure on ecosystem services (ES) and human well-being. Since then, the ES have been a worldwide concern, namely regarding to biodiversity loss and land use management (MA, 2005). The EU 2010 Biodiversity Baseline Report stated that 65% of habitats of EU importance were in an unfavorable conservation status, mainly due to anthropic activities over time (EEA, 2010). As a consequence, in 2011, the EU adopted the Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, requiring all Member States to actively work towards stopping the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020, and to restore ecosystems. ES are particularly relevant in urban areas, where most population is concentrated and expected to reach almost 70% of the total population by 2050 (UN-DESA, 2018). Strategically planned urban Green and Blue Infrastructures (GBI) can be designed and implemented in cities to effectively provide a wide range of ES, relevant to address urban sustainability and resilience to climate change, and thus effectively contribute to stop and revert ES deterioration and loss. However, the integration of ES and GBI concepts into national, regional and local policies and plans, and their effectiveness to implement the EU Biodiversity Strategy, is still a major challenge. This paper aims to analyze the horizontal and vertical integration of the ES and GBI concepts in the Portuguese policies and land use planning, at national, regional and local levels, focusing on the municipality of Coimbra. Among the 19 documents analyzed, most of them are defined at national level (12) and 6 of them are defined at local level. At the regional level, only one single plan is available, although it is still not officially approved and published, despite started being prepared in 1991. This regional situation mirrors the current status of the Portuguese administrative levels, which was triggered by the negative result of the 1998 referendum on the regionalization process. This referendum prevented necessary changes in the administrative divisions, so that current regional divisions do not reflect the economic, demographic and cultural realities of the country, having been emptied of administrative powers. The analysis shows a strong integration of the ES and GBI concepts at the national level, but the vertical coordination shows that plenty of work needs to be done to fully embrace the ES and GBI concepts. This research was performed in the UrbanGaia project, funded through the ERA-net BiodivERsA 3 2015 call under grants BRAIN-be BR/175/A1/URBANGAIA-BE (Belgium); 01LC1616A (Germany); S-BIODIVERSA-17-17-1 (Lithuania), and BIODIVERSA/0008/2015 (Portugal).

scholarly journals Mapping and Assessment of Urban Ecosystem Services: Capacity in Vilnius City

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-38
Author(s):  
Ieva Misiūnė ◽  
Darijus Veteikis
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mapping Method ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Additional Tool ◽  
The City

Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits people gain from ecosystems, which are essential to human well-being. ES concept allows us to demonstrate more clearly the importance of nature, understand its benefits and justify its preservation. Knowledge on ecosystem’s capacity to provide services and the demand for these services allows us more effectively organize spatial planning, avoid conflicts and protect the ecosystems from degradation. This article reviews one of the ES assessment and mapping method called ES matrix model and presents its application to Vilnius case study. Using the method and expert knowledge twelve ES were assessed and mapped. The review of the method has shown that it can be applied at different scales and to evaluate several ES simultaneously. In previous studies, the method was applied to assess ES capacities both locally and at European level, often using expert knowledge for ES evaluation. Method application for the case study confirms that the results of the evaluation mainly depends on primary data, i.e. the scale and accuracy of the land used map and the sufficient sample of experts. The case study showed that the lowest concentration of evaluated services is in the center of Vilnius town and surrounding neighborhoods, and as the distance from the city center increases, the number of ES increases as well. An ES richness map, which shows how many different services exist in a given area, showed a low number of ES in the central and western part of the city (a maximum 6 out of 12 services rated). Additional research, however, is needed to assess the quality of the existing services. Such an assessment of the ES potential and the quality of the services can serve as an additional tool for territorial planning and efficient use of green urban spaces.

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