scholarly journals Securing the sea: ecosystem-based adaptation and the biopolitics of insuring nature's rents

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Mexican State ◽  
Systematic Risks ◽  
Conservation Finance ◽  
Uncertain Future

With the emergence of the so-called Blue Economy, various conservation finance mechanisms and financial structures are being proposed as a means of simultaneously securing marine biodiversity and profit-making. A novel approach that is being applied within this new conservation finance frontier is the integration of ecosystem-based adaptation and insurance. By synthesizing recent literatures in political ecology on the notion of rent and the biopolitics of nature, this article explores how the integration of ecosystem-based adaptation and insurance can be seen as a technique that is mobilized for governing ecosystem rents biopolitically. The article urges political ecologists to pay attention to how biopolitics and governance of rents intersect in market-based environmental governance. While surveying the breadth of projects that involves both adaptation and insurance, I pay particular attention to a parametric coral reef insurance that was recently introduced in the Mexican state Quintana Roo. Such a project, this article argues, involves reconceptualizing the coral reef as an infrastructure that provides benefits – ultimately rents – to the local tourist industry and indirectly the state, but this coral infrastructure is itself in need of being protected through insurance as a biopolitical measure that can ensure the future life of the coral reef by rendering calculable uncertain, future climate threats to the reef. By reconceptualizing ecosystems as infrastructure that can be insured, the notion of ecosystem-based adaptation operationalizes otherwise systematic risks posed by climate change and biodiversity loss on a local scale. Finally, I highlight some of the complications that are involved when insurance is used as a biopolitical means of making nature live.

Marine Metazoan Modern Mass Extinction: Improving Predictions by Integrating Fossil, Modern, and Physiological Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 369-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piero Calosi ◽  
Hollie M. Putnam ◽  
Richard J. Twitchett ◽  
Fanny Vermandele
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
Modern Mass

Evolution, extinction, and dispersion are fundamental processes affecting marine biodiversity. Until recently, studies of extant marine systems focused mainly on evolution and dispersion, with extinction receiving less attention. Past extinction events have, however, helped shape the evolutionary history of marine ecosystems, with ecological and evolutionary legacies still evident in modern seas. Current anthropogenic global changes increase extinction risk and pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems, which are critical for human use and sustenance. The evaluation of these threats and the likely responses of marine ecosystems requires a better understanding of evolutionary processes that affect marine ecosystems under global change. Here, we discuss how knowledge of ( a) changes in biodiversity of ancient marine ecosystems to past extinctions events, ( b) the patterns of sensitivity and biodiversity loss in modern marine taxa, and ( c) the physiological mechanisms underpinning species’ sensitivity to global change can be exploited and integrated to advance our critical thinking in this area.

scholarly journals Participatory Mapping for Strengthening Environmental Governance on Socio-Ecological Impacts of Infrastructure in the Amazon: Lessons to Improve Tools and Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 14048
Author(s):  
Carla Mere-Roncal ◽  
Gabriel Cardoso Carrero ◽  
Andrea Birgit Chavez ◽  
Angelica Maria Almeyda Zambrano ◽  
Bette Loiselle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Participatory Mapping ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Novel Approach

The Amazon region has been viewed as a source of economic growth based on extractive industry and large-scale infrastructure development endeavors, such as roads, dams, oil and gas pipelines and mining. International and national policies advocating for the development of the Amazon often conflict with the environmental sector tasked with conserving its unique ecosystems and peoples through a sustainable development agenda. New practices of environmental governance can help mitigate adverse socio-economic and ecological effects. For example, forming a “community of practice and learning” (CoP-L) is an approach for improving governance via collaboration and knowledge exchange. The Governance and Infrastructure in the Amazon (GIA) project, in which this study is embedded, has proposed that fostering a CoP-L on tools and strategies to improve infrastructure governance can serve as a mechanism to promote learning and action on factors related to governance effectiveness. A particular tool used by the GIA project for generating and sharing knowledge has been participatory mapping (Pmap). This study analyzes Pmap exercises conducted through workshops in four different Amazonian regions. The goal of Pmap was to capture different perspectives from stakeholders based on their experiences and interests to visualize and reflect on (1) areas of value, (2) areas of concern and (3) recommended actions related to reducing impacts of infrastructure development and improvement of governance processes. We used a mixed-methods approach to explore textual analysis, regional multi-iteration discussion with stakeholders, participatory mapping and integration with ancillary geospatial datasets. We believe that by sharing local-knowledge-driven data and strengthening multi-actor dialogue and collaboration, this novel approach can improve day to day practices of CoP-L members and, therefore, the transparency of infrastructure planning and good governance.

Considering the concept of the ecological civilization for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity under the umbrella of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction instrument

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-262
Author(s):  
Sabrina Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Ecological Civilization ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Marine Environmental

In exploring how the concept of ecological civilization can be applied to maintain adequate marine environmental governance for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, the article first highlights the existing issues concerning conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity. It then suggests that ecological civilization can contribute as a norm to formulate the principles and approaches as well as to set goals and targets under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction instrument.

Uphill Battle: Forest Rights and Restoration on Podu Landscapes in Keonjhar, Odisha

2022 ◽  
pp. 097317412110573
Author(s):  
Laura M. Valencia
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Plantation Forest ◽  
Tree Plantation ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Forest Landscape Restoration ◽  
Forest Tenure

In response to the global climate emergency and biodiversity loss, environmental advocates promote ecological restoration of millions of hectares of the world’s degraded forest lands. Lands of high value to restoration are home to nearly 300 million people, including 12% of low- and middle-income country populations. In this article, I respond to calls for greater empirical investigation into the social impacts of forest landscape restoration. Through spatial and ethnographic analysis of forest restoration in Keonjhar, Odisha (India), I show that state-led afforestation efforts contradict a decade of forest tenure reform which sought to decentralize and decolonize forest governance. I explore how state-led efforts ignore (and inhibit) the continued protagonism of forest-dwelling communities in forest regeneration on their customary lands. Weaving accounts from 1992 onwards across six villages and 22 plantations, I characterize state strategies as an ‘uphill battle’: by systematically selecting shifting cultivation (podu) uplands for enclosure and tree plantation, forest agencies contribute to a lose-lose situation where neither forest restoration nor forest rights are realized. Investigating this process from colonial forest policy to the present, I leverage a critical political ecology perspective that supports calls for rights-based restoration.

scholarly journals A faultline in neoliberal environmental governance scholarship? Or, why accumulation-by-alienation matters

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 552-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dunlap ◽  
Sian Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Social Engineering ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Critical Geography ◽  
Progressive Politics

This article identifies an emerging faultline in critical geography and political ecology scholarship by reviewing recent debates on three neoliberal environmental governance initiatives: Payments for Ecosystem Services, the United Nations programme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries and carbon-biodiversity offsetting. These three approaches, we argue, are characterized by varying degrees of contextual and procedural – or superficial – difference, meanwhile exhibiting significant structural similarities that invite critique, perhaps even rejection. Specifically, we identify three largely neglected ‘social engineering’ outcomes as more foundational to Payments for Ecosystem Services, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries and carbon-biodiversity offsetting than often acknowledged, suggesting that neoliberal environmental governance approaches warrant greater critical attention for their contributions to advancing processes of colonization, state territorialization and security policy. Examining the structural accumulation strategies accompanying neoliberal environmental governance approaches, we offer the term ‘accumulation-by-alienation’ to highlight both the objective appropriations accompanying Payments for Ecosystem Services, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries and offsetting and the relational deficiencies accompanying the various commodifying instrumentalizations at the heart of these initiatives. We concur with David Harvey’s recent work proposing that understanding the iterative and consequential connections between objective/material and subjective/psychological dimensions of alienation offers ‘one vital key to unlock the door of a progressive politics for the future’. We conclude (with others) by urging critical geography and political ecology scholars to cultivate research directions that affirm more radical alternatives, rather than reinforcing a narrowing focus on how to improve Payments for Ecosystem Services, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries and offsetting in practice.

scholarly journals Information brokerage in Caribbean coral reef governance networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-294
Author(s):  
Rachel A Turner ◽  
Johanna Forster ◽  
Angelie M Peterson ◽  
Robin Mahon ◽  
Clare Fitzsimmons
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Reef Management ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Governance Networks ◽  
Caribbean Coral Reef

SummaryPoor connectivity between diverse resource users and complex wider governance networks is a challenge in environmental governance. Organizations that ‘broker’ interactions among these relationships are expected to improve governance outcomes. Here, we used semi-structured interviews and social network analysis to identify actors in positions to broker coral reef-related information to and from resource users and to assess the performance of these brokers. Representatives (n = 262) of actor groups were interviewed, including local and national government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community organizations and resource user groups from 12 communities across four Caribbean countries, to map information-sharing networks and to identify brokers. Broker performance was assessed through separate interviews with coral reef resource users (n = 545). The findings show that marine NGOs were the highest-functioning brokers. Where such local-level organizations were absent, government agencies in reef management roles acted as brokers, but their performance was lower. Actors in brokerage positions did not always effectively share information, with broker performance being positively correlated with network brokerage scores. The results further our understanding of the roles of brokers in different governance contexts. Identifying those in brokerage positions and supporting their roles in connecting local resource users to wider governance networks could encourage functional brokerage and enhance reef management outcomes.

scholarly journals Mind the gap: Coping with delay in environmental governance

AMBIO ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 1067-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Karlsson ◽  
Michael Gilek
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Goal Achievement ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Policy Review ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
State Of The Environment ◽  
New Framework

Abstract Gaps between public policy goals and the state of the environment are often significant. However, while goal failures in environmental governance are studied in a number of disciplines, the knowledge on the various causes behind delayed goal achievement is still incomplete. In this article we propose a new framework for analysis of delay mechanisms in science and policy, with the intention to provide a complementary lens for describing, analysing and counteracting delay in environmental governance. The framework is based on case-study findings from recent research focusing on goal-failures in policies for climate change, hazardous chemicals, biodiversity loss and eutrophication. It is also related to previous research on science and policy processes and their interactions. We exemplify the framework with two delay mechanisms that we consider particularly important to highlight—denial of science and decision thresholds. We call for further research in the field, for development of the framework, and not least for increased attention to delay mechanisms in environmental policy review and development on national as well as international levels.

The Main Results of the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 249-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Buck
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Global Target ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Science Policy Interface ◽  
Global Biodiversity

AbstractThe Ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP9) in May 2008 in Bonn was one of the major international environmental meetings in 2008. Its decisions significantly advance global biodiversity politics on a range of critical issues and thereby help achieving the global target of substantially reducing current rates of biodiversity loss by 2010. This article describes the main decision adopted by COP9 on biofuels, marine biodiversity, biodiversity and climate change, access and benefit-sharing and the science-policy interface of international biodiversity politics.

Environmental Governance in Mexico: Two Case Studies of Oaxaca's Community Forest Sector

2006 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROSS E. MITCHELL
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Ecological Democracy

This article recognises the paucity of scholarly work on environmental governance in Latin America. More specifically, it is hypothesised that community-based forest management in Mexico serves as an ideal case of ecologically beneficial and democratic decision-making, or ecological democracy. After introducing some of the relevant literature, this hypothesis is tested through a comparison of two indigenous forest-based communities in Oaxaca's Sierra Norte. Four key themes primarily emerged from semi-structured interviews, participant observation and other data collection techniques: local governance, equitable decision-making, forest management and environmental awareness. In comparing these two Mexican communities, this article aims to extend ideas of ecological democracy by linking empirical findings to political ecology theory and community forestry literature. While it is true that ecological democracy in Mexico has been facilitated under certain socio-cultural conditions, it is concluded that it can be simultaneously hindered. The empirical findings provide an analytical framework for subsequent research on ecological democracy in Latin America.

Mapping coral reef environments

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 803-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Hamylton
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Reef Environments ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Historical Methods

Coral reef environments support high levels of marine biodiversity, they are important sites for coastal habitation and they provide a range of goods and ecosystem services such as nearshore fisheries, economic revenue from tourism and breeding sites for seabirds and turtles. Mapping is a fundamental activity that underpins our understanding of coral reef environments and helps to shape policies in resource management and conservation. This is particularly the case for quantifying the area of landcover types associated with reef environments, including coral patches, seagrasses and mangroves, but also for monitoring how these change over time and modelling how spatial patterns apparent on reefs are related to environmental drivers. Field techniques and aerial photography have historically played a crucial role in mapping coral reef environments, which has recently seen a transition toward the processing of satellite remote sensing images. This paper examines a series of maps produced of Low Isles, the most mapped island on the Great Barrier Reef, to review historical methods for mapping coral reefs because of the critical importance of understanding how past maps were made, which determines appropriate uses to which they can be put. Recent advances and future opportunities for the application of mapping technologies to coral reefs are also evaluated, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms for airborne surveys, delivery of information through web-based platforms and improvements in the quality of information for making and presenting maps. Maps have transformed the way we have responded to both historic and contemporary coral reef problems. This timely review communicates how maps, and the fast growing technologies that are employed to produce them, are central to our understanding of coral reef environments. Recent advances that may drive exciting new environmental management tools are identified.

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