Using the Concepts and Tools of Social Ecological Systems and Ecosystem Services to Advance the Practice of Ecosystem-Based Management

Abstract

Environmental problems are very often wicked problems: they are persistent, they have no clear end, and involve moral choices resulting in winners and losers. Just as the ecological and biological elements of these problems are dynamic and complex, so the social and political elements are also constantly changing and do not follow linear patterns. Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is an approach developed to work on wicked problems that recognizes social-ecological systems and the need to incorporate systems thinking into natural resource management. In this chapter we describe the scope and scale of this book and briefly discuss its four sections:

Regenerative Water Management Across Scales: A Retrofit Vision for Biosphere Sustainability

“…According to EBM, aquatic ecosystems are implied as unified water bodies and this mindset moves away from a limited (partial) consideration of single services, such as drinking water, water for irrigation, natural assimilation capacity of pollution, etc. (O'Higgins;DeWitt & Lago, 2020). We notice this tendency of merging the knowledge on water bodies in other works, such as "conjunctive use" of both surface and groundwater (Singh, 2014).…”

“…At the ecosystem level, the destruction of aquatic ecosystems is of particular concern. Marine and freshwater ecosystems are experiencing biodiversity loss more rapidly than their terrestrial counterparts (O'Higgins;DeWitt & Lago, 2020). At the same time, water management of aquatic ecosystems is much more challenging and sophisticated than that of single water bodies.…”

“…A holistic approach is applied to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and improve the prominence of water governance considering the relationship among aquatic species as well as with their abiotic environment, interactions with terrestrial ecosystems and coastal zones. As a step forward to the coevolution of humans with nature, EBM takes the perspective that human social systems are contained within the ecological ecosystem and completely interdependent within it (O'Higgins;DeWitt & Lago, 2020). The key highlights of the EBM are summarized below, whereas the reader is recommended to address the original publication "Ecosystem-based management and ecosystem services: Theory, tools and applications" by O'Higgins, Lago and DeWitt (2020).…”

“…As a step forward to the coevolution of humans with nature, EBM takes the perspective that human social systems are contained within the ecological ecosystem and completely interdependent within it (O'Higgins;DeWitt & Lago, 2020). The key highlights of the EBM are summarized below, whereas the reader is recommended to address the original publication "Ecosystem-based management and ecosystem services: Theory, tools and applications" by O'Higgins, Lago and DeWitt (2020).…”

A Critical Analysis of Hotel Green Practices and Operational Expenses: A Case Study of Two and Three Star Hotels of Dehradun

“…( 14)Ecological management is a technique for combining social and ecological systems. (15) Green practices are environment-conscious management techniques in which administrative levels transform natural resources into better outcomes or commodities. (16) The hotel sector employs a variety of strategies related to green concerns; these might range from pollution reduction to consumer education initiatives regarding such initiatives.…”