A goal oriented indicator framework to support integrated assessment of new policies for agri-environmental systems

The goal oriented framework (GOF) for indicators has been developed as part of a comprehensive research project developing computerised tools for integrated assessment of the effects of new policies or technologies on agricultural systems (SEAMLESS-IF). The ambition has therefore been to create an indicator framework where the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development can be related to each other in a consistent way. Integrated assessment tools rely on such frameworks to capture and visualise trade-offs (antagonisms or synergies) among indicators between and within the three dimensions of sustainable development. The specific aims of this paper are to (i) present the GOF (ii) present how the GOF can be used to select indicators within the integrated assessment framework SEAMLESS-IF and (iii) discuss the advantages and limitations with the proposed approach. We show that the GOF has several advantages. Its major rewards are its relative simplicity and the possibility to link indicators to policy goals of each dimension of sustainability and thereby facilitate the comparison of the impacts of the new policy on the different dimensions. Another important feature of the GOF is its multi-scale perspective, which will enable the comparison of effects of a new policy between scales. Yet, as typical for all indicator frameworks, the GOF has also biases either instigated by the issues the included models cover or by the stakeholders’ selection of indicators. However, due to the way the GOF and its indicators are technically implemented in SEAMLESS-IF, it can easily be extended and include new indicators to increase and update its policy relevance.     

The social dimension of biodiversity policy in the European Union: Valuing the benefits to vulnerable communities

This paper uses GIS-based mapping tools and economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services to explore the social dimension of biodiversity policy. We investigate the linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem service values, and socio-economic vulnerability indicators in a spatially explicit framework and at different geographic scales. Our focus is on Europe, where biodiversity and ecosystem benefits have been well studied for many ecosystems, such as forests, coastal ecosystems and freshwater wetlands. The analysis focuses in particular on rural agricultural areas and remote mountainous regions accounting for the differences across various income groups, both at national and regional levels. The results of the study provide useful insights for EU policymakers in designing policy instruments that can promote biodiversity conservation and prevent natural resource degradation, on the one hand, while contributing to social stability and human livelihoods, on the other hand.     

基于遥感技术的青海省玛多县生物多样性监测与评估

高效快速评价县域生物多样性空间分布格局对制定和实施生物多样性保护措施具有重要意义.以青海省玛多县为例,结合InVEST模型和遥感、GIS技术,以景观结构、物种多样性、生态系统质量三方面的6个指标构建生物多样性遥感监测和评估指标体系,实现县域生物多样性快速监测和评估,并为玛多县生物多样性保护与可持续利用提供理论支撑和决策依据.结果表明:玛多县生物多样性指数整体呈东南高、西北低的变化趋势,高值区域主要分布在南部沼泽草甸和高覆盖草地区,低值区域主要分布在西北山地、稀疏草地区.2000年、2010年和2015年玛多县生物多样性指数值域范围分别为0.113 8~0.805 8、0.141 6~0.807 3和0.154 6~0.793 9,值域最低值呈上升趋势、最高值有所下降.2000-2015年玛多县生物多样性降低区域占其陆域总面积的59.85%,增加区域占40.15%;明显增加区域主要分布在冬春牧场,明显降低区域主要分布在冬春牧场与夏秋牧场交界处及玛查理镇城区.实例分析表明,基于遥感技术构建的生物多样性评估指标体系能够监测玛多县生物多样性现状及其时空变异特征,相对于传统生物多样性调查方法,基于遥感技术的生物多样性评估具有时效性强、操作便捷高效等优势,可应用于县域生物多样性遥感监测与评估.      

The implementation of Natura 2000 in forests: A trans- and interdisciplinary assessment of challenges and choices

Natura 2000 is the core of the EU's biodiversity conservation policy. 50% of the overall protected area under Natura 2000 is forest. Yet, comparatively little is known about the implementation of the policy in forests. Building on a rich set of social and natural science data, and an inter- and transdisciplinary discussion process involving scientists from different disciplines as well as EU, national and local stakeholders, this paper identifies five important challenges related to the implementation of Natura 2000 in forests: (1) the balancing of biodiversity conservation and timber production, (2) the integration of conservation (science) and local stakeholders’ demands, (3) climate change, (4) lacking and less effective funding, and (5) conflicts related to other sectoral policies. Subsequently, five possible pathways to tackle these challenges are proposed: (1) a learning approach through better communication and transparency, (2) a pathway emphasizing the role of conservation science in developing management strategies and responding to climate change, (3) an approach of better integrating Europe's citizens in the design and implementation of the policy, (4) an approach highlighting the necessity of an effective funding strategy, and (5) the vision to work towards an integrated European land use and conservation policy. In conclusion, we emphasize, on one hand, the distinct character of the five pathways but, on the other hand, underline that probably all of them need to be followed in order to make the implementation of Natura 2000 in Europe's forests a success story.     

A framework for assessing and implementing the co-benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas

To address challenges associated with climate resilience, health and well-being in urban areas, current policy platforms are shifting their focus from ecosystem-based to nature-based solutions (NBS), broadly defined as solutions to societal challenges that are inspired and supported by nature. NBS result in the provision of co-benefits, such as the improvement of place attractiveness, of health and quality of life, and creation of green jobs. Few frameworks exist for acknowledging and assessing the value of such co-benefits of NBS and to guide cross-sectoral project and policy design and implementation. In this paper, we firstly developed a holistic framework for assessing co-benefits (and costs) of NBS across elements of socio-cultural and socio-economic systems, biodiversity, ecosystems and climate. The framework was guided by a review of over 1700 documents from science and practice within and across 10 societal challenges relevant to cities globally. We found that NBS can have environmental, social and economic co-benefits and/or costs both within and across these 10 societal challenges. On that base, we develop and propose a seven-stage process for situating co-benefit assessment within policy and project implementation. The seven stages include: 1) identify problem or opportunity; 2) select and assess NBS and related actions; 3) design NBS implementation processes; 4) implement NBS; 5) frequently engage stakeholders and communicate co-benefits; 6) transfer and upscale NBS; and 7) monitor and evaluate co-benefits across all stages. We conclude that the developed framework together with the seven-stage co-benefit assessment process represent a valuable tool for guiding thinking and identifying the multiple values of NBS implementation.     

Advancing indigenous self-determination through endangered species protection: Idaho gray wolf recovery

As part of the right of indigenous cultures to self-determination, several international bodies have recognized and addressed the role of indigenous communities in natural resources management, including the conservation of biodiversity. In the United States, disagreements regarding the application of the federal Endangered Species Act to Native American tribes have hindered the relationship between the federal and tribal governments on endangered species recovery. Our research examines the efforts of one Native American tribe, the Nez Perce, and the United States federal government to collaborate on federal gray wolf recovery in central Idaho. We interviewed members of the Nez Perce Tribe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to characterize their relationship and explore the context in which the recovery program was implemented. Respondents attributed the success of the biological aspects of wolf recovery to the robustness of the wolf as a species and to close interagency coordination at the operational level. However, differences of opinion existed between the Tribe and Service concerning program funding, policy planning, and the rights and role of the Tribe in wolf management via co-management and cooperative management regimes. Respondents from both governments noted a clear hierarchical relationship at the strategic level, where policy planning and decision-making rested with the federal government. Lessons drawn from this case study can be applied across the international spectrum to improving partnerships, particularly at the strategic level, between indigenous and non-indigenous governance structures for protecting endangered species.     

Complementarity,biodiversity viability analysis,and policy-based algorithms for conservation

Biodiversity conservation “area-selection” strategies include not only trade-offs among society’s needs in land-use allocation, but also allocation of economic instruments such as incentives, levies, and biodiversity credits. For these applications, the key property of an area is its “complementarity”—the context-dependent, marginal gain in biodiversity provided by the area. Given that there has been little implementation of whole-sets of areas generated by the popular computer-based selection methods, we suggest that analogous “policy-based algorithms” would be a more effective real-world application of complementarity. Areas would be “selected” for conservation over time as a consequence of policies in which dynamic complementarity values influence application of economic instruments. These integrated biodiversity/economic strategies can use an extended form of complementarity reflecting marginal changes in regional probability of persistence of biodiversity. While probabilistic measures of biodiversity viability have been explored in area-selection for some time, it remains difficult to make viability statements about “all of biodiversity.” New approaches that use biodiversity surrogate information for “biodiversity viability analysis” (BVA) can take advantage of a general quantitative biodiversity framework in which pattern-based relationships among areas allow predictions at the species level. A standard assumption of “unimodal” species responses to environmental gradients yields an expected distribution of species in an ordination pattern, and allows sampling of inferred species. Based on environmental correlates, inferred species can be mapped in geographic space, forming distribution fragments. This information, when linked to species persistence models, may allow ongoing calculation of areas’ complementarity values. An example illustrates application of these ordination models to museum collection data for lizards from New South Wales (NSW), Australia.     

Decline of ‘biodiversity’ in conservation policy discourse in Australia

Market-based instruments along with conceptualizing the environment as a collection of ‘ecosystem services’ has become increasingly common within environmental and conservation policy. This kind of thinking is also increasingly prominent in the public discourse surrounding environment and conservation policy, particularly in the context of communicating the importance of policy measures. Language used in public discourse can have a powerful influence on how people engage with policy issues, and changes within the biodiversity and conservation discourse may have consequences for public engagement in conservation. We explored how these factors are changing with time by documenting the use of the terms ‘bio’ and the prevalence of economic language in the text of 3553 media releases between 2003 and 2014 from the Australian Government environment portfolio, and 1064 media releases from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF). Results show that in the last decade, the term ‘biodiversity’ has become less prevalent whilst economic language has increased in both Australian Government and ACF communication. A further content analysis in a subsample of 745 media releases explored the prevalence of ecosystem services framing, results indicating that it has become a mainstream concept. While this may reflect a strategic response by these agencies to better engage with both the general public and decision makers within what is an increasingly dominant neoliberal paradigm, we argue it may also have unintended (possibly adverse) impacts on how people think about and engage with biodiversity conservation.     

Adaptation policies to increase terrestrial ecosystem resilience: potential utility of a multicriteria approach

Climate change is rapidly undermining terrestrial ecosystem resilience and capacity to continue providing their services to the benefit of humanity and nature. Because of the importance of terrestrial ecosystems to human well-being and supporting services, decision makers throughout the world are busy creating policy responses that secure multiple development and conservation objectives— including that of supporting terrestrial ecosystem resilience in the context of climate change. This article aims to advance analyses on climate policy evaluation and planning in the area of terrestrial ecosystem resilience by discussing adaptation policy options within the ecology-economy-social nexus. The paper evaluates these decisions in the realm of terrestrial ecosystem resilience and evaluates the utility of a set of criteria, indicators, and assessment methods, proposed by a new conceptual multi-criteria framework for pro-development climate policy and planning developed by the United Nations Environment Programme. Potential applications of a multicriteria approach to climate policy vis-à-vis terrestrial ecosystems are then explored through two hypothetical case study examples. The paper closes with a brief discussion of the utility of the multi-criteria approach in the context of other climate policy evaluation approaches, considers lessons learned as a result efforts to evaluate climate policy in the realm of terrestrial ecosystems, and reiterates the role of ecosystem resilience in creating sound policies and actions that support the integration of climate change and development goals.     

Scientific evidence,expert entrepreneurship,and ecosystem narratives in the UK Natural Environment White Paper

The Natural Environment White Paper represents the most important conservation policy shift in the United Kingdom (UK) in twenty years. It formalises the ecosystem approach within national policy objectives and emphasises the economic value of ecosystem services. By analysing the use of various evidence sources, the involvement of science entrepreneurs, and the development of policy narratives, our goal was to understand factors that influenced adoption of an ecosystem service framework in the UK. We interviewed 48 policy actors and found that centrally-sponsored synthesis reports with entrepreneurial authors provided the most influential expert-based knowledge in the development of the White Paper. More recently published reports had greater influence, yet the window of opportunity for scientific evidence having policy impact was greater in the problem-setting stages of policy development. The interaction between teams preparing syntheses and expert entrepreneurs helped influence the construction of strategic policy narratives. Those narratives increased the impact of scientific evidence by communicating and framing key policy-salient messages, and brokering between broad ecosystem-based and environmental economics narratives. The combination of ecological and economics evidence was particularly salient in the UK case due to the context of continued biodiversity loss and the acceptability of valuation narratives within central government. Our findings suggest that evidence impact varies at different stages of the policy process, and that this is driven by the interplay of contextual factors like policy timing, personal influence, and the competition between different sets of actors and narratives.     

Best practices for corporate commitment to biodiversity: An organizing framework from GRI reports

Corporate operations can have significant impacts on biodiversity. Nevertheless, the literature has overlooked the analysis of the organizational practices underlying corporate commitment to biodiversity. The objective of this article is to contribute to this under-researched issue by shedding light on the best practices of biodiversity conservation of companies whose operations pose high risks to biodiversity. For this purpose, we carried out a systematic analysis of the sustainability practices reported by 163 mining and forestry companies whose operations pose high risks to biodiversity. The article proposes an organizing framework describing the main approaches and practices for corporate biodiversity management. The contributions and implications for managers, policy makers and other stakeholders are discussed.     

Ecological and social aspects of biodiversity conservation on private lands

In recent decades, the growing need for biodiversity conservation and the different means of achieving it have been defined in international and national procedures regulated by governments and parliaments on the one hand, and in governance processes run by different stakeholders on the other. In local contexts, however, people perceive the abstract phenomenon of biodiversity conservation through the environment in which they live and through their social and cultural positions. We examine Finnish forest owners’ experiences and perceptions of biodiversity conservation, and consider the compatibility of these perceptions with national conservation policy. Our work is based on a survey of forest owners and the content analysis of national policy documents. We found that the perceptions of forest owners and the documents of nature conservation policy had elements that both overlapped and contradicted each other, thus reflecting different interpretations of forest ownership and biodiversity conservation. Moreover, the national Forest Biodiversity Program – an outcome of a multilateral governance process – was more successful in combining conservation policy with various perspectives of forest owners than was the authoritatively formulated Nature Conservation Act and Decree. This result indicates that governance processes can address conflicts of interest in the use of natural resources.     

A policy portfolio approach to biodiversity protection on private lands

Although arguments about biodiversity policy frequently frame the options as either top-down regulation or voluntary incentive-based approaches, in fact a broad spectrum of biodiversity conservation strategies are available. Drawing largely on examples from the United States to support broader conclusions, this article examines the range of policy options and the metrics that should be used to evaluate them. Because the options have different strengths and weaknesses, are suited to different contexts, and all carry substantial risk of failure, a portfolio of biodiversity policies is likely to outperform exclusive reliance on any one strategy. Designing an effective biodiversity policy portfolio requires clarifying conservation goals, systematically evaluating existing programs, being sensitive to the context, closely monitoring policy implementation and results, and revising the portfolio as new information becomes available.     

Conceptual development of a harmonised method for tracking change and evaluating policy in the agri-environment: The Agri-environmental Footprint Index

An aggregated farm-level index, the Agri-environmental Footprint Index (AFI), based on multiple criteria methods and representing a harmonised approach to evaluation of EU agri-environmental schemes is described. The Index uses a common framework for the design and evaluation of policy that can be customised to locally relevant agri-environmental issues and circumstances. Evaluation can be strictly policy-focused, or broader and more holistic in that context-relevant assessment criteria that are not necessarily considered in the evaluated policy can nevertheless be incorporated. The Index structure is flexible, and can respond to diverse local needs. The process of Index construction is interactive, engaging farmers and other relevant stakeholders in a transparent decision-making process that can ensure acceptance of the outcome, help to forge an improved understanding of local agri-environmental priorities and potentially increase awareness of the critical role of farmers in environmental management. The structure of the AFI facilitates post-evaluation analysis of relative performance in different dimensions of the agri-environment, permitting identification of current strengths and weaknesses, and enabling future improvement in policy design. Quantification of the environmental impact of agriculture beyond the stated aims of policy using an ‘unweighted’ form of the AFI has potential as the basis of an ongoing system of environmental audit within a specified agricultural context.     

Biodiversity and life support impacts of land use in LCA

An operational method to include land use impacts in LCA has been developed. The aim was to base the approach on a scientific framework and to use scientific data to arrive at indicator scores. This has led to a first set of rough impact score data per type of land use on a global level, for two indicators. Remaining subjective elements are related to the restrictions of the approach: only two indicators are chosen as a basis for expressing land use impacts (vascular plant species diversity and free net primary biomass production), a reference state had to be included to incorporate regional differences, and for biodiversity the measure is relative to the local background biodiversity, leading to relatively low sensitivities to changes. Finally, land use impacts are considered to be proportional to the area which is a common understanding in LCA, but not always agreed upon. It is clear that this operationalisation is at present only in its teens.     

Knowledge brokerage designs and practices in four european climate services: A role model for biodiversity policies?

Environmental policies are broadly claimed to rely on sound scientific evidence because of the complexity, the uncertainty and the diverging political stakes that characterize issues like biodiversity decline or climate change. Classical advisory formats like assessments or standing advisory bodies have proliferated widely – especially at the global and national levels – yet exert only a limited influence on political decision-making, particularly in sub-national and local implementation contexts. Against this background, scholars have called for ‘bottom-up’ approaches to Science-policy interfaces that move from ‘problem to policy’. In the area of climate change, numerous ‘climate services’ have evolved at national, sub-national and even local levels, with the promise of being more decision-oriented. Four climate services in three European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland) are investigated regarding whether and how they institutionalize and enact knowledge brokerage in a credible, salient and legitimate way. Focusing on the institutional and strategic design principles of this advisory setting in climate policy, insights are generated for the biodiversity policy field, where comparable settings are still broadly lacking.     

Assessing water ecosystem services for water resource management

Ecosystem service concepts can offer a valuable approach for linking human and nature, and arguments for the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. Despite an increasing interest in the topic, the application of these concepts for water resource management has been hampered by the lack of practical definitions and methodologies. In this study we review and analyse the current literature and propose an approach for assessing and valuing ecosystem services in the context of water management. In particular, to study the link between multiple pressures, ecological status and delivery of ecosystem services in aquatic ecosystems under different scenarios of measures or future changes. This is of interest for the development of River Basin Management Plans under the EU Water Framework Directive. We provide a list of proxies/indicators of natural capacity, actual flow and social benefit for the biophysical assessment of the ecosystem services. We advocate the use of indicators of sustainability, combining information on capacity and flow of services. We also suggest methods for economic valuation of aquatic ecosystem for each service and spatial scale of application. We argue that biophysical assessment and economic valuation should be conducted jointly to account for the different values of ecosystem services (ecologic, social and economic) and to strengthen the recognition of human dependency on nature. The proposed approach can be used for assessing the benefits of conservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems in the implementation of the EU water policy.     

基于遥感的SDG 15.1.2生物多样性指标计算与分析:以长三角生态绿色一体化发展示范区为例

生物多样性评价为生物多样性保护提供重要的参考价值,联合国可持续发展目标(SDGs)中15.1.2指标对此提出了具体要求. 本研究借助遥感技术,以长三角生态绿色一体化发展示范区(简称“示范区”)为研究区,选取物种多样性层次、生态系统多样性层次和景观多样性层次的7个指标(生境质量指数、增强型植被指数、水网密度指数、生境面积百分比、辛普森多样性指数、景观分离度指数、蔓延度指数)构建生物多样性评价指标体系,实现了对研究区生物多样性的量化计算及生物多样性评估. 结果表明:①研究区生物多样性指数平均值为0.42,生物多样性高等级区域面积为526.65 km2,占研究区陆地面积的27.38%;研究区共28个乡镇,其中生物多样性高等级区域占乡镇陆地面积比例大于50%的乡镇有两个,分别是青浦区的华新镇和香花桥街道. ②探究了土地利用方式和城市不透水面占比对生物多样性的影响,生物多样性受人类活动干扰较为严重,不透水面占比与高等级生物多样性占比呈负相关,在植被稀少的城市和工业区域生物多样性等级较低. 研究显示,SDG 15.1.2指标区域得分为27.38分,距离实现2030年生物多样性可持续目标还面临一定的挑战;同时,该研究旨在构建县级区域生物多样性现状的评价指标体系,从而为SDGs指标本地化提供理论参考.      

Indonesia’s forest conversion moratorium assessed with an agent-based model of Land-Use Change and Ecosystem Services (LUCES)

The Indonesian government recently confirmed its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to mitigate global climate change. A forest moratorium policy that protects forest and peatland is a significant part of the INDCs; however, its effectiveness is unclear in the face of complex land-use and land-cover change. This study aims to assess the dynamics of land-use change and ecosystem service supply as a function of local decision-making. We developed an agent-based model, Land-Use Change and Ecosystem Services (LUCES), and used it to explore the possible effects of the forest moratorium policy on the land-use decisions of private companies and communities. Our simulations for two districts in Central Kalimantan show that the current implementation of the forest moratorium policy is not effective in reducing forest conversion and carbon emissions. This is because companies continue to invest in converting secondary forest on mineral soils and the moratorium does not affect community decision-making. A policy that combines a forest moratorium with livelihood support and increases farm-gate prices of forest and agroforestry products could increase the local communities’ benefits from conservation. Forest and agroforestry areas that are profitable and competitive are more likely to be conserved and reduce potential carbon emission by about 36 %. The results for the two districts, with different pressures on local resources, suggest that appropriate additional measures require local fine-tuning. The LUCES model could be an ex ante tool to facilitate such fine-tuning and help the Indonesian government achieve its INDC goals as part of a wider sustainable development policy.     

Effective risk governance for environmental policy making: A knowledge management perspective

Effective risk management within environmental policy making requires knowledge on natural, economic and social systems to be integrated; knowledge characterised by complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. We describe a case study in a (UK) central government department exploring how risk governance supports and hinders this challenging integration of knowledge. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were completed over a two year period. We found that lateral knowledge transfer between teams working on different policy areas was widely viewed as a key source of knowledge. However, the process of lateral knowledge transfer was predominantly informal and unsupported by risk governance structures. We argue this made decision quality vulnerable to a loss of knowledge through staff turnover, and time and resource pressures. Our conclusion is that the predominant form of risk governance framework, with its focus on centralised decision-making and vertical knowledge transfer is insufficient to support risk-based, environmental policy making. We discuss how risk governance can better support environmental policy makers through systematic knowledge management practices.