INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE THE MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT Dr Sriyanie Miththapala
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INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
THE MILLENNIUM
ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT
Dr Sriyanie Miththapala
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THE LINKS BETWEEN
BIODIVERSITY,
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND
HUMAN WELL-BEING
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
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SOME TERMINOLOGY
• Biodiversity.
• Ecosystem.
• Ecosystem services.
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
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BIODIVERSITY
• Biodiversity is the variety and variability of
all life and life processes on earth.
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ECOSYSTEM
• a unit formed of groups of organisms that
interact with each other and with their
physical environment.
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WHY IS BIODIVERSITY (INCLUDING
ECOSYSTEMS) IMPORTANT TO
HUMANS?
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BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE US WITH
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
• Ecosystem services are the range of
benefits that ecosystems provide
humans.
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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
• Provisioning services,
• Regulating services,
• Supporting services, and
• Cultural services
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Provisioning services
• Food
• Wood
• Medicines
• Fuelwood and fuel
• Fibre
• Non-timber forest products etc.
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Therefore, natural resources forms the
basis for
• Livestock industry,
• Agricultural industry,
• Fisheries industry,
• Timber industry,
• Pharmaceutical industry,
• Many livelihoods.
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Regulating services such as
• Climate regulation
• Flood regulation
• Water purification
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Supporting services such as
• Food production,
• Balancing gases in the atmosphere,
• Formation of soil,
• Degradation of waste,
• Nutrient and water cycling and
• Pollination.
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Cultural services such as
• Spiritual enrichment
• Education
• Recreation
• Aesthetic experience
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The bottom line is that without the
biodiversity and ecosystem services
• We can’t live and
• Most of us won’t have jobs.
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The Millennium Ecosystem assessment
(MA)
• In 2000, Kofi Annan called for a scientific
assessment of the state of the Earth.
• 1,300 scientists from 94 countries
participated.
• They put human well-being at the centre
of this assessment on ecosystems.
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The benefits that humans obtain from
ecosystem services
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And related it directly to human well-being.
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Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being
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Ecosystem well-being = Human well-being
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This is the link that underpins all DRR
work and sustainable development.
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STATE OF THE PLANET (MA findings):
• Over the past 50 years, humans have
changed ecosystems more rapidly and
extensively than in any comparable
period of time in human history.
• This has resulted in a substantial and
largely irreversible loss in biodiversity.
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• 20% of the world’s coral reefs were lost
and 20% degraded in the last several
decades.
• 35% of mangrove area has been lost in
the last several decades.
• Withdrawals from rivers and lakes
doubled since 1960.
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• Flows of biologically available nitrogen in
terrestrial ecosystems doubled,
phosphorous tripled.
• Humans have increased the species
extinction rate by as much as 1,000 times
over background rates typical over the
planet’s history.
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• This means that ecosystem services are being affected negatively.
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STATUS OF PROVISIONING SERVICES
Service Status
Food crops
livestock
capture fisheries
aquaculture
wild foods
Fiber timber +/–
cotton, silk +/–
wood fuel
Genetic resources
Biochemicals, medicines
Fresh water
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STATUS OF OTHER SERVICESStatus
Regulating Services
Air quality regulation
Climate regulation – global
Climate regulation – regional and local
Water regulation +/–
Erosion regulation
Water purification and waste treatment
Disease regulation +/–
Pest regulation
Pollination
Natural hazard regulation
Cultural Services
Spiritual and religious values
Aesthetic values
Recreation and ecotourism +/–
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THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THESE
SERVICES
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Market value of provisioning-service
industries
• Food production: $980 billion per year.
• Timber industry: $400 billion per year.
• Marine fisheries: $80 billion per year.
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OTHER ECONOMIC VALUES OF
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
• 500 million people depend on coral reefs for
their livelihoods.
• In India, forests provide water regulation and
flood control valued at 72 billion USD per year.
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But at the same time,
• Ecosystems and their services are being
constantly changed by human activities.
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Human Well-being
• Basic materials for a
good life
•Health
•Good social relations
•Security
•Freedom of choice
and action
Indirect drivers of change
•Demographic
•Economic
•Sociopolitical
•Science and technology
•Culture and religion
Direct drivers of change
•Changes in land use
•Species introduction or removal
•Technology adaptation and use
•External inputs (irrigation)
•Resource consumption
•Climate change
•Natural hazards
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Negative change: threats to ecosystem well-
being
• What are the threats to ecosystems?
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• Overexploitation
• Habitat destruction
• Pollution
• Invasive alien species
• Climate Change
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OVEREXPLOITATION
• Will affect food security
• Health
• Shelter
• Personal security
• Livelihoods etc.
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Habitat destruction
• Deforestation and destruction of wetlands.
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HABITAT DESTRUCTION
• Will affect personal security
• Health
• Shelter
• Personal security
• Livelihoods etc.
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Pollution
• Solid waste pollution
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Water Pollution
• Sewage
• Other domestic pollution
• Industrial pollution
• Marine pollution: engine oil, oil spills.
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Air pollution
• Carbon Dioxide – climate change
• Methane – climate change
• Nitrogen – Acid rain
• Sulphur dioxide – Acid rain
• Soot and particulate matter – lung disease.
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – hole in the ozone layer, increase in skin cancer
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Pollution will lead to
• Water stress
• Increase in disease, affecting health
• Decrease in livelihoods
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Invasive Alien Species
• Are introduced species that do not
remain confined to the area into which
they were introduced.
• They become established in natural
ecosystems and threaten native species.
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Invasive Alien Species cause enormous
economic damage
• Annual damage from IAS in the USA is
137 billion USD.
• Rabbits in Australia cost the government
60 million AUD.
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IAS
• Can cause water stress
• Can increase in disease, affecting health
• Can negatively affect livelihoods
• Can negatively affect food security.
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Climate change
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Of the many impacts of climate change,
the increase in natural disasters is a major
one. In 2005, natural disasters caused 220
billion USD worth of damage.
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Climate change
• Will make a bad situation worse.
• Will have a synergistic effect on all other
threats.
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THE CONCLUSIONS
• We are damaging ecosystems irreversibly.
• This means that the services that
ecosystems provide us are also damaged.
• This means that human well-being is also
affected.
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THEREFORE, WHENEVER WE CARRY
OUT ANY PROGRAMMES WE HAVE TO
ASK
• Are we harming ecosystems and their
services?
• If we are, we are harming human-well being.
• If we are, we are harming long term
sustainability.
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WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES
•Are we over-exploiting natural resources?
• Is there habitat destruction?
• Is there pollution?
•Are Invasive alien speciesspreading?
•Are we taking precautions against climate change?
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Very simple foundation that we are proposing
Are there threats to ecosystems from our actions:
–Overexploitation
–Habitat Destruction
–Pollution
– IAS
–Climate change
Ecosystem well-being = Human well-being
Therefore, if ecosystems are negatively affected,
Human well-being is also negatively affected.
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Superimpose this base on the DM cycle
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• Step 1: Identify clearly where temporary shelters will be put up in the event of a natural disaster (prevent Habitat destruction)
– Ensure that environmentally sensitive areas are not cleared in the event of a disaster.
– Ensure that protected areas are not encroached up in the event of a disaster.
– Ensure that coastal morphology is not changed when temporary shelters are set up in the event of a disaster.
• Step 2: Identify the sources from which natural resources such as timber and fuelwood will be obtained in the event of a disaster (Prevent over-exploitation) .
– Ensure that timber is not sourced illegally but instead, obtained from sustainably managed forests.
– Ensure that fuelwood will not be obtained illegally from protected areas.
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ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
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• We emphasise that policy decisions and actions taken
during prevention and mitigation (BEFORE) have
enormous and far reaching impacts on all stages of
post disaster management.
• All decisions and actions taken after a disaster will be
justified based on information gathered and actions
taken during the pre-disaster phases of prevention and
mitigation.
• Therefore, the success of post disaster management
depends entirely on pre-disaster management.
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DISASTER
MANAGEMENT
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL
SAFEGUARDS
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