The Ecosystem Approach
What is the Ecosystem Approach?
The Ecosystem Approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way.
The Ecosystem Approach places human needs at the centre of biodiversity management. It aims to manage the ecosystem, based on the multiple functions that ecosystems perform and the multiple uses that are made of these functions. The ecosystem approach does not aim for short-term economic gains, but aims to optimize the use of an ecosystem without damaging it.
It was endorsed at the fifth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CoP 5 in Nairobi, Kenya; May 2000/Decision V/6) as the primary framework for action under the Convention. It comprises 12 Principles. Decision VII/11 of the 7th Conference of the Parties to the CBD supports the application and implementation of the Ecosystem Approach, and welcomes additional guidelines to this effect.
CEM promotes the application of the Ecosystem Approach throughout the work of the Union, including its members and partners.
Activities/Projects
The project "Promoting application of the Ecosystem Approach"
with the implementation of the Netherlands funded project "Promoting application of the Ecosystem Approach"
CEM aims to enhance the understanding and promote the application of the Ecosystem Approach by applying and testing it in the field and sharing results of such tests with key target audiences.
Case study analysis have been undertaken in:
1. Bocas del Toro, Panama under supervision of Nestor Windevoxhel, regional vice chair of the Commission in Meso-America and in cooperation with PROARCA.
2. The Maradi-Kano border region between Southern Niger and Northern Nigeria, supervised by Mike Mortimore in collaboration with Drylands Research (United Kingdom), Ahmadu Bello and Bayero Universities (Nigeria), and Abdou Moumouni University (Niger).
3. Tram Chim, Mekong delta by Martin van der Schans.
4. Papua Province, Indonesia supervised by Gill Shepherd, CEM theme leader on the Ecosystem Approach in collaboration with Marthen Kayoi Provincial Forest Department Head, Papua Province, and Adrian Wells.
Clustering and Sequencing the Principles of the Ecosystem Approach
Several previous attempts have been made to prioritise the Principles, or to cluster them by similarity of issue, but IUCN CEM feels that the main priority is to provide concrete operational guidance for action on the ground. Dr. Gill Shepherd, CEM theme lead on the Ecosystem Approach, introduced at CBD SBSTTA 9 in Montreal (November 2003) a clustering and sequencing of the principles, so that discussion, planning and action can flow more simply from them:
1. Area and key stakeholders
2. Ecosystem structure, function, health and management
3. Economic issues
4. Adaptive management over space: impact on adjacent ecosystems
5. Adaptive management over time: long-term goals, flexible ways of reaching them
Other examples of prioritizing the Principles of the Ecosystem Approach:
The Ecosystem Approach: Five Steps to Implementation by Gill Shepherd, CEM's Global Thematic Leader for the Ecosystem Approach (Ecosystem Management Series No. 3, 2004)
Revised version of the principles by Das Bundesamt für Naturschutz (Germany, 2002) (Word, 48 kB)
Reaction of CEM member Ed Wilsen on the revised principles of the BfN (2003) (Word, 32 kB)
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Seventh Conference of the Parties
(CBD COP-7):Refinement and Elaboration of the Ecosystem Approach, Based on Assessment of Experience of Parties in Implementation
Case Studies
Presently, the following case studies are in progress:
1. Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama
2. Kano-Maradi border region, Niger-Nigeria
3. Papua Province, Indonesia
4. Mekong River basin
Contacts:
Please contact Dr. Gill Shepherd on GillShepherd@compuserve.com – CEM Theme Lead on the Ecosystem Approach – for more information.
