RECOVERING ECOSYSTEMS and their SERVICES KEYS FOR SUCCESS “Solutions for Sustaining Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services” 8 June 2010, Salzau
Francis Turkelboom
www.inbo.be
1. Flanders context: Multifunctional landscape
Typical features of Flanders: o High population pressure (456/km²) o Dense transport-infrastructure o Residence & business: 20% o Agriculture: 53% o Forest & nature: 16%
1. Flanders context: Multifunctional landscape
o Long land-use history: Cultural landscapes o Land-use planning from 1970s: Fragmentation
Î Strong human pressures on ecosystems + its services Î Challenge: Optimize multi-functional landscapes
2. Objective of study
• Research question: How can ecosystem services be enhanced in multifunctional landscapes? • Search for “success projects”: • Transforming a “degraded” ecosystem into a relative healthy ecosystem, with benefits for both nature and people. • Contrasting ecosystems. • Government and non-government organisations.
• Focus topics: • Ecosystem services: Inventory + Changes + interactions? • Success factors of the projects?
Case studies in Flanders Polders Coastal estuarium( Ijzer)
Peri-Urban (Bourgoyen)
(Uitkerkse polder & Meerkerkse Moeren)
Alluvial plane (Dijle valley)
National Park (Hoge Kempen)
Lake restoration (De Vinne)
Fruit-growing area (SintTruiden)
3. Findings Case studies Bottlenecks: 1. Competition: Many stakeholders and limited open space Î Conflicting demands
2. Policy & institutional fragmentation 3. Administrative burden 4. Distrust between stakeholders
Starting point: • None started as “ESS project”
Success factors of projects that improved ecosystem services in Flanders
1. Natural disasters: • •
Civil society lobbying Sense of urgency trigger action
Success factors 2. Economic reasons for land-use change: •
Decline profitability of an economic activity (e.g. wet agricultural land)
•
Economic alternatives (e.g. eco-tourism)
•
Engineering infrastructure versus green infrastructure
•
Highly-population: high demand and high value for recreation and environmental quality.
Success factors 3. Policy changes: More attention to the protection of open space •
land-use planning
•
open space protection
•
environmental standards
•
biodiversity conservation
Æ More enabling environment for projects to prosper.
Success factors 4. Synergies between ecosystem services: One intervention Æ improvement of several other ecosystem services Æ multiple stakeholders can benefit from
ANALYSE ECOSYSTEEM DIENSTEN en BATEN van STROOMGEBIED ZUID SINT‐TRUIDEN Ecosysteem infrastructuur & mangement
Landbouw Landbouwland & landgebruik
Grondwatersysteem Aquifers
Groene en blauwe corridors Groene & blauwe corridors ‐ erosiebstreidingsmaatregelen ‐ KLE ‐ bloemrijke akkerranden ‐ kleine bossen
Ecosysteemdiensten
Productiev agro‐ ecosysteem
Maatschappelijke Baten ‐ Lokaal
Agrarische werkgelegenheid
Maatschappelijke Baten ‐ Regionaal
Landbouw producten
Grondwater voor consumptie Evenwichtig en gebufferd hydrologisch en bodem systeem
Biodiversiteit, FAB, wild
Landschapskwaliteit
Beleid, interventies, wetgeving
Zuiver opervlakte water en reductie modder
Beneden stroomse water kwaliteit
Leefkwaliteit & recreatie
Jacht
Voldoen Europese wetgeving
Success factors 5. Available resources: • Supported with adequate funds • Could make use of sources of expertise. • Long duration: 5-20 years
Success factors 6. Multi-stakeholder process facilitation: •
Inspiring ‘champion’ and/or ‘champion organisation’
•
Networking and mediation: • • • • •
•
personal contacts, trust building. bottom-up joint learning signalling to stakeholders that they can influence the process ownership (e.g. connect to past, local identity)
Consensus building •
mediation
•
overcome ideological contradictions
•
commonly-accepted vision and pragmatic compromise solutions
Success factors
7. Role of “success”?: • •
Success attract success (NIMBY -> PIMBY) Success can be self-destructing…
4. What does this mean for policy makers? Natural disaster = Accelerator Synergies of ecosystem services/benefits Create conducive conditions for improving ecosystem services: • Legal tools, resources and economic incentives. • Quality of the facilitation of the multistakeholder process!
