Contribution in an anthology

Appeared in: A conceptual framework for “The future Okavango Project” (TFO) : Research on Ecosystem Services and Landuse in the Okavango Basin

Editor list: Seidel, H; Gröngröft, A; Pröpper, M

Publication year: 2012

Pages: 55-62

URL: http://www.future-okavango.org/downloads/TFO_Conceptual_Framework_Final.pdf

Title of series: TFO online working paper

Number in series: 2012,1

Abstract: 

The sustainable management of social-ecological systems (SES) is a challenging enterprise. The interaction of a large number of variables produces complex outcomes, which have to be taken into account in political decision making and governance processes (Ostrom, 2009). The attribution of substantial economic value to social-ecological subsystems makes them part of the capital assets of a society and can provide an incentive for protection. This approach has an anthropocentric focus and follows the logic of the ecosystem service concept (ESS; Bateman et al., 2011), which starts from the assumption that nature’s function is to foster human well-being.
Although SES have been extensively used until now for improving human well-being, they have shown a remarkable capacity to resist damage and recover quickly (chapter 2). However, perturbations of sufficient magnitude, such as climate and hydrological change, can affect ecosystems in an irrevocable way. Alternative use patterns and intensities of SES positively or negatively affect each other; and if not properly coordinated, create externalities that are not accounted for and therefore undermine a correct social evaluation of SES (chapter 5). High transaction costs (e.g. information, enforcement costs) tend to prevent efficient market solutions which consider externalities; governance frameworks provided by state or more informal authorities are often inappropriate, all causing social welfare losses.
Reflecting these problems in the governance of SES, TFO develops socio-economic instruments following a two-step process. In a first step, ESS are evaluated on a monetary and non-monetary basis to illustrate trade-offs between different options for usage (chapter 5). Taking into account these alternative usages, TFO shows the outcome of scenarios for different land and resource uses. In a second step, TFO supports decision makers in the design of flexible governance instruments that account for individual needs as well as for the complexity of SES.

Harvard Citation style: Azebaze, N., Brown, L., Falk, T., Große, L., Hayo, B., Kirk, M., et al. (2012) The development of socio-economic instruments for consideration of ESS in land management, in Seidel, H., Gröngröft, A. and Pröpper, M. (eds.) A conceptual framework for “The future Okavango Project” (TFO) : Research on Ecosystem Services and Landuse in the Okavango Basin. Hamburg: Universität Hamburg, pp. 55-62. http://www.future-okavango.org/downloads/TFO_Conceptual_Framework_Final.pdf

APA Citation style: Azebaze, N., Brown, L., Falk, T., Große, L., Hayo, B., Kirk, M., Korn, E., Baptista, J., Domptail, S., Kowalski, B., Nuppenau, E., & Pröpper, M. (2012). The development of socio-economic instruments for consideration of ESS in land management. In Seidel, H., Gröngröft, A., & Pröpper, M. (Eds.), A conceptual framework for “The future Okavango Project” (TFO) : Research on Ecosystem Services and Landuse in the Okavango Basin (pp. 55-62). Universität Hamburg. http://www.future-okavango.org/downloads/TFO_Conceptual_Framework_Final.pdf