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Ecosystems and biodiversity for human wellbeing. Spanish National Ecosystem Assessment. Synthesis of key findings.
Abstract
The Spanish National Ecosystem Assessment (SNEA), supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Environment, is the first analysis conducted on the status and trends of ecosystem services in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of Spain. The results of the SNEA are expected to help build bridges between interdisciplinary scientific knowledge and decision making to visualize the complex relationships that exist between the conservation of ecosystems and human wellbeing. The SNEA has involved approximately 60 scientists from the biophysical and social sciences. This report presents a synthesis and integration of the key findings of the project presented in the Technical Report of which was completed in 2012 (www.ecomilenio.es).
... As a result, the ecosystems and biodiversity of Spain have undergone rapid and unprecedented changes in the last 50 years (Santos-Martín et al., 2013). The Spanish National Ecosystem Assessment (Santos-Martín et al., 2014) revealed that 45% of the ES assessed at the national level have been degraded or are being used unsustainably, with regulating services being the most negatively affected. Spain requires a new land-use planning system that integrates ESs at the national level and enables management of spatial interactions among different ES (Lawler et al., 2014). ...
... Typically, landscape planning studies that include ES synergies and trade-offs are conducted at sub-national levels (Raudsepp-Hearne et al., 2010;Qiu and Turner, 2013;Martín-López et al., 2014;Zorrilla-Miras et al., 2014) whereas studies focusing on general patterns, such as the spatial distribution of ES, are conducted on continental or global levels (Maes et al., 2012). However, mapping and spatial modelling of ES to detect synergies and trade-offs have rarely been used at a national scale (Schröter et al. 2016), which limits the potential influence of national ecosystem assessments (Biggs and Pretoria, 2004;UK NEA, 2011;Santos-Martín et al., 2014). Recent studies in China (Ouyang et al., 2016;Xu et al., 2017) have mapped different ES at the national level with the aim of strengthening protected areas for biodiversity and ES. ...
... Following global trends, land-use activities in Spain have transformed a large proportion of the land surface (Le and Fores, 2006). In particular, the increase in artificial surfaces (6.9 million hectares, or 14% of the total area) in Spanish coastal areas and urban systems between 1990 and 2010 accounted for almost a third of everything built in previous centuries (Santos-Martín et al., 2014). A clear conclusion from our results is that the Spanish land-sparing model is not having a positive effect in term of the delivery of ES (Fischer et al., 2014;Kremen 2015;Bennett, 2017). ...
Land-use intensification is occurring worldwide and is impacting the delivery of multiple ecosystem services. We developed an approach to understand land-use change in relation to ecosystem services synergies and trade-offs at a national level. We test the proposed approach for Spain by mapping the spatial distribution of 14 high-resolution indicators with the aim to (a) facilitate a greater understanding of the spatial interactions among ecosystem services; (b) identify the hotspots of ecosystem service synergies and trade-offs; and (c) explain the ecosystem service synergies and trade-offs in relation to a land-use intensity gradient. Our results show how current land-use management in Spain is creating a landscape-level dichotomy between land-use intensification and protection (through the declaration of protected areas), which is having a clear negative effect on the conservation of essential ecosystem services. For example, we spatially identify where agricultural intensifica-tion is presenting a major trade-off with other ecosystem services. Finally, we discuss the urgent need for a new comprehensive model of landscape planning at a national scale that takes into account the complex interactions among ecosystem services and the establishment of a new governance body at national level regarding the management and conservation of ecosystem services.
... The Spanish NEA adapted the Driver-Pressure-Sate-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework (Wilson et al., 2014;Santos-Martín et al., 2013). Figure 1 below, taken from Santos-Martín et al., (2014), shows the conceptual framework used for the Spanish National Ecosystem Assessment (SNEA). The authors noted that it was modified from the Millennium Assessment and that it represents a change in Spanish conservation policies as it combines the intrinsic value of nature with ecosystem services-linking ecosystems with human wellbeing . ...
... The authors noted that it was modified from the Millennium Assessment and that it represents a change in Spanish conservation policies as it combines the intrinsic value of nature with ecosystem services-linking ecosystems with human wellbeing . Santos-Martín et al. (2014) noted that the conceptual framework was based on six components: Ecosystem, Biodiversity, human wellbeing, ecosystem services, direct drivers of change and indirect drivers of change. ...
... A total of 818 indicators were used in the assessment were used in the assessment which included biophysical, socioeconomic, cultural and socio-political indicators (Santos-Martín, 2015;Santos-Martín et al., 2014). The assessment collaboration of scientists from biophysical and social sciences from over 20 universities as well involvement from other groups including the government, NGOs and the private sector (Santos-Martín, 2015). ...
The focus of this report is to present a broad framework for ecosystem services assessment and to test it. The framework aims to illustrate the integrated assessment cycle for practitioners. The framework also places within the other assessment activities, such as scenarios and assessing policies.
... To assess the external hydrological impacts on wetlands, their water balance, rates of water movement and mass transport characteristics must be known, as well as the sometimes long delayed changes (Custodio, 2002;2012). Still, groundwater is yet to become a widely recognized factor for wetland health and condition, as for example in Portugal and Spain, where the respective Millennium Ecosystem Assessment programs agreed in pointing to the lack of integrated management actions of surface water and groundwater and also to the insufficient valorization of wetlands (Pereira et al., 2010;Santos Martín et al., 2014). ...
... Economic valuation is one of the most commonly used approaches to address this issue. It considers not only intrinsic values but also instrumental values to highlight ecosystem services usually ignored because an appropriate price is not placed upon them (Gómez-Baggethun et al., 2010;Santos-Martín et al., 2014). This approach can be used in setting priorities, evaluating ecosystem management options and allocating budgets, but is not easy to apply, because of ecosystems complexity, with elements not easily translated into economic value. ...
Wetlands are important features of the landscape with a high intrinsic value from geological, hydrological, hydrogeological, ecological and social points of view; this last point is related to the services they provide to mankind. If in the past wetlands were subjected to destructive actions, putting them at risk of degradation and further reduction, currently they are the subject of preferential protection in many countries as a consequence of the recognition of their intrinsic value. Wetlands are especially important in arid and semiarid areas, where many of them are related to, and depend greatly on, groundwater. Also, in wet areas groundwater may play an important role, especially providing resilience to rainfall changes. UNESCO's International Geoscience Programme Project 604 (IGCP 604) has been directed to the consideration of selected wetlands of Ibero-America,the Iberian Peninsula and related archipelagos to relate their physical and water quality characteristics with the services they provide and the drivers of change. After preparing a detailed form based on the objectives of the project and distributing it to selected experts, a total of 64 cases from 13 countries have been gathered. The main characteristics, the services provided, the conservation institutions are discussed and some summarized results are given. These are expected to be a contribution to the systematics of IGCP type studies on wetlands and to establish a common methodology and language among Earth Science and Biological Science researchers and managers. Results indicate that deterioration of the condition of wetlands is mainly due to the lack of integration of protection activities with management. This is crucial for more effective conservation.
... The ecosystem approach is now a key conservation policy driver mainstreamed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2005). It is taken forward at an international level, e.g., in the EU Biodiversity Strategy (European Commission, 2011), and in national policy, e.g., in Spain (Evaluación de los Ecosistemas del Milenio de España, 2011; Montes et al., 2014), the United Kingdom and the United States (Schaefer et al., 2015). The concept that the world's natural assets, or natural capital, provide direct and indirect contributions to human wellbeing that can be valued in economic terms is a persuasive argument, but there are risks in the economic valuation of ecosystem services and the commodification of nature (Adams, 2014;Lele et al., 2013). ...
Geoconservation has evolved from a focus primarily on the protection of geosites for science and education towards a broader discipline that, in addition, recognises the wider intrinsic, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values of geodiversity and geoheritage. This more holistic approach, linking natural and cultural elements of the landscape, provides opportunities to achieve better integration of geoconservation in environmental policies and in the delivery of biodiversity targets and ecosystem functions. It also enables geoheritage conservation to be linked into the application and management of the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories. Significant challenges remain, however, to implement this holistic approach in practice and to set geoconservation on a comparable footing to biodiversity conservation in environmental policies and strategies. Four specific aspects are highlighted for development: mainstreaming geoconservation into civil society; improving the scientific basis of geoconservation; mainstreaming geoconservation into nature conservation, the ecosystem approach and sustainable development; and integrating geoconservation into protected area planning and management.
... The ecosystem approach is now a key conservation policy driver mainstreamed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2005). It is taken forward at an international level, e.g., in the EU Biodiversity Strategy (European Commission, 2011), and in national policy, e.g., in Spain (Evaluación de los Ecosistemas del Milenio de España, 2011; Montes et al., 2014), the United Kingdom and the United States (Schaefer et al., 2015). The concept that the world's natural assets, or natural capital, provide direct and indirect contributions to human wellbeing that can be valued in economic terms is a persuasive argument, but there are risks in the economic valuation of ecosystem services and the commodification of nature (Adams, 2014;Lele et al., 2013). ...
The paper, given as the keynote speech at the ProGEO Reykjavík Seminar 2015, focuses on how geodiversity and specifically geoheritage conservation can become an integral part of the nature and wider environmental and sustainable development agendas. It examines why geodiversity currently plays a minor role compared to biodiversity at all geographical scales, and why, in particular, geoheritage conservation in protected areas is a poor relation of protecting species and habitats and cultural landscapes. Suggestions on what the geocommunity should be doing about improving the situation are made throughout the paper at the global, regional, and local scales. These include finally agreeing on the definitions of key terms, working with all stakeholders, especially those in the wider nature community, improving the language of communication, and exploiting the new thinking on “conserving nature’s stage.”
... Under these umbrellas, national and local ecosystem service assessments and valuations are thriving (e.g. UK NEA, 2011; Santos-Martín et al., 2014; Jacobs et al., 2015 Jacobs et al., , 2016). Valuation of nature, in its broad sense of 'assigning importance' (Boeraeve et al., 2015, Dendoncker et al., 2013), forms part of many if not all decisions on natural resource and land use. ...
We are increasingly confronted with severe social and economic impacts of environmental degradation all over the world. From a valuation perspective, environmental problems and conflicts originate from trade-offs between values. The urgency and importance to integrate nature's diverse values in decisions and actions stand out more than ever.
Valuation, in its broad sense of ‘assigning importance’, is inherently part of most decisions on natural resource and land use. Scholars from different traditions -while moving from heuristic interdisciplinary debate to applied transdisciplinary science- now acknowledge the need for combining multiple disciplines and methods to represent the diverse set of values of nature. This growing group of scientists and practitioners share the ambition to explore how combinations of ecological, socio-cultural and economic valuation tools can support real-life resource and land use decision-making.
The current sustainability challenges and the ineffectiveness of single-value approaches to offer relief demonstrate that continuing along a single path is no option. We advocate for the adherence of a plural valuation culture and its establishment as a common practice, by contesting and complementing ineffective and discriminatory single-value approaches. In policy and decision contexts with a willingness to improve sustainability, integrated valuation approaches can be blended in existing processes, whereas in contexts of power asymmetries or environmental conflicts, integrated valuation can promote the inclusion of diverse values through action research and support the struggle for social and environmental justice.
The special issue and this editorial synthesis paper bring together lessons from pioneer case studies and research papers, synthesizing main challenges and setting out priorities for the years to come for the field of integrated valuation.
... However, in cities the regulating and cultural ES can be seen as especially crucial for the quality of life . Regulating ES such as air quality, climate and water regulation are fundamental in order to provide good living environments in urban areas (McDonald and Marcotullio, 2011), while access to cultural ES is also essential for the quality of life in cities (de Groot and Ramakrishnan, 2005;Tzoulas et al., 2007;Palomo et al., 2013;Montes et al., 2014). Cultural ES that provide liveable urban landscapes include recreation, aesthetic benefits, cognitive development, place values and social cohesion . ...
Urban development trajectories are changing towards compact, energy-efficient cities and renewable energy sources, and this will strongly affect ecosystem services (ES) that cities are dependent on but tend to disregard. Such ES can be provisioning, regulating and cultural ES, around which competition over land resources will increase with energy system shifts. Much of this can be foreseen to take place within urbanising regions that are simultaneously the living environment of a major part of the human population today. In order to inform critical urban policy decisions, tools for integrated assessment of urban energy and transport options and ecosystem services need to be developed. For this purpose, a case study of the Stockholm region was conducted, analysing three scenarios for the future urbanisation of the region, integrating a transport energy perspective and an ES perspective. The results showed that a dense but polycentric development pattern gives more opportunities for sustainable urban development, while the dense monocentric scenario has apparent drawbacks from an ES perspective. The methodology is compatible with a model integration platform for urban policy support and will thus enable integrated policy assessment of complex urban systems, with the goal of increasing their sustainability.
The coastal zone is a space where many social, economic, and political activities intersect with natural processes. In this paper, we present an adaptation of the method of ‘Circles of Sustainability’, used to provide a visual assessment of indicators that define sustainability profiles for cities. It is used as a basis for a ‘Circles of Coastal Sustainability’ (CCS) framework that can be used at multiple spatial scales to assess indicators of critical processes that facilitate/constrain sustainability of the world’s coastal zones. The development of such a framework can support management by identifying key features that influence environmental sustainability and human well-being. CCS presents a holistic assessment of four interdependent boundary domains: Environment and Ecology, Social and Cultural, Economics, and Governance and Policy. This approach improves its utility and usability for decision-makers and researchers. CCS adds to existing assessment frameworks that are often focused on particular themes and/or domains that confine their utility to the context of sustainable development and the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which demand an inherently holistic and integrated evaluation. CCS is a holistic framework designed to assess the boundaries to sustainability for socio-ecological systems at multiple scales for the world’s coasts.
Contemporary urban sprawl and urban functional centrality at the regional scale have made the classical urban-rural dichotomy no longer valid. Instead, urban development generates a range of peri-urban transitional areas in which urban and rural uses are mixed in a fragmented land mosaic. The main objective of this paper is to detect opportunitites for the revitalisation of peri-urban agriculture based on an analysis and comparison of its evolution in two different regional contexts in Spain. The peri-urban space is delimited according to density, topography and perceptual criteria. Aerial images and cartographic bases are used to identify land quality and land use changes in the areas, concluding that peri-urban agriculture has suffered both urban occupation and internal changes in crops and agricultural uses, experiencing a process of decline. Innovative initiatives performed in these spaces are also explored as elements of opportunities for revitalisation from a multifunctional approach, linking urban population to peri-urban agriculture, organic farming or landscape management. This analysis serves as a prerequisite to develop new policies for the planning of peri-urban agriculture at local and regional scales, based on a deep understanding of the territory and its evolution.
This chapter analyzes the current vegetation cover models in the Iberian Peninsula, based on a systematic approach that recognizes the interaction between physical and cultural/historical conditions. With regard to physical conditions, attention is paid to the factors that regulate primary productivity, both the quantitative aspects and its space and time variability. Climatic factors, i.e. total rainfall, continental character, rainfall unpredictability and seasonal distribution, which define very special situations within the Mediterranean climate area, stand out clearly. Looking to the historical determinants, the main differences come from the degree of integration of the peninsular territories with the Roman and Arab cultures, and the different models of land settlement (e. g communal uses vs great estates) that occurred along the extended historical process known as the Reconquest. The combination of the above-mentioned great influences with those that operate at a local scale allows us to explain the origin of the patchy structure of the landscape, revealing plots that respond to different styles of environmental control of the primary productivity. Two solutions contribute to the delineation of territorial patches: the use of trees as structural components of the agroecosystems (which give rise to numerous silvopastoral models) and the livestock mobility (which allows linking productivity maxima that occur in distant areas). Both adaptations contribute to generate landscapes of great interest. For example, the formations known as dehesas, with scattered holm oak trees which were selected for acorn production, stand out for their originality and heritage value. Other examples include the drover roads network which is a surprising legacy of public pastures and were created in the service of livestock displacements. Other relevant landscapes are the polycultures with a reticular hedgerow frame in the Atlantic fringe, with scattered settlements of small villages or isolated big dwellings. Scenic Mediterranean mosaics often placed on large terraced slopes, ancient irrigation spaces with wide orchards and vegetable gardens, and cereal plains in continental drylands of a steppe character are also part of these landscapes. To finalize, some ecological processes important in the domesticated nature are discussed. Humans acting in the agricultural landscape are committed to safeguard these processes. These comments can also be seen as recommendations for achieving sustainability in the use of resources.
El litoral espãnol se ha configurado desde hace unas décadas como el espacio más importante para la población y las actividades económicas que sustentan gran parte del nuestro modo de vida y bienestar. Los cambios que se han producido sobre los ecosistemas costeros han contribuido claramente a un incremento del estado del bienestar y del desarrollo económico, pero este incremento se ha realizado a costa de crecientes costes en términos de degradación de muchos servicios de los ecosistemas, aumento de los riesgos naturales, pérdida de patrimonio natural y cultural, etc. Todos estos problemas hacen disminuir de manera sustancial los beneficios potenciales y las posibilidades de desarrollo que las generaciones futu-ras podr an obtener de dichos ecosistemas. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del trabajo elaborado por el Grupo Litoral en la Evaluación de los Ecosistemas del Milenio de España (EME 2011) y que se ha planteado con la finalidad de desarrollar en la región el marco conceptual y metodológico del Programa Científico Internacional de Naciones Unidas, Evaluación de Ecosistemas del Milenio (World Resources Institute, 2005). El alcance de este proyecto consiste en el diseño de herramientas y modelos para la toma de decisiones relacionadas con la planificación y gestión integrada. Se busca, en definitiva, establecer una metodología de valoración de la sostenibilidad que pueda utilizarse como guía para la gestión del capital natural costero español.
http://www.revistaambienta.es/WebAmbienta/marm/Dinamicas/secciones/articulos/Lagos.htm
El conocimiento actual sobre el funcionamiento de lagos y humedales permite afirmar que este tipo de sistemas naturales desempeñan un papel fundamental en incontables procesos de carácter hidrológico, geomorfológico, ecológico… (Mitsch y Gosselink, 2003), al tiempo que son depositarios de significativos valores estéticos y de valiosas nociones al respecto de los usos tradicionales del suelo, etc. En muchas regiones no sólo constituyen un componente elemental del sistema natural sino también del socio-económico, descansando sobre ellos, incluso, una parte del patrimonio popular, y siendo una herramienta de gran valor en la educación ambiental. No es exagerado afirmar, por tanto, que lagos y humedales, y especialmente estos últimos, suponen una de las principales reservas de biodiversidad a nivel planetario, además de una fuente elemental de servicios ecosistémicos para la sociedad, tanto de abastecimiento como de regulación o de tipo cultural (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005).
El presente trabajo, que resume lo referido a este tipo de ecosistemas en la Evaluación de los Ecosistemas del Milenio de España (2011), se centra precisamente en la revisión de la situación en la que se encuentran los servicios que prestan a la sociedad española los lagos y humedales al tiempo que se analiza su tendencia a medio-largo plazo.
Un Programa científico para evaluar el estado de los servicios de los ecosistemas de España. La Evaluación de los Ecosistemas del Milenio (MA, 2005) (www.maweb.org) fue un Programa internacional promovido por una Alianza de Agencias de Naciones Unidas, Convenios Internacionales y ONGs. Fue lanzado en 2001 por el entonces Secretario Ge-neral Kofi Annan con la finalidad de crear una línea base de información científica interdisciplinaria so-bre las relaciones entre ecosistemas, biodiversidad y bienestar humano. Supuso la ecoauditoría as im-portante realizada, hasta la fecha, sobre el estado de conservación de los ecosistemas del planeta y su bio-diversidad. Pero su objetivó ultimo no era otro que evaluar las implicaciones que la destrucción de los ecosistemas y la pérdida de biodiversidad estaban teniendo en el bienestar de la población del planeta (Montes y Sala 2007; Montes y Lomas 2010). El mensaje fue muy claro; en lo ultimos 60 ã nos, la humanidad ha modificado ecosistemas y erosio-nado biodiversidad de forma as apida e intensa que en cualquier otro periodo comparable de la his-toria de la humanidad para satisfacer las demandas de comida, agua, madera, fibras y combustibles. Las alteraciones son tan intensas que si no se toman, a diferentes escalas, medidas d asticas y profundas para parar y revertir esta tendencia, la situación se agrava a, probablemente siguiendo una di amica no lineal, y la humanidad se acerca a a un colapso de proporciones sin precedentes (Carpenter et al. 2009; Rockström et al. 2009). En este contexto la Evaluación de los Ecosistemas de Espã na (EME), se erige como la respuesta de la Administración ublica Ambiental a diferentes nor-mativas, programas y convenios a nivel estatal así co-mo dentro de un marco de política internacional para el cumplimiento de una serie de obligaciones y conve-nio mundiales. Se puso en marcha en Abril de 2009 promovido por la Fundación Biodiversidad del Minis-terio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente y coordinado científicamente por investigadores de las Universidades Autónoma, Alcaí a y Complutense de Madrid. En el proyecto han intervenido as de 60 investigadores provenientes de distintos campos de las ciencias ecológicas y sociales y pertenecientes a distintas universidades y centros del CSIC. Su
National ecosystem assessments provide evidence on the status and trends of biodiversity, ecosystem conditions, and the delivery of ecosystem services to society. I this study, we analyze the complex relationships established between ecosystems and human systems in Spain through the combination of Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework and structural equation models. Firstly, to operationalize the framework, we selected 53 national scale indicators that provide accurate, long-term information on each of the components. Secondly, structural equation models were performed to understand the relationships among the components of the framework. Trend indicators have shown an overall progressive biodiversity loss, trade-offs between provisioning and cultural services associated with urban areas vs. regulating and cultural services associated with rural areas, a decoupling effect between material and non-material dimensions of human wellbeing, a rapid growing trend of conservation responses in recent years and a constant growing linear trend of direct or indirect drivers of change. Results also show that all the components analyzed in the model are strongly related. On one hand, the model shows that biodiversity erosion negatively affect the supply of regulating services, while it is positively related with the increase of provisioning service delivery. On the other hand, the most important relationship found in the model is the effect of pressures on biodiversity loss, indicating that response options for conserving nature cannot counteract the effect of the drivers of change. These results suggest that there is an insufficient institutional response to address the underlying causes (indirect drivers of change) of biodiversity loos in Spain. We conclude that more structural changes are required in the Spanish institutional framework to reach 2020 biodiversity conservation international targets.
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