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• What are Ecosystem Services?• About ESPA• Examples from ESPA Projects. • Lessons Learnt• Changing Lives
Definitions
• Derived from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment:– An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant,
animal, and microorganism communities and the non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.
– Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems.
– People are integral parts of ecosystems
About ESPA
Ecosystem Services forPoverty Alleviation
ESPA’s Vision ESPA is an international research programme providing
evidence of how ecosystem services can support well-being and sustainable poverty alleviation among poor people in low-income countries. Our projects are interdisciplinary, linking the
social, natural and political sciences to address a series of focused research questions and evidence challenges. They
are delivered through collaborative partnerships involving the world’s best researchers from developing and developed
countries. ESPA’s success will be measured by the way that its
research can be turned into results that benefit the poor.
ESPA in Numbers(1 September 2014)
98 Projectsworking in
51countries involving
766ESPAresearchersfrom
317institutions
50 % of all ESPA researchers from developing countries
24 % of funds for recent projects allocated directly to developing countries
46
31
18
Where does ESPA operate?
Africa Asia/PacificAmericas
(number of projects)
106 Academic publications
65 In ISI listed journals
813 Citations
22 Books and chapters
19 Models
11 Datasets
867 Outcomes reported
ESPA’s most influential paper cited
283 times
26 % of ESPA researchers are women
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20140
20
40
60
80
100
120
ESPA's Academic Publications
485 twitter followers
Over 3,100 web hits a
month across the globe
8 instances of direct policy
influence
15 ESPA researchers
contributing to policy processes
and panels
Over 300 communication
outcomes reported by ESPA
researchers
4 PES schemes informed by
ESPA research
STIMULATING MORE FUNDING
£32 million of development investment informed by ESPA research
£29 million of new research projects informed by ESPA research2,490people in Kenya supported by an ESPA carbon credit project
Transformational Science!
• Conceptualising the links between ecosystem services and poverty alleviation
• A new global partnership for interdisciplinary science
• New frameworks and tools• Methodological advances• Evidence
– Documenting the links between ES and PA• Science informing policy and practice
Development Impact
Academic Impact
Aug-13 Oct-13 Dec-13 Feb-14 Apr-14 Jun-14 Aug-14 Oct-14 Dec-14 Feb-150
200
400
600
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The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• Major outcome from Rio+20• Being designed to “integrate economic,
social, and environmental aspects and recognise the interlinkages in achieving sustainable development in all its dimensions”
• Part of the UN’s negotiations of the post-2015 / post-MDG development agenda
Where can ESPA’s Research Evidence Contribute to the SDGs?
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and adequate nutrition for all, and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Attain healthy life for all at all ages
6. Secure water and sanitation for all for a sustainable world
8. Promote strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all
Where can ESPA’s Research Evidence Contribute to the SDGs?
11. Build inclusive, safe and sustainable cities and human settlements
12. Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Promote actions at all levels to address climate change
14. Attain conservation and sustainable use of marine resources, oceans and seas
15. Protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems and halt all biodiversity loss
2. End hunger, achieve food security and adequate nutrition for all
• ESPA Assets project working in Colombia, Peru and Malawi aims to inform policy makers on how future land use and climate change will affect both food security and the ecosystem services associated with it
6. Secure water and sanitation for all for a sustainable world
• An ESPA project in Bolivia is exploring ways to encourage changes in behaviour to reduce water pollution, increase dry-season flows and enhance human welfare.
Telling the ESPA Story
Describing when and how ecosystem services contribute to human well-being
and poverty alleviation
How Scientists Communicate Environmental Issues …
… and sometimes get it wrong!
Winning Hearts and Minds
• Mikoko Pamoja Kenya– 2,490 community
members are benefitting from an innovative carbon credit scheme supported by ESPA research.
– A 20 year contract.worth US$ 17,000 this year.
– The communities decided to invest in education for 2014.
Examples from ESPA Projects
East AfricaSouth Asia
South America
ESPA in Africa
• Over half of ESPA’s projects have been funded to work in Africa.
• Most projects are in East and Southern Africa.
• Generating benefits from food security, coastal ecosystems, rangelands, forests and protected areas.
Food Security in Malawi
• The ESPA Assets project is investigating the impacts of converting land from forest to agriculture.
• Most systems need to be managed as a mosaic of land-uses and services.
• There may be an optimal level of ecosystem change or disturbance.
Understanding Costs and Benefits
• Better management of ecosystems for a range of services will help to reduce poverty.
Protected Areas in Madagascar
• How can local people benefit from global payments for ecosystem services?
• Working closely with the World Bank’s WAVES Partnership
• Very strong local research and development partners
P4GES:A Highly Interdisciplinary Project
Forests, Cities and Water in South Asia
Land-Use Change in The Himalayas
Informing Dialogue
Governance and Policy Challenges (Failures?)
• Test • Local people are often excluded from the decisions determining how the can benefit from ecosystems.
• Policy is often disjointed and its implementation limited by lack of resources and enforcements
• Justice and Equity lacking
Taking a Regional View inSouth Asia
Challenges Crossing Political Boundaries
Influencing People in Other Countries
… and their Poverty
Policy and Practice in South America
Environmental Change and Tipping Points
• Exceeding “tipping points” leads to significant losses of ecosystem services.– It is much more
difficult to restore services.
• There are often early warning signs of the loss of ecosystem services
Policy and Practice: Bolivia
• Linking environmental and social objectives n Bolivia has increased the adoption of Ecosystem Services as a way to reduce poverty.
• Decision makers need better evidence and metrics– Quality evidence is valued.– Examples of success
Cross-Border Issues
Can Ecosystem Services Reduce Poverty?
Yes….. But!
• It’s often difficult to reach the poor.
• Households require access to key capitals– Land, water, natural resources,
finance, social, education.
• Good governance, effective institutions and markets are often required
• Capacity strengthening needs to be addressed
Key Messages
• Become smarter about communicating positive messages on how the environment contributes to social and economic development.
• Treat environmental interventions in the same way as most other approaches to reducing poverty.– The enabling conditions are essentially the
same
Enabling Conditions
• Access to key capitals:– Land, social, financial, infrastructure, markets.
• Community-based organisations can help facilitate change– Including social enterprises– Opportunities for multi-functional
organisations• Good governance is essential, but don’t
just focus on policy!
