Following up on the publication of the report on Ecosystem
Change and Human Well-being in December 2008, a Scientific
Committee has been appointed to oversee the implementation of a
new interdisciplinary programme. This Programme on Ecosystem Change
and Society (PECS) is an ICSU Interdisciplinary Body jointly sponsored
by UNESCO, and will complement the existing global environmental
change programmes and Earth System Science Partnership.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was published in 2005 and introduced
a new conceptual framework for analysing social-ecological systems,
which has had considerable influence in the policy and scientific
communities. The Assessment also revealed significant gaps
in the current scientific knowledge of the links between ecosystem
services and human wellbeing.
In 2007, ICSU, in partnership with UNESCO and UNU, established
an ad hoc expert group to assess these knowledge gaps and
how they might best be addressed by the scientific community. This
expert group published its report on Ecosystem Change and Human
Well-being in December 2008. This included a recommendation
to establish a new 10 year research programme with a mission to
foster coordinated research to understand the dynamic relationship
between humans and ecosystems. The 29th ICSU General Assembly supported
this recommendation and the implementation of a new interdisciplinary
Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) began in earnest
with the first meeting of the Scientific committee in June 2009.
This programme is jointly sponsored by ICSU and UNESCO and complements
the four other ICSU sponsored global environmental change programmes
and the Earth Systems Science Partnership. The key question that
the new programme hopes to address is: 'how do policies and practices
affect resilience of the portfolio of ecosystem services that support
human well-being and allow for adaptation to a changing environment?'.
Answering this will require full integration of natural and social
sciences in the design and conduct of innovative research projects
using the MA framework.
PECS will provide scientific knowledge to the proposed Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). ICSU is working with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other stakeholders to develop the platform, which will play a role similar to that of the IPCC in climate change.
Services that earth’s ecosystems provide to people are being transformed
at the most rapid rate in human history. Most ecosystem services are degrading,
including those that underpin food, water, human health and climate regulation.
Human populations and consumption are rising and drivers of degradation
are intensifying, thereby increasing the risk of even greater losses of
ecosystem services in coming years. Existing policy responses do not recognise
the effects of decisions on the full portfolio of ecosystem services and
human well-being, including the unintended adverse consequences of actions
taken to improve a particular ecosystem service.
We need a transformation in policies and practices to manage the full
endowment of ecosystem services, including the interactions and tradeoffs.
This transformation requires input from both the natural and social sciences.
What is needed is a broad international partnership among the disciplines
for research to examine the relationships of governance, ecosystem services,
and human well-being at global and local scales. PECS, the ICSU Programme
on Ecosystem Change and Society, is a new research endeavour that integrates
social and natural science and aims to provide the understanding needed
for wise stewardship of landscapes and seascapes.
How do policies and practices affect resilience of the portfolio of ecosystem
services that support human well-being and allow for adaptation to a changing
environment? This overarching question must be addressed simultaneously
by natural and social sciences and therefore requires trans-disciplinary
research. The programme must address interactions at different spatial
extents, engage multiple stakeholders, address all interconnections of
ecosystem services—including their physical, biological, and social
aspects—develop analytical approaches to evaluate outcomes of policies
and practices, design responsive monitoring strategies, and provide transparent
access to information.
Components of the programme include:
Comparative analyses of the effects of policies and practices on the
full portfolio of ecosystem services and their implications for human
well-being, conducted in specific regions that are undergoing rapid
change.
Development of integrated modelling tools to assess the portfolio
of ecosystem services at a range of spatial and temporal scales, and
to evaluate effects of changing drivers, policies and practices on the
ecosystem services and human well-being.
Development of adaptive strategies to monitor changes in the portfolio
of ecosystem services and their effects on human well-being based on
multiple sources of information including narrative, qualitative and
quantitative data and historical records in addition to more traditional
monitoring and remote sensing.
Building capacity to develop the scientific communities, public outreach,
stakeholder engagement and institutions needed for resilient ecosystem
services and human well-being
Evaluate effectiveness of governance, policies and practices that
aim to manage the portfolio of ecosystem services for improved human
well being, at a range of spatial scales.
PECS will develop the analytical tools and evidence base that enable
improved human wellbeing through wise stewardship of earth’s full
portfolio of ecosystem services. The program will provide information
useful at multiple levels of governance including international conventions,
national and local policymakers, and communities. PECS will add to the
basic knowledge needed to manage long-term resilience of ecosystem services
and to maintain options for future human access to ecosystem services.
Thus PECS will facilitate adaptive change in ecosystem stewardship at
a time when ecosystem services are themselves undergoing transformation.
Explanation of key terms:
Ecosystem services are benefits that people receive
from nature, such as provision of food and water, regulation of water
flows and quality, and cultural values. Practices that increase one
ecosystem service may decrease others; e.g. maximization of food production
may impair water supplies. Governance involves systems of management of resources
and people and can be undertaken by governments, communities, international
bodies or other institutions. Human well-being is a state comprising material needs
for life, freedom and choice, health, social relations, security, peace
of mind and spiritual experience. Policy is a course of action adopted or approved by
a governing body. Practice is the action or process of implementing a
policy. Resilience is the capacity of social-ecological systems
to persist, adapt or transform when necessary.
Members:
Agarwal, Bina (India) bio...
Balvanera, Patricia (Mexico) bio...
Campbell, Bruce (Indonesia/South Africa) bio...
Castilla, Juan Carlos (Chile) bio...
Cramer, Wolfgang (Germany) bio...
DeFries, Ruth (USA) bio...
Eyzaguirre, Pablo (Chile) bio...
Hughes, Terry (Australia) bio...
Folke, Carl (Sweden) bio...
Polasky, Steve (USA)
Scholes, Bob (South Africa) bio...
Spierenburg, Marja (Netherlands) bio...
Wardojo, Wahjudi (Indonesia)
Ex-officio members:
One representative from each of: ICSU, UNESCO and DIVERSITAS
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