What is Ecosystem Governance?

Healthy ecosystems provide the services that are essential for all life on Earth. However, because of human activities leading to land use changes and degradation, many of these ecosystems are not functioning to their optimal level. Understanding how ecosystems respond to global environmental challenges remains an important focus for the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) in order to develop solutions and strategies that can support the sustainability of social-ecological systems. Maintaining and restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services are necessary if we expect social-ecological systems to be resilient and support all life. 

Ecosystem governance is defined as "an approach that enhances the connection between ecosystems and society through increased fairness and balance between the needs and limitations of what is provided by ecosystems (Vasseur et al., 2017)." Ecosystem governance is an approach that merges different disciplines to explore ways that human can protect the environment and maintain activities in a sustainable manner. It is an inclusive approach that better connects the social system with the ecological system to improve conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem health for human well-being. It examines the actions that can be undertaken to move forward and contribute to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

A brief historical background

The Group is also involved in the World Forum on Ecosystem Governance (WFEG). It initially was a partnership of various organizations such as the State Forestry Administration of China (SFA), International Union for Conservation of Nature and its Commission on Ecosystem Management (IUCN/ CEM), the Beijing Municipality, and the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) that organized the first and second World Forum in China.

The first WFEG was held in Yunhu Lake Resort, near Beijing, China in October 2015. It led to the publication of the Beijing Declaration (see the publication online) and led to the following publication:  Vasseur, L., D. Horning, M. Thornbush, E. Cohen-Shacham, A. Andrade, E. Barrow, S. Edwards, P. Wit, M. Jones. 2017. Complex problems and unchallenged solutions: bringing ecosystem governance to the forefront of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ambio 46: 731-742. doi: 10.1007/s13280-017-0918-6.

A second WFEG was held in November 2018 in Hangzhou, China. It was organized by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), IUCN and Hangzhou Municipal Government. It was followed by the preparation of the Hangzhou Declaration. 

The thematic group has continued its reflections and development of case studies on rural-urban linkages with the publication of a book (upcoming). That work followed some of the key points that were brought up during the Concluding Remarks at the World Conservation Congress, September 2016, Hawaii.

Key points for Ecosystem Governance

The key points when considering governance of ecosystems are:

• Social and ecological systems are complex and non-linear;
• The footprint of the system and accountability of the various actors;
• Transformation of governance processes;
• The need for transparency in engagement and trust building with the actors;
• Temporal and special scalability while being flexible and adaptable;
• Context specific, recognizing the different needs of developed vs. developing countries;
• Ensuring that “top-down” rules and regulations are informed and guided by “bottom-up” input;
• Implementation of new governance processes, policies, and regulations will require new investments in capacity building;
• There is need to connect with and collaborate with international organizations like the WTO.

What CEM can do:

Ecosystem governance is not optional but essential to ensure continued access to vital ecosystem services and increased human wellbeing. CEM, and therefore also EGTG, should consider ways and means to:

• Promote capacity building at ALL levels, from local to international,
• Improve interdisciplinarity in its work on ecosystem governance, and
• Ensure that there is embedded in all work on ecosystem governance an appreciation for the importance of ecosystem services and recognition of the evolution and dynamics of systems and needs for change.

EGTG goals:

Further examine how to refine the definition of ecosystem governance and extract principles that can be tested in the future through case studies. This work was initiated in 2020 and should be completed in the coming year. Promote a network of global scientific specialists and practitioners that constantly exchange knowledge virtually, and during in-person events.

Call for Case Studies:

In order to continue developing the concept of ecosystem governance and its properties/principles, we invited members to develop case studies that they believe can present issues related to ecosystem governance. We invite all types of case studies that are:

• How can ecosystem governance contribute to NbS (especially considering criteria 5 and 6)
• Successful and unsuccessful
• Local to national
• Long or short term
• From different ecosystems
• From developing and developed countries