ViewpointManagement of the marine environment: Integrating ecosystem services and societal benefits with the DPSIR framework in a systems approach
Research highlights
► The marine environment provides ecosystem services and societal benefits (ES&SB). ► Ecosystem services comprise both fundamental services and final services. ► We integrate ES&SB with the DPSIR framework in the context of The Ecosystem Approach. ► DPSIR framework boundary is defined by user community characteristics and the scale of ES&SB. ► A set of DPSIR–ES&SB postulates for sustainable marine management are proposed.
Introduction
Ever increasing and diverse use of the marine environment is leading to human-induced changes in marine life, habitats and landscapes, making necessary the development of marine policy that recognises and takes into consideration all members of the user community and addresses current, multiple, interacting uses. The marine environment can be perceived to be a system formed through the interconnection between natural systems on several scales (terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, coastal and oceanic), designed systems (such as extractive industries, tourism, transportation, and power generation) and social systems (environmental activist groups, fishing communities, etc.). A holistic approach is therefore needed to gain an understanding of the connections that exist within and between these elements of the marine environment, and to support policy makers in their decision making. This is consistent with The Ecosystem Approach sensu stricto which aims to balance the needs of both the ecological and human aspects of the ecosystem (see below).
The DPSIR (Drivers–Pressures–State Change–Impact–Response) framework has developed as a systems-based approach which captures key relationships between society and the environment, and is regarded as a philosophy for structuring and communicating policy-relevant research about the environment. In essence, after being developed from an OECD approach which aimed to link pressures (created by human demands of the system) with the state changes and impacts, the systemic DPSIR framework encompasses Drivers, which are the key demands by society and creates Pressures, and recognises that State Changes and Impacts then require a Response by society. Fundamental to the DPSIR framework is the definition of the boundary of the system it describes, the demarcation of which depends on the particular issue of interest and its conceptualisation (Svarstad et al., 2008).
In this paper, we argue that the limits for marine management requires the coupling of the emerging concepts of DPSIR, The Ecosystem Approach and ecosystem services and the societal benefits emanating from those services. Integrating these concepts provides an opportunity to capture and evaluate, in a comprehensive way, the implications of State Change and Impact in the system. This requires the identification of the user community (be it local, regional or global) and, where possible, it also involves a scientific analytical and/or monetary evaluation of the ecosystem services and societal benefits. Thus, the scale of State Change and Impact as reflected in user communities and in their associated ecosystem services and societal benefits can be used to demarcate the boundary of the system depicted in the DPSIR framework. However, in presenting this, we note that the terminology involved in these concepts has evolved in recent years and hence we attempt to clarify it.
The integration of ecosystem services and societal benefits with the DPSIR framework in a way consistent with The Ecosystem Approach, and a consideration of the limitations of those concepts in marine management, enables us: (1) to contribute to our understanding of the three concepts, (2) to present basic postulates for the management of the marine environment which integrate the concepts, and (3) to provide a specific framework for supporting decision making in the marine environment.
By way of application, two contrasting case studies are discussed. The first study relates to the management of marine aggregates extraction in UK waters and, therefore, centres on a particular sector. The second study is non-sectoral in its focus on marine biodiversity and the maintenance of the integrity of the marine environment at Flamborough Head, UK with particular reference to its nature conservation designations. Both case studies raise issues relating to the boundary of the system described by the DPSIR framework, and provide the opportunity to explore key elements of the perspectives of the user community, and of sustainable management in these specific contexts.
Section snippets
The Ecosystem Approach
While ‘an ecosystem approach’ was initially an ecological term which referred to natural ecosystem functioning (Likens, 1992), since the early 1990s this has been adopted as ‘The Ecosystem Approach’ which aims to place human society as a central part in the ecosystem. At its most comprehensive, the concept of The Ecosystem Approach was defined by The Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD, 2000) as:
‘a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes
Case studies
Although examples have been included throughout the previous description of concepts, two case studies provide further insight.
Discussion
The management of the marine environment requires an approach that recognises the complexity of the system and accommodates the full user community and their current, multiple, interacting uses. This can be provided by an integrated methodology based on the DPSIR framework and ES&SB, thereby encompassing The Ecosystem Approach. It acknowledges the need to protect and maintain the ecosystem fundamental and final services as a means of delivering societal benefits which we argue are a means to
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support of the European Commission (contract number GOCE-CT-2003-505446) and members of the Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning EU Network of Excellence (MarBEF), and the support of the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (Ref: MEPF 09/P115) and discussions with members of the Seabed Restoration Project. This study forms part of the European projects WISER (Grant Agreement 226273, 7th Framework Programme) and TiDE (Interreg 4c). The authors also benefited
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