Management of Aquatic Ecosystems Module 8 –MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION OF AQUATIC

ECOSYSTEMS IN RIVER AND LAKE BASINS

Lake Basin Management Initiatives in the Philippines
integrated approach to water resources management (IWRM)
Enabling policies and frameworks
Ecosystems
• 1986 Philippine Constitution
• RA 8371 (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act) • is a functional unit comprised of a given environment or biotope,
• RA 8550 (Fisheries Code ) and the organisms that live in it, known as the biocenosis
• RA 7586 (National Integrated Protected Areas System Act
[NIPAS]) Biocenosis
• RA 11038 (Expanded NIPAS Act)
• RA 9147 (Wildlife Act) • group of living organisms attracted to environmental factors. The
• RA 9072 (Cave Act) group is characterized by a specific composition that determines
• RA 7160 (Local Government Code) their interdependence; it occupies a living space known as a
• RA 9275 (Clean Water Act) biotope
• RA 9729 (Climate Change Act) Biotope
• PD 1067 (Water Code)
• EO 111 (Ecotourism Policy) • or “living environment”, means all of the abiotic and biotic factors
• EO 578 (Policy on Biodiversity and Verde Island Marine that characterize the environment in which a biocenosis lives. The
Corridor) word “habitat” is generally used to describe the living environment
• EO 533 (Integrated Coastal Management Policy) of one or several species. A habitat is different from an ecological
• RA 4850 (Creation of the Laguna Lake Development Authority) niche, which could be all of the functional components plus all of
and its the abiotic factors.
• amendment PD813, and EO927
• Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction An ecosystem approach aims to balance the needs of human
communities and ecosystems, and thus foster harmonious
relationships at all levels. The basic concepts are:

Atlas of Philippine lakes ➢ All of an ecosystem’s components (i.e. physical, chemical and
biological) are
DENR updated inventory records 254 lakes and lakelets in the
country, distributed in the 3 major island group: interdependent;
• Luzon 129 ➢ Ecosystems have a dynamic and complex nature that requires
• Visayas 36 taking a flexible,
• Mindanao 89
adaptable approach;
Major lakes: Laguna de Bay, Taal Lake, Naujan Lake, Lake Danao,
Lanao Lake ➢ Scientific, social and financial concerns must be included.

Integrated Water Resources Management

Importance of Philippine Lakes
• Source of 15% of country’s total fisheries production
(BFAR,2014)
• Habitat to rich biodiversity: High in endemism but also with
highly threatened species
• Provides fresh water, generates power, used and flood
retention areas and catchment basins
• Known for cultural and religious values
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) defines Integrated
Water Resources Management as a process that promotes the
coordinated development and management of water, land and related
resources in order to maximize economic and social welfare in an
equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital
ecosystems.
In its studies, GWP focuses on the following pillars for the harmonious
implementation of IWRM:

Existing Approaches related to Integrated Lake Basin ➢ Enabling environment;

Management
➢ Institutional framework;
1. Integrated Water Resources Management
2. Integrated Coastal Management ➢ Management instruments.
3. Integrated watershed management
4. Integrated ecosystems management The International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO)
5. Integrated river basin management suggests taking an organized approach at the level of the
6. Ridge-to-reef approach hydrographic units that make up basins, i.e. water catchment areas
7. Ecosystem-based approach for surface water, aquifers for groundwater, and joint management
of surface and ground water based on the hydrographic basin’s
Lake management models boundaries.
1. National Integrated Protected Area System Functions and Benefits of Aquatic Ecosystems
2. Lake Management Authority
3. Local Government Administration ➢ An aquatic ecosystem in good condition can carry out diverse
4. Declared Critical Habitat functions: production, regulation and organization.
5. International Recognition or Site Network member
➢ Ecosystem services are provisioning, regulatory, cultural and
support services.
Common Issues related to ILBM Implementation
Role and functions of aquatic ecosystems (rivers, lakes &
- Transboundary management wetlands)
- Lack of wetland (lake) management plan
• Aquatic ecosystems are a subset of ecosystems (see definition in
- Lentic-lotic ecosystems dynamics
Introduction) in which water is a key component.
- For some lakes, tributaries are not within the Protected
Area or do not share common management unit Three main types can be distinguished:
- Insufficient information on biodiversity and ecosystem
services ➢ Rivers, where water flows from source to mouth;
- Weak stakeholder participation in management for common
➢Lakes, in the broad sense from small ponds to large lakes where
use resource
water is stored according to the specific landscape and topography;
Strategies and Current Efforts
➢ Wetlands directly depending on aquatic ecosystems. The Ramsar
- National policy and program on wetlands/lake conservation Convention gives a wide definition of wetlands. “Areas of marshes,
- Capacity-building and CEPA fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or
temporary, with water that is flowing or static, fresh, brackish or salty,
- Strengthening conservation measures
including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does
- Stakeholder engagement and partnerships
not exceed six meters.” We focus here on inland wetlands.
 Identifying the Parameters
• used to qualify and/or quantify the key functions of aquatic
ecosystems.
Describing the status and diversity of aquatic ecosystems is based on
structuring parameters that determine their functioning
characteristics. Generally, water sciences distinguish four categories
of parameters:
➢ Biological components (relating to the composition and
abundance of aquatic flora and fauna);
➢ Hydromorphological components (the hydromorphological
status of watercourses takes into account different factors - the
hydrological regime (water flow, etc.), the ecological continuity
(circulation capacity of aquatic species and sediment) and the
morphological conditions (depth and width of the watercourse,
structure of the bed or river banks, etc.);
➢ Hydrological components (treated either separately from
hydromorphology, or grouped together, as in the European Union);
➢ Chemical and physicochemical components (the WFD makes
a distinction between chemical parameters, i.e. the content of
different polluting substances (priority and toxic substances), and
physico-chemical parameters supporting the biology, such as the
oxygen balance, water temperature, or nutrient concentrations).
• The causal framework DPSIR / Driving forces - Pressures - State -
Impact - Responses (adopted by the European Environment Agency)
provides a suitable structure for analysis.
Ecosystem Functions
• defined as a subset of the interactions between biophysical structures,
biodiversity and ecosystem processes. An aquatic ecosystem in good
condition can carry out diverse functions that can be grouped into
several families:
➢ Production functions - which mostly concern the production of
organic matter, the availability of non-renewable resources like water,
and mineral substances;
➢ Regulation functions - the way ecosystems function contributes
to stabilizing the variability of natural processes (climate, natural risks,
etc.) and resource flows (soil water retention). They also play a role
in eliminating the transformation of toxins (water self-purification);
➢ Organization (or structuring) functions - these contribute to
defining the system’s self-organization rules. They involve the physical
organization of systems (landscape structuring) and their biological
organization (biodiversity)
Ecosystem Services
• defined as the benefits that humans derive from ecosystem
functions
• Ecosystem services are established on different time and spatial
scales. They can be apprehended at different levels, from local level
(protection against natural risks, water sanitation, cultural
functions) and national level (a country’s water resources, national
basins) to international level (transboundary basins, world water
cycle, fight against climate change, etc.). They also vary over time:
the water cycle takes place over the whole biosphere and over very
long periods.
Each individual ecosystem forms the basis of functions that
themselves generate services. Several alternative classifications of
ecosystem services exist (The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity, Millennium Assessment, Common International
Classification of Ecosystem Services, as examples). They include three
or four types of service (provisioning, regulatory, cultural and
sometimes a fourth category of supporting services):
➢ Provisioning services include products resulting from
ecosystems (food and water resources, diverse materials, fibres,
genetic and biochemical resources, and other mineral resources);
➢ Regulatory services are the benefits resulting from the
regulation of ecosystemic processes (i.e. climate regulation,
hydrological regulation, water purification and treatment, regulation
of natural risks and disease, erosion and sedimentation, pollution
filtration);
➢ Cultural services include non-material benefits resulting from
ecosystems (recreation and well-being services, religious and spiritual
services, aesthetic value, education and cultural heritage);
➢ Supporting services comprise soil formation, the nutrient cycle
and the water cycle.
ECOSYSTEM > FUNCTIONS > ECOSYSTEM SERVICES >
BENEFITS (well-being)
Human activities and pollution sources
• Human beings are key users of aquatic ecosystems and associated
ecosystem services. This use may be conscious or not, and,
depending on its intensity, may have little or no effect on the
aquatic environment, or may generate significant effects, often
known as dysfunctions. This chapter describes the main human
activities that use aquatic ecosystems and the main dysfunctions,
with a separate focus on pollution, split into the four categories of
parameters identified in the previous chapter.
Biology: Modifications of the biocenosis - Invasive alien
species
• In aquatic ecosystems, all living species (i.e. the biocenosis)
operate interdependently in a relatively balanced way via the food
chain and the pyramid of productivity. This balance can be
disturbed and broken by, for example, the disappearance of one
or several species, or the introduction of invasive alien species.
The proliferation of invasive alien species threatens biodiversity
and has an impact on human health.
• Invasive alien plants can have consequences on human health.
For example, the pollen of some plants (e.g. common ragweed)
provokes allergies like rhinitis, conjunctivitis, asthma, hives and
eczema. Invasive alien species can also have economic
consequences, such as affecting agriculture, livestock production
and fishing, or a negative impact on tourism and leisure activities
(e.g. bathing, sailing).
Hydromorphology: Mechanical action in ecosystems
• Hydromorphological pressures on rivers and aquatic ecosystems
are numerous, take several forms and can be originated from
various human activities or water uses. They comprise all
physical alterations of water bodies modifying their shores,
riparian/littoral zones, water level and flow (except water
abstraction). Examples of such pressures are damming,
embankment, channelization, non-natural water level
fluctuations
Hydrology: Abstraction, Regulation
• Many human activities abstract water from the aquatic
environment to use for different purposes. Abstraction can be
carried out directly in the aquatic environment, or a specific
infrastructure can be created (dam, reservoir, diversion, etc.)
that may change the water regime over the hydrological year
(e.g. store water in winter for use in summer).
Chemical and physico-chemical: Organic pollution,
eutrophication and micropollutants
• Many human activities cause organic pollution. In addition to the
discharge of domestic wastewater (untreated wastewater) or
industrial wastewater that has not been treated adequately (e.g.
from food and wood industries), agriculture can be a significant
source of pollution, via livestock farming including silage
production or manure / sludge spreading on land. This input of
organic matter into the aquatic environment can use massive
amounts of oxygen, with the potential to kill fish and disturb the
aquatic ecosystem.
Including Ecosystems in River/Lake Basin Management
Plans
KEY POINTS:
➢ A basin management plan should include a strategy and
measures relating to aquatic ecosystems.
➢ Ecosystems conservation and restoration should be analyzed
in line with the social and economic dimensions.
➢ The basin’s “ecology” dimension needs to be crossed with all
of the objectives and themes covered by the plan.
Ecosystem Considerations in Basin Planning Processes The
planning process comprises the following steps:
➊ Carry out a basin characterization - a diagnosis, made not only
in the sense of the hydrographic basin (including groundwater), but
considering the basin as a territory involving interaction between the
activities that develop there, the water resources and aquatic
environment. It is important that the diagnosis phase should be
carried out in a participative way, in particular to ensure that
environmental aspects are integrated right from the start of the
process (“major issues”). Several methods and tools can be used for
basin diagnosis; a special approach uses “Water footprints”;
 ➋ Based on the characterization and detailed diagnosis, the next
phase involves defining the basic (ranked) objectives. Objectives
relating to the preservation and restoration of aquatic ecosystems can
feature via more general objectives;
➌ The next phase relates to developing strategies in the basin
(strategies to reach objectives) and the actions or measures to carry
out; it should obviously comprise action relating to aquatic
ecosystems;
➍ The programme of measures or programme of action results from
the previous stages. It should include an analysis of how the measures
will be funded and indicators for evaluating the action.
• Basin – territory management
Management and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems
KEY POINTS:
➢ Restoration is an integral part of sustainable water management
and involvesa wide range of stakeholders.
➢ Wetlands improve water quality by trapping sediments, filtering
pollutants and absorbing nutrients.
➢ Environmental flow helps maintain downstream aquatic
ecosystems.
➢ Human intervention has fragmented around 60% of the world’s
rivers.
➢ The joint study of green and grey infrastructures constitutes a new
paradigm.
➢ Natural Water Retention Measures provide a wide range of benefits
for flood control and ecosystem services.
Restoration practices
Restoration Methods
requires expertise and skill in various disciplines. The different steps
can be summarized as: planning, designing, constructing and
monitoring.
• Restoration refers to a large variety of measures and practices,
which can vary considerably in size and complexity. These are
aimed at restoring the natural state and functioning of the, lake
or wetland to enable its sustainable and multifunctional uses.
• Careful planning of a restoration project - clear objectives
and communication with all those involved greatly improve the
chances of reaching its targets. There are several reasons for this:
for example defining the aims of the project makes it easier to
identify the specialists required, and setting clear and measurable
objectives means that the project can be evaluated
• Design work - will help to identify the most appropriate
restoration measures for the situation, and the projected costs of
these measures. This step can also be a good point to determine
a monitoring strategy, setting out its objectives, spatial extent, the
period of monitoring, measurement protocol, and the stakeholders
involved.
• Pre- and post-project monitoring are required - Pre-project
monitoring is based on the existing conditions report. Monitoring
makes it possible to evaluate whether ecological targets have
been reached and whether restoration techniques have been
effective. Feedback from monitoring can lead to the
implementation of other projects.
Flood Risk Management
• Rivers, floodplains, lakes and wetlands perform financially and
environmentally valuable functions related to the regulation of
river discharge. They play a particular role in floodwater retention
and in the recharge and discharge of groundwater.
Hydropower and Dams
Dams and weirs, serving multiple functions like electricity
generation and water management, pose a significant risk to river
ecosystems. They disturb the natural sediment flow, causing
retention upstream and loss downstream. These structures
impede fish migration, disrupting their access to spawning areas
both upstream and downstream. High fish mortality rates occur as
they navigate through turbines during downstream migration.
Furthermore, modifications in water discharge, alterations in lake
water quality, and temperature changes have adverse effects on
habitats and species in these ecosystems.
Preservation of Biodiversity and Habitats
• Aquatic ecosystems including wetlands provide habitats for many
plants and a space for animals to feed, rest and reproduce. Rivers
carry sediments that transform riverbeds and contribute to the
creation of habitats. However, humans have modified the
structure and aquatic fauna habitat of many rivers in the world by
constructing dams, weirs and watermills in order to produce
electricity, facilitate navigation and irrigate.
Improvement of Water Quality
• Good functioning aquatic ecosystems can play a role also in
sustaining or improving water quality, for example thanks to self-
purification process along rivers.
Land Use Management
• The different forms of land use, such as agriculture or
forestry, can alter the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, and
the quality of waters. Land application of fertilizers near
streams, lakes or wetlands can for example, directly pollute
water through runoff or projection. Small agricultural
streams are important since they join together and create
rivers, and also provide habitats for plant and animal species.
Their pollution thus has an impact on rivers. Pollution in lakes
and wetlands can also lead to a loss of biodiversity.
Governance and Regulation
KEY POINTS:
➢ The current water crisis affecting ecosystem services is mainly a
crisis of governance.
➢ Participation from indigenous peoples and local communities can
result in their customary law systems being integrated into statutory
legal frameworks.
➢ Combining the conservation of aquatic ecosystem services with
IWRM is very effective strategy for achieving water security and
combating climate change.
➢ Improving the governance of aquatic ecosystems involves reforms
that go beyond the water sector.
Policies as Driving Forces for Ecosystem Protection and
Restoration
• Restoration of ecosystems is a very complex management process
requiring multi-and intra-disciplinary interventions. From an
administrative and legal point of view, ecosystem restoration is
usually included in the environmental agenda together with other
policies and activities dealing with nature conservation/protection.
Governance of Aquatic Ecosystems
• The current water crisis affecting ecosystem services is mainly a
crisis of governance. The concept of governance has evolved in
the last two decades.
Institutional dimension
• Significant, coordinated efforts are required to strengthen aquatic
ecosystem governance and ensure the conservation of ecosystem
services, upon which sustainable development depends. Along
with non-governmental organizations, academics, businesses and
international institutions, this process mainly involves
governments, which have to turn around a traditional, fragmented
sectoral approach and adopt an integrated, multi-sectoral attitude.
Legal Dimension
Integration of Customary Law
• The experience of many countries has shown that interactive and
meaningful participation from indigenous peoples and local
communities can result in their customary law systems, including
on ecosystems and water governance, being integrated into
statutory legal frameworks.
General Environment and Ecosystems Laws
• Due to their complex and closely interrelated components,
environmental laws facilitate the creation of working groups on
integrated implementation of water legislation including
integrated aquatic ecosystem management. Sectoral
environmental laws (e.g. water laws, forest laws, protected areas
laws, and biodiversity laws) usually focus on specific ecosystems
and their services. Even if ecosystem services are not explicitly
mentioned, these laws are the most relevant for governing
ecosystem services
•
 Environmental Dimension
• A sound understanding of the environmental dimension is crucial
to strengthening the governance of aquatic ecosystems and
water. This involves considering the three dimensions of the
watershed (subterranean, superficial and atmospheric) as well as
its ecosystem services (water availability, food productivity,
climate regulation, regulation of carbon dioxide and methane,
flood control, nutrient recycling, natural water purification, other
natural processes and cultural benefits).
Economic Dimension
The economic dimension includes all traditional economic
instruments, such as taxes, fees and regulations, as well as new
instruments, such as payments for ecosystem services (PES), i.e.
➊ a voluntary transaction in which;
➋ a well-defined environmental service (ES), or a form of land use
likely to secure that service;
➌ is bought by at least one ES buyer;
➍ from a minimum of one ES provider;
➎ if, and only if, the provider continues to supply that service
(conditionality).
Main Difficulties Encountered in Implementing Restoration
Measures/projects
• Aquatic ecosystems continue to be impacted by population growth,
urbanization,
• Industrial development and the construction of numerous waterworks
and other huge infrastructures, which result in polluted surface
waters, reduced aquatic organisms and wildlife, ruptured connectivity,
and other stresses due to changes in sedimentation, turbidity and
flows.
Monitoring Aquatic Ecosystems KEY POINTS:
➢ The different methods for monitoring watercourses and bodies are
used to assess the state, characterize the pressures on the
ecosystems, verify the efficiency of action, and inform the public.
➢ It is important to devise methods and protocols to ensure that
results are reliable and comparable in time and space.
➢ The state of a watercourse or water body is characterized by its
biological, physico-chemical, chemical and hydro-morphological
qualities.
➢ Monitoring after restoration is important to characterize how the
environment is evolving, assess the restoration’s efficiency, and
determine any adjustments or additional action.
Why monitor? To protect aquatic ecosystems, it is crucial to know
them well. The different methods for monitoring watercourses and
bodies are used to:
➢ Assess the state of the water and ecosystems, and determine
whether processes are compromised by natural or human-induced
environmental perturbations;
➢ Identify, characterize and if possible quantify the pressures on the
ecosystems (withdrawals, discharge, local and diffuse pollution
sources);
➢ Improve overall understanding of the aquatic ecosystem with the
aim of directing management policies and the necessary action to
preserve it;
➢ Verify the efficiency of action undertaken in relation to defined
targets, and conformity with implementation of water legislation;
➢ Inform the public and promote implementation action.
Monitoring ecosystem functions
What does monitoring entail?
Monitoring corresponds to a set of data collected using different
methods (e.g. surveys, information on withdrawals and discharge,
monitoring of the state of waters and ecosystems).
However, the monitoring organization chain is not restricted
to measurements; it involves several stages:
➢ Defining the objectives of the monitoring programme - choosing
which watercourses or water bodies to survey, the sampling points,
items to follow (matrices and parameters), the frequency and
duration of campaigns, sampling and measurement protocols
(recognized and replicable standards), etc.;
➢ Choosing operators (samplers, analysis laboratories, validators,
etc.) and securing funds;
➢ Collecting samples;
➢ Analyzing;
➢ Collecting and storing data;
➢ Processing data and making use of the results;
➢ Communicating data, results and information.
Monitoring after restoration measures
• Monitoring is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of restoration
works, evaluating the environment's evolution, and determining
necessary adjustments. It helps improve knowledge on
restoration/ecology interactions, reinforces financing policies, and
generates feedback for new projects. Post-action monitoring
should be identical before and after restoration, considering
potential impacts.
Economic and Financial Aspects
KEY POINTS:
➢ Aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide are inestimable,
but economic evaluation of ecosystems can make it easier to rank
challenges and choices.
➢ An ecosystem’s natural value comprises the ecosystem’s support
structure, the value of the stock of “products” and of the value of the
“natural infrastructure”.
➢ The total economic value of ecosystems is generally broken down
into the usage values of services provided and the non-usage values
associated with the ecosystem.
➢ Willingness to pay (or willingness to do without the advantages
supplied by the ecosystem) is based on the following question: How
much are users ready to pay to ensure that the aquatic ecosystem is
not subject to degradation?
➢ Payments for Ecosystem Services work on the principle of a
contractual payment to stakeholders, on the condition that they
maintain or restore ecosystem services.
➢ Funding for environmental action can come from the basin’s budget
as part of a basin management plan, or from outside the basin.
Why make an economic evaluation of aquatic ecosystems?
Aquatic ecosystems' value is inestimable, often overlooked in
economic calculations. Economic evaluations aim to improve decision-
making by introducing their "natural capital" into calculations,
ensuring realistic representation of degradation and overexploitation,
and aiding in sustainable development frameworks.
What is the economic value of an aquatic ecosystem?
An ecosystem’s natural value can be introduced into the assets in the
accounting balance in the same way as for example the value of
property or land; it also gives the value of losing the ecosystem good
or the value of replacing it. An ecosystem’s natural value comprises
three parts.
➊ The value of the ecosystem’s support structure.
Wetland ecosystem value can be determined by terrain, water, or
watercourse, but market references can vary depending on potential
interest, such as farmers or urban planners.
➋ The value of the stock of “products” or “matter” connected
to the ecosystem that can be commoditized.
Ponds and riverbeds contain valuable fish, peat, and aggregate, with
economic value on markets. Markets identify reference prices,
requiring adaptation to specific contexts.
➌ The value of the actual ecosystem, i.e. the value of the “natural
infrastructure”.
The natural infrastructure provides environmental services (cf.
Chapter Management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems) via the
elements that make up the ecosystem’s biocenosis.
Monitoring cycle
Evaluation method for aquatic ecosystems
Several conditions are required to make an economic evaluation of
aquatic ecosystems:
➢ Possess sufficient, extrapolative knowledge about the state and
evolution of the
ecosystems;
➢ Identify the different types of value that the ecosystem might
comprise, and identify those that can be translated into monetary
value;
➢ Define clear methods to measure (and update) these values.
Monetary evaluation of the restoration of aquatic ecosystems
Two options are possible for the monetary analysis of ecosystems:
1. The "macro" option sets goals for ecosystem conservation and
restoration on a large scale, such as for a country or basin. It
involves determining the overall cost of these efforts and
comparing it to the actual or estimated results. This process is a
cost-efficiency analysis.
2. The “micro” option centres on an identified object, and is used
to determine whether or not restoration would be beneficial; in
this case, the cost of restoration is compared with the gains
obtained through restoration (gain of service rendered), making
it a cost-advantage analysis.
Willingness to Pay
In addition to assessing the economic value of ecosystems in terms
of capital and service value, many cases involve considering users'
willingness to pay or forgo ecosystem benefits. This principle revolves
around determining how much users are willing to pay within a
specific time frame (per day, per year, etc.) to prevent degradation
or restore the aquatic ecosystem. Essentially, the question is whether
users would accept compensation for ecosystem degradation and, if
so, how much. Responses can vary, with users considering
compensation "in kind" (such as mitigation banks), receiving an
equivalent service through different means, or maintaining well-being
by substituting destroyed ecosystem services with alternative sources
of satisfaction.
Monetization of services provided by wetlands
Different methods have been used to translate the goods and services
of wetlands into monetary values:
1. Methods to assess the value of wetlands or their functions involve
estimating the costs associated with their disappearance or altered
functioning. This includes the costs avoided method, substitute cost
method, and replacement costs method, commonly applied to
services like water purification, flood control, and climate regulation,
such as carbon storage in peatland.
2. The benefit transfer method utilizes findings from similar studies to
estimate the value of a specific wetland, and it has been sporadically
employed for assessing education and research services associated
with wetlands.
3. Methods employing a fictive substitute market, such as the joint
analysis method or experimental choices, identify the value of
wetlands or their functions by considering a broad range of values,
including both usage and non-usage values.
Payment for Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature that contribute to
the well-being of the population. The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment introduced a framework in 2005 to understand these
services. These services, which are naturally provided, rely on the
health and sustainability of aquatic ecosystems. However, various
pressures can diminish these services, such as filling in a river
floodplain, which stops it from preventing floods. Additionally, services
may disappear if the ecosystem is destroyed, as seen in a dried-up
wetland that no longer performs water absorption or purification.
To address the negative changes in ecosystems, there are two types
of actions:
1) Coercive measures involve regulations, such as legally protecting a
habitat to restrict human activities or mandating users to preserve
river flow for aquatic life during low water levels.
2) Negotiated or contractual actions involve agreements between
users/beneficiaries and environmental stakeholders. The concept of
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) falls into this category and
complements regulatory measures. PES operates by providing
contractual payments to stakeholders, contingent on their
commitment to maintain or restore specific ecosystem services that
have been identified beforehand.
The operational implementation of PES comprises three main issues:
1. Environmental effectiveness evaluates how changes in individual
practices impact the production of a specific ecosystem service. This
helps target compensation to prioritize providers needing support, but
payments are often based on standardized measures like area or
length, not results.
2. The cost effectiveness of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)
is tied to whether the service supplied is additional compared to a
scenario without payment. It questions whether the paid stakeholders
would have carried out the activities without payment.
3. Equity in PES involves compensating those unwilling or not
obligated to change practices voluntarily. However, some
stakeholders might change practices without compensation.
Standardized payments enhance fairness among provider
stakeholders.
PES has two main limitations:
➢ The windfall effect, i.e. the fact that stakeholders take advantage
of an opportunity to receive payment for acting as they did in the
past;
➢ Payment of a service to stop or modify an activity that is actually
illegal.
The following guidelines can be useful in developing PES:
1. Identify the functions fulfilled by the ecosystem and then
identify the services provided by this ecosystem;
2. Analyze the ecosystem services in the context of the basin
by determining those that appear the most pertinent and
identifying priorities;
3. Carry out a technical quantification of the ecosystem services
chosen;
4. Make an economic evaluation of the ecosystem services,
either using references already employed, or by establishing
financial data based on information existing in the basin;
5. Work out the unit costs to protect and restore the services;
6. Evaluate if necessary the willingness to pay of the population
concerned;
7. Look for compromises between costs and willingness to pay,
and establish the PES.
Funding of Environmental Actions
Funding of environmental action in basins takes two main forms:
1. Funding within the basin can be achieved through a "polluter pays"
and "withdrawer pays" approach, where water users pay a tax or levy
to support the basin's budget. This budget is then used by the basin
organization to implement measures outlined in a multi-annual basin
management plan, with a requirement that actions benefiting the
aquatic ecosystems are included in the plan.
2. External funding sources, such as from the State, local authorities,
or interstate bodies like the European Union, are crucial for financing
conservation and restoration efforts in basins. For instance, the
European Union provides funding through programs like the Common
Agricultural Policy and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural
Development, supplementing grants from State and local
governments.
 Summary
Freshwater resources are vital but face threats from increasing use,
waste, and pollution, leading to the endangerment and destruction of
aquatic ecosystems. Effective governance, focused on environmental
protection, is crucial for sustainable development and poverty
reduction in the face of global changes. Integrated Water Resources
Management at the basin level is essential. Aquatic ecosystems,
serving as "green infrastructures," provide crucial services like flow
regulation and water purification. Implementing measures like Natural
Water Retention Measures and restoring water ecosystems through
natural means is necessary. Collaboration between sectors, improved
communication about restoration benefits, mobilizing partners, and
involving local communities are vital. Access to monitoring results and
widespread knowledge of water resources is key for successful water
policy.
Module 9– Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Management
The vast ocean, covering most of the Earth, has long been thought
invincible to human impact due to its size. This belief, dating back to
the 1600s, led to the idea of "freedom of the seas," suggesting oceans
needed no protection. However, evidence shows human activities like
overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution harm marine
ecosystems. Managing marine resources faces challenges, with the
common approach focusing on individual species, which doesn't
address the complexity of managing multiple stocks or accurately
assessing species status. Issues include the difficulty of accessing
ocean habitats, high survey costs, and the intricate dynamics of
marine ecosystems. This approach may overlook broader changes
affecting ecosystem productivity, such as temperature fluctuations,
nutrient pollution, habitat loss, by-catch, and shifts in biological
communities.
Integrated Marine and Coastal Area Management (IMCAM)
Approaches
- An ecosystem approach involves using scientific methods to
understand the structure, processes, functions, and interactions
among organisms and their environment. It acknowledges that
humans and their diverse cultures are part of ecosystems. The
recommended legislative and institutional arrangements and tools
focus on managing and regulating human activities to prevent
degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems, ensuring
sustainable development in coastal areas.
Principles of the Ecosystem Approach
1. Management objectives are a matter of societal choice.
2. Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate
level.
3. Ecosystem managers should consider the effects of their
activities on adjacent and other ecosystems.
4. Recognizing potential gains from management there is a need
to understand the ecosystem in an economic context,
considering e.g., mitigating market distortions, aligning
incentives to promote sustainable use, and internalizing costs
and benefits.
5. A key feature of the ecosystem approach includes conservation
of ecosystem structure and functioning.
6. Ecosystems must be managed within the limits to their
functioning.
7. The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the
appropriate scale.
8. Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag effects which
characterize ecosystem processes, objectives for ecosystem
management should be set for the long term.
9. Management must recognize that change is inevitable.
10. The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance
between conservation and use of biodiversity.
11. The ecosystem approach should consider all forms of relevant
information, including scientific and indigenous and local
knowledge, innovations and practices.
12. The ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of
society and scientific.
The EA requires an integrated strategy for the management of land,
water and living resources that promotes conservation and
sustainable use in an equitable way in line with the following
principles:
1. Sustain ability principle
2. Adaptive management
3. Precautionary principle
4. Marine and coastal protected areas and buffer zones
5. Collaborative conservation
6. Participatory approach (involving non-scientists and stakeholders)
7. Economic incentives/disincentives
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Sustainability is about trying to
reconcile the three basic aspirations of social, economic and ecological
development. The crucial question, therefore, is: How can the
ecosystem and its biological diversity be placed central in the
integrated management of coastal areas subject to major human
pressures, without compromising the socio-economic development of
these areas?
The answer lies in the concept of sustainable development as defined
by the five main criteria of sustainability:
1. Ecosystem productivity
2. Environmental protection
3. Social acceptability
4. Economic viability
5. Dependence security
INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE THROUGH EA
The Ecosystem Approach (EA) focuses on understanding biodiversity's
role in ecosystem processes and stability. It examines species
relationships, the impact on ecosystem processes, and external
factors like solar energy, water flow, and nutrient input. This
perspective is crucial for planning ecosystem management. It helps
comprehend how coastal ecosystems function, their economic and
environmental outputs, the processes maintaining their integrity, and
how human activities affect this. Expanding the view, identifying
connections between different coastal systems reveals their mutual
support and contribution to sustainable human development.
Defining the boundaries of EA
Defining the boundaries for measuring ecosystem processes involves
considering various factors. Ecosystem studies focus on the
movement of energy and materials in and out of these boundaries.
For instance, waterborne pollutants may stay within watershed
boundaries or move beyond them through rivers and groundwater.
Effective management requires a balance between natural and
administrative boundaries, creating manageable areas. The D-P-S-I-
R system (Driving forces-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) is used to
organize and scale up information. Mapping sensitivity/vulnerability of
ecosystems through this process helps in negotiations and planning
involving all stakeholders.
Scaling information
Analyzing information at different spatial and temporal scales can
pose challenges because the type and amount of information required
depend on the scale of analysis. For instance, even small distances in
rainfall infiltration can significantly impact water, nutrients, and
ecosystem resilience. Events like a one-in-ten-year flood or drought
can influence the occurrence of tree species or the value of a wetland.
To better understand this, we must explore how structures or
functions at one scale interact with processes at other scales and how
this interaction affects the overall system's functioning at another
scale.
GOVERNANCE
Effectively managing any ecosystem requires considering the human
element in all its aspects. While we may not control the natural forces
shaping coastal ecosystems, we can manage human activities in
coastal areas. Coastal governance and ecosystems should be seen as
interconnected systems at different spatial scales. Ideally, initiatives
should cover areas from water catchments to exclusive economic
zones. However, many current initiatives focus on smaller scales,
addressing individual ecosystems like coral reefs, mangrove swamps,
or estuaries. Ecosystem management combines natural science tools
and data with administrative and social science techniques. Achieving
a balance between the physical aspects of ecosystems and human
factors is crucial. To compare trends in natural elements with those
in the human population, manageable indicators are necessary. This
calls for a sophisticated and integrated approach to development
planning and resource management, drawing on information from
both natural and social sciences for a holistic view. However, it is
challenging to develop the cross-disciplinary skills required to
generate integrated scientific information for policymakers, planners,
and managers.
ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT ➢ The ability to control any changes in the management program so
that those changes do not jeopardize the ability to learn more. This
Adaptive management is an ongoing process that involves taking requires good governance arrangements.
actions, learning, sharing knowledge, and making improvements.
Sustainability is not fixed; it depends on changing circumstances like
climate, population pressure, and economic factors. The challenge
arises from mismatches in the timing of coastal ecosystem changes PROTECTED AREAS AND BUFFER-ZONES (MPA)
and governance cycles. To address this, it's crucial to integrate
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), defined by the World Conservation
adaptive management into longer-term ecosystem change cycles.
Union, are reserved areas—both land and water—with associated
Simple trend projections and models can enhance the relevance of
features protected by law or other means. Fully protected reserves
scientific messages for governance decisions. Adaptive management
have two crucial roles in ecosystem protection. First, they act as a
accommodates differences between stakeholders, science, and policy,
control to compare against managed areas, essential in dynamic and
allowing for self-correction and mutual learning rather than relying on
poorly understood ecosystems. Second, they serve as a buffer against
instant consensus. The ecosystem approach endorsed by the CBD
mistakes in management, allowing higher resource use in exploited
emphasizes the importance of adopting an adaptive management
areas. MPAs provide protection for genetic diversity, a breeding pool
approach.
for restocking overharvested areas, and refuges for sensitive species.
The basic elements of adaptive management processes are: They also help achieve overall biodiversity goals without needing to
do so in every location, similar to the approach for terrestrial
➢ Collection of ecological, socio-economic and institutional biodiversity protection through dedicated areas.
information

➢ Definition of goals and priorities

➢ Formulation of assumptions and working hypotheses
➢ Testing assumptions via ecological and socioeconomic monitoring
➢ Reassessment of assumptions and adoption
➢ Learning and integrating lessons into decision making
Summary
Ecosystem management involves systematic scientific studies of
human activities and their impacts on ecosystems. It requires finding
a balance and applying sustainability principles. The expansion of
human uses comes with inevitable losses to existing ecosystem
functions, and ecosystem management involves presenting choices,
trade-offs, and estimating costs and benefits. The scale of
management must be flexible to meet goals, and no single spatial
scale is sufficient. The temporal scale should allow for ecosystem
reorganization due to long-term changes or disturbances. Adaptive
management, learning from mistakes, and flexibility in rules are
crucial for effective ecosystem management.

THE PRECAUTIONARY APPROACH

Our understanding of marine ecosystems is limited due to their

complexity, dynamic nature, and challenges of marine research. The
precautionary approach in managing biodiversity involves two key
elements: basing decisions on the best available science and
considering gaps in understanding. Since scientific data on the marine
environment is scarce, efforts should prioritize gathering information
crucial for decision-making, such as understanding key ecosystem
drivers and parameters. Prioritized tasks can guide future scientific
work and data collection, aiming to assess the impact of human
activities on ecosystems. Better models and approaches are urgently
needed to predict the effects of management decisions. To enhance
information, non-scientific sources, like data collected for fisheries
management or by volunteers, can be valuable. Encouraging
volunteers and providing training can improve the quality of data
collected for coastal management purposes.

The gaps in our understanding The obvious pre-requisite for taking

these gaps and uncertainties into account is to know they are there
and this requires conceptual models into which we can put the
information we have. Clearly, we need better conceptual models for
the marine environment that include some important features:

➢ A clear hypothesis that is being tested, i.e. a clear and transparent

basis for the decision being made.

➢ A process that will allow the results of the management program

to be measured and compared with those expected under the
hypothesis. This is likely to require carefully designed monitoring
processes, with baseline measures.

➢ The ability to assess the differences between results and

expectations and learn from them. The better our conceptual
understanding, the more likely we are to be able to assess any
differences (e.g. to distinguish between responses to management
and stochastic change). Good analysis will also depend on the quality
of the data. It is therefore essential that any monitoring program is
well designed.

➢ The ability to make new decisions that reflect this learning so the
cycle can be repeated. This requires adaptive institutions.