Course for RSPO CB Forum

1
Biodiversity The Big Challenge

• Course for RSPO CB Forum Workshop No. 3

• What is happening to ecosystem services?

2
Biodiversity
What it is, what it is worth, what is happening
to it, and what to do about it
Objectives

• Key concepts related to sustainability,
  biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• The value of biodiversity, what is happening to
  ecosystem services, the importance of scale, and
  implications of habitat loss and fragmentation.

3
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)

• The MA is the most comprehensive survey ever into
  the state of the planet. It was drawn up by 1,360
  researchers from 95 nations over four years from
  2001 to 2005.
• The MA is somewhat unique in defining ecosystems
  in terms of the "services", or benefits, that
  people get from them.

4
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

• Findings Full slideshow
• Findings 20-minute presentation
• Findings Animated slides

The following is an abridged presentation
prepared for the purpose of this course (i.e.
reduced number of slides and modification of a
few for the purpose of clarification) Please
consult original presentations at
http//www.millenniumassessment.org/en/SlidePres
entations.aspx
M1L5S4
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MA conceptual framework

• Indirect Drivers of Change
• Demographic
• Economic (globalization, trade, market and policy
  framework)
• Sociopolitical (governance and institutional
  framework)
• Science and Technology
• Cultural and Religious

• Human Well-being and
• Poverty Reduction
• Basic material for a good life
• Health
• Good Social Relations
• Security
• Freedom of choice and action

• Direct Drivers of Change
• Changes in land use
• Species introduction or removal
• Technology adaptation and use
• External inputs (e.g., irrigation)
• Resource consumption
• Climate change
• Natural physical and biological drivers (e.g.,
  volcanoes)

Life on Earth Biodiversity
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
6
What was unique?
A multi-scale assessment
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Core questions

• What is the rate and scale of ecosystem change?
• What are the consequences of ecosystem change for
  the services provided by ecosystems and for
  human-well being?
• How might ecosystems and their services change
  over the next 50 years?
• What options exist to conserve ecosystems and
  enhance their contributions to human well-being?

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Main Findings

• Humans have radically altered ecosystems in last
  50 years.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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World Population (billions)
6.5 billion in 2005
4 billion in 1975
2 billion in 1920
1 billion in 1800
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Source UN Population Division 2004 Lee, 2003
Population Reference Bureau
10
World GDP (trillion 1990 dollars)
52 trillion in 2003
10 trillion in 1967
1 trillion in 1900
Source DeLong 1998
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11
Source NASA
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12
M1L5S12
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Habitat Loss to 1990
Mediterranean Forests
Temperate Grasslands Woodlands
Temperate Broadleaf Forest
Tropical Dry Forest
Tropical Grasslands
Tropical Coniferous Forest
Tropical Moist Forest
0 50
100
Percent of habitat (biome) remaining
Source Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Some ecosystem recovery now underway but high
rates of conversion continue

• Ecosystems in some regions are returning to
  conditions similar to their pre-conversion states
  
• Rates of ecosystem conversion remain high or are
  increasing for specific ecosystems and regions

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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Year of Peak Fish Harvest
Source Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Sea
Around Us project
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Scale of change

• 20 of the worlds coral reefs were lost and more
  than 20 degraded
• 35 of mangrove area has been lost in the last
  several decades
• Amount of water in reservoirs quadrupled since
  1960

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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Percent Increase in Nitrogen Flows in Rivers
Source Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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18
M1L5S18
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone
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Source NOAA
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CO2 Concentration (ppm)
Source Keeling and Whorf, 2005.
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Global Surface Temperature (oC) Relative to
1890-1900 mean
Source Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and
Research
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The balance sheet
Enhanced
Degraded
Mixed
Crops Livestock Aquaculture Carbon sequestration
Capture fisheries Wild foods Wood fuel Genetic
resources Biochemicals Fresh Water Air quality
regulation Regional local climate
regulation Erosion regulation Water
purification Pest regulation Pollination Natural
Hazard regulation Spiritual religious
Aesthetic values
Timber Fiber Water regulation Disease
regulation Recreation ecotourism
Bottom Line Some 60 of Ecosystem Services are
Degraded
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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Drivers of change in BioD ecosystems
Habitat change
Climate change
Invasive species
Impact during last Century
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Main Findings

• Humans have radically altered ecosystems in last
  50 years.

• Changes have brought gains but at growing costs
  that threaten achievement of development goals.
• Degradation of many ecosystem services
• Increased risk of abrupt changes in ecosystems
• Growing harm to poor people

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Economic and health costs of degradation can be
substantial

• Cost of damage of UK agriculture to other
  ecosystem services

• 2.6 billion (10 of farm receipts)

• Cost of collapse of the cod fishery in Canada

• 2 billion in income support and retraining loss
  of tens of thousands of jobs

• Introduction of Zebra mussels into aquatic
  ecosystems in the US

• 100 million annual costs to power industry

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Increased likelihood of abrupt changes(establishe
d but incomplete evidence)

• Fisheries collapse
• Eutrophication1
• Coral reef regime shifts
• Disease emergence
• Species introductions
• Regional climate change

1 The process by which a lake, pond, or stream
becomes eutrophic which means having waters rich
in mineral and organic nutrients that promote a
proliferation of plant life, especially algae ,
which reduces the dissolved oxygen content and
often causes the extinction of other organisms
(www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?WordEutrophic
ation).
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Economic value of non-marketed services can be
high
Forests in Italy
Forests in Croatia
Economic Value ( per hectare)
Photo W. Reid
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Many services are public goods
Spiritual religious
?
Aesthetic
?
Flood/Fire regulation
?
Disease regulation
?
Water purification
?
Climate regulation
?
Freshwater
?
Genetic Resources
?
Recreation tourism
?
Fiber
?
Food
?
Economic Value ()
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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Impact on Poor and Marginalized People

• Poor people are most dependent on ecosystem
  services and most vulnerable to degradation of
  the services

Photo credit Uittapron Juntawonsup/UNEP
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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Main Findings

• Humans have radically altered ecosystems in last
  50 years.

• Changes have brought gains but at growing costs
  that threaten achievement of development goals.

• Degradation of ecosystems could grow worse but
  can be reversed.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Response options?

• Multi-scale response is needed
• Multiple stakeholders have different needs.
• Responses are available to address the issues
  identified.
• Responses insufficient unless relevant direct and
  indirect drivers of change are addressed.
• Cross-sectoral responses and more systematic
  consideration of trade-offs are required

The ecosystem approach provides principles for
integration across scales and across different
responses.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
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Conclusions

• Humans have changed most ecosystems beyond
  recognition in a dramatically short space of
  time. Some 60 of the ecosystem services that
  support life on Earth are being degraded or used
  unsustainably.
• Scientists warn that the harmful consequences of
  this degradation could grow significantly worse
  in the next 50 years.
• The MA observed that ecosystem approaches provide
  an important framework for assessing biodiversity
  and ecosystem services, and for evaluating and
  implementing potential responses.

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Launch coverage
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

• 29 wire services ran the story of the release of
  the findings in nine languages
• Hundreds of newspapers around the world carried
  the story
• Front page news in much of Europe as well as
  China, Brazil, etc.
• Evening TV broadcast news in UK, Italy, India,
  and on CNN-International
• BBCs Earth Report ran two half-hour programs
• Economist cover story

Melbourne, Australia, March 30, 2005