Story | 22 6月, 2017

Moving towards ecosystem governance: the journey continues

Since late 2014, the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) has been working and reflecting on the concept of ecosystem governance. A concept that is not completely new as it was employed a few times in the past. But what does it mean and how to move towards such an approach remain to be discussed and examined. CEM's Liette Vasseur shares her thoughts and a recent publication on the subject.

In October 2015, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management and the State Forestry Administration of China (SFA), Beijing Municipal Government (BMG), China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), and Asia Pacific Forest Network (APFNet) organized its first World Forum on Ecosystem Governance. During this process, a decision was made to also produce a perspective paper that would serve as the basis of discussion for future meetings and the establishment of the new CEM thematic group on Ecosystem Governance.

This manuscript entitled “Complex problems and unchallenged solutions: bringing ecosystem governance to the forefront of the UN Sustainable Development Goals” was recently published in Ambio. It explores what ecosystem governance can be and how it may become an essential component to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

How can ecosystem governance contribute to SDGs?

Photo: IUCN-CEM

Ecosystem governance integrates the social and ecological components and is based on principles such as adaptive ecosystem co-management, subsidiarity, and telecoupling framework. It also related to issues of democracy, transparency, and accountability. In the next few years, members will be invited to submit case studies to analyze how ecosystem governance is operationalized. A second World Forum of Ecosystem Governance is also being discussed in the coming years.

For more information the paper: see here