Advanced Institute in Ecosystem Services Valuation and Modeling held in Sapporo
 
With funding from the Integrated Field Environment Science - of Global Center of Excellence, Hokkaido University ((http://www.ees.hokudai.ac.jp/gcoe/en/index.html), the Sapporo Nodal Office of the Global Land Project recently completed training for young scientists on techniques for valuing and mapping ecosystem services. The institute which was held from August 9-13, 2010 at the Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan featured 30 fellows from 14 countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and the United States.

The overall goal of the Institute was to enable fellows identify and apply appropriate techniques for representing and modeling ecosystem services on the landscape. Gil Pontius (Clark University) covered the philosophy and practice of land change modeling with extensive practical on model calibration and validation. Akiko Satake (Hokkaido University) taught modeling forest management decision-making from the perspective of developing a theory of coupled human-environment dynamics and advancing solutions to environmental problems. Takenori Takada (Hokkaido University) treated Advanced Markovian models of land-use change. Prof Runsheng Yin (Michigan State University) covered specific techniques applicable to various ecosystem services ranging from provisioning, regulating, and cultural to supporting services before examining payment for ecosystem services as an environmental conservation tool. Insights for design of payment for ecosystem services and certifications schemes were also provided. Ademola Braimoh from the Global Land Project lectured on Multivariate statistical techniques and application to ecosystem services management and multifunctional land use modeling.
 
There was a general consensus that the Institute helped to resolve some nagging issues in the fellows’ research and that the knowledge gained will significantly enhance their research outputs. A google group was instantaneously set up to enable fellows to continue to interact for mutual benefits.

The GLP acknowledges the assistance rendered by IFES-GCOE and Prof Takashi Kohyama in particular in making the program a success.

Please find here the details of the institute.

Synthesis Meeting at Yokohama

ECOSMAG synthesis meeting was held at United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama from 25 - 26 February 2010. The meeting deliberated research findings to date, as project partners shared concrete results on ECOSMAG and related activities in Asia and discussed outstanding research implementation challenges. Presentations can be downloaded here.

Social surveys at Supa Longling, China

Our stakeholders workshop held in August 2009 provided a platform for the participants to discuss three major issues related to Ecosystem Services Management in the Supa Longling Watershed. The Longxin Village has forest protection groups who employ rangers to protect forests. However, the costs of maintaining the rangers have gone beyond what the villagers can bear. They therefore request the Hydropower Company and the government to come to their aid by subsidizing the costs of the rangers. Second, villagers prefer to grow fir in the watershed because of its high economic value. However, fir absorbs a lot of water compared to other trees, thereby reducing water availability for irrigation and hydropower generation. Third, while the Hydropower Company acknowledges that its activities degrade water quality, the Company emphasized that it makes effort to mitigate these impacts through environmental impact assessment, adherence to environmental standards and compensation of losses. Besides, since it pays water use fees to government, the Company opine that the government in turn should also been involved in paying compensation to the community. ECOSMAG researchers are currently tackling this challenge of negotiating accountable systems of governance and compensation.

Photos are available here.

Multi-stakeholder Meeting in Indonesia

In Central Kalimantan in Indonesia a stakeholder meeting to identify watershed management problems in Kahayan Catchment was held in December 2008. Problems itemized included the intrinsic geomorphology of the area that predisposes it to erosion, flooding and dryness, poor coordination of land use and forest concessions, and inconsistent and weak enforcement of conservation regulations. The data is being analyzed to develop indices on conservation, ecosystems, and human well-being. Data pertaining to changes to productive natural resources over a temporal scale of 50 years is being analyzed to develop indices on conservation, ecosystems, and human well-being. We attempt to better represent the co-existence of humans with natural systems, and show how in the degradation of natural systems, human well-being is also affected.

Photos are available here.

Stakeholder engagement at watershed network level at Mae Hae, Thailand

We have been able to link our stakeholder engagement activities with on-going local dialogue process at our case study site. At the September 2008 meeting, the Mae Hae Community representatives gave feedback and discussed our findings related to variation in rules and regulations of water use and our initial assessments of village-state-interagency cooperation. An initial stream-level water infrastructure map showing the lay-out of water-users, sprinklers, ponds and PVC pipes in Huay Hoi stream created a lot of interest and requests to extend the mapping to other parts of the watershed. This research has expanded and deepened our early understanding of local institutions involved in management of watershed services as well as practices guided by formal, national policies, procedures and rules. We have also got a better understanding of the different actors involved, the roles they play, and how they use and respond to various management institutions.

Photos are available here.

Impact of Land Change on Ecosystem Services Values at Kushiro, Northern Japan

Since the summer of 2009, we have been working to assess human impact on Ecosystem Service values at Kushiro. Kushiro wetland is a biodiversity hotspot and one of Japan’s most important natural assets. It was designated a Ramsar site in the 1980s. Immigration to Tsurui, located mid-watershed of Kushiro River began in 1885. In the 1960s and 1970s, intensive farmland development occurred at elevations ranging from 40 to 200 m. After maximum farmland development, government policies changed to conservation of the remnant wilderness that also encouraged tourism. In September 2009, a Participatory Rapid Assessment was carried out in 4 activity groups including mapping the biophysical assets of the village, tracing the farming activities, the main income and expenditure items, and the different institutions influencing livelihood. The discussion was focused on changes in local environment and farming systems during the past fifty years. Participants identified several environmental changes: rise in water level, increase in animal population, and high incidence of alien plants species. We are currently working to link the changes to human livelihood in the watershed.

Workshop on Vulnerability and Resilience of Land Systems in Beijing

In June 2009, the Global Land Project Nodal Offices in Beijing, China and Sapporo Japan will co-organize a Workshop on Vulnerability and Resilience of Land Systems in Asia. The primary goal of this workshop is to integrate knowledge on the vulnerability of land systems to multiple stressors in Asia. Papers are sought from a broad spectrum of scholars who engage in research in assessment of system outcomes of multiple, interacting perturbations. Of particular interest are contributions that address major research challenges such as models, metrics and measures of land system vulnerability and resilience, scales and vulnerability teleconnections, tipping points, feedbacks and surprises, social systems and resilience, institutional change and vulnerability, ecosystem services vulnerability and market-based mechanisms, urban ecosystems and vulnerability, and vulnerability of dryland/pastoral human-environment systems.

Detailed information is available here.

New Paper Highlights the Role of Strategic Partnership in Resources Management

Several global environmental assessments indicate that ecosystems on which our livelihood depends have been adversely influenced by human activities. Nonetheless, these resources continue to be managed on a sectoral basis with virtually no integration between sectors or with other environmental management strategies. In Strategic Partnership for Sustainable Management of Aquatic Resources, Agboola and Braimoh review human impact on aquatic resources and argue for a strategic partnership (SP) of stakeholders for sustainable management of aquatic resources. SP integrates the objectives of ecosystem-based and co/community-based approach to management. The suitability of SP for aquatic resources management is illustrated with two examples. The article can be downloaded here.

ECOSMAG Officially Endorsed by the Global Land Project

The Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Land Project (GLP) has recently granted ECOSMAG an endorsed project status. The endorsement recognizes ECOSMAG as a scientifically integrative research project that improves our understanding of some priority issues in Land Change Science. The GLP hopes that the multidisciplinary approach of ECOSMAG and the case study locations will also improve GLP’s networking in Asia.

Logistic meeting held at Yunnan University

In September, a logistic meeting was held with Prof Xing Lu and other team members at Greater Mekong Study Center (GMS) in Yunnan University. Dr Ademola Braimoh explained in detail the background, objectives and research design of ECOSMAG. Prof Lu in turn gave a lecture on GMS’s study activities in the Supa Watershed. A comprehensive workplan was thereafter prepared. Research activities will cover the upper part of the Supa Watershed that includes a reservoir that Power Company uses to generate hydroelectricity, a natural reserve that forestry bureau manages for biodiversity conservation, and forest and agricultural lands that communities manage to provide various ecosystem services. Different kind of services will be identified as well as their respective providers and users. The services will be valued and sustainable management options from the point of view of different stakeholders recommended.

Lecture on ECOSMAG delivered at United Nations University

On 30 July 2008, Dr Ademola Braimoh gave a lecture on Land Change Science and Ecosystem Services Management at United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies in Yokohama. The lecture centered on human domination of the Earth, impacts on the Earth System and vulnerability of people and places to climatic, social and economic perturbations. The fundamental components of Land Change Science were illustrated with the project rationale, objectives and research activities of ECOSMAG. The lecture also provided opportunity for collaboration with global change researchers working on ecosystem services. The lecture was attended by researchers in Universities and members of the public.

Photo: Essayas Taye

ECOSMAG officially inaugurated at Sapporo in July 2008

The Initial Working Group Meeting of ECOSMAG was held at the Conference Hall of Hokkaido University, Sapporo from 1-2 July 2008. The overall goal of the Meeting was to determine the architecture and process for assessment for the project. Projects partners reviewed data needs, agreed project implementation protocols and identified important stakeholders to be consulted for the research.

Presentations during the Meeting can be downloaded under Resources

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