MB1: Promoting of ecosystem services of Arctic wetlands for sustainable development

Date: Tuesday October 9, 2018

Location: Erottaja, ELY

Time: 17:00-18:30

This session asks the question, how can the application of an ecosystem services approach be used to better manage Arctic wetlands? The concept involves a variety of stakeholders to integrate ecosystem-based management in the use of wetlands and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The session provides an introduction, a series of case studies and invites a discussion afterwards. The discussion addresses the priorities for countries to introduce ecosystem services concept as solution for stakeholder’s input to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

 

Chairs: Tatiana Minayeva, Wetlands International/Care for Ecosystems; Igor Semenov, EthnoExpert

Format: Series of presentations followed by discussion

Presentations:

  1. Arctic wetlands ecosystem services overview: Tatiana Minayeva, Wetlands International/Care for Ecosystemspdf
  2. Stakeholders in Arctic and their interests in wetlands ecosystem services: Igor Semenov, EthnoExpert
  3. Coastal wetlands – example of ecosystem services mapping for decision making: Liudmila Sergienko, State Petrozavodsk Universitypdf
  4. Ecosystem services mapping for spatial development planning as risk management – Talotinsky case: Anton Chistyakov, EthnoExpertpdf
  5. Flyways, ecosystems and ecosystem services: the role of the Arctic: Taej Mundkur, Wetlands Internationalpdf
  6. Using prognostic mapping method in revealing and solving nature-use conflicts in Numto nature park: Anastasia Markina, Peatlands Ecosystem Centre of the Institute of Forest Sciences RASpdf

 

Abstracts:

Arctic wetlands ecosystem services overview

Tatiana Minayeva, Wetlands International/Care for Ecosystems

The Arctic Wetlands cover ecosystems from coast to the watersheds. They provide ecosystem services far beyond the Arctic borders: arctic wetlands prevent permafrost from thawing, mitigating the feedback of this process to climate change, act as a sink of carbon and maintain global flyways. From the other side the wetlands resources give input to the maintenance of the livelihood for local populations including indigenous people. The current tendency is that large companies implementing development projects destroy wetlands ecosystem services. The development projects provide direct benefits to a limited number of stakeholders if to compared to the number of stakeholders directly depending on the loss of the ecosystem services. The situation should be addressed and considered in the land use planning in the Arctic. The ecosystem services analyses could be a mechanism to introduce incentives for a responsible ecosystem-based management aimed at implementing the SDGs.

 

Stakeholders in Arctic and their interests in wetlands ecosystem services

Igor Semenov, EthnoExpert

The development of Arctic territories in modern conditions creates new challenges for ecosystems at the global, regional and local levels. Potential impacts affect different stakeholder groups depending on the ecosystem services they receive: oil and gas companies, authorities, environmental and scientific organizations, local communities, etc. At the same time, wetland ecosystems are among the most difficult to manage the interests of the parties, since their main function is determined in different ways: climate regulation, the object of traditional nature management, valuable bird habitat, industrial projects implementation zone, etc. The report will examine cases on identification and management of ecosystem services for Arctic wetlands in the context of various projects for the development of territories, i.e. industrial, scientific, recreational and environmental. Furthermore, the application of stakeholder management methods will be used as an approach’s basis. Effective management of the parties’ interests will reduce risks for the whole range of ecosystem services and will create the basis for sustainable development of the Arctic wetlands.

 

Coastal wetlands – example of ecosystem services mapping for decision making

Liudmila Sergienko, State Petrozavodsk University

The risk to arctic coastal wetlands are increasing both due to the climate change and industrial development including shipping, oil production, mining and connected infrastructure development. Coastal wetlands integrate various ecosystem types such as coastal tundras, salt and brackish marshes, ephemeral sandy ecosystems as well as all transition community types. They provide crucial ecosystem services having global significance: unique habitats including migrating birds and marine mammal species; carbon accumulation and store, matter balance regulation including accumulation of contamination; maintenance of the landscape integrity. The sustainable development goals include land use planning based on the ecosystem principles of risk assessment and risk reduction. The methodology of spatial risk analysis based on the mapping of ecosystem values, sensitivities and vulnerabilities had been tested in the coastal areas of Nenets Autonomous Okrug (AO) in the Russian Federation. The coastline of Nenets AO extends about 3,000 km, bordering the Barents and Pechora Seas. The coastal wetlands classification and mapping was undertaken in approximately 300 km of shoreline. The applied method of predictive mapping of ecosystem functions and services demonstrated good potential for the risk assessment basing on the limited amount of data.

 

Ecosystem services mapping for spatial development planning as risk management – Talotinsky case

Anton Chistyakov, EthnoExpert

The application of ecosystem-based principles to the established routine of environmental and social risks management within industrial projects development in Arctic, such as baseline studies, Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (ESIA), project closure planning, including rehabilitation and reclamation, requires an innovative approach. Key methodology concept is based on strong link between ecosystem functions and ecosystem services, which could be discovered through stakeholder needs and expectations research and analysis using social sciences methods. At the same time modern geo mapping technologies could help in revealing how the ecosystems functions and services are connected to the ecosystem classes, as well as distributed in the space at designated development area for key decision makers in project design. This approach application inspires clear design solution identification, which reduces possible risks, ensures project’s sustainability for a long time and maintains favourable social and environmental conditions. Pilot study has been carried out at the East-Talotinsky site in in the Timan Pechora area (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) under a Collaborative Partnership Agreement between Wetlands International and Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. 

 

Flyways, ecosystems and ecosystem services: the role of the Arctic

Ward Hagemeijer, Wetlands International, Taej Mundkur, Wetlands International

The Arctic and especially its coastal ecosystems are crucial for maintaining flyways of migrating birds. The ecosystem services provided by arctic coastal wetlands deliver support of livelihoods both in the Arctic and along the entire flyways. This should be considered for arctic ecosystems management and land use planning. 

 

Using prognostic mapping method in revealing and solving nature-use conflicts in Numto nature park

Anastasia Markina, Peatlands Ecosystem Centre of the Institute of Forest Sciences RAS

The protected area “Numto nature park” is located in Siberia in Russian Arctic. This area is rich in wetlands, significant for migratory birds, it is a home for indigenous people and above all oil is extracted there. The initial zoning was full of contradictions so there arised a need for a new zoning of the nature park. We accumulated all available data on the territory and conducted additional sociological and scientific surveys to use in a prognostic mapping method. It allowed us to reveal conflicts between different stakeholders and to come up with suggestions for several zoning options, focused on: nature conservation, economic development, indigenous people needs. Out of these three approaches we developed an integrative zoning that considered all the conflicts with an attempt to resolve or mitigate them. The GIS-based prognostic mapping method became the tool to assert stakeholders’ claims on the Park’s territory and an important science-based information resource to legitimate those claims.