Integration of ecosystem services concept in Central Asia
Lemiakina, A. (2018). Integration of ecosystem services concept in Central Asia. 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. doi: 10.17011/conference/eccb2018/107050
Authors
Date
2018Copyright
© the Authors, 2018
Central Asia is a vast region that includes unique and diverse ecosystems. Currently Central Asian countries are facing serious challenges in the area of environmental sustainability, including water security, deforestation, air pollution and loss of biodiversity.
Natural ecosystems in Central Asia provide multiple benefits to local populations and play significant role to local, national, regional and global economies. Many of these ecosystems and services provided by them are underestimated and their value is not assessed in the economic terms, therefore not included in political decision making processes.
In this study we are analyzing current state of ecosystem services (ES) approach in Central Asia and identifying areas for further development and integration of ES concept into national economies. Analysis of current state of ES concept included researching uncertainties, knowledge and data gaps for understanding, monitoring and managing of ecosystem services in Central Asia.
Nowadays ES approach is not widely used in Central Asia. However there is increasing interest for integration of this concept to the decision making process in environmental management shown by researchers, NGOs and international organizations.
Several studies and interviews in Central Asian countries revealed low level of understanding of ES concept in society. NGOs in close cooperation with international organizations such as UNDP and CAREC are working on raising awareness of the value of biodiversity and ES.
ES approach is incorporated into the policy making processes in Kazakhstan as a part of macroeconomic and sectoral programs, thus making this country one of the first to join Green Economy Concept. ES concept is actively discussed in other Central Asian countries, some elements of this approach are included in countries strategic plans, but there is long way to go to implement them into policy and regulations.
One of incentive-based tools incorporating the values of ecosystems in decision making processes is Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). Several studies concentrated on analyzing potential for using PES schemes for the poverty alleviation of communities and as adaptation strategy to climate change impact in Central Asia.
Case studies researching ES, especially in nature reserves, demonstrate the applicability of integration ES concept into policy-making at a national and regional scale. Tools and methodologies piloted at a local scale have identified potential for ES concept to support Central Asia’s transition to a more sustainable development pathway.
Directions for the future development of ecosystem services approach include elaboration of a common typology of Central Asian ecosystem types and ecosystem service classification framework, integration of ES in regulatory framework and raising awareness among political leaders, policy makers and local population.
...
![showless](/themes/JYX2//images/showless.png)
![showmore](/themes/JYX2//images/showmore.png)
Publisher
Open Science Centre, University of JyväskyläConference
ECCB2018: 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. 12th - 15th of June 2018, Jyväskylä, Finland
Original source
https://peerageofscience.org/conference/eccb2018/107050/Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
- ECCB 2018 [712]
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Important Insights of the IPBES Regional Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Europe and Central Asia
Fischer, Markus (Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 2018)Based on requests of IPBES member governments this assessment was elaborated by a team of more than 120 authors from 2015 to 2018. It shows, based on about 4000 sources, that nature provides broader contributions to people ... -
Ecosystem services and assessment of the soil biological activity exemplified by the mountain chernozem soils of the Central Caucasus
Tembotov, Rustam (Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 2018)Different subtypes of mountain chernozem soils (total area 845 km2) of Kabardino-Balkar Republic formed at a height range of over 500 m a.s.l. within the elbrusskiy variant of vertical zones distribution of the Central ... -
Biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe and Central Asia – status, trends and future scenarios
Visconti, Piero (Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 2018)The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a science-policy platform administered by the United Nations Environment Programme, at its third plenary in January 2015, in Bonn, requested ... -
Integrating ecosystem services into environmental impact assessment: An analytic-deliberative approach
Karjalainen, Timo P.; Marttunen, Mika; Sarkki, Simo; Rytkönen, Anne-Mari (22.1.2013) -
Developing an integrated Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) pathway in Central Finland
Moate, Josephine (Soveltavan kielentutkimuksen keskus, Jyväskylän yliopisto; Kielikoulutuspolitiikan verkosto, 2017)This article outlines the CLIL educational pathway that has been developed by a teacher community in Jyväskylä in recent years. This pathway was initially developed in 2009 yet it continues to evolve in the light of curricula ...