Urbanisation and cities in the
21 st Century
Perceptions of the ecosystem
services concept:
Opportunities and challenges in the
South African context
Ekelund Nils G. A. and Schubert Per
Department Science, Environment, Society, Malmö University, Sweden
Ecosystem services
What Nature provides
us for free.
Timeline (log scale) of marine and terrestrial defaunation.The marine defaunation experience is much less advanced, even though humans have been harvesting ocean wildlife for
thousands of years.
Douglas J. McCauley et al. Science 2015;347:1255641
THE CITY MALMÖ
Malmö (~310,000 inhabitants), is situated in
the southern part of Sweden. Currently is
12 % of the city´s area protected as park or
natural land.
The plan for Malmö is to grow inwards,
which will allow the city to reduce Malmö´s
environmental footprint.
An aim is that every residence in Malmö
will have access to a larger park within 1
km.
THE CITY MALMÖ
In the Green Plan (2003)
which is a technical support document to
the Comprehensive Plan 2000,
is the concept ecosystem services not mentioned.
In the environment programme for the city of Malmö
2009-2020 it states that:
Malmö will lead the way in sustainable urban
development.
CNN: "HOW ONE ECO-PROJECT IN MALMO CHANGED
THE FUTURE OF INDUSTRIAL WASTELANDS"
Sustainable City Development
Malmö's path towards a sustainable future
The Western Harbour
— experiences and lessons learned
Headings for Malmö
QUESTIONS
• To what extent is the ES-concept implemented in
municipal planning (implicit or explicit)?
• What are the main difficulties and possibilities for the
implementation of ES in municipal planning and
decision-making?
• How are the attitudes of politicians and city planners
”EXPLICIT” IMPLEMENTATION
Comprehensive plan (May 2014)
”Ecosystem services” should be valuated, considered and secured in city planning.
A good management will support the functions of ecosystem services. By connecting the city's parks and recreational areas with green links they become more accessible and easier to use. (Malmö-karta)
MEA
TEEB
Government
Region
Malmö
POSSIBILITIES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Favourable structures
Co-operation between different sectors as environment, planning…
The size of the community and financial support from external donors.
Use of already ongoing processes
Already identified areas with different problems. The ES concept fit with the current practices.
POSSIBILITIES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Set-up for planning
Use of a good set-up for city (Malmö) planning make it easier to include ecosystem services.
Conservation program
To include ecosystem service in the planning will be easier.
Quantitative and Monetary values are important
Communicative and pedagogical tools
Clarify and explain values and connections between processes.
Anthropocentric focus is useful
Important to describe the value of nature and explain why it is important to save green or blue areas.
DIFFICULTIES OF IMPLEMENTATION
Political willingness
Experience low knowledge and awareness. Need of prioritisation (social questions…).
Implementation requires resources (financial…)
ATTITUDES ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Human – Nature - Anthropocentric
ES is for human wellbeing. Physical health, green areas, calm areas…
We have to create nature. Malmö has no real nature…
Human - Nature – Ecocentric
As a biologist you work for natures own value, you have to
learn that humans need to organize their relationships with the earth.
POSITIVE ATTITUDES
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Multifunctional
– ”bundling”
Systematical perspective. Some ES act together.
NEGATIVE ATTITUDES
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Clarify the concept - Difficult
Large-Overwhelming
Five themes related to perceptions of
the ecosystem services concept
• Theoretical concept – it´s to broad, it´s to theoretical, difficullt to … • Concept vs phenomenon – We do work with ES but do not use
the word.
• Anhtropocentric starting point – Good becuase it´s broader and not only conservation of species, social value.
• Pedagogical tool – Help to build an understanding…
• Monetary valuation – Get a tool that can be used to value our ecosystem.
Effects of a storm on
the beach in Malmö
Supply or demand?
Insights in a planning context?
REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
CONCLUSIONS
• A deeper understanding of monetary valuation of ES
is important for application of the concept
in municipal decision-making.
• Detailed and clear definitions and guidelines of
the ES concept must be provided
Conceptual knowledge use of the
ecosystem services concept is very
important in the municipal
organization.
Examples of economic valuations of urban ecosystem services.
Examples from empirical studies conducted in Europe, USA, and China
Ecosystem service City Ecological infrastructure Biophysical accounts Economic valuation Air purification Barcelona, Spain Urban forest 305.6 t/y €1,115,908
Chicago, USA Urban trees 5,500 t/y US$ 9 million Lanzhou, China Urban plants 28,890 t pm/y US$ 102
0.17 t pm/ha/y US$ 6.3/ha 1.8 million t SO 2 /y –10.9 t SO 2 /ha/y
Microclimate Chicago City trees Saved heating 2.1 GJ/tree US$ 10/tree
Regulation Saved cooling 0.48 GJ/tree US$ 15/tree
Carbon Barcelona, Spain Urban forest 113,437 t (gross)
Sequestration 5,422 t (net)
Modesto, USA Urban forest 13,900 t or 336 lb/tree US$ 460,000 or US$ 5/tree
Beijing, China Urban forest 4, 200,000 t US$ 20,827/ha/y 256 t/ha/y
Regulation of Modesto, USA Urban forest 292,000 m 3 or 845 gal/tree US$ 616,000 or US$
water flows Reduced runoff 7/tree
Aesthetic Modesto, USA Urban forest 88,235 trees US$ 1.5 million US$
information 17/tree)
INDUSTRIES BASED ON
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES STILL THE
MAINSTAY OF MANY ECONOMIES
• Contributions of agriculture
– Agricultural labor force accounts for 22% of the world’s population and half the world’s total labor force
– Agriculture accounts for 24% of GDP in low income developing countries
• Market value of ecosystem-service industries – Food production: $980 billion per year – Timber industry: $400 billion per year – Marine fisheries: $80 billion per year – Marine aquaculture: $57 billion per year
– Recreational hunting and fishing: >$75 billion per year in the United States alone
• Examples of Costs:
– The 1992 collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery cost ~$2 billion in income support and retraining
– The “external” cost of agriculture in the UK in 1996 (damage to water, soil, and biodiversity) was $2.6 billion, or 9% of yearly gross farm receipts
– Episodes of harmful (including toxic) algal blooms in coastal waters are increasing
– The frequency and impact of floods and fires has increased significantly in the past 50 years, in part due to ecosystem changes. Annual losses from extreme events totaled ~$70 billion in 2003
DEGRADATION OF ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES OFTEN CAUSES SIGNIFICANT
HARM TO HUMAN WELL-BEING
Ecosystem disservices in cities
(Modified from Gómez-Baggethun and Barton 2013)
Ecosystem functions Disservice Examples
Photosynthesis Air quality problems City tree and bush species
emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) Tree growth through View blockage Blockage of views by trees
biomass fixation standing close to buildings Movement of floral Allergies Wind-pollinated plants causing
gametes allergic reactions
Aging of vegetation Accidents Break up of branches falling in roads and trees
Dense vegetation Fear and stress Dark green areas perceived as unsafe
development in night-time
Biomass fixation in Damages to Breaking up of pavements by roots; roots; decomposition infrastructure microbial activity
Habitat provision for Habitat competition Animals/insects perceived as scary, animal species with humans unpleasant, disgusting
Both South Africa and Sweden are affected by urbanization and climate change, which calls for projects of new urban solutions.
In Sweden, the government has decided that ES should be generally known and implemented in societal decision-making and planning processes by 2018.
Since Swedish municipalities have the major responsibility for urban planning, they will play a central role in achieving this milestone target.
Therefore, it would be of great interest to do a comparative study between South Africa and Sweden with the aim to study the use of the ES concept in sustainable urban planning processes.
The study of Malmö shows a change over time in the types of ES concepts used, from “land use” and “green areas” in 1980 to
“biological life cycle” and “biodiversity” in 2000.
This indicates a shift in planning processes towards a more
holistic view of the importance of ecosystems for a sustainable
society and healthy life. When urban planning is well connected to the ES concept it will also combine to several goals of the United Nations Sustainable Developments Goals (UN SDG).
The dimensions of ES and sustainable development goals are all interconnected and integrated, specifically in the goals 3, 6 11, 12, 14, and 15.
