Unit 6: Ecosystem Management and Restoration (EMR)

Unit 6: Ecosystem Management and Restoration (EMR)

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, you are expected to:

1. illustrate the characteristics of ecosystems and the services
that they provide;
2. explain the importance of ecosystems in climate change
adaptation (CCA) and DRR; and
3. identify the services that ecosystems provide to the
community and determine if these services worsen or lessen
the risk in their community.

Presentation of Contents

• The people need to know the characteristics of ecosystems surrounding

them and the services they provide to effectively protect ecosystems.
• Healthy ecosystems serve as a buffer against hazards and lessen socio-
economic vulnerability.
• Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction is natural and cost-effective;
however, other means of disaster risk reduction should not be
disregarded.

Ecosystem and
Environment

An ecosystem is a
dynamic complex
of plant, animal,
and microorganism
communities and
the non-living
environment
interacting as a
functional unit.
Humans are an
integral part of ecosystems. Ecosystems vary enormously in size; a
temporary pond in a tree hollow and an ocean basin can both be ecosystems.
[Millennium Environment Assessment, 2005]

Ecosystem and environment are often used interchangeably since they are
closely related concepts. Environment refers to physical and outside
conditions, including natural and human-made elements, which surround
and affect life, growth, and sustenance of organisms or communities.
Ecosystem, on the other hand, is more particular to the interactions between

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the environment and the organisms that dwell within it. It is likened to a
community that functions as one unit. Although technically incorrect when
used in some sentences, the term "environment" is more commonly used as
most people better understand it. The term "environment" does not readily
include the relationships between the living and the physical attributes of
the surroundings compared to the Ecosystem that shows the ecological
relationship relating to all organisms and the environment.

Levels of ecological organization

There are different levels of ecological organization:

a. Organism is an individual form of life and is the lowest level of
ecological organization.
b. Population is made up of similar specific organisms.
c. Community is made up of two or more populations of different
species.
d. Ecosystem is made up of communities of living organisms, its
physical and chemical environment. It is also the minimum system
that can capture and sustain life.
e. Biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems.

Ecosystems have two components: biotic and abiotic

• Biotic components consist of producers, consumers, and

decomposers.
• Producers – plants and other organisms that can make their
own food belong to this group. Through photosynthesis,
plants produce substances that are essential for their growth
and development. Photosynthesis is a process wherein plants
produce nutrients with energy from the sun, water, air, and
minerals.
• Consumers – animals and other organisms that obtain
energy and nutrients from other organisms.
• Decomposers – Worm, fungi, bacteria, and other microbes
are organisms that decompose dead organisms. In this
manner, the chemical composition of dead organisms is
converted into a food source.
• Abiotic components
• Physical (i.e., energy and heat)
• Chemical (i.e., water)
• Climate
• Environment – refers to the physical and outside conditions,
including both natural and human-made elements that
surround or affect life, growth, and sustenance of the
organism or community.

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Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the sum of

diverse organisms or species.
Rich biodiversity sustains
healthy ecosystems, and as a
result, ecosystems will be
more stable and will further
provide services to human
beings.

Biodiversity hotspots are

areas with a high number of
organisms that can only be
found in that area, and its
loss will lead to the
extinction of its habitat.

Examples of ecosystems:

Terrestrial – forest,
grassland, farm, desert,
mountain
Aquatic – river, fishpond,
sea, lake

Ecosystems and Human Beings

Human beings are an integral part of ecosystems. It is where they live and
get their requirements for sustenance.

Ecosystem services

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA),

ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems.

There are four types of ecosystem services:

Regulating services – These services provide protection and serve as a

buffer to the natural processes of the environment where humans live in
such as flood regulation, water filtration, pollination, erosion control,
and disease regulation.

Provisioning services –These are the products that can be obtained in

ecosystems. (i.e., food, freshwater, wood, fiber, genetic resources, and
medicine)

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Cultural services – These are the non-material benefits of the Ecosystem.

(i.e., recreation, ecotourism, spiritual enrichment, intellectual development,
reflection, and religious experience)

Supporting services –
Supporting services are
essential in the provision of
other ecosystem services.
This is connected with the
fundamental processes of
the environment with an
indirect effect that will
eventually occur. (i.e.,
biomass production,
atmospheric oxygen
production, soil formation
and retention, nutrient
cycling, water cycling, and
habitat)

It is vital to protect the ecosystems so that the present and succeeding

generations will continue to benefit from its services.

What is Ecosystem Degradation?

Ecosystem degradation is defined as the destruction of ecosystems that

reduces its capacity to provide ecosystem services. This may be due to the
excessive use or consumption of other services, which compromises the
Ecosystem's entire ability and condition.

Global Situation of Ecosystems

The study conducted by MEA in 2005 published in the book, "We Are
Living Beyond Our Means," concluded that:
• All human beings are dependent on ecosystem and ecosystem
services to live a life with dignity.
• In the last 50 years, there have been changes in ecosystems brought
by a human intervention that is not done before, mostly to meet the
increasing demand for food, freshwater, fiber, and energy.
• Many people experience good lives; however, it worsens
ecosystems’ capacity to provide key services such as clean air and
water.
• 60% of the ecosystems studied by MEA are damaged or used in an
unsustainable way.
• Pressure on ecosystems will be more intense if humans will not
change their activities and attitudes towards the ecosystems.
• There is increasing evidence that ecosystems are now reaching its
"tipping points," where there might be an abrupt and irreversible.

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change. (i.e., deadly diseases, the collapse of fisheries and climate

change)
• We have the knowledge and technology to protect our ecosystems
and human well-being.

Ecosystem Degradation in the Philippines

• In the Philippines, massive ecosystem degradation is brought by

the economy that depends on the export of raw materials.
• Massive extraction of resources damages ecosystems, including
other surrounding
ecosystems.
• Most of the
Philippines' forests are
denuded, and only 5%
of the total forest
remains.
• Massive destruction of
ecosystems is due to
large-scale mining.
With this kind of
extraction,
corporations must
remove a vast portion of soil and other vegetation above the
mineral deposits. It also damages water tables—chemicals used
in mining result to contamination of rivers that primarily affect
the health of community members.

Ecosystems are interrelated

Energy, matter, and organisms can flow from one ecosystem to another.
Any change in one ecosystem, therefore, may, in turn, trigger changes in
other ecosystems surrounding it. If an imbalance or degradation occurs in
one ecosystem, it can, in turn, affect other surrounding ecosystems.

What is ecosystem management?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),

ecosystem management is “an integrated process to conserve and improve
ecosystem health that sustains ecosystem services for human well-being.”

It is based on an adaptive and collectively formulated plan for future

conditions that bring together ecologic, socio-economic, and institutional
perspectives. This is applied to an area and primarily set by ecological
boundaries. (MEA 2005)

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What is ecosystem restoration?

Ecosystem restoration is the process of helping to bring back the natural

health of a degraded ecosystem. Ecosystem restoration usually takes many
years, and a strong commitment to this is needed. However, it also provides
many benefits.

In identifying ways of doing restoration, it is important to clarify the

stakeholders who will benefit, and the long-term objectives in doing EMR.

There are feasible ways of restoring ecosystems but setting priorities for
ecosystem restoration should be made according to current conditions and
restoration objectives.

Ecosystem-based and
Climate-smart Disaster Risk
Reduction

Ecosystem-based and climate-

smart DRR is an approach
that incorporates ecosystem
management and restoration
and climate change adaptation
into disaster risk reduction.
This approach is founded on
the prevalence of evidence that disasters have become more frequent and
more destructive because of extreme weather events that are manifestations
of climate change, and ecosystem degradation. By combining EMR and
CCA with DRR, communities are envisioned to become more resilient
against disaster.

How is EMR linked to DRR?

• Ecosystem degradation leads to many disasters and weakens

ecosystems and society's resilience against the effects of climate
change and other disasters.
• Degradation lessens ecosystems' natural capacity to buffer against
hazards and its capacity to provide ecosystem services resulting in
vulnerability.
• Continuous ecosystem degradation lowers the community and
ecosystems’ resilience against disaster.
• Disasters, on the other hand, can increase damage in the
environment. For instance, chemicals and other waste products used
in mining can spread out if an earthquake destroys the dam where
mine tailings are stored. In Benguet, pesticides from the farms and
other plantations are carried away by the heavy rains down to the
rivers and irrigation canals.
• Disasters can affect biodiversity through the spread of invasive
species, mass species mortality, loss of habitat, etc.

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• Disasters could also damage other natural resources and natural and
human-made infrastructures that benefit humans. A landslide or
flood debris can cover fertile agricultural land, for example. Flash
floods destroy drainage and irrigation canals.
• Conduct of
ineffective and
inappropriate relief
and recovery
activities can
increase ecosystem
degradation. For
example, the
distribution of
disposable baby
diapers in a
community might
increase the river's
waste problem and
pollution.

Why are ecosystems important in disaster risk reduction?

Healthy ecosystems are essential in disaster risk reduction for two main
reasons:

• Ecosystems serve as effective and affordable natural buffers to

reduce the impacts of hazards and climate:
• Flood protection
• Landslides: slope stabilization
• Coastal protection (tsunamis, storm surges)
• Avalanche protection
• Buffers against droughts and desertification

According to the World Bank (2004), investments on preventive measures,

including maintaining healthy ecosystems, is seven-fold more cost-effective
than the costs incurred by disasters.

• These reduce the vulnerabilities through supporting and providing

for the livelihood.

• Healthy ecosystems, such as intact forests, wetlands,

mangroves, and coral reefs, provide many livelihood
products e.g., firewood, clean water, food, fibers, medicine.
• Ecosystems also provide a range of services: regulating
water flows and water quality, carbon sequestration,
decontamination, soil conservation.

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What is ecosystem based DRR?

The Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR)
defines ecosystem based DRR as sustainable management, conservation,
and restoration of ecosystems to provide services that mitigate hazards and
increase livelihood resilience.

Core Elements of Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction

• Identify numerous roles played and services provided by

ecosystems, including natural mitigation, or reducing impacts of
hazards.
• Link ecosystem-based risk reduction to sustainable livelihoods and
development
• Combine ecosystem investments and other effective DRR strategies,
including infrastructure
• Address risks related to climate change and extreme events and
reduce their impacts on ecosystem services
• Strengthen capacities of the government on ecosystem based DRR
through multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary platforms
• Ensure the participation of local stakeholders in decision making
• Utilize existing instruments and tools on ecosystem management,
and increase their value or importance in DRR (PEDRR 2010)

How is Ecosystem linked to CCA?

• Climate shocks and gradual changes contribute to environmental

degradation, undermining the buffer and livelihood support function.
Moreover, the destruction of the Ecosystem results in decreased
carbon sequestration.
• The beneficial functions of healthy ecosystems are insufficiently
recognized in the current (climate change) adaptation planning.

• Non-climate related anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems or

“mal-adaptation” also contribute to increased vulnerability to
climate change: (i.e., misinformed infrastructure development,
unsustainable water use, deforestation, etc.)
• Ecosystem-based approaches are often cost-effective, robust, low-
technology, and sustainable adaptation solutions.

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How is CCA linked to DRR

• Climate change increases the risk of climate-related disasters.

• Climate change leads to new, more urgent questions for
humanitarian organizations:
• How to deal with increasing intensity and frequency of
disasters?
• How to handle new and unknown risks?
• How to use scientific knowledge about climate change to
enhance risk reduction?
• Addressing rising climate risks through the “4 As”:
• Assessment
• Awareness-raising
• Action, and
• Advocacy
• Early Warning, Early Action: bridging time scales

The combined efforts on

DRR, CCA, and EMR
aim to build more resilient
communities and
ecosystems that can
withstand disasters and
have continuous and
sustainable development.
EMR is important to
broaden further and
complete disaster risk reduction.

EMR – aims to restore/ bring back healthy ecosystems that can support
people’s needs and livelihoods for human beings to be able to perform
more effectively in buffering against hazards and providing livelihood
support. A key element EMR contributes to DRR is the scale (landscape)
by which risks are determined, and corresponding risk reduction measures
are planned.

CCA – strengthens communities through the identification and

implementation of adaptive measures to the effects of climate change,
particularly on the frequency and severity of hydro-met hazards.

DRR – aims to implement preparedness and risk reduction measures to

protect lives, properties, and livelihoods from hazards.

Together, DRR, CCA, and EMR support and strengthen each other in
achieving sustainable and long-term development. These must be done
along with measures on alleviating poverty and reducing vulnerabilities. All
these together are what we call ecosystem-based and climate-smart DRR.