DRAFT
Agreement of the participants of the European platform for biodiversity
research strategy
held under the Greek presidency of the EU in Lesbos, Greece
23rd – 26th May 2002
concerning
Ecosystem approach: guidelines for implementation
“We cannot command Nature except by obeying her”
Sir Francis Bacon
Whereas
1. An ecosystem comprises all the organisms living in, depending on, or having influence
over an area1, interactions amongst them and with their inanimate environment, and the
natural cycles that sustain them;
2. Biological diversity helps to protect ecosystems against disturbance and supplies genetic
resources that may allow systems to adapt to change;
3. Adjacent ecosystems are interconnected by flows of energy and matter through trophic
webs and physical processes;
4. Ecosystems change naturally, and not all change can be resisted;
5. Ecosystem processes and social interactions operate over many scales, so that
management decisions taken at one scale will undoubtedly have effects at both larger and
smaller scales;
6. Since trends in one ecosystem affect and are affected by surrounding systems, managing
one ecosystem affects neighbouring ecosystems;
7. Ecosystems and the processes that affect them often extend across European national
boundaries;
8. Given enough space and time, unlikely and unexpected events will occur, and ecosystem
management must be flexible enough to accommodate or adapt to such events;
9. The Parties to the CBD have developed and adopted a set of 12 principles2 for the
integrated management of land, water and living organisms, on the premise that it is not
possible to consider a single species, habitat or ecosystem in isolation from its
surroundings. This set of principles, called the “ecosystem approach”, promotes
conservation and sustainable use of the components of biodiversity;
10. The use of the ecosystem approach by Parties and countries is intended to achieve a
balance between the three objectives3 of the Convention;
1
Including, most significantly, humans.
2
See annex
3
To ensure the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of biological resources and the equitable
sharing of the benefits of genetic resources.
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11. The implementation of the ecosystem approach depends on local, national, or European
considerations appropriate to the area under management;
12. The ecosystem approach should be developed in Europe in such a way that it contributes
directly to obligations under the Birds4 and Habitats5 Directives, the European
Community Biodiversity Strategy6 and its Biodiversity Action Plans, and the PanEuropean Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy7;
13. The ecosystem approach is fundamental in managing Earth’s resources because it
addresses the interactions that link biotic systems, of which humans are an integral part,
with the physical systems on which they depend.
14. The ecosystem approach is designed for protected areas and for other ecosystems that are
managed with sustainability in mind8;
15. Human culture is a key component of the ecosystem approach, since humans define and
ascribe values to sustainability and ecosystem integrity, decide what we should try to
sustain and at what cost, and take action to achieve management goals;
16. Natural resources are under-valued because many real costs are not accounted for in the
balance sheets of those who exploit the resources9. The failure to account for these
externalities helps to maintain exploitation systems that result in or favour biodiversity
loss.
17. The management of biological diversity involves many complex decisions, some of
which involve potential or real conflicts with stakeholders, and should involve not only
experts but also other interested parties;
18. To achieve sustainability, scientific understanding is required at all levels of biological
and social organisation, interactions and processes;
19. The implementation of the ecosystem approach requires that decisions be taken in the
absence of sound scientific knowledge of many key aspects of natural and social systems;
20. The approach is therefore based on the precautionary principle;
21. Implementation should start with a scientific evaluation, that is as complete as possible
and identifies residual scientific gaps and uncertainty;
4
Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds
5
Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora
6
Communication of the European Commission to the Council and to the Parliament on a European Community
Biodiversity Strategy (COM (98) 42 final). The strategy involves four themes: (1) Conservation and sustainable use
of biological diversity; (2) Sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources; (3) Research,
identification, monitoring and exchange of information; (4) Education, training and awareness.
7
PEBLDS, a European framework for coordinating and unifying existing initiatives to support implementation of
the CBD, was proposed in the Maastricht Declaration “Conserving Europe's Natural Heritage” (1993) to strengthen
the application of the Bern Convention in relation to the CBD. It seeks to integrate ecological considerations into all
relevant sectors and to increase public participation in conservation.
8
For example, the European Community Biodiversity Strategy seeks to integrate biodiversity concerns into the
conservation of natural resources, agriculture, fisheries, regional policies and spatial planning, forests, energy and
transport, tourism, development and economic co-operation.
9
Costs include the time to produce goods and services, management to enable the ecosystem to produce goods and
services in the future, and the environmental and social costs associated with the degradation or loss of biodiversity,
ecosystems, and the goods and services that humans wish to harvest from them.
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22. Since current knowledge is partial and subject to change, management practices must be
constantly reviewed and revised;
The participants of this meeting place high priority on research to:
Social considerations
1. Understand how government, business, communities and families view and value
biodiversity and ecosystems in the various European cultures;
2. Understand how to find a European consensus on what we would like to sustain, allowing
for biogeographical, cultural and socio-economic variation among Member States and
local communities;
3. Understand how ecosystems can be managed simultaneously for the intrinsic value of
their biological diversity and for human benefit, involving the interests both of local
stakeholders and the wider public;
4. Build methodologies to identify, analyse and resolve conflicts arising from differing
stakeholder objectives in areas with multiple and contradictory uses of natural resources;
Ecological considerations
5. Improve understanding of ecosystem structure and functioning;
6. Develop methods to predict the effect of management activities on ecosystems beyond
the target ecosystem;
7. Develop indicators to detect when ecosystems are approaching the limits of their natural
structure, functioning, diversity or productive capacity;
8. Develop management methods that take account of and are adapted to the lag that is
characteristic of many ecosystems between management action and biological response;
9. Develop management strategies that differentiate between “preventable, unwanted” and
“inevitable, natural” change and that can adapt to and accommodate inevitable change in
ecosystems;
Economic considerations
10. Develop methods to ascribe value to natural systems;
11. Develop realistic incentives in biologically impoverished areas to promote biodiversity
conservation, the sustainable use of its components, and favour changes of land use
toward biologicaly rich systems;
Objectives of management
12. Provide scientific recommendations to help find the correct balance between
conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of its components.
13. Support research to promote the implementation of the 12 principles of the CBD
ecosystem approach10 or, where desirable, to develop new principles.
10
see Annex
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Annex: the 12 principles of the CBD ecosystem approach11
Principle 1: The objectives of management of land, water and living resources are a matter of
societal choice.
Rationale: Different sectors of society view ecosystems in terms of their own economic, cultural
and societal needs. Indigenous peoples and other local communities living on the land are
important stakeholders and their rights and interests should be recognized. Both cultural and
biological diversity are central components of the ecosystem approach, and management should
take this into account. Societal choices should be expressed as clearly as possible. Ecosystems
should be managed for their intrinsic values and for the tangible or intangible benefits for
humans, in a fair and equitable way.
Principle 2: Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level.
Rationale: Decentralized systems may lead to greater efficiency, effectiveness and equity.
Management should involve all stakeholders and balance local interests with the wider public
interest. The closer management is to the ecosystem, the greater the responsibility, ownership,
accountability, participation, and use of local knowledge.
Principle 3: Ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their
activities on adjacent and other ecosystems.
Rationale: Management interventions in ecosystems often have unknown or unpredictable
effects on other ecosystems; therefore, possible impacts need careful consideration and analysis.
This may require new arrangements or ways of organization for institutions involved in decisionmaking to make, if necessary, appropriate compromises.
Principle 4: Recognizing potential gains from management, there is usually a need to understand
and manage the ecosystem in an economic context. Any such ecosystem-management
programme should:
(a) Reduce those market distortions that adversely affect biological diversity.
(b) Align incentives to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
(c) Internalize costs and benefits in the given ecosystem to the extent feasible.
Rationale: The greatest threat to biological diversity lies in its replacement by alternative systems
of land use. This often arises through market distortions, which undervalue natural systems and
populations and provide perverse incentives and subsidies to favour the conversion of land to
less diverse systems.
Often those who benefit from conservation do not pay the costs associated with conservation
and, similarly, those who generate environmental costs (e.g. pollution) escape responsibility.
Alignment of incentives allows those who control the resource to benefit and ensures that those
who generate environmental costs will pay.
Principle 5: Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain
ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.
Rationale: Ecosystem functioning and resilience depends on a dynamic relationship within
species, among species and between species and their abiotic environment, as well as the
physical and chemical interactions within the environment. The conservation and, where
appropriate, restoration of these interactions and processes is of greater significance for the longterm maintenance of biological diversity than simply protection of species.
11
COP Decision V/6 Ecosystem Approach
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Principle 6: Ecosystems must be managed within the limits of their functioning.
Rationale: In considering the likelihood or ease of attaining the management objectives, attention
should be given to the environmental conditions that limit natural productivity, ecosystem
structure, functioning and diversity. The limits to ecosystem functioning may be affected to
different degrees by temporary, unpredictable or artificially maintained conditions and,
accordingly, management should be appropriately cautious.
Principle 7: The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and
temporal scales.
Rationale: The approach should be bounded by spatial and temporal scales that are appropriate to
the objectives. Boundaries for management will be defined operationally by users, managers,
scientists and indigenous and local peoples. Connectivity between areas should be promoted
where necessary. The ecosystem approach is based upon the hierarchical nature of biological
diversity characterized by the interaction and integration of genes, species and ecosystems.
Principle 8: Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag-effects that characterize ecosystem
processes, objectives for ecosystem management should be set for the long term.
Rationale: Ecosystem processes are characterized by varying temporal scales and lag-effects.
This inherently conflicts with the tendency of humans to favour short-term gains and immediate
benefits over future ones.
Principle 9: Management must recognize that change is inevitable.
Rationale: Ecosystems change, including species composition and population abundance. Hence,
management should adapt to the changes. Apart from their inherent dynamics of change,
ecosystems are beset by a complex of uncertainties and potential "surprises" in the human,
biological and environmental realms. Traditional disturbance regimes may be important for
ecosystem structure and functioning, and may need to be maintained or restored. The ecosystem
approach must utilize adaptive management in order to anticipate and cater for such changes and
events and should be cautious in making any decision that may foreclose options, but, at the
same time, consider mitigating actions to cope with long-term changes such as climate change
Principle 10: The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and
integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity.
Rationale: Biological diversity is critical both for its intrinsic value and because of the key role it
plays in providing the ecosystem and other services upon which we all ultimately depend. There
has been a tendency in the past to manage components of biological diversity either as protected
or non-protected. There is a need for a shift to more flexible situations, where conservation and
use are seen in context and the full range of measures is applied in a continuum from strictly
protected to human-made ecosystems.
Principle 11: The ecosystem approach should consider all forms of relevant information,
including scientific and indigenous and local knowledge, innovations and practices.
Rationale: Information from all sources is critical to arriving at effective ecosystem management
strategies. A much better knowledge of ecosystem functions and the impact of human use is
desirable. All relevant information from any concerned area should be shared with all
stakeholders and actors, taking into account, inter alia, any decision to be taken under Article 8(j)
of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Assumptions behind proposed management decisions
should be made explicit and checked against available knowledge and views of stakeholders.
Principle 12: The ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of society and
scientific disciplines.
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Rationale: Most problems of biological-diversity management are complex, with many
interactions, side-effects and implications, and therefore should involve the necessary expertise
and stakeholders at the local, national, regional and international level, as appropriate.
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