Geographical approaches of the ecosystem services

Informations

Funding country

France

Acronym

AGES

URL

-

Start date

10/15/2010

End date

-

Budget

163,000 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

The concept of ecosystem services (ES) and its application through payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes has been strongly developed during the last years. The ES concept, discussed by scientists during the 90s, has been institutionalized and has acquired a universal vocation all through the process leading to the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) in 2005. Today, PES schemes are being developed all over the world, particularly in developing countries affected by deforestation. PES schemes are considered innovative strategies to promote biodiversity conservation and to reduce poverty. This statement was confirmed recently as part of the discussions during the Copenhagen’s conference. As it is used today, the concept of ES tends to redefine, through market mechanisms, the relations between men and Nature; nevertheless, this relationship is not easy to tackle: a “good” - the function of an ecosystem- becomes a “service” only under particular social, political and economical circumstances. We will question the concept of ecosystem services over its formulation and the consequences when applied. Our project aims to study the issues at stake when applying the concept of ES through PES schemes within areas of agricultural frontier and forest, particularly in tropical countries under pressure for protecting their forests. But the objective of the project AGES is not limited to the case of the tropical forests, since our goal is also to question, through our study cases, the universal character of the concept itself. We take a critical perspective by deepening into its origins and by stressing the forgotten dimensions not taken into account during its construction and institutionalization processes. We want to emphasize, through our field studies, a character that cannot be ignored: the spatiality of Human-Nature relationship. First, we will study the process leading to the construction of the concept of ES, in scientific and political arenas, and its institutionalization through the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MEA) and other international fora. Second, by associating this genealogical study with current application through projects implemented on specific contexts (Amazonian Basin, Congo Basin of and Mekong delta), we will highlight the way in which disciplinary anchoring of the concept influences the apprehension of Human-Nature relationships. Finally, we will look forward to propose new ways of thinking the spatiality when using the ecosystem services concept. From a disciplinary perspective, we will locate our study inside a geographic dimension, particularly within the approach of Political Ecology, showing the relevance of geographical approaches to study ecosystem services. Indeed, if the concept of ES today seems unavoidable, we would like to show that it is far from being stable. Its construction, eminently political, has ignored many debates and hesitations among scientist. We want to insist on a debate not well studied in the literature over the ES: the one touching the definition of human-environment relationships. First, we question the terms used to define this relationship; indeed, ecosystem services might be perceived and defined differently among different actors. And, second, we question the terms defining spatial and scalar issues starting with ecological processes, public policies and local practices which are usually deployed in diverse scales not always according to the ones used to define a particular ES.