| Variable Type | Ordinal |
|---|---|
| Variable Component Type | Natural Resource Unit, Natural Resource System |
| Variable Kind | Interaction |
| Theme | Outcomes (learn about themes) |
| Projects | SESMAD, Fiji fisheries |
| Question | What is the general trend in the condition of cultural services (e.g. spiritual, aesthetic, recreation, education) derived from this commons during the time frame of this snapshot? |
| Select Options | 1 Worsened, 2 Mixed effects or remained the same, 3 Improving |
| Unit | |
| Role | |
| Importance | "The cultural services provided by a commons is an important outcome of interest that users can try to explain. Ecosystem services are a lens through which human benefits from ecosystems can be considered (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). This question seeks to ascertain whether the condition of cultural services has worsened, is mixed or remained the same, or improved for an actor group. The variable applies to all relevant cultural services of the resource and governance system for that actor group." |
| Definition | "This variable describes trends in the condition of cultural services provided by the commons in this interaction. Cultural services are defined by the Millennium Assessment (2005) as "the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences, including: Cultural diversity. The diversity of ecosystems is one factor influencing the diversity of cultures. Spiritual and religious values. Many religions attach spiritual and religious values to ecosystems or their components. Knowledge systems (traditional and formal). Ecosystems influence the types of knowledge systems developed by different cultures. Educational values. Ecosystems and their components and processes provide the basis for both formal and informal education in many societies. Inspiration. Ecosystems provide a rich source of inspiration for art, folklore, national symbols, architecture, and advertising. Aesthetic values. Many people find beauty or aesthetic value in various aspects of ecosystems, as reflected in the support for parks, scenic drives,and the selection of housing locations. Social relations. Ecosystems influence the types of social relations that are established in particular cultures. Fishing societies, for example, differ in many respects in their social relations from nomadic herding or agricultural societies. Sense of place. Many people value the sense of place that is associated with recognized features of their environment, including aspects of the ecosystem. Cultural heritage values. Many societies place high value on the maintenance of either historically important landscapes (cultural landscapes;) or culturally significant species. Recreation and ecotourism. People often choose where to spend theileisure time based in part on the characteristics of the natural or cultivated landscapes in a particular area. |
| Sectors |
Theory Usages
| Theory | Value Used |
|---|---|
| Local livelihood and protected areas | Improved |
| Critique of fortress conservation | Improved |
Associated Studies
| Study Citation |
|---|
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Program) (Ed.), 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC. |
Case Usages
| Case | Interaction Type | Component | Value Used | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forests in Indonesia | Governance | Forests in Indonesia | Worsened (1) | Declining forest cover led to a decline in the ability of this system to provide all forms of ecosystem services in this time period. |
| Forests in Indonesia | Governance | Forests in Indonesia | Worsened (1) | forest condition declined during this period, and we thus presume that associated ecosystem services also declined. |
| Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica fisheries governance | Governance | Gulf of Nicoya fisheries | Missing | |
| Galapagos Marine Reserve | Biophysical | Galapagos Sea Cucumber | ||
| Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ICCAT) | Governance | Western Atlantic Bluefin Tuna | N/A | |
| Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ICCAT) | Governance | Eastern Atlantic Bluefin Tuna | ||
| Community D (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community D Fish Resources | Improving (3) | Groups have been able to derive harvesting benefits by harvesting within their PHC. |
| Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ICCAT) | Governance | Eastern Atlantic Bluefin Tuna | Missing | |
| Montreal Protocol | Biophysical | Ozone | Not Applicable | |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park | Governance | GBR coral cover | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Effect based on zoning system, which is what GBRMPA and QPWS use for management. At the scale of the whole reef, too much land-based run-off (sedimentation, nutrients) negatively affects coral cover. Locally, though, no-take areas can increase coral cover by maintaining a healthy ecosystem. |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park | Governance | GBR coral cover | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Effect based on zoning system, which is what GBRMPA and QPWS use for management. At the scale of the whole reef, too much land-based run-off (sedimentation, nutrients) negatively affects coral cover. Coral cover is what tourists are attracted to. Locally, though, no-take areas can increase coral cover by maintaining a healthy ecosystem. But tourism continues to be high, apparently not affected by declining coral cover |
| Montreal Protocol | Biophysical | Ozone | Not Applicable | |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park | Governance | GBR target fish | ||
| Central California National Marine Sanctuaries | Governance | California Rocky Shores Ecosystem Health | Improving (3) | Recreation and education have increased. |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park | Governance | GBR target fish | Improving (3) | |
| Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) | Governance | Galapagos Sea Cucumber | Not Applicable | |
| Macquarie Island Marine Park | Governance | Patagonian Toothfish | Not Applicable | |
| Macquarie Island Marine Park | Governance | Light Mantled Albatross | Missing | |
| Macquarie Island Marine Park | Governance | Macquarie Island Royal Penguin | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Penguin populations have remained stable or increasing; and are often visited by tourists on visits to the island. |
| Wakatobi National Park | Governance | Wakatobi coral cover | Improving (3) | Tourism operators appear to be pleased with progress in reducing the decline of coral cover (which has largely had mixed effects). In addition, education of coral reefs and their importance has increased among resource users. Little evidence on spiritual or aesthetic values but access has not been significantly reduced by the small no-take areas meaning people can still enjoy and access most areas. |
| Wakatobi National Park | Governance | Wakatobi fish spawning | Not Applicable | |
| Wakatobi National Park | Governance | Wakatobi Green Turtle | Improving (3) | Tourism is increasing in the area. |
| Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine National Monument | Governance | NWHI Lobster Fishery | Not Applicable | |
| Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) | Governance | Galapagos Green Turtle | Improving (3) | Tourism is increasing |
| Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) | Governance | Galapagos Sharks | Improving (3) | tourism is increasing in the GMR |
| Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine National Monument | Governance | NWHI Trophic Density | Improving (3) | No empirical evidence, but there is a regeneration and re-understanding of traditional practices and traditions through access to traditional materials (e.g. seabird bones for tattoo, feathers for Kahili) available in the NWHI that was previously prohibited before the Monument - A. Wilhelm pers comm. |
| Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) Marine National Monument | Governance | NWHI Green Turtle | Improving (3) | The green sea turtle is an important cultural symbol in Hawaii. Access to NWHI for traditional purposes through the Monument has led to a regeneration and re-understanding of traditional practices and traditions -A. Wilhelm pers comm. |
| Central California National Marine Sanctuaries | Governance | California Humpback Whale | Improving (3) | Whale watching services have increased over time, as well as the number of tourists to the Sanctuaries. |
| Community A (Fiji fisheries) | Governance | Community A Fish Resources | Improving (3) | Members of the community have been able to obtain cultural benefits by harvesting fish resources from within the PHC. |
| Community B (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community B Fish Resources | Improving (3) | Groups have been able to derive harvesting benefits by harvesting within their PHC. |
| Community C (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community C Fish Resources | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Actors have not derived legal harvesting benefits from their PHC throughout this snapshot. |
| Raja Ampat (National Act No. 32 2004) | Governance | Raja Ampat Coral Cover | Improving (3) | Tourism is increasing in the area. |
| Community E (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community E Fish Resources | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Members of the community have been able to obtain cultural benefits by harvesting fish resources from within the PHC. |
| Raja Ampat (National Act No. 32 2004) | Governance | Raja Ampat Green Turtle | Improving (3) | Tourism is increasing in the area, and the cost of tourism permits has also increased (revenue increasing) |
| Raja Ampat (National Act No. 32 2004) | Governance | Raja Ampat Reef Fish | Not Applicable | |
| Central California National Marine Sanctuaries | Governance | California Groundfish Habitat | Improving (3) | Scuba divers are very common in groundfish fishery habitat. Kelp forests are especially important for this. Monterey has become increasingly popular tourism destination. |
| Svalbard Nature Reserves | Governance | Svalbard Polar Bear | Improving (3) | Not because the supply of the service (i.e. the number of bears) has changed during the snapshot, but because the number of tourists visiting Svalbard increased (Sysselmannen på Svalbard 2013c). With more people experiencing the service, the flow of benefits to people would be greater. |
| Community F (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community F Fish Resources | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Actors have not derived legal harvesting benefits from their PHC throughout this snapshot. |
| Great Australian Bight Marine Park (GABMP) (Commonwealth Waters) | Governance | GABMP (Commonwealth Waters) Southern Right Whale | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Tourists come to view the southern right whales from the cliffs at the Head of Bight during calving season. This provides a cultural service through tourism benefits. Even though the number of domestic and international tourists to the Eyre Peninsula, in which the GABMP (CW) is located, have decreased slightly during this snapshot (Eyre Peninsula Regional Tourism Profile - tourism.sa.gov.au) a report in 2013/2014 indicates that 40% of all international visitors to Australia traveled to a national park. Because of this, the government of South Australia is promoting nature-based tourism in this State, which may increase the number of whale watchers (although, this will occur outside of the time frame coded for the case). |
| Svalbard Nature Reserves | Governance | Svalbard Shrimp | Not Applicable | |
| Great Australian Bight Marine Park (GABMP) (Commonwealth Waters) | Governance | GABMP (Commonwealth Waters) Southern Bluefin Tuna | Not Applicable | |
| Seaflower MPA | Governance | Seaflower coral reefs | Missing | NO DATA |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park | Governance | GBR Green Turtle | Worsened (1) | The number of tourists has declined slightly since 2004 (GBRMPA [online]b), increases, therefore decreasing the number of people aesthetically appreciating turtles. Note - The traditional use of turtles is allowed, and access has been improved through the re-zoning (since 2004) |
| Heard and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve | Governance | Light Mantled Albatross | Missing | |
| Heard and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve | Governance | King Penguin | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Tourists like seeing lots of penguins, and lots of penguins remain. |
| Heard and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve | Governance | Patagonian Toothfish | Not Applicable | |
| Great Australian Bight Marine Park (GABMP) (Commonwealth Waters) | Governance | GABMP (Commonwealth Waters) Sea Lion | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Tourism remains popular, but the local subpopulation of Australian sea lions has declined dramatically (Bunda Cliffs sub-population (GABMP) has experienced a 39% decline in mean maximum number of pups counted per site over 19 years, or ~64% decline over three generations) so coded as declined |
| Svalbard Nature Reserves | Governance | Svalbard Kittiwake | Improving (3) | The number of tourists visiting Svalbard has increased (Sysselmannen pa Svalbard 2013). With more people experiencing the service, the flow of benefits to people would be greater. |
| Community G (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community G Fish Resources | Improving (3) | Community members have obtained cultural benefits by harvesting within their PHC. |
| Community H (Fiji Fisheries) | Governance | Community H Fish Resources | Improving (3) | Members of the community have been able to obtain cultural benefits by harvesting fish resources from within the PHC. |
| Seaflower MPA | Governance | Seaflower groupers | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | Follows the Commons Condition Trend |
| Cenderwasih National Park | Governance | Cenderwasih coral cover | Improving (3) | Tourism in increasing in the area |
| Cenderwasih National Park | Governance | Cenderwasih target fish | Not Applicable | |
| Falkland Islands squid | Governance | Patagonian squid (Loligo gahi) | Not Applicable | |
| New Zealand squid | Governance | Arrow Squid (Nototodarus spp.) | Not Applicable | |
| California squid | Governance | California market squid (Loligo opalescens) | Mixed effects or remained the same (2) | About the same. |
| Pond aquaculture on Lombok, Indonesia | Governance | Lombok aquaculture irrigation canals | Not Applicable | |
| Pond aquaculture on Lombok, Indonesia | Governance | Lombok aquaculture irrigation canals | ||
| Caete-Teperacu Extractive Reserve (RESEX) in Braganca, Brazil | Governance | Mangrove forest in Bragança, Brazil | Missing | |
| Gili Trawangan Coastal Tourism | Governance | Coral reefs, coast and small-island on and surrounding Gili Trawangan, Indonesia | Missing |