
Social Nature – Here, Dr Gemma Harper and colleagues at the Joint Conservation Committee explore the importance of holistic approaches to the challenges surrounding climate change and biodiversity. The article puts people at the core of problems and solutions and thus emphasizes the important role that social science has to play. It explores the evolution of our relationship with nature and changing attitudes about conservation.
The twin crisis of biodiversity, climate change, has played a secondary and complementary role in the sustainable development agenda. The main reason is that biodiversity can be more difficult to measure. Loss of biodiversity can also be more difficult to work on negative impacts. This is compared to climate change, where, despite its complexity, there is only one metric (reducing carbon emissions) that can be used to target global action. However, the fact that the two crises are fundamentally linked has been demonstrated by an increasing number of countries that include nature in their climate commitments. Biodiversity is affected by climate change and its healthy functioning contributes significantly to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Experts are still working on the complexities of measuring and monitoring biodiversity loss. And the process of leading an international consensus to take concerted action is relatively new. This gives us a unique opportunity to take a new interdisciplinary approach to solving this problem. Climate change efforts have been criticized for not including social science. A recent review of climate projects found that only one in six publicly funded climate change projects had a significant social science component. Solving the biodiversity crisis gives us an opportunity to understand the problem and design solutions to turn the ‘buck’ on biodiversity by putting people at its heart.
The current state and course of natural systems is a complex interaction in which people value and interact with nature as both exploiters and conservationists. As Dame Professor Georgina Massey points out in her book Who’s Conservation, conservation movements in developing countries trace the emergence of different nature narratives. Professor Massey takes us from the 1960s/70s to “nature for herself”, with a key focus on species and habitats and the importance of their intrinsic value, to the 1980s/90s, where Massey argues that we focus more on pressure. and threats (eg habitat loss and increased pollution) – “nature in spite of people”. And in the early 2000s, Massey described how the value of “nature for people” came with an ecological approach. Environmental economics has raised the spectrum of ecosystem services as an important part of conservation science. In the year In 2010, it was recognized that “man and nature” were connected, and conservation efforts focused on both ecology and social science. and the emergence of more interdisciplinary thinking and understanding of social-ecological systems. The publication Nature Positive 2030 by the statutory conservation body in the UK seeks to build on this integrated narrative.
This evolution of our relationship with nature shows that there has always been an internal tension in accepting that people are part of nature, and one can argue, in line with Dasgupta’s assessment of economic economic diversity, that the failure to reconcile this tension contributed to it. Biodiversity crisis. This is evident in the siloed, often hierarchical, structures and organizations of many governments, businesses, universities, funding bodies, charities and other entities seeking to solve complex problems. Going beyond this linear approach, it is necessary to consider the dynamics of human beings on biodiversity and social and cultural impacts on conservation and restoration from the perspective of equity and social justice.
The dynamic and social nature of nature conservation is particularly evident in developing countries. Actions taken in the name of conservation can disproportionately harm local communities, affect livelihoods and resources, or serve to support narratives of exploitation. If we do not bring in social science, we will only continue to understand part of the problem and generate partial solutions.
So how can we better engage with the social sciences and get a better understanding of the human-nature relationship?
First, there is a need to address the systemic nature of the biodiversity crisis. This requires an interdisciplinary understanding of what is called a “community of connected entities” in the world of systems, as well as multiple values from policies and practices that build, strengthen and protect human relationships with the rest. Natural. In this framework, we need a multifaceted approach (covering social, health, safety, economic and environmental issues) when assessing the problem.
An example where the social sciences in their broadest sense can play a role is in understanding and interpreting the different value systems people have for biodiversity. For some, nature has social and economic value in terms of the services it provides to support human health, well-being, livelihoods, security and culture (ecosystem services). For others, this approach is very useful and should consider the intrinsic value of biodiversity. Policies should be guided by social and natural science, as demonstrated recently by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on the Valuation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Second, to be successful, the creation and implementation of solutions to the biodiversity crisis must be integrated into the fabric of the social sciences. Social scientists have the appropriate tools to investigate social, economic, political and cultural issues, but they must be integrated with biodiversity research and policy making. Social science research has an important role to play in localizing and informing natural science research, particularly at the relevant environmental scales needed for applications to address biodiversity loss and climate change. A nature-based solution Triple Win Toolkit, led and developed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), guides policy makers to take a multi-faceted approach to targeting and implementing investments. It provides guidance and tools to effectively and efficiently implement nature-based solutions to contribute to improved outcomes around poverty, biodiversity and climate.
Third, it is necessary to involve the society and the people in order to overcome the loss of biological diversity. Until now, discussions about measuring the success of solutions aimed at reversing or reversing the loss of biodiversity have been guided only by evidence and techniques from the natural sciences. There is scope for a more inclusive and coordinated approach. Citizens are concerned about climate change and biodiversity loss. For example, evidence shows that there is a growing desire to inform climate decisions through public opinion and that there is a desire for government to take the lead in solving the problem. Although they are a relatively new phenomenon, citizen meetings and juries on climate change are being used as a means across the UK to engage people on the issue and play a role in informing climate action. Further exploration o
f this mechanism, especially to measure our progress in combating biodiversity loss, will help us understand the impact of these processes on environmental policy and outcomes.
Biodiversity is the web of life on which human survival and well-being ultimately depends, but for too long our structures, processes and governance have failed to prevent ecological degradation. It is very important to include people in our understanding of nature. It requires an interdisciplinary systems approach that works with complexity and motivates us to adapt to a changing environment. This requires recognizing the interconnected forces that affect nature that operate at different geopolitical and biogeographic scales, and fully recognizing that humans are an integral part of Earth’s biodiversity—at the same time a disruptive force and dependent on the ecosystem at large. age Such an approach would be more interested in addressing the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss and opportunities for success.
We know that when we are bad natured from time to time, we hurt ourselves. To better understand this system and influence positive change, it is important to study it holistically – take an inclusive approach, use a wide range of disciplines and shift the narrative to ‘man as nature’.
Dr Gemma Harper is Chief Executive of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) – the UK’s scientific adviser on nature conservation and recovery. Prior to joining JNCC, Gemma was Deputy Director of Naval Policy and Deputy Competition Champion at Defra. She received an OBE for services to the marine environment in the New Year’s Honors 2021. In March 2020, Gemma led Defra’s Food Vulnerability Directorate as part of the Covid-19 response, and the Directorate won the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Award there. ‘Citizen Impact’ Award. Gemma has nearly 20 years of experience working in the UK government. After eight years of studying criminal justice
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