Print PageConservation planning at TNC has traditionally focused on goals or objectives related to conserving features of biodiversity (species, communities, ecosystems). Two types of conservation planning are typical in TNC: strategic planning (also known as CAP or conservation action planning) at the scale of a conservation project and ecoregional (spatial) planning usually conducted at a larger spatial scale. Strategic planning is primarily intended to develop strategies for conserving biodiversity within a project while the aim of ecoregional planning has been to identify the most important conservation areas within a region where the Conservancy and other organizations need to take conservation action.
Conservation planning is evolving along two major lines in TNC: 1) objectives other than biodiversity (including ecosystem services) are being included in many projects, and 2) strategic and spatial planning methods are being integrated into one planning process. In this presentation, we explore the diversity of ways in which ecosystem services are being incorporated into TNC planning processes and projects and highlight some challenges in integrating ecosystem services into the mainstream of Conservancy work.
Results/Conclusions
Ecosystem services are increasingly being included as conservation objectives in a variety of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine projects. Three projects across these realms will be highlighted in this presentation: a REDD project in Indonesia that is focused on carbon sequestration and emission reductions as well as biodiversity conservation; Water Fund projects in Latin America that seek to increase and maintain the quality of municipal water supplies while improving biodiversity conservation in headwater regions; and marine spatial planning projects that are trying to achieve objectives across multiple sectors such as ecotourism, fisheries, and biodiversity conservation.
Engaging in multi-objective planning and integrating ecosystem services into TNC projects is presenting a number of challenges and opportunities. Some of the more important issues are the need to use a more diverse set of data (e.g., social, economic, stakeholder preference), a greater emphasis on predictive modeling of both biodiversity and non-biodiversity objectives, increased coordination with government and industry, more robust decision support tools, greater focus on ecosystem function as opposed to species composition, understanding and modeling tradeoffs among sometimes competing objectives, establishing monetary valuations of various ecosystem services, and linking beneficiaries with services. Finally, the consideration of ecosystem services and multi-objectives brings to the forefront debate and discussion on the mission and goals of The Nature Conservancy which has long been primarily focused on biodiversity conservation.
