What local marine managers want to know about ecosystem service change

Background/Question/Methods

Quantifying ecosystem services is often promoted as a way to measure progress towards ecosystem based management goals.  In a unique partnership between academics, NGO’s, and a public-private management body, we have put this concept to work on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.  After extensive stakeholder engagement to identify visions and values for their management area, the West Coast Aquatic Management Board (WCA) engaged with natural and social scientists from the Natural Capital Project to explore likely outcomes of alternate management scenarios.  To do so, we modeled a range of ecosystem services provided under current conditions and compared these to outcomes of possible future scenarios.  Driven by the needs of WCA and the communities and stakeholders they represent, we modeled effects of alternate management scenarios on water quality and habitat quality, as well as on the provisioning of recreational opportunities, aesthetic views, and local seafood.

Results/Conclusions

In large measure, we were able to explore outcomes in metrics that matter to decision-makers—though our ability to translate model outputs to changes in jobs, livelihoods, and wellbeing fell short of WCA’s desires.  We will conclude with evidence of this work informing management decisions and highlight frontiers of connecting ecosystem service assessments to decision-making.