Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) have been proposed as the “intangible and non-material benefits that people enjoy from ecosystems”, and the literature has been expanding on how CES are defined, identified, valued, and incorporated into policy. However, the literature on CES has a strong geographic...

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Main Authors: Pamela McElwee, Jun He, Minna Hsu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Resilience Alliance 2022-09-01
Series:Ecology and Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol27/iss3/art23/
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author Pamela McElwee
Jun He
Minna Hsu
author_facet Pamela McElwee
Jun He
Minna Hsu
author_sort Pamela McElwee
collection DOAJ
description Cultural ecosystem services (CES) have been proposed as the “intangible and non-material benefits that people enjoy from ecosystems”, and the literature has been expanding on how CES are defined, identified, valued, and incorporated into policy. However, the literature on CES has a strong geographical bias toward Europe and North America. In this Special Feature, authors examine how and in what ways CES concepts and frameworks have applicability in diverse developing country settings, and the particular challenges that CES approaches face. By looking at CES across different contexts in the global South, the articles emphasize the usefulness of a range of methodologies for eliciting and valuing CES; the importance of CES for a variety of people, including urban dwellers and Indigenous peoples; and the need for more practices and programs for ecosystem management that incorporate CES. Overall, the articles in this Special Feature show that research focusing on the global South can make positive contributions to the growing CES literature by drawing attention to key challenges such as power and inequality in access to CES, pressures from social and environmental change on CES, and the importance of relational and other culturally diverse values elicited through appropriate methodologies.
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spelling doaj.art-a5445bdaf4714e218a658db7115236522022-12-22T03:53:14ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872022-09-012732310.5751/ES-13427-27032313427Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global SouthPamela McElwee0Jun He1Minna Hsu2Rutgers University-New BrunswickNational Centre for Borderland Ethnic Studies in Southwest China, Yunnan UniversityCultural Practices and Ecosystem Management Thematic Group, IUCNCultural ecosystem services (CES) have been proposed as the “intangible and non-material benefits that people enjoy from ecosystems”, and the literature has been expanding on how CES are defined, identified, valued, and incorporated into policy. However, the literature on CES has a strong geographical bias toward Europe and North America. In this Special Feature, authors examine how and in what ways CES concepts and frameworks have applicability in diverse developing country settings, and the particular challenges that CES approaches face. By looking at CES across different contexts in the global South, the articles emphasize the usefulness of a range of methodologies for eliciting and valuing CES; the importance of CES for a variety of people, including urban dwellers and Indigenous peoples; and the need for more practices and programs for ecosystem management that incorporate CES. Overall, the articles in this Special Feature show that research focusing on the global South can make positive contributions to the growing CES literature by drawing attention to key challenges such as power and inequality in access to CES, pressures from social and environmental change on CES, and the importance of relational and other culturally diverse values elicited through appropriate methodologies.https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol27/iss3/art23/conservationcultural ecosystem servicesdeveloping countrieswell-being
spellingShingle Pamela McElwee
Jun He
Minna Hsu
Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South
Ecology and Society
conservation
cultural ecosystem services
developing countries
well-being
title Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South
title_full Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South
title_fullStr Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South
title_full_unstemmed Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South
title_short Challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global South
title_sort challenges to understanding and managing cultural ecosystem services in the global south
topic conservation
cultural ecosystem services
developing countries
well-being
url https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol27/iss3/art23/
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