{"title":"Ecosystem service demand and supply dynamics under different farming systems: A participatory GIS assessment in Malawi","authors":"Daniel Kpienbaareh , Rachel Bezner Kerr , Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong , Aaron Iverson , Isaac Luginaah , Esther Lupafya , Laifolo Dakishoni , Lizzie Shumba","doi":"10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103372","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The UN Sustainable Development Goals advocates providing training and technical assistance in developing and strengthening integrated monitoring systems to provide reliable forest resources and land use/change information needed for management planning. Several ecosystem service (ES) demand and supply assessments apply biophysical and econometric methods to evaluate ES use patterns. Decentralized participatory social assessments, however, incorporate farmers’ local knowledge and facilitate community-based management. Here, we assessed ES demand and supply in community forests using a participatory approach involving local farmers (N = 100) in Malawi. Indicators were collaboratively developed with stakeholders in intervention and control communities. We demonstrated that integrating local knowledge reveals nuances that biophysical and economic assessments may mask. ES demand outmatched supply in all study communities, as much as three times in some forests, but with variation from community to community. Demand for regulating services was higher in the intervention communities where agroecology is predominantly practiced, which farmers attributed to the knowledge about the role of forests in pollination and water and pest control on farm productivity. Differences in use patterns between communities with contrasting knowledge systems meant local knowledge influenced environmental behavior toward resource use. The study demonstrates the need for inclusive planning, assessment, and management of community forests.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48396,"journal":{"name":"Applied Geography","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 103372"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Geography","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143622824001772","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GEOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The UN Sustainable Development Goals advocates providing training and technical assistance in developing and strengthening integrated monitoring systems to provide reliable forest resources and land use/change information needed for management planning. Several ecosystem service (ES) demand and supply assessments apply biophysical and econometric methods to evaluate ES use patterns. Decentralized participatory social assessments, however, incorporate farmers’ local knowledge and facilitate community-based management. Here, we assessed ES demand and supply in community forests using a participatory approach involving local farmers (N = 100) in Malawi. Indicators were collaboratively developed with stakeholders in intervention and control communities. We demonstrated that integrating local knowledge reveals nuances that biophysical and economic assessments may mask. ES demand outmatched supply in all study communities, as much as three times in some forests, but with variation from community to community. Demand for regulating services was higher in the intervention communities where agroecology is predominantly practiced, which farmers attributed to the knowledge about the role of forests in pollination and water and pest control on farm productivity. Differences in use patterns between communities with contrasting knowledge systems meant local knowledge influenced environmental behavior toward resource use. The study demonstrates the need for inclusive planning, assessment, and management of community forests.
期刊介绍:
Applied Geography is a journal devoted to the publication of research which utilizes geographic approaches (human, physical, nature-society and GIScience) to resolve human problems that have a spatial dimension. These problems may be related to the assessment, management and allocation of the world physical and/or human resources. The underlying rationale of the journal is that only through a clear understanding of the relevant societal, physical, and coupled natural-humans systems can we resolve such problems. Papers are invited on any theme involving the application of geographical theory and methodology in the resolution of human problems.