Authors:
Lindsay C. Stringer
Publication Date:
2021
Abstract/Summary:
Policy and research into human-environment interactions tends to treat people as separate
from, rather than part of nature, even when applying a socio-ecological systems lens. This
conceptualisation has important implications in terms of how we do research, what we reveal
through science-policy assessments such as those undertaken for the Intergovernmental
science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and how we monitor and
evaluate progress towards international sustainability aspirations such as the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). It also affects how we consider issues of fairness and equity. This
presentation argues that current approaches can miss opportunities to improve human
wellbeing and equity while simultaneously reducing and reversing degradation. It draws on
recent work in Kenya involving restoration of areas affected by invasive cactus Opuntia stricta,
which explicitly focused on understanding equity and viewed humans as part of rather than
external to the system. Rethinking the role of people in efforts to protect and restore the
environment is vital in informing science and political action towards socio-ecological
restoration if outcomes are to support both environmental and socio-economic
improvement.
Resource Type:
Conference Presentation
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Source:
SERE2021