Ecosystems and Well-being

To bridge the science-policy interface across its member nations, United Nations agreed to assess global Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at its General Assembly in December 2010. This led to the formation of an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES; www.ipbes.net ) with secretariat in Bonn, Germany. IPBES is now conducting global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services similar to more widely recognised Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The assessment is about the benefits that Earth’s ecosystems provide to human beings. These benefits are widely known as ecosystem services that include pollination, nutrient cycling, freshwater supply, climate regulation and cultural and spiritual benefits. Currently scientists across the globe are working to produce assessment of pollinators and pollination services that they provide to global agriculture (see details on the web). Pollination assessment, as a first IPBES re...

Sustainable and equitable development in the post - 2015 period requires urgent action to eradicate poverty through global partnerships and investments. Global efforts to address poverty led by the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), from 2000-2015, fell short of their targets in many poor regions. This is partly due to the failure to simultaneously address economic and environmental problems in poor regions across the world. The key to equitable and sustainable development in economically poor regions is to improve the well-being of poor in addition to the livelihood. This can be achieved by integrating poverty alleviation with livelihood generating activities as published in the article - Linking ecosystem services with the constituents of human well-being for poverty alleviation in eastern Himalayas. Ecological Economics 107: 65-75 ( http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180091400250X# ).     This work is ded...

Many corporates dream of leading change to bring prosperity to rural people. One such organisation is working with rural stakeholders to bring that change. Change is towards better outcomes for society, economy and the environment.   Growing trees for timber or pulp are not uncommon worldwide. However, such a project taken up on marginal farmland with the help of local farming communities, backed up by endless work of forestry scientists and social marketing team with the support a conglomerate has brought positive changes to the barren landscapes in Bhadrachalam and surrounding districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. This project has spread across many neighbouring states and marginal and resource poor farmers are reaping the benefit due to the growing demand of sustainably grown paper. How does it works? Resource poor farmers often leave their farmland barren as they cannot either afford to grow food crops or the land is unfertile. Trees can grow anywhere with minimum inte...

Sitaram, an organic cotton farmer struggles to develop non-GM cotton seed for his future generations. (Photo H. Sandhu) On my recent visits to rural parts of India, I came across a group of organic farmers in Kasrawad town, Khargone District, Madhya Pradesh. These farmers switched from high input cotton growing to organic cotton about 15 years ago. I talked to some farmers and they claimed that the smiles on their faces are all due to organic way of producing cotton. They are free from debts owing to input costs of pesticides, GM (genetically modified) seed and fertilisers. Instead they are boasting of fixed deposits in their banks as compared to fellow conventional farmers who are still sticking to GM cotton and hoping for some relief and expecting end to the vicious cycle of debt and crop failure due to periodic droughts in the area. Having said that these organic farmers are not rich or living a luxurious life however, they are living a decent life, largely free fro...

Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes Edited by Steve Wratten, Harpinder Sandhu, Ross Cullen and Robert Costanza Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans derive from natural and modified ecosystems (for example, food, fuelwood, pollination of crops by insects, or water filtration by wetlands). The ecological wealth from ecosystems underpins economy and support life on earth. Agricultural and urban areas are the highly modified ecosystems. This book explores the role that ecosystem services play in these managed environments. The book also explores methods of evaluating ecosystem services, and discusses how these services can be maintained and enhanced in our farmlands and cities. This book will be useful to future proof these ecosystems to the global issues such as population increase, doubling of food demand by 2050 and loss of biodiversity worldwide.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a good measure of country’s growth. Does it inform the disparity in society and access to goods or services for poor at the bottom of the economic pyramid? Despite high economic growth number of poor continues to grow worldwide and natural resources deteriorate at faster rate. We need to understand the current model of economic development and how much loss of natural resources occur per unit of so called GDP growth and also how much impact on people whose life is displaced in the name of economic development. There is increasing social unrest in many parts of the world against big development plans. If these development programs are intended to improve the lives of people then why some people are protesting? We need to understand this from social and ecological point of view. As I am writing this, I came across news from India (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kids-join-posco-stir-no-point-studying-if-our-land-is-gone/1071116/). Kids join Posco s...

In August 2012, an Indian parliamentary panel recommended against the use of genetically modified crop research. Some scientists, corporates and policy makers raised alarms that this will shake India’s food security. I believe, it provides very timely opportunity to explore alternative approaches such as agroecology which has potential to enhance productivity and farm sustainability through adoption of ecological techniques that improve functional agricultural biodiversity, avoids expensive inputs and are less energy intensive. More than half of India’s population are farmers and it is not surprising that corporate control of agriculture (through GM seed) is perceived as threat to livelihoods and food security. The focus of the discussion now should be on realising the potential of farmers to improve productivity and adaptation to climate change through increased investments in research and resources required for the development and uptake of sustainable agriculture that remained el...