Ecological Assessment and Evaluation

Transcription

1 Ecological Assessment and Evaluation Florian Knaus HS Assessments and evaluations everywhere 2 1

2 Experiment 1 On your own, make a ranking of the following 6 habitats / landscapes: Which one do you like most? 3 4 2

3 Experiment 2 Make a ranking on the ecological quality of the following 6 habitats / landscapes. 6 3

4

5 Why did you chose your number 1 as number 1 and number 6 as number 6? How did you rank the pictures? What were the problems? What information would you need in order to make a proper evaluation? Discuss with your neighbour! 9 Nr. of hares in the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch Terminology Object dimension: information on the object Assessment Value dimension: normative basis Evaluation Without values there is no evaluation! 10 5

6 Different purposes Assessment Purpose: gathering information used later in decisions draw inferences about the characteristics of habitats, landscapes, programs or institutions Evaluation Purpose: giving clear suggestions for decisions, judging developments or projects to judge the merit or worth of a program, project or entity includes value judgments on the desirability of results 11 Practical examples of ecological evaluations 12 6

7 Example 1: Inventory of dry meadows Are they worth being protected at all? Which ones should be protected and which ones not? How to manage each area? 13 Evaluation procedure Eggenberger et al. 2001: Kartierung und Bewertung TWW weight Mean object value Calculation of object value Connectivity Vegetational diversity Floristic potential Structural elements Aggregation with other objects Vegetation value (Rarity, Red List Status, Representativity of plant species) 14 7

8 Example 2: Public subsidies to farmers Should the Swiss government allocate more money to flower-rich fallows or to hedgerows in order to maximize ecological benefits for wildlife? 15 Evaluation procedure Assessments are available through scientific studies, they all indicate a low impact of compensation areas on biodiversity. Evaluation and decision making method is unknown or kept secret. 16 8

9 Example 3: Management of raised bogs How should raised bogs be managed: Mowing, pasturing or no management at all? 17 Evaluation procedure Usually expert opinion after field visit and several types of field- and GISinvestigations. 18 9

10 Example 4: Ecological impact assessment (EIA) Is it justifiable and legal to install and run artifical snowing machines in a nationally protected fen? 19 Evaluation procedure Monitoring of vegetation and insects Comparison of diversity and composition Comparison of indicator values «soil wetness» and «soil acidity» Plot based and landscape scale comparisons «Values» or thresholds are given by the law In general for EIA: procedure tailored individually to each project 20 10

11 Example 5: Compensation planning for big projects How much ecological «value» is destroyed by large-scale projects and how can it possibly be compensated for? 21 Evaluation procedure Depending on the country / state where it occurs Baden Württemberg (D): Biotopwertliste: List with specific values for each habitat; by building or restoring habitats you can earn points, by destroying, you loose Its possible to have an account with «Ökopunkte/Ecopoints» with 3% interest rate 22 11

12 Example 6: Allocation of money for conservation 23 Evaluation procedure Conservation status and responsibility for each species Swiss wide Conservation status and responsibility for the Canton of Zürich («conservation points») Population trend Political decisions and subjective influences 24 12

13 Swiss Bird Index Example 7: Long term monitoring Are national policies fulfilling their defined aims? Swiss Biodiviersity Monitoring: Mean number of higher plant species in 1km 2 plots in Switzerland 25 Example 8: Landscape Development Projects (LEK) How to develop a landscape in order to sustain its ecological, cultural, aesthetical and economic values? 26 13

14 Evaluation and planning procedure Very diverse and case specific approaches! Participatory approaches to assess landscape beauty Often combined with ecological, aesthetic, cultural and economic assessments 27 watch?v=gmlln_gaegq Example 9: Integrated evaluations Focus on ecological, social and economic aspects at the same time Sustainability assessments Anticipate restrictions (financial, social, technical) in implementation of measures 28 14

15 Common evaluation procedure Preparations: - objectives - criteria - procedure Field survey Data analysis Scientific interpretation Monitoring Control of success subjective and societal values Evaluation of results Implementation Planning Measure definition 29 Take home messages: Ecological evaluations are used in many ways and for many purposes They base on «hard facts» (assessment) and normative values (evaluation) Evaluations are not only scientific but take into account values inherent in (groups of) the society In good projects, assessment and evaluation is transparently separated and approaches as well as values justified 30 15

16 Organizational matters of the course 31 Aims of this course 1. Highlight critical steps of ecological evaluation processes; 2. Evaluate the validity of ecological criteria and inventories used in decision making processes; 3. Critically appraise the handling of ecological data in the process of evaluation; 4. Be able to perform a full ecological evaluation project from the field survey to the decision making and planning

17 Course program Ecological criteria for evaluation Field survey methods and their limitations Field survey exercise in Neeracherried: Indicator species Redlists: A tool for evaluation? From field work to Recommendation Landscape scale evaluations 33 Course Case Study «Quality and development of farmland biodiversity hotspots in the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch» 34 17

18 Material and Documents The Power Point Presentations are available after each lesson on the web, exercise material is handed out beforehand Literature to the various topics are on the web. References and book lists are indicated in the lectures. Important other information is available as hand-outs. 35 Contact Florian Knaus CHN G In the office on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays 36 18