Conceptualizing the link between marine ecosystem services and human well-being

The case of offshore wind farming

verfasst von

Malte Busch, Kira Gee, Benjamin Burkhard, Marcus Lange, Nico Stelljes

Abstract

Although the concept of ecosystem services has drawn a prolific amount of recent research, little work has been done on the links between marine ecosystem services and coastal human well-being at a regional scale. Key questions in this context are that of appropriate categories for assessing human well-being and how to link different determinants of human well-being to specific ecosystem services supplied in adjacent marine areas. This paper presents the results of a case study that links tangible and intangible ecosystem benefits to a range of material and immaterial factors constituting human well-being. Determinants of human well-being were defined and indicators selected to make these linkages traceable. Ecosystem services were assessed for the offshore environment along the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, based on the assumption of strong future development of offshore wind farming and considering the environmental and socio-economic impacts of such developments on the coastal region. This paper illustrates some conceptual problems in linking ecosystem benefits to human well-being. Based on an economic analysis and a questionnaire survey, two examples are presented where an evidence-based link could be demonstrated between an ecosystem service impacted by offshore wind farming and change in human well-being. The results presented should be understood as an analytic framework and precondition for gathering empirical data.

Externe Organisation(en)

Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Zentrum für Material- und Küstenforschung GmbH
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU)

Typ

Artikel

Journal

International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services and Management

Band

7

Seiten

190-203

Anzahl der Seiten

14

ISSN

2151-3732

Publikationsdatum

01.09.2011

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Ökologie, Evolution, Verhaltenswissenschaften und Systematik, Ökologie, Natur- und Landschaftsschutz, Management, Monitoring, Politik und Recht

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 14 – Lebensraum Wasser

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2011.618465 (Zugang: Offen)