What we can learn from distant coral reefs (BEST-CORAL)

Background and Objective

In a context of global change (demographic and climate change), the project aims at providing a set of methods to evaluate ecosystem services from coral reefs for public policy decision-making for the present and the future. The goal is to understand the current relationships between four ecosystem services (Protection and habitat, Production services, Cultural services, Regulating services) in order to anticipate future decisions through scenarios of governance. For each ecosystem service, the programme will be able to propose a preferred method to compare and evaluate the advantages and the limits (both biological, economic, anthropological and political) of the method used. The theories and methods proposed will be tested on two case studies in the European Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) of the Pacific. Based on the results from case studies, the programme will produce a set of valuation methods useful for decision-making. Stakeholders (public and private) will be engaged to discuss modeling and scenarios proposed to manage present and future marine areas for sustainable development. It is a major contribution to the science-policy interface and for evaluating implemented or planned public policies in a context of global change.

Target Group

Policy maker, public, science, decision maker

Approach

The work comprises a review on evaluation methods for ecosystem goods and services, the development of a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework for selected indicators as well as a dynamic risk assessment framework to assess the trade-offs of spatial management options and their impacts on coral reef goods and services.

Our Research Questions

How can the impact of alternative spatial management scenarios on ecosystem goods and services of coral reefs be quantified?