The Ecosystem Approach of the CBD
Between Scientific Concepts and Practical Demands

Rationale

While in the past, environmental activities were restricted to specific ecological divisions of authorities, today we can find more and more subject-spanning environmental politics. Instead of a concentration on environmental sectors, ecosystems are becoming focal research and management objects, and interdisciplinary cooperation is increasing continuously. The significance of the ecosystem concept has already been required in international political programmes: In Principle 7 of the Rio Convention (1992) the following target is set: “States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem.”

More recently, in the Ecosystem Approach of the Convention on Biodiversity (Decision V/6 CBD, 2000, see http://www.iucn.org/themes/cem/ea/) it has been formulated, that “ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their activities on adjacent and other ecosystems” in Principle 3. And in Principle 5 it is stated that the “conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.”

The role of ecological processes has been anticipated in the 6th Principle: ”Ecosystems must be managed within the limits of their functioning”. And the trade-offs between ecology and economy have been considered, requiring that the “ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity” (Principle 10), thereby involving “all relevant sectors of society and scientific disciplines” (Principle 12).

At present, these modern political claims are not reflected in environmental management, and the corresponding scientific canon of methodologies has not been applied sufficiently. Therefore, these demands provide comprehensive challenges for ecosystem ecology as well as environmental practice. Above all, the dialogue between science and management has to be fostered to derive more concrete conceptions of a combined biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

Focal Questions

The focal questions of the workshop will be:

• Which are the political demands of the ecosystem approach of the CBD?
• Which is the potential of ecosystem research and ecosystem theory to be applied in an ecosystem management approach?
• Is there a clear relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning?
• Which concepts and methods are available for a holistic ecosystem evaluation?
• How can the transfer from science to application be improved in the field of ecosystem management?
• Which methodologies can be used to transfer this knowledge to the landscape scale? 

These questions will be discussed during the Salzau Workshop. The scientific programme will be supplemented by international key-note speakers, student projects and training activities. The results an contributions will be documented, including suggestions for a consistent realization of ecosystem approaches.