Promoting ‘Green Jobs’ in the Forest sector
Applying the UNEP ‘Ecosystem Approach’
Dr. Rory Harrington, VESI Environmental Ltd., Cork, Ireland
A Joint FOREST EUROPE, UNECE and FAO Workshop27th – 28th June 2017 Bratislava, Slovakia
The UNEP/CBD ‘Ecosystem Approach’ : helps see the ‘bigger picture’
• The ‘Ecosystem Approach’ – First prepared for UNEP/CBD in 1997, also incorporated into Ramsar for the delivery of wetland conservation
• A set of 12 principles enabling the delivery of sustainable, social, economic and environment management of ecosystems
• Involves all relevant sectors of society and their impact on ecosystems
• Recognises that the objectives in the management of land, water and living resources are a matter of societal choice
Forest
Persona
Believed/Received
information
Logic and fact
It recognises a diversity of PERSPECTIVES as to how natural resources
might be managed - reflecting individual and collective opinion
“one of the penalties of an ecological education is
that one lives alone in a world of wounds,” Aldo Leopold
“I guess the underlying principle is that
social and economic factors will override
natural factors unless the public is educated
to understand the relationship between
nature and their own long-term welfare.”
Frederick Herbert (Herb) Bormann
Daily, G., 1997. Nature's services: societal dependence on natural ecosystems. Island Press.
The Global
Ecosystem
The ‘Ecosystem Approach' concept considers the science of the ‘total environment’
‘The Global system’ is subject to a concatenation(inextricable linkage) of social, economic and
environmental pressures
• Social: population growth, land ownership, health, community, cohesion, security, politics
• Economic: land and capital, labour, energy, maintenance, sustainability, materials, safety, commercialism
• Environmental: nutrient leakiness, carbon/nitrogen, biodiversity, pollution, aesthetics, zoonotic disease, epidemiology
Considering the past & present, Ireland – is a land de-forested and drained dry like no other in Europe
Blue –pre 1945Red – post 1945
Farm
drainage
State
Drainage
Fire + Grazing + Deforestation + Grazing
Drainage + Grazing…….
Drainage
For 10,000 years Ireland’s ecology is and has been fundamentally altered by Human activities!
Kerry mountains, SW Ireland
Diminishing
forest cover
towards NWIreland: 10 – 11%
Iceland: 3%
Map of forest cover in RoI
Ireland: 11%
EU average: 40%.
Inspired by ‘lost’ biotypes (habitat types)and ecosystem functional analyses
Understanding human-generated impacts through taking an ‘ecosystem approach’
• Forest/woodland/trees
• Marshes, fens and bogs
Ecosystem dynamics?
Evolutionary biology?
Reanimation (restoration)?
Earliest human Arctic occupation(Earliest modern humans > 300,000years)
Pitulko et al. 2016 have found evidence of human occupation (45,000 years ago) well within the Siberian Arctic (at 72°N) Science. 15 Jan 2016: Vol. 351, Issue 6270, pp. 260-263. DOI: 10.1126/science.aad0554
Reanimating wetland and riparian forest infrastructures
Using a ‘cut & fill’ approach – all relevant site characteristics and soils
Sea
Added water feature
The 2500ha catchment – 7km long, a north-south trending orientation, a complex geology (igneous and sedimentary) and variable topography – all requiring a site-specific ‘tailored’ approach – thus taking into account:
• topography
• location
• habitats
• soil-structure
• ancillary activities
• forgone-costs for each site’s landowner
Catchment area = 2,500ha:
• 16 large (>1ha) integrated
constructed wetland (ICW) systems
• C. 12.5 km re-profiled stream
corridors
• C. 200ha forest plantation
• C. 20ha extant woodland
Started in 1989 by
attenuating water flow:Anne Valley catchment, Co
Waterford, S. Ireland
ICW
Inspiring the ‘Integrated Constructed Wetland’ (ICW) concept: an
explicit integration of land and water resource management
Integrated
Constructed
Wetlands (ICW)
- are based on
wetland reanimation
& ecological
engineering
> 100 ICWs
Integrated Constructed Wetland (ICW) treating wastewater from an adjacent farmyard
Integrated Constructed Wetland (ICW) treating wastewater from an adjacent village: Dunhill, Co.Waterford – with embedded amenities including riparian woodland corridor
Molybdate reactive Phosphorous
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0
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INTO ICW
Out of 3 /Into 4
Out area 4
Date
Mol
ybda
te r
eact
ive
phos
phor
ous
mg/
L P
An ICW in the Anne Valley treating farmyard drainage -
6 years of data for molybdate reactive phosphorus capture: influent
(blue), midway (red) and effluent (green)
Explicit integration
provides:
• positive synergies,
• robustness and
• acceptability
• optimising, not maximising use
of a resource
Optimal
Maximal
The need for ‘new’ economies
Single purpose/limited use
Multiple purpose/benefits
Trees, woods,
forests and
wetlands regulate
water flow &
storage + carbon
sequestration
They provide many ecosystem services and
resources to form the basis for the ‘Green Economy’
Intercepting
precipitation
(leaves,
branches and
stem, C. 40-60%)
Water storage
(interstitial soil
structures, humus, fungal
mycelium, >20+%)
Soil
penetration
(10kg/cm2)
Level areas with tall, dense, emergent (helophytes) vegetation increases
hydraulic impedance
Vegetation roots & stems intercept through-
flow support bio-films, and sequesters carbon
Helophyte vegetation – intercepting,
transpiring and evaporating precipitation
Intercepted water travels to wetlands, streams and rivers- vectoring pollutants
Jan. 6th
2017
Dec.25th
2015
Rainfall events > 1mm31st Dec - 7.0 mm5th Jan - 2.5 mm
•Ecological reanimation focuses on facilitating bio-geo-chemical
processes delivering self-managing (and self-facilitating) systems minimising
‘leakiness’ and entropy - sustainably
•Ecological restoration focuses on facilitating lost biological
assemblages (within recent evolutionary time lines)
A question of ecological reanimation or restoration…….?
Hubbard Brook science is now in a position to make land use recommendations that go with nature rather than
against it. This is important to millions of people who live in New England and to people throughout the world as a
set of general land-use principles.
For example, scientists at Hubbard Brook can offer advice to planners on land use questions such as:
Can water yields be increased in a sustainable, non-destructive way?
How increased water yields can be gained without loss of biochemical quality?
Would proposed vegetation management for water flow affect the release of carbon to the atmosphere and the
problem of climate change?
Would aesthetic qualities of the landscape be affected by changes in landscape management?
In 1960, in a letter to Robert Pierce, manager of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, he suggested that the
monitored watersheds would be ideal for the investigation of chemical budgets for whole forest ecosystems. In
1963, with the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation, and Dartmouth colleagues, G.E. Likens
and Noye Johnson, and later Tom Siccama, he embarked on a biogeochemical study of Hubbard Brook
ecosystems that became known as the ‘Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study’.
Frederick Herbert Bormann
Pioneering work on forest ecosystems
Reanimated forest and wetlands intercepting and treating overland water flow from agriculture
New and re-profiled (expanded) watercourses
Water and woodland/forest -Water quality and drainage managed with reanimated woodland and ponds
Forest and woodland corridors enhancing the agricultural landscape, providing ‘Green Jobs’ and enhanced income to farmer and community
10 year old forest plantation of mixed conifer and broadleaf species with internal drainage and water management, and no direct drainage to the adjacent stream
Borrow-pits – excavated soil used to ‘mound plant’ and the excavated ‘pit’ (pool) functions as a drainage sump and its central island used as wildlife sanctuary
Reanimating ‘wet forest’ habitats using ‘borrow-pits –excavated soil to ‘mound plant’ trees and the excavated ‘pit’ (pool) as a drainage reception sump
There is expanding interest in nature-
based solutions – ecosystem function, services and application
River ‘window’ Hydrometric weir Garden pond using drain water Swimming pond using drain water
Improved biodiversity
Builds public
empathy for ‘nature’
Dunhill, Co. Waterford
Even peatland might be reanimated
5 year growth of sphagnum on HDPE plastic liner…
Textiles from wetland vegetation
In Ireland ‘’holy’ grass; in N. America as an insect repellent; in Poland it is known as ‘bison grass’, used in herbal medicine and in the production of distilled beverages (e.g., Żubrówka, Wisent)
Uses for wetland vegetationA house of reeds
Food and other uses e.g. ‘light’
Cultural and religious symbols
How much more from a forest?
Commercial forestry devoid of empathy with limited employment opportunity
Land cover here is 11% while over 40% of all land in the
33 member states is wooded. Co Wicklow has the highest
forest cover and Co Meath the lowest. These forests are
mostly man-made. Government policy is to bring the
national forest cover to 17%. Counties Cork and Kerry
have a high proportion of forestry and, importantly, great
walks.
Over the centuries, Ireland experienced a near-total
destruction of its forests, mainly because of human activity
and climate change; from an initial forest cover of around
80% to less than 1%
Access and tractor path5m wide
Forest/woodland corridor20m wide
Neighbouring boundary fence
Forest corridor fence
Appropriate tree species
Indicative design for an ‘integrated forest/woodland corridor’
Forest corridors for farmland:• Shelter for animals and
crops• Farm access• Quality timbers• Biodiversity/crop
protection• Amenity• Etc.
Societal needs
Clean Air, Water & Soil:EU:WFD
BWDUWWDSDEtc.
Ramsar (1971)UN:EP
CBDClimate change
Sectoral wants
Agriculture Development:
Urban Rural
Forestry:TimberBiomass
Fishing RecreationNature conservation
Guidance
Reconciling ‘bridge’ between needs and wants
AESTHETIC
The importance of applying ‘universal design’
•Effective
•Fit for purpose
•Sustainable
•Robust
•Soc.Econ.Env. coherent
•Attractive/Beautiful
•‘In context’ - as if it had always been there
But what of restoring empathy and appreciation for ‘nature’ ? It requires understanding and to understand how something works; build it or rebuild it!
Forest potential for employment needs to be demonstrated
Forests can foster multiple use
• Agro-forestry, shelter and protection of agricultural crops and animals
• Timber from a diversity of species, volume, quality and special uses
• Recreation
• Foraging – fungi, fruits and plants
• Hunting and fishing
• Education and inspiration
• Social and a sense of place
Science is a complex business, as this map of journal cross-citations shows. Each
node represents a sub-discipline and the lines represent the strength of
similarity between the nodes. Image: Rafols, I. et al., Science overlay maps
Interdisciplinary web
Key factors for employment/ ‘jobs’ in a sustainable forest economy (‘multiple use’?)
• Remuneration for work done: appropriate, safe and honourable
• Recognising these jobs are not for everyone – partly because of competition, but also because people’s personalities and interests are different
• Timber and its products are largely seen as the main value product of forests –but there are many others: social/ personnel services, secondary crops, woodland skills, timber diversity
• It’s a World of increasing (accelerating) technological development with both loss and gain of employment opportunity
• The power of awareness with creative thinking and innovation creates opportunity
• Forest economy (and many other nature-based resourced economies) are dominated by large corporate interests focused on monetary profit (e.g. share value) demanding consistency in supply and quality – a need for collaboration
Innovation + opportunity + collaboration = success
• The two most important words in any language: ‘WHAT’ & ‘IF’ - human endeavour and evolution: from ‘hunter-gatherer’ to ‘modern’ a continuous cycle of ‘what-if’ and innovation
• The forest ecosystem’s environment has many more opportunities for innovation than simple cropping/harvesting
• A diversity of opportunity is possible through social, economic and environmental engagement
• Perceptions and ‘illusions of understanding’ are best tested by experience: a need for cooperation and communication between the apprentice and the experienced is essential
SO ASKING WHAT IF ………..?• land is used to reanimate forests and wetlands for human wellbeing?
• local soils are used to form micro ecosystems with little embedded cost?
• there is inter-linkage between forests and other land uses?
• a wider range of tree species are used to diversify products?
• there are changes in rotation and harvesting methods?
• no harvesting of some/all trees?
• if forests are combined with other uses?
……and many more….?
Check out www.whatifwechange.org
Society (Incl. land owners and shareholders)
“Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.”
William Wordsworth, 1770 – 1850
“Thank you for your attention”