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Money, use and experience: Identifying the mechanisms through which ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing in coastal Kenya and Mozambique

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Sarah Coulthard

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© 2019Despite extensive recent research elucidating the complex relationship between ecosystem services and human wellbeing, little work has sought to understand how ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing and poverty alleviation. This paper adopts concepts from the “Theory of Human Need” and the “Capability Approach” to both identify the multitude of links occurring between ecosystem services and wellbeing domains, and to understand the mechanisms through which ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing. Focus Group Discussions (N = 40) were carried out at 8 sites in Mozambique and Kenya to elicit how, why, and to what extent benefits derived from ecosystem services contribute to different wellbeing domains. Our results highlight three types of mechanisms through which ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing, monetary, use and experience. The consideration of these mechanisms can inform the development of interventions that aim to protect or improve flows of benefits to people. Firstly, interventions that support multiple types of mechanisms will likely support multiple domains of wellbeing. Secondly, overemphasising certain types of mechanism over others could lead to negative social feedbacks, threatening the future flows of ecosystem services. Finally, the three mechanism types are interlinked and can act synergistically to enhance the capacities of individuals to convert ecosystem services to wellbeing.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Chaigneau T, Brown K, Coulthard S, Daw TM, Szaboova L

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Ecosystem Services

Year: 2019

Volume: 38

Print publication date: 01/08/2019

Online publication date: 18/06/2019

Acceptance date: 11/06/2019

Date deposited: 19/11/2021

ISSN (electronic): 2212-0416

Publisher: Elsevier B.V.

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100957

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100957


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
Sustainable Poverty Alleviation from Coastal Ecosystem Services (SPACES) project number NE/K010484/1, funded by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme
The ESPA programme is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

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