Ecosystem Services vulnerability to climate change: challenges and opportunities for ecosystem-based management implementation in beaches

Author(s)

Marina Ribeiro Corrêa

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Eletrotécnica e Energia (IEE/BT)
• Defense date: 2021-05-19

Examining board members

Alexander Turra; Briana Angélica Bombana; Cristiana Simão Seixas; Thiago Zagonel Serafini

• Advisor: Alexander Turra

Abstract

Global changes, such as Climate Change, and its effects on the complex coastal ecosystems have led to the development of new management strategies, such as Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM): a holistic and adaptive approach to diagnose socio-ecological vulnerabilities and early respond to them. EBM can be operationalized based on the maintenance of the long-term provision of Ecosystem Services (ES). In Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C), the search for new management strategies, such as EBM, is especially required to ensure beach sustainability. In order to transform management practices towards EBM, however, it is necessary to understand the catalysts and barriers to this change. For the beach management transformation toward sustainability, the context of the local level management must be investigated, reinforcing the role of local government actors. However, there is a lack of empirical and theoretical studies on the EBM implementation for both in LA&C and beach management. The aim of this dissertation was to contribute to the discussion on the EBM implementation on beaches, bringing inputs to its implementation at the local level and to the LA&C context. The first chapter reflected on opportunities for incorporating EBM in beach management and the challenges for its implementation in LA&C. The other two chapters utilized a case study at LA&C to investigate how the local government managers perceptions about the ES vulnerabilities can influence the transformation of local beach management towards EBM. Through techniques such as survey and document review (of public policies, legal norms, and scientific literature), workshops with local government managers, social network analysis, and content analysis, the dissertation expanded the knowledge about EBM implementation in beach ecosystems, providing subsidies for beach sustainable management, mainly in local management and LA&C. Therefore, along with a reflection on the possible barriers and catalysts for EBM implementation, the analysis of the local government managers perceptions on the vulnerability of SE brought relevant theoretical contributions to understand the applied dimension of EBM implementation on beaches, with potential for application to other ecosystems. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/13238-9 - Does beach management considers ecosystem services and their vulnerability to climate changes?
• Grantee: Marina Ribeiro Corrêa
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master