EcosystemBased

Ecosystembased, often written as ecosystem-based, refers to approaches to natural resource management and environmental planning that consider whole ecosystems— their structure, functions, processes, and services— rather than focusing on single species, issues, or sectors. The term emphasizes the interdependencies among organisms, habitats, and human activities, and it seeks to maintain ecosystem integrity while supporting sustainable use of resources.

Principles include maintaining ecological resilience, protecting biodiversity, and sustaining ecosystem services; applying precaution in the face of uncertainty; fostering cross-scale and cross-sector coordination; incorporating local and indigenous knowledge; and supporting adaptive management and transparent governance.

The approach is applied in various domains, including ecosystem-based management in fisheries, conservation planning, landscape and watershed planning, and climate-related initiatives such as ecosystem-based adaptation and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. It promotes integrated planning across sectors and governance levels.

Benefits may include more robust provision of services (food, water, climate regulation), reduced trade-offs among interests, and increased resilience to environmental change. Challenges include data limitations, complex governance arrangements, conflicting objectives, funding constraints, and difficulties in measuring outcomes across ecosystems.

In international policy, ecosystem-based approaches are linked with the ecosystem approach advocated by the Convention on Biological Diversity and with guiding principles used by agencies such as FAO and UNEP. Implementation requires interdisciplinary collaboration, stakeholder participation, and long-term commitment.