Early stakeholder involvement using Group Model Building to identify ecological research questions and nature management options

2024

Many tropical coastal ecosystems face human pressures related to tourism, land or sea use. We developed a practical procedure to involve stakeholders in an early stage of an ecological research project to map the Social-Ecological System (SES) in our case study Lac Bay, Bonaire island, as well as to identify and prioritize ecological research questions and nature management options in relation to a recent new threat: massive sargassum landings. In our procedure we used the Group Model Building methodology for identifying drivers, key variables and feedback loops in this SES. The underlying mechanisms of driving feedbacks were revealed and shared during these sessions. We identified and prioritized urgent ecological research questions for the conservation of seagrass beds and mangrove forests, and practical measures for nature management in Lac Bay. Both were used in follow-up scientific research and nature management plans, illustrating the applicability of our procedure for early science-stakeholder interaction.

Bonaire; Group model building; Human pressures; Sargassum landings; Science-stakeholder interaction; Social-Ecological System; Article/Letter to editor

Open access content. Open access content
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Wageningen University & Research

application/pdf
Marine Pollution Bulletin 209 (2024)
ISSN: 0025-326X
ISSN: 0025-326X
English

NLWUP oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/637041
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/early-stakeholder-involvement-using-group-model-building-to-ident
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117179
1481680044

WUR STAFF PUBNS
From OAIster®, provided by the OCLC Cooperative.

edsoai.on1481680044