A framework for integrating systematic stakeholder analysis in ecosystem services research: Stakeholder mapping for forest ecosystem services in the UK

Abstract

The concept of ecosystem services offers a useful framework for the systematic assessment of the multiple benefits ecosystems deliver. However, the anthropogenic focus of the concept also requires a detailed understanding of the stakeholders interested in the goods and services ecosystems provide. Indeed, linking ecosystem services to stakeholders and systematically mapping their potential stakes in these is essential for effective, equitable and sustainable ecosystem governance and management because it specifies who is in the system and why. This paper endeavours to provide a better appreciation of systematic stakeholder analysis in ecosystem services research by, first, presenting an illustrative stakeholder analysis example, using a key natural resource in relation to ecosystem services: forests in the UK. In this exploratory study, a qualitative approach was adopted, using a literature review and interviews to identify the stakeholders with a stake in the provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services of forests, to distinguish their characteristics, and to examine their relationships towards each other on different levels. The illustrative example then informed the design of a conceptual framework for the systematic application of stakeholder analysis in ecosystem services research. The comprehensive framework consists of a three-phase model entailing the planning phase, the execution of the actual stakeholder analysis phase, and, finally the subsequent actions. The framework incorporates stakeholders and ecosystem services on a geographical, institutional and ecosystem level. Systematic stakeholder analysis can be used to develop future activities linked to ecosystem services, including new policy or instruments, stakeholder engagement activities, and decision-making processes.