Local perceptions of changes in ecosystem services and climate : case study in Ecuadorean Sierra

Abstract: Anthropogenic-induced land-use and land-cover change is a threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services, and contribute to global climate warming. Forests are essential in the climate system and store a large part of the global carbon. Ecuador has experienced a rapid loss of forest cover over the last decades with degradation of ecosystems and decrease in biodiversity as part of the consequences. Indigenous or local people have a great body of knowledge about the environment; gained from a long-lived association with nature. This knowledge, called traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), has the potential to contribute to building resilience in social-ecological systems in the context of global change and environmental degradation. TEK is also recognized in formulation of environmental policy for sustaining ecosystem services and biodiversity, climate change adaptation strategies and as complimentary to ecological-based evidence in restoration. The main objective of this study was to generate evidence that supports the on-going effort to conserve biodiversity and restore degraded ecosystems in the face of climate change in Ecuador by examining local people’s perception of changes in forest cover, ecosystem services and goods and climate. The specific research questions of the study were: (i) Do knowledge of ecosystem goods and services and perception of their change depend on the demographic attributes of the local people and proximity to the forest remnants? (ii) Do local people perceive changes in forest cover? If so, is their perception of forest cover changes related to their demographic attributes? (iii) Do local people perceive changes in climate events? If so, to what extent does their perception depend on their demographic attributes? Are there any local adaptation mechanisms to changes in climate events? To address these questions, relevant information was gathered through literature review, focus group discussion (community workshops) and semi-structured household interviews in two provinces of the Ecuadorean Sierra. For household interviews changes in ecosystem services and goods and forest cover, 84 households in five villages (communities) were involved. For local people’s perception on climate change, 50 households were involved. The information generated through household interviews was translated into dummy variables for dichotomous response (yes or no) and into Likert scale (1-4) for more than two responses, and statistically analysed with logistic regression models. Ecosystem services and goods in the study area identified by local people were mapped according to the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) system. The results showed that (i) a total of 21 ecosystem services, which belonged to three major sections (provisioning, regulation and maintenance, and cultural services), were recognised. The most frequently cited ecosystem services were water, timber and plants with symbolic or religious and medicinal value, and the perception among respondents significantly influenced by socio-demographic factors; namely land tenure status, distance to the forest, ethnicity, age class, education level (p < 0.05); (ii) The perception of forest cover change differed somewhat between male (63.2%) and female (35.6%) respondents as well as among age classes (p < 0.05) such that the young age class perceived a moderate change or no change to a greater degree than the other two age classes; (iii) Almost all respondents perceived an overall warming, drying up of rivers and springs, early onset of summer and monsoons and frequent dry season fires. Demographic attributes of the respondents had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on climate change awareness and on effects of climate change; (iv) there existed some local adaptation mechanisms to climate change events, such as cultivating different crops, reintroduction of native species and tree planting; suggesting the presence of ‘pockets’ of TEK. It can be concluded there is generally a good awareness of changes in forest cover and climate events in their area but socio-demographic attributes do affect to some extent how local people perceive ecosystem services and goods and climate change. Thus, incorporating TEK is advisable during formulating locally adapted management systems and for building long-term social-ecological resilience.