Money, use and experience: Identifying the mechanisms through which ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing in coastal Kenya and Mozambique

Despite extensive recent research elucidating the complex relationship between ecosystem services and human wellbeing, little work has sought to understand how ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing and poverty alleviation. This paper adopts concepts from the “Theory of Human Need” and the “Capability Approach” to both identify the multitude of links occurring between ecosystem services and wellbeing domains, and to understand the mechanisms through which ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing. Focus Group Discussions (N = 40) were carried out at 8 sites in Mozambique and Kenya to elicit how, why, and to what extent benefits derived from ecosystem services contribute to different wellbeing domains. Our results highlight three types of mechanisms through which ecosystem services contribute to wellbeing, monetary, use and experience. The consideration of these mechanisms can inform the development of interventions that aim to protect or improve flows of benefits to people. Firstly, interventions that support multiple types of mechanisms will likely support multiple domains of wellbeing. Secondly, overemphasising certain types of mechanism over others could lead to negative social feedbacks, threatening the future flows of ecosystem services. Finally, the three mechanism types are interlinked and can act synergistically to enhance the capacities of individuals to convert ecosystem services to wellbeing

Evaluating migration as successful adaptation to climate change: trade-offs in well-being, equity, and sustainability

The role of migration as one potential adaptation to climate change is increasingly recognized, but little is known about whether migration constitutes successful adaptation, under what conditions, and for whom. Based on a review of emerging migration science, we propose that migration is a successful adaptation to climate change if it increases well-being, reduces inequality, and promotes sustainability. Well-being, equity, and sustainability represent entry points for identifying trade-offs within and across different social and temporal scales that could potentially undermine the success of migration as adaptation. We show that assessment of success at various scales requires the incorporation of consequences such as loss of population in migration source areas, climate risk in migration destination, and material and non-material flows and economic synergies between source and destination. These dynamics and evaluation criteria can help make migration visible and tractable to policy as an effective adaptation option

Human Security of Urban Migrant Populations Affected by Length of Residence and Environmental Hazards

It is widely suggested that migration is a key mechanism linking climate change to violent conflict, particularly through migration increasing the risks of conflict in urban destinations. Yet climate change also creates new forms of insecurity through distress migration, immobility and vulnerability that are prevalent in urban destination locations. Here we examine the extent and nature of human security in migration destinations and test whether insecurity is affected by length of residence and environmental hazards. The study develops an index measure of human security at the individual level to include environmental and climate-related hazards as well as sources of well-being, fear of crime and violence, and mental health outcomes. It examines the elements of human security that explain the prevalence of insecurity among recent and established migrants in low-income urban neighbourhoods. The study reports on data collected in Chattogram in Bangladesh through a survey of migrants (N ¼ 447) and from qualitative data derived using photo elicitation techniques with cohorts of city planners and migrants. The results show that environmental hazards represent an increasing source of perceived insecurity to migrant populations over time, with longer-term migrants perceiving greater insecurity than more recent arrivals, suggesting lack of upward social mobility in low-income slums. Ill-health, fear of eviction, and harassment and violence are key elements of how insecurity is experienced, and these are exacerbated by environmental hazards such as flooding. The study expands the concept of security to encompass central elements of personal risk and well-being and outlines the implications for climate change

Recognizing Women’s Wellbeing and Contributionto Social Resilience in Fisheries

Building social resilience is important for fishing communities, whichglobally face unprecedented social and environmental change. Whilewomen’s direct and indirect contribution to fishing economies isincreasingly recognized, their contribution to the social resilience offisheries remains under-examined. Using interview and focus groupdata, we investigate women’s role in supporting the social resilienceof UK fishing communities and examine implications for women’swellbeing. Our findings reveal that beyond supporting the economicviability of fishing businesses, women help maintain the social fabricof fisheries and nurture the physical and mental wellbeing of fishingfamilies, often at a cost to their own material, social and emotionalwellbeing. Tensions between social resilience at the household orcommunity level and women’s individual wellbeing have importantimplications for fisheries policy, which rarely considers the widersocial context of fisheries. We identify ways in which women’s rolesand wellbeing can be included in decision-making and policy

Health in fishing communities: A global perspective (dataset)

The article associated with this dataset is located in ORE at: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/33258This is the dataset used for the Woodhead et al. (2018) article "Health in fishing communities: A global perspective" published in the Fish and Fisheries journal

Health in fishing communities:a global perspective

In resource-dependent communities such as fishing communities, human health underpins the ability of individuals and families to maintain viable livelihoods. Fishing is a dangerous occupation, in which fishers are exposed to health risks both on and offshore. Many of these risks and associated health concerns also extend to fishing families and wider communities. Despite the importance of health, there is a lack of understanding of the breadth of health issues affecting people associated with fishing. This study presents the findings of a scoping review of peer-reviewed literature that identifies the range of health issues and health determinants studied in fishing communities around the world. The findings reveal a wide variety of documented health issues, but with greater emphasis on physical health and occupational and behavioral factors, with limited attention paid to mental health. The majority of studies focused on fishers themselves, as opposed to other subgroups within fishing communities. Geographic differences in the health topics investigated highlight prevalent concerns and offer potential to share insights and solutions across contexts. The breadth of findings illustrates the complexity of health for people dependent on fishing, and the relevance of the many health determinants in maintaining viable fishing communities. We propose that a social well-being approach offers an integrative lens through which a better understanding of human health in fisheries can be achieved and used to inform fisheries management that is ecologically and socially sustainable. © 2018 The Authors. Fish and Fisheries Published by John Wiley & Sons Lt

Reconciling well-being and resilience for sustainable development

Securing well-being and building resilience in response to shocks are often viewed as key goals of sustainable development. Here, we present an overview of the latest published evidence, as well as the consensus of a diverse group of scientists and practitioners drawn from a structured analytical review and deliberative workshop process. We argue that resilience and well-being are related in complex ways, but in their applications in practice they are often assumed to be synergistic. Although theoretically compatible, evidence we present here shows that they may in fact work against each other. This has important implications for policy