1.12 Interview with Prof Emeritus Harold Mooney (Stanford University)

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來自 University of Geneva 的課程

Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development

107 個評分

University of Geneva

Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development

107 個評分

Ecosystem services are a way of thinking about – and evaluating – the goods and services provided by nature that contribute to the well-being of humans. This MOOC will cover scientific (technical), economic, and socio-political dimensions of the concept through a mix of theory, case-studies, interviews with specialists and a serious-game. By the end of this course, our aim is to enable you to: • define the concept of ecosystem services, its principles and limitations • understand the key services associated with any ressource (e.g., fresh water) through readings and case-studies • appreciate the advantages and potential risks of monetising ecosystem services • appreciate the social dimensions (power issues, cultural biases) embedded within any method • integrate tactical advice on mainstreaming this approach into policy and standard government practices • Optional: learn how to map ecosystem services with GIS tools The session that runs May 29th- July 10th will be actively monitored by the instructors, and learners will have the opportunity to ask questions. This course was developed by instructors from the University of Geneva with the help of numerous researchers and input from the Geneva Water Hub and the Natural Capital Project. The course was financed by the University of Geneva, the Global Programme Water Initiatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the Luc Hoffmann Institute. This MOOC is supported by the Geneva Water Hub and the University of Geneva along with the MOOC in « Water Resources Management and Policy » (www.coursera.org/learn/water-management) and the one in « International Water Law » (www.coursera.org/learn/droit-eau). We look forward to you joining us!

從本節課中

Module 1: Frontiers in Ecosystem Services

Play the TRADE-OFF game (online), meet the primary instructors of this course, and discover the key questions that we will be revisiting throughout this course in this introductory module.

1.11 Interview with Prof Bradley J. Cardinale (University of Michigan)6:47

1.12 Interview with Prof Emeritus Harold Mooney (Stanford University)7:06

與講師見面

Martin Schlaepfer
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Environmental Sciences
Anthony Lehmann
Associate Professor
Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute for Environmental Sciences and
Juliet Jane Fall
Professor
Department of Geography and Environment, Geneva School of Social Sciences

[MUSIC]

So dear Hal, it's really a pleasure having you here for this interview.

We're preparing a MOOC on ecosystem services.

And I was told by some friends that you were among the people that have been

initiating also this, a big part of this whole idea and concept.

So to start this interview, I would like you to kind of

summarize your quite extensive and long career in ecology.

And maybe that brought you here at Stanford as a professor in biology, and

to give maybe some highlights of this successful career.

>> Well, I did my graduate work at Duke University.

And that was the main place where ecology was taught in the United States at

the time I was a student.

And from there I got my first job at the one place I didn't want to go,

Los Angeles.

>> [LAUGH] >> But I went to UCLA for six years and

started research there on local vegetation, and became interested in

comparing California systems with those in other Mediterranean regions, like Chile.

So I started a project doing a comparison between these.

And at that time, I was offered a job at Stanford, which I

gladly accepted, because I was born in Santa Rosa, very near here.

So coming up back to Northern California was a great thing.

>> Okay, and so looking backward at the work you have done and

your role in developing ecology as a science in recent years,

do you feel that this field of research ecology has grown and

evolved fast enough to address now the kind of key societal

issues that we are facing in protecting biodiversity, for instance?

>> Well, that's a very good question.

I guess the short answer, in view of how fast the world is changing,

probably no field is advancing fast enough to keep up with the changes and

be prepared for the future that's coming.

So I think that ecology [LAUGH] is not keeping up the pace, but

I don't think any sector of society is.

Because the changes are so big and are happening so

fast that it's a real challenge for all of us.

>> Mm-hm, so I was wondering how you were, as again an ecologist,

doing the link between the different aspects of biodiversity, genes,

species, ecosystems, with their functional diversity that they bring,

and at the end, the services that they deliver to the people.

Do you see still kind of knowledge gaps in linking

this different aspect of biodiversity, functions and services?

>> Well, I guess I have to go back a little bit.

[LAUGH] I first became interested in biological diversity

when I was on a committee, a national committee.

And someone from the food industry asked me, he says, well,

what good are all these species?

We have all the species we need, we have chickens and cows, and

we have wheat and we have rice.

And so what more do we need?

And so I started thinking, well, we ought to be able to answer that question

a little better [LAUGH] than we've been doing in the past.

And so I thought the first thing that we needed to do is,

how does biological diversity relate to ecosystem functioning?

What are the roles of the various species in processing the light that comes in from

the sun and cycling the water and mining the nutrients, and so forth?

So that question had never been asked, really,

is what is the relationship between ecosystem functioning and biodiversity.

So I was with an international organization at the time,

the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, and

suggested we start a program in that area.

So that program was very successful, because I think a lot of people working

in biodiversity hadn't been thinking about how this relates to function.

So that program went on for a while and came to an end.

And then the next phase came, of well, we see the diversity-function relationship.

How does that relate to ecosystem services?

And that came later, and my, I guess,

interest in that was sparked by this first phase.

But then Walt Reed came up with the idea that maybe

we should extend the biodiversity concept into ecosystem services.

And so I became involved in a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment where that was

developed to a high level or degree,

and has now become very popular in governments and so forth.

It's been a wonderful track, I guess.

>> Okay, you kind of answered already partly a little my next question.

>> Okay. >> Knowing that we are probably,

given the number we can gather on biodiversity, species biodiversity,

reaching a seventh big extinction of biodiversity.

And through, apparently this time,

the destruction and perturbation by human activity.

And I was wondering, on which basis should we be

worrying about this large extinction?

The story of biodiversity itself, our own survival, or

just on ethical grounds, we cannot accept losing this biodiversity.

>> Yeah, well, I think, as you probably know,

there's sort of a discussion going on in this area that some people say the ethical

concerns should override everything about not destroying any nature.

And the others say, well, that's a very important,

powerful argument for getting people to conserve biodiversity.

But there's also another powerful argument,

that a lot of the biodiversity provides services for society, for your survival.

It's the life support system, and so it's important ethically.

But it's also important for your own survival and your children's survival.

[MUSIC]

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