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This article describes a method to allow for the incorporation of ecosystem services (ES) into policy, applied to the case of the River Blackwater Estuary, County Cork. The concept of ES has become mainstreamed into many country’s policies worldwide. However, practical applications of ES assessment are still far from mainstream. This paper aims to assess ES in three sites to inform site selection for conservation and enhancement measures. First, ES likely to occur in the proposed development sites were identified based on literature review, interviews and expert judgement. Second an assessment methodology involving a public survey was developed and applied. Finally, the results of the assessment were aggregated based on the use level for cultural services and the on-site area for regulating and provisioning services; the results were normalised and synthesised to produce a replicable basis for comparison across the sites. The assessment demonstrated a low-cost, practical methodology for incorporating ES into local decision-making. Regulating and cultural services were most valued at the three sites, with limited levels of provisioning services being provided. While pollination (a supporting service/intermediate regulating service) received highest overall scores, a suite of cultural services was also highly valued. The survey suggested that public engagement with ES concepts may be hampered by technical jargon, such as that employed by the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES), and also illustrated that in this case the public engaged better with the intermediate or supporting ES of pollination than other final services that provided benefits directly to them. The implications of these findings for future applications and the assessment methodology are discussed.
David Doran; Tim O’Higgins. Applications of a Novel Method of Ecosystem Services Assessment into Local Policy Making in the River Blackwater Estuary, Ireland. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9047 .
AMA StyleDavid Doran, Tim O’Higgins. Applications of a Novel Method of Ecosystem Services Assessment into Local Policy Making in the River Blackwater Estuary, Ireland. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (21):9047.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDavid Doran; Tim O’Higgins. 2020. "Applications of a Novel Method of Ecosystem Services Assessment into Local Policy Making in the River Blackwater Estuary, Ireland." Sustainability 12, no. 21: 9047.
Historically borders have had little effect on national U.K. and Irish fishing practices in the waters between the U.K. and Ireland. Under the EU Common Fisheries Policy, the principle of relative stability has been contentious in both the U.K. and Ireland and this has been a prominent issue in campaigns for U.K. withdrawal from the EU. Using spatially explicit catch data for the period 2006–2016, trans-boundary trade-offs for the two most lucrative in the Republic of Ireland Irish (Atlantic mackerel and Dublin Bay Prawn) were analysed. On average, in terms of volume and value for mackerel U.K. catches in Irish waters exceeded Irish catches in U.K. waters while for prawns Irish catches in U.K waters exceeded U.K catches in Irish waters. For the two species combined, the annual average landings values (before costs) caught by Ireland in U.K. waters exceeded those of U.K. in Irish waters by almost €6 m. While current transboundary cooperation at the national scale appears to benefit both the U.K. and Ireland its future is likely to depend on whether Irish national negotiations are made as part of an EU negotiating bloc following an orderly Brexit or as a two state negotiation in the event of a “no-deal” Brexit.
Tim O'higgins; Anne Marie O'hagan. A return to the tragedy of the commons? Brexit trade-offs and spatial analysis, an Irish perspective. Marine Policy 2019, 106, 103524 .
AMA StyleTim O'higgins, Anne Marie O'hagan. A return to the tragedy of the commons? Brexit trade-offs and spatial analysis, an Irish perspective. Marine Policy. 2019; 106 ():103524.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTim O'higgins; Anne Marie O'hagan. 2019. "A return to the tragedy of the commons? Brexit trade-offs and spatial analysis, an Irish perspective." Marine Policy 106, no. : 103524.
Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is an alternative to the monoculture of fin fish species, in which several species are combined in the production process. This can have environmental advantages such as a lower environmental impact through nutrient cycling and natural filters; and can have economic advantages consisting of increased efficiency, product diversification and potential price premiums. In this paper, a choice experiment (CE) was conducted through an online survey in Ireland, the UK, Italy, Israel and Norway, to assess how the public makes decisions on what type of salmon or sea bream to buy based on the attributes of the product. Analysis assessed the Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for more sustainable produced seafood using a Latent Class multinomial logit modelling approach. In the experiment, an ecolabel was used to distinguish between regularly produced (monoculture) products and sustainably produced (IMTA) products. The general public in each country showed a positive attitude towards the development of such an ecolabel and towards the payment of a price premium for the more sustainably produced salmon or sea bream.
Suzanne Van Osch; Stephen Hynes; Shirra Freeman; Tim O’Higgins. Estimating the Public’s Preferences for Sustainable Aquaculture: A Country Comparison. Sustainability 2019, 11, 569 .
AMA StyleSuzanne Van Osch, Stephen Hynes, Shirra Freeman, Tim O’Higgins. Estimating the Public’s Preferences for Sustainable Aquaculture: A Country Comparison. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (3):569.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSuzanne Van Osch; Stephen Hynes; Shirra Freeman; Tim O’Higgins. 2019. "Estimating the Public’s Preferences for Sustainable Aquaculture: A Country Comparison." Sustainability 11, no. 3: 569.
This paper aims to present and demonstrate the applicability of a methodology to characterise supply and demand for ecosystem services (ES) on the basis of spatial properties and interdependence, and economic properties of ES. The typology is demonstrated to support inclusion of ES flow in social-ecological systems management. Ria de Aveiro coastal lagoon, Portugal, is used as a showcase for the proposed spatial typology for ecosystem services assessment across multiple scales. To address the proposed objective a four-step methodology was developed: i) choice of the management area and definition of the boundaries of the system to be governed; ii) assessment and classification of ES produced or consumed within the management area, where supply or demand of an ES may be endogenous, exogenous or partially exogenous/endogenous; iii) mapping of production and consumption areas covering the major categories of ES (biotic and abiotic provisioning services, regulating and maintenance services, and cultural services) and major types of spatial relationships, which may be independent; interdependent, dependent or controlling; and iv) spatial characterisation of the ES production and benefits based on excludability and rivalness of ES. In Ria de Aveiro from the variety of ES and their spatial relationships we highlight interdependencies between the Lagoon and other locations outside the management area. This approach shows that the proposed methodology can support the understanding of these interrelationships and improve these connections by, identifying inherent transactions and key-actors.
Tim O'Higgins; António Nogueira; Ana I. Lillebø. A simple spatial typology for assessment of complex coastal ecosystem services across multiple scales. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 649, 1452 -1466.
AMA StyleTim O'Higgins, António Nogueira, Ana I. Lillebø. A simple spatial typology for assessment of complex coastal ecosystem services across multiple scales. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 649 ():1452-1466.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTim O'Higgins; António Nogueira; Ana I. Lillebø. 2018. "A simple spatial typology for assessment of complex coastal ecosystem services across multiple scales." Science of The Total Environment 649, no. : 1452-1466.
Policies of the European Union cover a range of social, environmental and economic aspirations and the current environmental directives and laws have evolved from a suite of norms which have changed over time. These may be characterised loosely according to 'Three Ps': Practical, those taking an anthropocentric approach; Pure, those taking an ecocentric approach and Popular, those appealing to the general public. In this paper I use these three perspectives as a tool to analyse the complexity and identify contradictions in European aquatic environmental legislation. Some trade-offs between development and conservation are identified and used to characterise the potential qualities of more successful agency to achieve environmental goals in the governance of European aquatic environments.
Tim G. O'higgins. You Can't Eat Biodiversity: Agency and Irrational Norms in European Aquatic Environmental Law. Challenges in Sustainability 2017, 5, 43-51 .
AMA StyleTim G. O'higgins. You Can't Eat Biodiversity: Agency and Irrational Norms in European Aquatic Environmental Law. Challenges in Sustainability. 2017; 5 (1):43-51.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTim G. O'higgins. 2017. "You Can't Eat Biodiversity: Agency and Irrational Norms in European Aquatic Environmental Law." Challenges in Sustainability 5, no. 1: 43-51.
Tim O'higgins. Sustainable lifestyles and the quest for plenitude — Case studies of the new economy, Juliet B. Schor, Craig J. Thompson (Eds.), Yale University Press (2014), (264 pp., Price: $25.00 PB ISBN978-0-300-19232-2). Biological Conservation 2016, 195, 225 .
AMA StyleTim O'higgins. Sustainable lifestyles and the quest for plenitude — Case studies of the new economy, Juliet B. Schor, Craig J. Thompson (Eds.), Yale University Press (2014), (264 pp., Price: $25.00 PB ISBN978-0-300-19232-2). Biological Conservation. 2016; 195 ():225.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTim O'higgins. 2016. "Sustainable lifestyles and the quest for plenitude — Case studies of the new economy, Juliet B. Schor, Craig J. Thompson (Eds.), Yale University Press (2014), (264 pp., Price: $25.00 PB ISBN978-0-300-19232-2)." Biological Conservation 195, no. : 225.