7
Interdependent Social-Ecological
Systems and Adaptive Governance for
Ecosystem Services
Carl Folke, Johan Colding, Per Olsson and Thomas Hahn
Introduction
The pre-analytic vision of this chapter is that human societies and globally inter-
connected economies are parts of the dynamics of the biosphere, embedded in its
processes and ultimately dependent on the capacity of the environment to sustain
societal development with essential ecosystem services and support (Odum, 1989;
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Throughout history humans have
shaped nature and nature has shaped the development of human society (Turner
et al, 1990; Redman, 1999). The human dimension has expanded and intensified
and become globally interconnected, through technology, capital markets and sys-
tems of governance with decisions in one place influencing people and ecosystems
elsewhere (Holling, 1994). Reduced temporal variability of renewable resource flows
in some parts of the world has resulted in increased spatial dependence on other areas
on earth, reflected in for example widespread ecosystem support to urban areas
(Folke et al, 1997). Humanity has become a major force in structuring ecosystem
dynamics from local scales to the biosphere as a whole (Steffen et al, 2004).
In this context it becomes clear that patterns of production, consumption and
well-being develop not only from economic and social relations within and between
regions, but in order to be sustained they also depend on the capacity of ecosys-
tems throughout the world to support societal development (Arrow et al, 1995).
Social conditions, health, culture, democracy and matters of security, survival and
the environment are interwoven in a grand panorama of regional and worldwide
dependency.
Sometimes change is gradual or incremental. During these periods of steady
progress, things move forward in roughly continuous and predictable ways. At
Reproduced by permission of SAGE Publications, London, Los Angeles, New Delhi and Singapore,
from Pretty J et al (eds), Sage Handbook on Environment and Society, Copyright (© Folke C, Colding J
and Hahn T, 2007).