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Biocultural approaches to well-being and sustainability indicators across scales

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 1, pages 1798–1806 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Monitoring and evaluation are central to ensuring that innovative, multi-scale, and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability are effective. The development of relevant indicators for local sustainable management outcomes, and the ability to link these to broader national and international policy targets, are key challenges for resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. Sets of indicators that capture both ecological and social-cultural factors, and the feedbacks between them, can underpin cross-scale linkages that help bridge local and global scale initiatives to increase resilience of both humans and ecosystems. Here we argue that biocultural approaches, in combination with methods for synthesizing across evidence from multiple sources, are critical to developing metrics that facilitate linkages across scales and dimensions. Biocultural approaches explicitly start with and build on local cultural perspectives — encompassing values, knowledges, and needs — and recognize feedbacks between ecosystems and human well-being. Adoption of these approaches can encourage exchange between local and global actors, and facilitate identification of crucial problems and solutions that are missing from many regional and international framings of sustainability. Resource managers, scientists, and policymakers need to be thoughtful about not only what kinds of indicators are measured, but also how indicators are designed, implemented, measured, and ultimately combined to evaluate resource use and well-being. We conclude by providing suggestions for translating between local and global indicator efforts.

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Fig. 1: Ex situ and in situ knowledge production and synthesis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Arengo, T. Milton, K. Careaga, M. Gueze, L. Sebastien and M. Roué for contributions. The material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers EF-1427091 and 1444184. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Support for this project also comes from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Lynette and Richard Jaffe, and the Jaffe Family Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Eleanor J. Sterling, Christopher Filardi, Anne Toomey, Amanda Sigouin, Erin Betley, Nadav Gazit, Mary Blair, Georgina Cullman, Suzanne Macey, Cynthia Malone, Joe McCarter & Ana L. Porzecanski

  2. Department of Environmental Studies and Science, Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY, 10038, USA

    Anne Toomey

  3. East Pacific Collection, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia

    Jennifer Newell

  4. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    Simon Albert & Patrick Pikacha

  5. Keller Science Action Center, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA

    Diana Alvira & Nora Bynum

  6. Bioversity International, 00054 Maccarese, Rome, Italy

    Nadia Bergamini & Pablo B. Eyzaguirre

  7. Ecological Solutions Solomon Islands, PO Box 180, Gizo, Western Province, Solomon Islands

    David Boseto

  8. School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Kate Burrows

  9. National Center for Scientific Research, CEFE UMR 5175, 34293, Montpellier, France

    Sophie Caillon & Matthieu Salpeteur

  10. Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Jennifer E. Caselle

  11. National Center for Scientific Research, CRIOBE, USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, 66860 Perpignan, France and Laboratoire d’Excellence CORAIL, Perpignan, France

    Joachim Claudet

  12. Department of Biology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Rachel Dacks

  13. Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA

    Steven Gray

  14. Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    James Herrera

  15. Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, United Nations, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Peter Kenilorea

  16. Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Hilo, HI, 96720, USA

    Kealohanuiopuna Kinney

  17. Brown University, Box G-W, 80 Waterman Street, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Kealohanuiopuna Kinney

  18. Department of Botany, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Natalie Kurashima & Tamara Ticktin

  19. Kamehameha Schools, Natural and Cultural Resources, Kailua-Kona, HI, 96740, USA

    Natalie Kurashima

  20. Solomon Islands Community Conservation Partnership, PO Box 2378, Honiara, Solomon Islands

    Senoveva Mauli

  21. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, NYC Urban Field Station, Bayside, NY, 11359, USA

    Heather McMillen

  22. Department of Natural Resource and Environmental Management, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Pua’ala Pascua & Kawika B. Winter

  23. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR PALOC IRD/MNHN, 75231, Paris cedex 05, France

    Pascale de Robert

  24. Solomon Islands Ministry of Forests and Research, PO Box G.24, Honiara, Solomon Islands

    Myknee Sirikolo

  25. Marshall Islands Conservation Society, College of the Marshall Islands, PO Box 1258, Majuro, Marshall Islands

    Mark H. Stege

  26. MarTina Corporation, PO Box 403, Majuro, Marshall Islands

    Kristina Stege

  27. Fisheries Ecology Research Lab, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Ron Vave

  28. Science and Education, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA

    Alaka Wali

  29. Department of Anthropology, Barnard College and Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Paige West

  30. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Kalaheo, HI, 96746, USA

    Kawika B. Winter

  31. Wildlife Conservation Society, Melanesia Program, 11 Ma’afu Street, Suva, Fiji

    Stacy D. Jupiter

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  1. Eleanor J. Sterling
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  2. Christopher Filardi
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  3. Anne Toomey
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Contributions

E.J.S., C.F., J.N., S.D.J., A.T., and J.M. conceptually framed the manuscript. E.J.S. and C.F. led the development of the manuscript and integration of content. A.S., E.B., G.C., A.T., and N.G. synthesized literature. All remaining authors contributed equally to generating ideas and drafting and revising the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eleanor J. Sterling.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Sterling, E.J., Filardi, C., Toomey, A. et al. Biocultural approaches to well-being and sustainability indicators across scales. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 1798–1806 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0349-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0349-6

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