A Summary of the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment’s “Ecosystems and Human Well-being”

Everyone depends on earth's ecosystems and services: food water, disease management, climate regulation, spiritual fulfillment, and aesthetic enjoyment. But over the last 50 years, we have drastically changed these ecosystems more than in any period of history just to meet these demands. Although this change has been met with increasing economic and standards of living, it has also harmed many regions and groups of people in the process.

There are three problems which are associated with the management of the world’s ecosystems that affectively harm the livelihood of people—in particular, the poor. Firstly, 60% of ecosystem services examined are used unsustainably which include “fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water purification, and the regulation of regional and local climate, natural hazards, and pests.” Although these losses are extremely hard to measure, the surrounding evidence suggests they are substantial and increasing. Secondly, “there is established but incomplete evidence” that changes in ecosystems are consequently affecting and influencing the state of other ecosystems that have ramifications for human well-being. Thirdly, the effects of a degraded ecosystem are being borne mostly be the poorest of peoples, and are “contributing to growing inequities and disparities across groups of people, and are sometimes the principal factor causing poverty and social conflict”

The goals set forth by the international community in achieving the Millenium Development Goals reached in September 2000 are already hindered by the degradation of ecosystem services, and the extent of this degradation can grow worse over the next 50 years. Many driving forces of ecosystem change are unlikely to diminish by 2050, especially climate change and nutrient loading which will be more pronounced in years to come. People most reliant on ecosystem services, particularly the rural poor, face the biggest challenge as it is unlikely that these goals are sustainable when these services are degraded.

The problems arise from the many challenges we face today and are exacerbated by the interconnected of the situation. Actions to curb or reverse the degradation has shown some results, but they inevitably have not kept up with current demands. There are preliminary discussions to stop degradation in the coming decades: changes in policies, institutions, and practices “can mitigate some but not all of the negative consequences of growing pressures on ecosystems” but they are not implemented at the moment It will take a collected effort and an integration of ecosystem management goals in a wide range of sectors and a new way of thinking if we are to instill some change for a sustainable future.

There have been many benefits from the changes made to the world’s ecosystems, primarily when it comes to meeting the demands for food and water. Agricultural gains, which include fisheries and forestry, have provided a means to feed a world with an increasing population, but the destruction inflicted on the ecosystem is unsustainable and have been exhausted and are often borne by the people of impoverished nations. The necessary steps we must take to ensure a more sustainable world will ultimately depend on evaluating humanity’s connection with ecosystems.

In what ways does damage to ecosystems affect human well-being?

Humanity and Earth’s ecosystems are deeply connected on a symbiotic level. We rely on thriving ecosystems as a source of food, water, and materials. We depend on Earth’s biological processes to sustain life. When we take liberties and exploit ecosystems for personal gain, it often affects people in the lowest stratum of economic stability in the world. Oftentimes, the poor bear the brunt of this carelessness, as we destroy natural habitats which threaten the ecosystems they rely on. Because many peoples are located on coastal regions, overfishing is an example that takes food away and their ability to survive as marine ecosystems are slowly being depleted of fish. Resources are being harvested by more affluent societies, primarily at the consequence of the poor. When we damage ecosystems in the search for these resources, humanity as a whole feels the blight from these atrocities.

Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. “Ecosystems and Human Well-being.” Sources: Selection                  in Environmental Studies. Ed. Thomas Easton. United States, 2014. 53-59.