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Valuing Coastal Ecosystems as Economic Assets

Year of publication 2016

Pages 10p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

ISBN No ISBN

Series number Brochure FAO/UNEP

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) The ecosystem approach to aquaculture (EAA) is a “strategy for the integration of the activity within the wider ecosystem such that it promotes sustainable development, equity and resilience of interlinked social-ecological systems”. The EAA provides a planning and management framework whereby parts of the aquaculture sector can be effectively integrated into local planning and affords clear mechanisms for engaging with producers, government and other users of coastal resources for the effective sustainable management of aquaculture operations by taking into account the environmental the socioeconomic and the governance aspects and explicitly including concepts of carrying capacity and risk. Mangrove cover in Kenya is currently estimated at somewhere between 55,000 and 60,000 hectares. The provisioning services or mangrove products support food security and livelihoods in a number of ways. They may be consumed directly (for example fish, honey and plant-based medicines), used as an i nput into other production processes (such as boats and traps for fishing, fodder for livestock production, or woodfuel for cooking), or sold to generate cash that can then be used to purchase food supplies and other items. Mangrove-based tourism also serves as an important source of income and employment for coastal communities, and was identified as a key service by 95 per cent of survey respondents at the Mida Creek study site and 93 per cent in the Tana Delta.

Language English

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