What this shows is that well-managed ecosystems are good for biodiversity as well as for food security, water supplies and climate change," said Stewart Maginnis, director of International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) nature-based solutions group in Geneva.
Well-managed ecosystems are essential for ensuring a healthy resource base on which to intensify sustainably, to ensure that enough food is produced from now until 2050 (see Looking ahead in World Food and Agriculture: Perspectives to 2050) – and beyond.
"What is clear, however, is that for the benefits to flow, marine protected areas must be well-managed and must properly protect ecosystem function.
Health and economies both depend on well-managed natural resources and healthy ecosystems," Dominique Charron, programme leader of the Ecohealth programme initiative at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), told me.
Some coral reef ecosystems are really well-managed, and there's a lot of local compliance among fishermen because they realize that if they want a sustainable fishing industry they need to not overfish the system.
"Studies in some ecosystems have shown that well-managed grazing can keep invasive grasses from shading out the flowering herbs that native pollinators rely on," Huntsinger said.
When well-managed, parks help wildlife to persist at ecologically functional densities, not only saving iconic species but preserving ecosystem function and services.
In a decade's time, I hope we can look back and see large increases in well-managed and well-resourced parks on land and sea, with increases in healthy wildlife populations and intact, well functioning ecosystems.
Well-managed, jatropha... can work.
It feels wild but well-managed.
By 1873 it possessed an efficient and well-managed harbour.
