What Is An Ecosystem Approach To Management And Development?
An ecosystem-based approach is a strategy that examines drylands from a broader perspective. While traditional methods of dryland management concentrate on maximizing commodity production and agricultural yields, the objective of an ecosystem approach is to optimize the ecosystem’s benefits by accounting for the entire range of goods and services that humans depend on to survive and prosper. This approach provides quantitative indicators for those non-commodity or non-market goods and services that are not adequately addressed in conventional techniques of monitoring and assessment, such as recreation, wildlife habitat, biodiversity conservation, water quality, and carbon storage, as well as commodities such as food, fuel, and fiber.
