IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoser/v11y2015icp12-21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An ecosystems perspective for food security in the Caribbean: Seagrass meadows in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Author

Listed:
  • Baker, Susan
  • Paddock, Jessica
  • Smith, Alastair M.
  • Unsworth, Richard K.F.
  • Cullen-Unsworth, Leanne C.
  • Hertler, Heidi

Abstract

Drawing attention to interactions between processes affecting biodiversity loss in marine environments and effects on food security, we draw on research in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), a UK Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. Seagrass meadows provide ecosystem supporting services critical for human wellbeing. They are declining globally due to coastal development, poor land management, and destructive fishing practices. These systems are linked to traditional ways of life with multiple intangible values representing an important cultural resource for coastal communities. Using the lens of food security, we undertake interdisciplinary social–ecological research, to better understand the governance of ecosystem services and the food system in TCI. Research draws on mixed qualitative methods and data gathered via SeagrassWatch, fish surveys and meta-analysis of fish assemblages, revealing anthropogenic stressors exposing TCI to economic and environmental shocks characteristic of small island Caribbean states. We find growing concern regarding the islands׳ high dependence on food imports, coupled with declining availability of local fish and seafood across socio-economic groups. Weak governance structures put TCI׳s marine resources under increasing threat, with consequences for food security. We argue for the application of the precautionary principle, suggesting conservation actions through societal participation and stakeholder engagement.

Suggested Citation

  • Baker, Susan & Paddock, Jessica & Smith, Alastair M. & Unsworth, Richard K.F. & Cullen-Unsworth, Leanne C. & Hertler, Heidi, 2015. "An ecosystems perspective for food security in the Caribbean: Seagrass meadows in the Turks and Caicos Islands," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 11(C), pages 12-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:11:y:2015:i:c:p:12-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041614000825
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harvey, Mark & Pilgrim, Sarah, 2011. "The new competition for land: Food, energy, and climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 40-51.
    2. Harvey, Mark & Pilgrim, Sarah, 2011. "The new competition for land: Food, energy, and climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 40-51, January.
    3. Le, Vo Phuong Mai & Minford, Patrick & Nowell, Eric, 2009. "Economic Policy: protectionism as an elite strategy," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2009/1, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    4. anonymous, 2009. "Reforms to protect American credit card holders," Community Investments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, vol. 21(Sum), pages 35-36.
    5. Oecd, 2009. "Employment and Social Protection," OECD Journal on Development, OECD Publishing, vol. 9(4), pages 7-54.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wallner-Hahn, Sieglind & Dahlgren, Malin & de la Torre-Castro, Maricela, 2022. "Linking seagrass ecosystem services to food security: The example of southwestern Madagascar’s small-scale fisheries," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ozgul Calicioglu & Alessandro Flammini & Stefania Bracco & Lorenzo Bellù & Ralph Sims, 2019. "The Future Challenges of Food and Agriculture: An Integrated Analysis of Trends and Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, January.
    2. Ciliberti, Carlo & Jordaan, Sarah M. & Smith, Stephen V. & Spatari, Sabrina, 2016. "A life cycle perspective on land use and project economics of electricity from wind and anaerobic digestion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 52-63.
    3. Cao, Yan & Doustgani, Amir & Salehi, Abozar & Nemati, Mohammad & Ghasemi, Amir & Koohshekan, Omid, 2020. "The economic evaluation of establishing a plant for producing biodiesel from edible oil wastes in oil-rich countries: Case study Iran," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    4. Emmann, Carsten H. & Schaper, Christian & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2011. "Der Markt für Bioenergie 2012," Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, vol. 61.
    5. Thaler, S. & Zessner, M. & Weigl, M. & Rechberger, H. & Schilling, K. & Kroiss, H., 2015. "Possible implications of dietary changes on nutrient fluxes, environment and land use in Austria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 14-29.
    6. Tiffany L. Fess & James B. Kotcon & Vagner A. Benedito, 2011. "Crop Breeding for Low Input Agriculture: A Sustainable Response to Feed a Growing World Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(10), pages 1-31, October.
    7. Bose, Arnab & Ramji, Aditya & Singh, Jarnail & Dholakia, Dhairya, 2012. "A case study for sustainable development action using financial gradients," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 79-86.
    8. Till Hermanns & Katharina Helming & Katharina Schmidt & Hannes Jochen König & Heiko Faust, 2015. "Stakeholder Strategies for Sustainability Impact Assessment of Land Use Scenarios: Analytical Framework and Identifying Land Use Claims," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-29, September.
    9. Luís Carmo-Calado & Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez & Roberta Mota-Panizio & Bruno Guilherme-Garcia & Paulo Brito, 2020. "Co-Combustion of Waste Tires and Plastic-Rubber Wastes with Biomass Technical and Environmental Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, February.
    10. Carlo Carraro & Marinella Davide & Valeria Barbi & Giacomo Marangoni, 2013. "Science adva ncements, policy immobility: the two fac es of climate (in)action," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 5-29.
    11. Qi-Qi CHEN & Jun-Biao ZHANG & Yu HUO, 2016. "A study on research hot-spots and frontiers of agricultural science and technology innovation - visualization analysis based on the Citespace III," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 62(9), pages 429-445.
    12. Alexander E. Cagle & Alona Armstrong & Giles Exley & Steven M. Grodsky & Jordan Macknick & John Sherwin & Rebecca R. Hernandez, 2020. "The Land Sparing, Water Surface Use Efficiency, and Water Surface Transformation of Floating Photovoltaic Solar Energy Installations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-22, October.
    13. Fabio De Menna & Remo Alessio Malagnino & Matteo Vittuari & Giovanni Molari & Giovanna Seddaiu & Paola A. Deligios & Stefania Solinas & Luigi Ledda, 2016. "Potential Biogas Production from Artichoke Byproducts in Sardinia, Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-11, February.
    14. Grundy, Michael J. & Bryan, Brett A. & Nolan, Martin & Battaglia, Michael & Hatfield-Dodds, Steve & Connor, Jeffery D. & Keating, Brian A., 2016. "Scenarios for Australian agricultural production and land use to 2050," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 70-83.
    15. Sawicka, Zofia & Fogel, Piotr, 2016. "Zmiany funkcjonalne a przekształcenia ziemi rolnej na cele pozarolnicze na obszarach rozdrobnionych agrarnie," Village and Agriculture (Wieś i Rolnictwo), Polish Academy of Sciences (IRWiR PAN), Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, vol. 1(170).
    16. Ribeiro, Barbara Esteves, 2013. "Beyond commonplace biofuels: Social aspects of ethanol," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 355-362.
    17. Halberg, Niels & Panneerselvam, P. & Treyer, Sebastien, 2015. "Eco-functional Intensification and Food Security: Synergy or Compromise?," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 4(3 Special).
    18. Tomas Linder, 2019. "Making the case for edible microorganisms as an integral part of a more sustainable and resilient food production system," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 265-278, April.
    19. Infante-Amate, Juan & Aguilera, Eduardo & Palmeri, Francesco & Guzmán, Gloria & Soto, David & García-Ruiz, Roberto & de Molina, Manuel González, 2018. "Land embodied in Spain’s biomass trade and consumption (1900–2008): Historical changes, drivers and impacts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 493-502.
    20. Brian G. Fitzgerald & Travis O'Doherty & Richard Moles & Bernadette O'Regan, 2015. "Quantitative Evaluation of Settlement Sustainability Policy (QESSP); Forward Planning for 26 Irish Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-21, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:11:y:2015:i:c:p:12-21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecosystem-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.