Human and Environmental Well-being in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay Watershed: An Ecosystem Services Assessment

Abstract

The Kachemak Bay watershed, located on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, encompasses several terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (KBNERR) conducts research, monitoring, education, and community engagement that helps inform decision making in the region. This project provides insights for KBNERR regarding current ecosystem services valued in Kachemak Bay using a socio-cultural, place-based, ecosystem services framework. Major ecosystem services and values, community-perceived drivers of ecosystem health, and community relevant indicators were identified to help inform future monitoring and outreach. Methods employed include 31 semi-structured interviews with residents in public and private sectors and three focus groups with KBNERR’s Community Council. When asked what ecosystem services they valued, participants frequently mentioned fisheries, other wildlife (including moose, shellfish, birds), recreation, aesthetics, ecological processes, agriculture, and forests. Using a social value typology framework, this study analyzed the value orientations associated with these natural systems and resources. Several common value types emerged that align with existing literature, including: values for pristine environments, recreation opportunities, and life-sustaining ecological processes. However, other values outside of existing typologies were also present, including the value of connections to community, family, self and nature that were inspired by ecological systems. Interviewees discussed perceived drivers of ecosystem change, organized here as threats and assets. Major threats mentioned include pressures from population growth, climate change, social division/conflict, extraction, overharvesting, and aquaculture. Conversely, assets for positive ecosystem change include an engaged and concerned community, large scientific community, and aquaculture. Interviewees offered differing perspectives on the positive and negative impacts of natural resources management decisions on ecosystem change. Moving forward, the most salient ecosystem services values in the Kachemak Bay watershed that KBNERR could continue to monitor and target include pristine, economic, access, and cultural values. Indicators based on literature and interviewee responses are provided across provisioning, cultural, regulating, and supporting ecosystem service types. Methodologies to plan future research on coastal and marine ecosystem service valuation, both monetary and non-monetary, are provided. Using complementary methods and a larger sample size, KBNERR could continue to use the ecosystem services, values, and drivers in this report in their ongoing research and outreach.