Linking ecological status of the river with human well being : a case of the Kolubara river in Serbia

Human well being depends on ecosystem provision of goods and services. Changes inecosystem functions, status and integrity can therefore impact human well being. Althoughthe assessment of the dynamic interrelationship between human well being and ecosystemchanges can contribute to the sustainable development of both systems, natural and human,only few studies incorporate methods for the evaluation of those interdependences.However, environmental legislation and policies usually request achievement andmaintenance of the certain ecological status in order to ensure sustainable use of ecosystemsfor human development. For instance, EU Water Framework Directive requires goodecological status of water bodies by 2015 in all member states. In addition, an effective publicparticipation in the planning process of natural resources is required, aiming to ensuresustainable management of these resources. But, stakeholders' motivation for participation isa problem because they often consider goals of ecosystem health maintenance as a constraintto human development.This thesis provides an approach for the analysis of human well being connectionswith the ecological status of the river. It consists of a conceptual framework and empiricalevidence for the actual assessment, which makes significant contribution to the proposedmethodology. The aim is to study human well being connections with the ecosystem health inorder to add understanding of people's priorities regarding natural areas: how they use them;how the ecosystem health influence these use and priorities; could these influences be driversfor the change in people's behaviour patterns, or even cultural patterns of the area, etc. Allthis helps to define human well being, and thus human benefits, that can be drawn fromcertain ecological status of the water body, and present to the stakeholders in order tomotivate them to get involved in the participation process.Qualitative research methods were selected to accomplish objectives of the study. Anintrinsic case study was developed and field work was done in the Kolubara River Basin, inSerbia, from November 2007 until January 2008. It was particularly interesting to conduct acase study in the Kolubara River Basin because it is a relatively small catchment (around3500 km2), with distinguished upstream-downstream uses and ecological status of waterbodies. This contributed the understanding of interrelationships between human well beingand ecological status of the river in different areas of the river basin.Semi structured interviews and life histories approach was used during the fieldwork,which ensured better understanding of the people's attitude, perception and use of the river.Using these methods, as well as archival work and participation observation, important datawas collected in relation to people's historical relationship with the river, cultural patterns andtheir transgressions, as well as understanding of people's change of behaviour drivers towardto the natural areas in the Kolubara River Basin.The results from the case study show clear link between human well beingcomponents, such as social well being, economic resources and human health, and theecosystem health. The proposed approach adds insight and understanding of these links. Italso provides recommendations for further studies of the dynamic interrelations betweenhuman well being and ecosystem changes due to the human development, and generatesessential information for public participation motivation in the planning process for naturalresources for decision-makers