The ecosystem service paradigm is posited on the philosophy that ecosystems provide benefits for humanity. All too often this is seen as a static situation, with little or no recognition that the services people relied on and will rely on may be different. Stated in this way a unidirectional relationship is emphasised: ecosystems for people. Yet the relationship between nature and people is bi-directional: nature and people.
The River Irwell flows from the Pennines into the City of Salford, acts as a boundary with the City of Manchester, and becomes the Manchester Ship Canal. The changing relationship between nature and people is explored through an analysis of historic documents and maps that chart the history of a 3.8 km stretch of the river as it flows between the twin cities of Salford and Manchester. Historical changes noted are compared with the current aspirations for this stretch of river as articulated by the River Irwell Catchment Partnership (the Rivers Return Partnership). Data were drawn from historic and contemporary maps, contemporary and historic accounts of the river, and current aspirations for the river.
Over the period of study (1700s to present day) the river has provided a range of ecosystem services and there have also been some disservices. Since the early 1700s the river has been shortened and heavily modified by both flood prevention measures and the installation of a weir. Ecosystem services that were provided by the river prior to the industrial revolution of the 1800s were lost to be replaced by others. In turn the prevalent services of the early 1900s have been supplanted as industrialisation waned and attitudes of the river changed. The analysis presented demonstrates how temporal variations in ecosystem services and disservices can be illustrated (Figure 1). Over time there has been a change in emphasis from provisioning, through regulating to cultural services as dominating usage of the river. Rivers are now perceived as providing an essential insurance against climate and social change.
With the advent of the Catchment Based Approach new ideas around the governance of issues connected to the river are emerging. These new governance structures are also explored as a mechanism by which people manifest the value associated with specific ecosystem services derived from the river.
This case study illustrates how an understanding of the past informs current thinking on ecosystem services at the landscape scale and how changing values are implicit within the emerging nature and people paradigm.
