Natural Resource Restoration and Pro-poor Rural Development.

Christo Marais, Dudu Soginga, Michael Kawa & Thabisa Motolwana

Department of Water Affairs: Natural Resource Management Programmes

Presentation Structure

1. Some History & Social Context

2. Natural Resource Management (NRM) Objectives

3. Basic Outputs.

4. Extent of Ecosystem Services

5. High level Natural Resource Restoration & Management Needs.

6. Some Measurement of Ecosystem Services

7. Challenges & Opportunities

8. Recommendations on a Way Forward

Libertas Centre - November 1993

The question on everybody’s lips was - How was conservation of natural resources going to compete against the social

demands in post apartheid South Africa?

In 1993 - Two Resolutions were Adopted by a Group of Scientists to be Presented to

Decision Makers

• to present to local decision makers the threat that invasive alien plants pose to the country’s scarce water resources and

• to approach “the rich north” for support in the battle against invasive alien plants and its impacts on biodiversity

Who was the target audience? - Reconstruction & Development Programme of President Mandela.

A New Beginning – April 1994

In September 1995 the then Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Prof. Kader Asmal took the

visionary step to include invasive alien plant management as a programme in the department’s

contribution to the Reconstruction and Development Programme of the new government.

Government Decided to Invest R25million in the

Clearing of Invasive Alien Plants through the

Reconstruction and Development Programme

The Face of Poverty still

haunts South Africa (1997)

Prof. Asmal Launching

Working for Water?

And today?

The Target Audience Today: Government Priorities

• Crime

• Education

• Health

• Job Creation

• Rural Development

“Over simplified” Spectrum of Degradation

Bush Encroachments & InvasivesDesertification

Photograph: Courtesy Prof. Rudi van Aarde

From this!!

To This!!

And From this!!

To This!!

And From this!!

To This!!

Natural Resource Business Stream

Improved management of natural resources

• Improved water security

• Improved biodiversity and ecosystem function/natural processes

• Improved productive potential of land

Socio-Economic Business StreamImproved livelihoods

of programme beneficiaries

• Employment opportunities in rural areas

• Employment opportunities in the natural resource market created

• Human and social capital developed

How the NRM Programmes contribute to addressing the objectives? Land Management Impacts

In total more 1.9 million hectares of invasive alien plants treated and followed up since 1995

Nearly 700, 000ha followed up during 2009/10

Land Restoration

1, 387 Hectares

Heavily Degraded Albany Sub

Tropical Thicket Restored

Working on Fire

• 2008/09 WoFire Attended to 891 fires over an estimated 567, 000 ha.

• 2009/10 WoFire Attended to 747 fires over an estimated 336, 000 ha.

• During 2009 around 29, 800 fires burnt covering 2.4 million ha.

• WoFire therefore attended to only 2.5% of the number of fires but 16% of the area burnt.

How do the NRM Programmes contribute to addressing the objectives?

Socio Economic development & employment Impacts

1. 2.32 million Person Days created during 2009/10 (WfW,WFL,WoF & WfWet) and

2. Around 18 million since 1995 (WfW,WFL,WoF & WfWet).

1. More than 26, 000 beneficiaries in Working for Water and Working for Land.

2. 1,850 in Working on Fire and

3. 1, 500 in Working for Wetlands

The Cost to Deliver Services at these Levels

Working for Water grew from a programme of R25 million a year to –

• Working for Water = ±R695 million• Working for Land = ±R32 million• Working on Fire = ±R223 million• Working for Wetlands = ±R75 million

• More than R1 billion per year! (and it is still not enough)

Current Marketable Ecosystem Services

Watershed Services• Flows

– Flood/high flows– Low Flows– Yield from water

infrastructure– Ecological Reserve

• Sediments– Siltation of dams

• Water quality– Purification costs– Waterweed management costs

Climate Change– Carbon Sequestration

Geographical extent of ecosystem benefits

High Yield Catchments

Carbon sequestration

Soil retention

Water flow regulation

Natural Resource Management Needs

Hectares Invaded = 20 millionCondensed Hectares = 3.7 million

What’s the Socio-Economic Landscape?

Can we measure the marketable services?

Impacts of Vegetation Structure – Invasive Alien Plants

(Prinsloo & Scott 1999)

Vegetation Densification and the Impacts on Soil after Fire

Maloti-Drakensberg

Upper Thukela• Good land management

practices can increase low flows by 12.8 mil. m3/yr and

• Reduce sediments by 1.2mil. m3/yr.

Umzimvudu• Lows flows will increase by

3.8 mil. m3/yr and• Sediments will reduce by

4.9 mil. m3/yr

Opportunities in the Carbon Market: Working for Land in the Eastern Cape

Thicket Restoration Programme

Above ground

40 ± 3

7 ± 1

Litter

11 ± 1

1 ± 0.4

Roots

25 ± 1.3

11 ± 0.7

Soil

133 ± 27

95 ± 15

and falling?

Total

209 ± 28

114 ± 14

t C ha-1

Mills et. al. (2005) Austral Ecology

Challenges & Opportunities• Government simply does not

have enough money to do it on it’s own.

• Dire poverty in rural areas, if the livelihood profile is not better after the intervention than before it simply won’t work.

• Legislation on its own is simply not enough.

• Restoration is expensive.• South Africa is not very

competitive on the carbon market, the climate simply does not allow it to be.

• There are opportunities to get local and international resource users involved in restoring ecosystem benefits.

• The people are out there where the services are required.

• Job creation and rural development are government priorities.

Challenges & Opportunities cont.

• Institutional arrangements is still difficult for rural communities to work with government.

• We need more primary science when it comes to quantifying ecosystem services.

• There are extensive opportunities for the sciences to be developed.

• The programme could effectively become an outdoor class room for students working in the field.

Recommendations on the way forward

• If governments can give incentives to the commercial sector why not for the restoration of ecosystem services.

• NGO’s, CBO’s and private land users should be incentivised to promote and change land management practices.

• The focus of government NRM investment needs to be revised in order to unlock private and international investment.

• Appropriate institutional arrangements need to be established. (CBNRM models?)

• Uncertainty with regards to the quantification of ecosystem services must be reduced (We must get the science right, models need to be informed by sound natural/ecological science).

• If you can’t beat the socio-economic lobby, join them.

Thank You!

Acknowledgements• Dr. Terry Everson – Okhombe PES Projects• Mike Powell – Thicket Pictures• Ecosystem Services - James Blignaut, Guy Preston, Kate

Philip, Mathieu Rouget, Myles Mander, Jane Turpie, Lozelle du Plessis, Thami Klassen, and Norma Tregurtha

• Andrew Wannenburgh• Prof. Rudi van Aarde – Sekhukhune Pictures