BIODIVERSITY SECTOR RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE Fundisile Mketeni DDG: Biodiversity and Conservation

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BIODIVERSITY SECTOR RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Fundisile MketeniDDG Biodiversity and
Conservation
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Contents

• Introduction
• Value of Biodiversity
• Problem statement
• Biodiversity in South Africa
• Biodiversity Adaptation Approach- National
  Approach
• Biodiversity and Climate change response Strategy
• Response projects
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• South Africa is home to a significant portion of
  global biodiversity (Cowling et al. 1996, Myers
  et al. 2000), and many of its natural ecosystems
  are relatively intact (Scholes Biggs, 2005),
  despite the changes in land cover that have
  accompanied societal development.
• Anthropogenic climate change are likely to cause
  increasingly adverse impacts on the countrys
  ecosystems and biodiversity (Midgley Thuiller,
  2005)
• Impacts of climate change on species, and their
  adaptation interact strongly with human
  activities.

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Values of Biodiversity

• Biodiversity provides excellent conditions for
  and drives the processes that sustain species
  survival.
• Biodiversity provides for ecological, economic
  and cultural values to the worlds community.
• Climate change is changing species distribution
  through shifting habitat, changing life cycles,
  and development of new physical traits,

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Values of Biodiversity (cont)

• People need ecosystems for adaptation and
  ecosystems need people.
• Biodiversity plays a major role in meeting human
  needs directly while maintaining the ecological
  processes upon which our survival depends.
• Biodiversity is a national asset and a powerful
  contributor to economic development, provision of
  natural resource, ecological processes, and
  improving human wellbeing.

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GLOBAL ECOSYSTEMS
Climate Stability
Biodiversity
Natural habitats, Trees
Air, Water, Land, Soils
Buildings, Places
Streets, Routes
Working, Shopping, Moving
Living, Playing, Learning
Community
Networks
Social capital
Incomes, Innovation
Markets, Investments
Macro-economy, Politics Culture, Global forces
The determinants of health and wellbeing in human
habitation
Other Neighborhoods Other Regions
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Problem statement

• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) climate
  change and loss of natural habitat are two
  greatest threats to biodiversity. Loss of natural
  habitat through land-use changes, climate change
  and ecosystem degradation accounts for the loss
  of biodiversity around the globe.
• South Africas National Spatial Biodiversity
  Assessment (2004) found that 34 of terrestrial
  ecosystems, 82 of the main river ecosystems and
  65 of marine ecosystems are threatened, with few
  of these threatened ecosystems currently afforded
  any formal protection.
• South Africas National Biodiversity Assessment
  (2011) found that 40 of terrestrial, 57 of the
  river, 65 of the wetlands, 44 of estuaries, 41
  of offshore and 59 of coastal and inshore
  ecosystems are threatened, with few of these
  threatened ecosystems currently afforded any
  formal protection.

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Biodiversity in South Africa

• Biodiversity is defined as "the variability among
  living organisms from all sources including
  terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems.
• South Africa is one of the worlds top 3
  mega-biodiverse nations, has 3 biodiversity
  hotspots- the Cape Floristic kingdom the
  Succulent Karoo region and the
  Maputaland-Pondoland region,
• Climate change affects biodiversity causing
  complex interaction across sectors, thats
  economic, energy, natural resources, water,
  social and health services.
• Biodiversity is a recognized sector in White
  Paper- and has an extensive Policy and
  Legislative Framework to form the basis of a
  sector response

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Basis for Sector Response

• Loss of biodiversity, ecosystem degradation and
  climate change affect the environment,
  development and security issues, i.e., they
  undermine
• food, water and human security
• the economy (loss of natural capital)
• poverty alleviation and the livelihoods of the
  poor
• human health
• personal, national and regional security
• Biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and
  climate change are inter-and intra-generational
  equity issues
• the actions of today will affect future
  generations
• Poor people are the most vulnerable.

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Basis for Sector Response (cont)

• The vulnerability and adaptive capacity of
  ecosystems is closely linked to the social and
  economic systems that surround them.
• The economic cost of adapting to climate change
  is likely to be substantial, but the economic
  cost of not adapting would be even greater.
• Ten principles will inform the policy directions
  and key elements of the biodiversity and climate
  change response strategy.

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Response Strategy principles

• Manage further loss and degradation of natural
  ecosystems in priority marine, coastal and
  terrestrial areas for climate change resilience,
• Avoid strategies that pose a high risk to the
  integrity of ecosystems to adapt naturally,
• Prioritise adaptation strategies which deliver
  multiple benefits across several sectors (for
  example, benefits for the safety of human
  settlements, benefits for agriculture, as well as
  benefits for natural ecosystems),
• Prioritise adaptation strategies that facilitate
  resilience both to increased climate variability
  and to long-term climatic shifts,
• Prioritise cost-effective adaptation measures
  where possible.

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Response Strategy principles (cont)

• Address adaptation to climate change at
  landscape, ecosystem, species and genetic levels,
  
• Where possible, integrate climate change
  adaptation and mitigation responses into existing
  programmes and institutional arrangements rather
  than creating new programmes and institutional
  arrangements,
• Ensure ongoing generation of scientific knowledge
  to support climate change adaptation and
  mitigation, and facilitate strong links between
  science, policy and implementation to ensure that
  the best available science informs the
  biodiversity and climate change response strategy
  and action plan,
• Draw on indigenous and traditional knowledge to
  support climate change adaptation and mitigation
  through biodiversity and ecosystem strategies.

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Sector Approach

• National Government is coordinating the sector
  response as part of outcome 10,
• Biome approach provides a framework for a
  national level assessment of potential impacts
  and adaptation approaches.

• Initial focus is on determining the
  vulnerabilities of the major biomes. (50
  completed)
• Thereafter there will be a broader stakeholder
  engagement process to develop 9 biome adaptation
  plans.

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Conceptual Framework
2011
2014
2013
2012
Framework document for biodiversity and climate
change completed
Vulnerability assessment or all nine biomes
developed
Response measures for all nine biomes to be
developed
Climate change adaptation plans for all biomes to
be developed
2015 Implementation of the climate change
adaptation plans
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National Policy Perspective

• There is a Framework policy for Biodiversity and
  Climate change response,
• The core elements have been incorporated into the
  White Paper,
• Accounting for the value of biodiversity and the
  ecosystems it supports,
• Adaptation measures for biodiversity should be
  explicitly linked with the wider benefits that
  they bring,
• Impacts of Climate Change and Biodiversity loss
  affect different economic sectors

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• THE ENABLING LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT
• NEMA
• NEM Biodiversity Act
• NEM Protected Areas Act
• Marine Living Resources Act
• Integrated Coastal Management Act
• World Heritage Convention Act
• MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS
• Convention on Biological Diversity and the
  Programme of
• Work on Protected Areas
• World Heritage Convention
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
  Change
• United Nations Convention to Combat
  Desertification ( UNCCD)
• Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
  Species (CMS)
• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

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Policy Tools

• National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
• National Biodiversity Framework
• Protected Areas Register
• National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy
• National Action Programme to Combat
  Desertification
• Regulations on Threatened or Protected Species
• Draft Regulations on Alien and Invasive Species
• Guidelines for Bioregional Plans
• Listed Threatened Ecosystem
• Norms and Standards for Species Management Plans
• Framework for Assessing Risk of GMOs
• Regulations on Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit
  Sharing
• Fiscal incentives for biodiversity management
• Regulations for proper administration of special
  nature reserves, national parks and World
  Heritage Sites

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Existing Implementation Mechanisms

• People and Parks Kids in Parks Programmes
• Sustainable land management and land based
  livelihoods programmes, (UNCCD CBNRM)
• National policies and tools relating to
  Bio-prospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing
  (BABS) in terms of NEMBA
• Implementation of the National Action Programme
  to combat land degradation and/or desertification
  priorities
• UNCCD Drylands Fund

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Vulnerability assessment of SA biomes

• The Grassland biome appears to be at most risk of
  significant change under all scenarios.
• Eastern and northern sections of Fynbos most
  likely to be under climate stress
• The climate predictions shows that Nama-Karoo is
  likely to resemble an arid Savanna, and might
  resemble the Desert biome under the worst case
  scenario.
• The Indian Ocean Coastal Belt increases under the
  best case scenario with the warm moist conditions
  which favour this biome expanding but Indian
  Ocean Coastal Belt shifts to a Savanna biome
  under worst case scenarios.
• Succulent Karoo largely persist under all the
  scenarios. This contrasts with previous
  predictions from the mid-1990s as newer climate
  models indicate far smaller impacts on winter
  rainfall than early models predicted.

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Strategic Adaptation Response

• Reducing existing threats to biodiversity to
  promote resilience of natural ecosystems and
  species, especially in priority areas for climate
  change resilience identified in spatial
  biodiversity plans,
• Enhancing understanding of and increasing the
  value and application of Ecosystem-Based
  Adaptation responses. These integrate the
  sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem
  services into an overall adaptation strategy. It
  is cost-effective and generate social, economic
  and cultural co-benefits while also contributing
  to the conservation of biodiversity,
• Incorporating climate change information into
  management tools for biodiversity management,
  including bioregional plans and biodiversity
  management plans,
• Ongoing development and expansion of a
  comprehensive, adequate and representative
  protected areas network which incorporates
  adaptation to the impacts of climate change,

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Strategic Adaptation Response (cont)

• Protected areas need to be expanded to
  incorporate altitudinal gradients and topographic
  range, intact river corridors, coastal dune
  cordons, and a greater range of microhabitats, in
  order to conserve the climatic gradients required
  to give us some leeway for climate change. Taking
  a bioregional approach, i.e. working to conserve
  intact ecosystems in priority areas throughout
  the landscape not only in the protected area
  network,
• Assisting the natural adaptation of species and
  ecosystems through improved in-situ and ex-situ
  management of areas of high conservation value,
• Increased monitoring and research into the
  impacts of climate change and adaptation options
  for species and ecosystems threatened by climate
  change, and
• Integrating biodiversity and adaptation
  strategies into climate change mitigation
  programmes already under way.

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Scientific base for sector response

• Biodiversity has the best science available, and
  fruitful collaborative work with research
  institutions and organizations such as SAWS,
  CSIR, SANParks, SANBI,
• Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
  Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)-
  Global body providing scientifically sound and
  relevant information to support more informed
  decisions on how biodiversity and ecosystem
  services are conserved and used around the world.
• Desert-Margin Programme- to conserve and restore
  biodiversity in the desert margins through
  sustainable utilization. Its specific objective
  is to develop and implement strategies for
  conservation, soils and carbon stocks,
  restoration and sustainable use of dryland
  biodiversity (to enhance ecosystem function and
  resilience).
• Kalahari-Namib Project- enhancing decision-making
  through Interactive Environmental Learning and
  Action in Molopo-Nossob River Basin The overall
  goal of the proposed KNP is to contribute towards
  enhancing and sustaining the livelihoods (land
  degradation, loss of biodiversity, primary
  productivity, and the loss of ecosystem
  functioning of all inhabitants of the
  Molopo-Nossob Catchment).

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Ecosystem-based adaptation

• Ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change is a
  major focus of South Africas biodiversity and
  climate change response strategy- significant
  value for societal adaptation, ability to provide
  additional benefits and the maintenance of
  diverse agricultural landscapes to support
  productivity under changing climate conditions.
• Ecosystem-based adaptation, if designed,
  implemented and monitored appropriately, can
• Generate multiple social, economic and cultural
  co-benefits for local communities,
• Contribute to the conservation and sustainable
  use of biodiversity,
• Contribute to climate change mitigation, by
  conserving carbon stocks, reducing emissions
  caused by ecosystem degradation and loss, or
  enhancing carbon stocks.
• Rehabilitation, conservation and economic values

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Public Awareness and Participation

• Making a case for Biodiversity- Raising Public
  understanding of the role of biodiversity in
  climate change responses , enhancing
  participation increasing Treasury funding for
  the sector.
• The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
  (TEEB) programmes developed as part of sector
  contribution to Green Economy. Valuation Studies
• Community-based Natural Resource Management
• People and Parks- aims to conserve natural
  resources by protecting and upholding the rights
  of communities in the conservation of our rich
  natural and associated cultural heritage
  resources.
• LandCare programmes- include aspects such as
  yield management, controlling bush (unpalatable
  species) encroachment, preventing overgrazing,
  fostering land-user empowerment and commitment to
  sustainable land management. The programme seeks
  to optimize and sustain resources in order to
  attain greater productivity food security job
  creation and a better quality of life.

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Adaptation Programmes underway

• Many ecosystem based approaches are being
  demonstrated within South Africa from
  reforestation of riparian areas, clearing of
  alien vegetation, conservation of intact
  grasslands for soil carbon, and mangrove
  restoration.
• Applying the pro-poor methodology and ensuring
  biodiversity, community and climate benefits
  (Wildlands Conservation Trust)
• Applying approaches of community conservation in
  climate change adaptation corridors in
  KwaZulu-Natal (Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife)
• Connectivity, restoration and working with
  farmers in building resilience to climate change
  (Conservation International)
• Restoration and connectivity in riparian habitats
  (Endangered Wildlife Trust Riverine Rabbit
  Programme)
• Sub-tropical thicket restoration for carbon
  sequestration and ecosystem restoration The
  Wilderness Foundation

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Projects with Adaptation potential
Name Budget Project Outline
Machubeni Catchment Management - R6.7 M EPWP Funded Reinstate community access to high quality drinking / irrigation water, Reverse the process of land degradation
Catchment - KZN R5.57 M EPWP Funded Land and catchment rehabilitation through alien vegetation control and bush clearing, and Introduction of game species and conservation management of the game
Riemvasmaak Community Conservancy _ R3.5 M EPWP funded Develop Riemvasmaak as conservation and eco-tourism destination. Improve tourist facilities at the Natural Hot Springs and develop a drying facility for grapes already planted at Vredesvallei
Platfontein and Schmidtsdrift R4.7 M EPWP funded Plus R2 million for Schmdts from the mining company At Platfontein the project will Convert a farmhouse into a 16 bed BB, Develop trails and picnic sites and Create a cultural site for use by the local community. At Schmidtsdrift the project will Establish internal water, electricity and roads services, Create a Safari Camp and restock the area with game for hunting and photographic tourism
Sireletsa Somerela - R2.76 M EPWP funded Secure site for propagation, cultivation and processing of medicinal plants and herbs, Fence nursery, production fields and dam, and Rehabilitate and protect salt-water spring.
Abe Bailey Nature Reserve - R3.0 M EPWP funded Establish a propagation nursery for threatened indigenous plants Rehabilitate and cultivate degraded land Support small scale agriculture in buffer zone
Madibaneng Soil Conservation - R5.0 M EPWP Funded Rehabilitation of rangeland and agricultural lands, Construction of erosion control measures, and Improvement of grazing management
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Institutional Arrangements

• Sector Participation in IGCCC, NCCC, Minmec,
  MINTECH
• Oversight over SANBI, SANPARKS, iSmangaliso
• Bioregional Programmes
• Outcome 10
• Member of NGO Adaptation network

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Conclusions

• There is growing recognition of the interface of
  biodiversity, climate change and society.
• Changes in biome distribution affect production
  services such as wool, meat and grassland
  products.
• Monitoring efforts and some key experimental
  studies at national and sub-national scale will
  be critical for evaluating future risk, for
  improving model projections of impacts,
• There is increasing awareness of the value of
  using biodiversity in assisting societal
  adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate
  change, but more information is needed.
• Expand existing programmes to combat the spread
  of alien and invasive species and the destruction
  of sensitive ecosystems including Working for
  Water, Working for Wetlands and Working on Fire,