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BIODIVERSITY SECTOR RESPONSE TO

CLIMATE CHANGE

Fundisile Mketeni

DDG: Biodiversity and Conservation

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

• Conclusion2

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 country’s 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 world’s 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.

Other Neighborhoods

Other Regions

Climate Stability Biodiversity

Natural habitats, Trees Air, Water, Land, Soils

Buildings, Places Streets, Routes

GLOBAL ECOSYSTEMS

Working, Shopping,

Moving

Living, Playing,

Learning

Incomes,

Innovation

Markets, Investments

The determinants of health and wellbeing in human habitation

Community

Social capitalNetworks

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 Africa’s 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 Africa’s 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 world’s 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, that’s 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.

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.

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.

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• 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.

Conceptual Framework

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

20132011 2012 2014

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

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

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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• 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.

Vulnerability assessment of SA biomes

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 Africa’s 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

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Name Budget Project OutlineMachubeni 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 B&B, 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 plantsRehabilitate 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

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,

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