CI Freshwater and Ecosystem Services

8/9/2019 CI Freshwater and Ecosystem Services

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Ecosystem services are the benets

that functioning ecosystems provide to

people. These services, many of which

are critical for supporting life on Earth,

include provision of fresh water, protection

from storm surges/ooding, fertile soil

and food, clean air, climate regulation, and

medicines.

The global market value for the provision of food,timber, marine sheries, and hunting and shing is

estimated at more than one trillion dollars per year.However, these ecosystem values are not adequatelyreected in markets and polices, as evidenced by

the fact that more than 60 percent of our planetsecosystem services have already been degraded orare being used unsustainably.

Freshwater systems provide essential ecosystemservices, both for human populations and as home

to the greatest concentration of biodiversity on Earth.However, the worlds freshwater systems and theirmyriad species are losing their value for people due todepletion of water supplies, pollution of what remains,unsustainable harvest of species, the introduction ofalien species, and changing climate.

Conservation International is addressing the threatsto ecosystem services, particularly in fresh water, forthe benet of humans and biodiversity alike through

its Ecosystem Services and Freshwater Initiative.Launched in 2007, this initiative includes science,practice, and leveraging policy and behavior changes.

The results CI is generating are critical for making abusiness case for biodiversity and ecosystem servicesconservation as a means of generating human welfarebenets within larger contexts of human development,

poverty alleviation, and land-use decisionmaking.These results can only be achieved through strongpartnerships with research institutions, national andinternational nongovernmental organizations (includingdevelopment and humanitarian organizations),governments, corporations, and local organizationsamong others; such partnerships are a cornerstone ofCIs overall conservation strategy.

Our approach has three parts:

Developing the scientic base for

understanding ecosystem services, identifyingthreats, and determining priority areas;

Promoting innovative policies that supporthuman development and the conservation offreshwater and ecosystem services;

Conducting eld programs to test new

approaches on the ground.

ecosystemservices andfreshwaterinitiative


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However, only one percent of the Earths fresh water ows

freely, and burgeoning human populations are makingunsustainable demands on this vital resource that arealready outstripping supply in many regions around theworld. Both biodiversity and human communities are atrisk: an estimated one out of every six people on Earth has

no access to clean drinking water; two out of six people

lack adequate sanitation; and four out of six are aficted

by water-borne illnesses. The degradation and decline of

freshwater systems is now far too prevalent to be ignored.With the population expected to increase to 9 billion by2050, and with much of that growth happening in poordeveloping countries, the global freshwater crisis is onlygoing to get worse.

Freshwater ash points are increasing in number

worldwide as the global population grows and

consumption outpaces conservation measures.

The global freshwater crisis will be the next climate

change in terms of magnitude and urgency.

We rely on water for far more than basic maintenance

of human health: freshwater ecosystems also providefood and livelihoods for millions. The ecosystem servicesprovided by freshwater systems, including sheries,

ltration, and ood regulation, have global economic

value estimated at trillions of dollars annually. Nearly 70percent of all fresh water used by people is for agriculturalpurposes, and we have come to rely on steady waterows for a signicant portion of the worlds energy

generation. Climate change represents another formidablethreat, resulting in too much water in some places, andnot enough in others. Finally, freshwater systems haveaesthetic and recreational value.

A remarkable array of biodiversity shares this limitedsupply of clean fresh water with us. Freshwaterecosystems support unparalleled concentrationsof species, yet they are among the most imperiledecosystems on Earth, with extinction rates as high as

15 times greater than in the marine realm. This makesfreshwater ecosystems and the biodiversity they supporta global conservation priority. But conservation and theaspirations and needs of human communities often collidenecessitating the search for solutions that benet both

freshwater biodiversity and people.

Conservation International believes that ensuring safesupplies of clean fresh water for human communitiesand conserving freshwater biodiversity are not mutuallyexclusive goals; in fact, these goals are closely linked

and can both be achieved if we are willing to meet thechallenge. Our ve-year vision is to work with existing

and new partners to set global, science-based prioritiesfor freshwater conservation, implement managementand protection of key resources to benet both human

communities and freshwater biodiversity, and promoteinnovative policies for governments and markets.


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that freshwater ecosystems provide for both human andbiological communities to bolster the case for conservationfor the benet of both biodiversity and human well-being.

With our partners, CI has also developed two tools that

aid science-based decisionmaking in conservation, land-use planning, and the value of ecosystem services. Therst, Consvalmap (www.consvalmap.org), is an interactivedatabase containing peer-reviewed studies for specic

ecosystem services in particular places. Consvalmap helpsresearchers, policymakers, and other decisionmakers andstakeholders nd quality information about ecosystem

services and identify gaps in knowledge about servicebenets, valuation methods, and case studies.

The other tool is Articial Intelligence for Ecosystem

Services, or ARIES. This tool, developed collaborativelyby CABS and the Gund Institute, relies on geodata with

multiple data layers, such as vegetation, water ows, landtenure, land value, and population, and on probabilisticdecision models that are constructed based on theusers specic needs. ARIES provides a description of

the ecosystem services that are likely available as wellas the potential cost and benets of conservation and

development scenarios that the user is considering fora specic location. CI is helping to rene and eld test

ARIES in Madagascar, the Australian wet tropics, andMexico.

To support our research, CI will collaborate with localpartners to establish three regional freshwater research

centers, focusing rst on Mexico and Central America,Indo-Burma, and China. These centers of researchexcellence will be the primary mechanism for delivering

freshwater biodiversity and water services research in thethree regions.

Developing the Scientifc Base

Science helps us better understand ecosystem servicesand their links to biodiversity and human welfare,identify threats, and determine priority areas. Researchby CI scientists and our partners will help us apply ourlimited resources most efciently, targeting areas where

biodiversity is most at risk and where the welfare of humancommunities is most threatened by loss of ecosystemservices. Given the importance of fresh water, we are rst

focusing on the freshwater biome.

CI is leading a Global Freshwater Biodiversity

Assessment, along with the International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other partners, to

determine the global freshwater hotspots based on

the IUCN Red-Listing process. Because this will take

several years to complete, we are also undertaking

an exercise to dene a subset of areas that offer

immediate opportunities to conserve freshwater

biodiversity and freshwater ecosystem function andto promote human well-being through freshwater

services.

CI successfully used a similar methodology to identify andupdate the terrestrial biodiversity hotspots and the high-biodiversity wilderness areas, thereby creating priorities forconservation action that would have the greatest impactin the Earths most important regions for biodiversityconservation. (Please see www.biodiversityhotspots.org.)

That research, conducted by CIs Center for AppliedBiodiversity Science (CABS) and published in the journal

BioScience, found that hotspots and high-biodiversitywilderness areas account for a signicant proportion of

the planets ecosystem services. These services supportcommunities and economies around the globe, includingmore than a billion poor people who most critically dependon them and can least afford to pay for alternatives. CI andpartners are now assessing the economic value of services

Spatial concordance o

global biodiversity prioritie

and ecosystem service valu

Published: Turner et al. 2007.

Global conservation o biodiversity

and ecosystem services. BioScience

Volume 57(10):868-873.

American Institute o Biological

Sciences

0 990

99

Biodiversity priority

(percentile)

Ecosystems

ervice

value(percentile)


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Our Work in the Field

To ensure the development of successful, replicablestrategies to conserve the ecosystem services providedby freshwater systems and other ecosystems, CI andour partners are implementing pilot projects in differentregions. These projects integrate science and natural

resource management to inform policy and land-usedecisions regarding dam development, agriculturaldevelopment, watershed management, and tourismdevelopment. Results are also translated into conservationplans, habitat restoration actions, and sustainablelandscape designs to demonstrate and help pay forconserving biodiversity and maintaining ecologicalfunctions across terrestrial and aquatic biomes.

These projects are testing the extent to which standardized

approaches are possible across different contexts

and provide insights on how our ecosystem servicesand freshwater approaches can be adapted to varying

sociopolitical, economic, and cultural contexts. This willenable CI and our partners to systematically scale upthis work to achieve major impacts in priority regions,and to engage new kinds of partners, such as relief anddevelopment agencies.

The following are some highlights from CIs eld

projects around the world.

1. In the Philippines, we are mapping and assessingdeforestation and risk/hazard probabilities withincatchments to identify areas critical for themaintenance of water supplies for people and

ecological functions for species. The results are beingused to create a sustainable development plan for theEastern Mindanao Biodiversity Conservation Corridor.

2. We are working with Wetlands InternationalSouthAsia to develop scenarios linking lake water levelsand maintenance of critical habitat areas in IndiasKeibul Lamjao National Park that will be translatedinto an optimal water allocation plan. This plan willensure the maintenance of habitats and sh migration

routes (upon which 200,000 sherman depend for

survival), as well as hydropower generation andagricultural and domestic uses of water;

3. We are working in theAbiseo-Cndor-KutukConservation Corridor in the Andes to dene ways

to conserve watersheds and manage land uses.Activities include predicting the potential for forest-carbon investment, identifying connectivity potentialbetween key biodiversity areas for larger-rangingspecies (e.g., the spectacled bear), and mappingand quantifying development trends (settlementsand population, current and proposed roads, miningconcessions, and other infrastructure projects). Aproposed land-use plan and nancing strategy will

be ready for discussion and negotiation with local


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stakeholders and regional management authorities inscal year 2009.

4. In Cambodia, we are identifying freshwater priorityareas or key biodiversity areas that must be protected

to prevent the extinction of globally threatenedfreshwater species; developing freshwater sanctuariesthat would be supported and co-managed bylocal communities to protect areas where a highconcentration of biodiversity intersects heavy humanreliance on sh protein; projecting the impacts of a

series of proposed dams on both communities andbiodiversity; and evaluating the economic value ofintact forests for dam operators (through controllingwater ows and reducing sedimentation) to assess

the potential to fund forest conservation through feeson hydropower facilities.

Beneath the Yucatan Peninsula is an underground system

o streams and lakes so vast it contains about 25 percent

o Mexicos total resh water supply. These subterranean

waters are extraordinarily rich in biodiversity. A preliminary

search o species catalogues revealed hundreds o

reshwater species specialized or lie in this unusual

habitat, including blind, cave-adapted shes. Because this

subterranean habitat is not connected to similar habitats

elsewhere, these species are nearly all endemic to Yucatan.

This groundwater supported the Mayan civilization and

continues to support the descendants o that culture.

It is also essential to an economic boom based mainly

on tourism and, to a lesser extent, on agriculture. This

development is exploiting water resources without

accounting or the needs o indigenous people in the

interior.

Unortunately, the peninsulas groundwater quality is

increasingly threatened rom both above and below.

Rising sea levels are causing saltwater incursion, and at the

same time, agricultural runo and urban waste disposal is

contaminating the upper layers o resh water.

CI is working with local partners to protect this critical

groundwater system. As a rst step in creating a watershed

management plan, CI and our partners are gathering data

on the endemic species in the cave system and assessing

human water use and needs.

Water and Wildlife ofthe Yucatan


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5. In Mexico, we are identifying areas of zero extinctionin the northern Mexican desert (http://www.

zeroextinction.org/), where one or more species

that do not exist anywhere else on the planet are

found in small pools; and we are conducting an

integrated resource management project in theYucatan Peninsula that includes an assessment ofspecies in the underground cave system that supplieswater resources to coastal tourism and 25 percent ofMexicos citizens. We are also partnering with Amigos

de Sian Kaan and the Coral Reef Alliance to developguidelines to help cruise lines and hotels reducewater use and ensure adequate sewage treatment.

6. We are working to develop partnerships with reliefagencies and corporations in Guatemala to restorewatersheds and ensure freshwater provision andpayment for water services for community residents

in the Sierra de Las Minas region.

7. We are working in the Wet Tropics World HeritageArea in Australia, one of 35 basins discharginginto the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area,to understand ridge-to-reef ows. The modeling

approach being developed will be transferable toother regions and will prompt policy initiatives suchas payment-for-water-quality programs for touroperators who are affected by sedimentation andnutrient deposition.

8. InAfrica, we are working in the Kavango-Zambezi

Transfrontier Conservation Area, which crossesAngola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.Some 2 million rural people depend on ecosystemservices in this 300,000 km2 area. We are identifyingvulnerabilities and strategies for enhancing ecosystemresilience and human adaptation to different climatechange scenarios, and providing recommendationson the allocation of scarce conservation resourcestoward ensuring adequate protection of key priorityhabitats, natural resources, and ecosystem services.

9. Finally, in the Sichuan province in China, we areestimating values of water provision, carbon, and

biodiversity and have identied a potential payment-for-ecosystem-services plan in which water userspay a water usage fee to cover conservation actionswithin a park. The Ecological Compensation Fundwas also established to rehabilitate habitat andpreserve watershed services, including wateravailability for downstream users, and give upstreamvillagers a way to earn income.


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PHOTO CREDITS LEfT TO RIgHT, TOP TO bOTTOm:

CI/PHOTO by JOHn maRTIn, CI/PHOTO by JOHn maRTIn, aRT WOLfE/WWW.aRTWOLfE.COm*, JRmE

SPaggIaRI, OLIvIER LangRanD, RObIn mOORE, CI/PHOTO by HaRaLDO CaSTRO, CI/PHOTO by RuSSELL a.

mITTERmEIER, CI/PHOTO by HaRaLDO CaSTRO, CI/PHOTO by HaRaLDO CaSTRO, gIaCOmO abRuSCI,

CRISTIna mITTERmEIER*, CI/PHOTO by STERLIng ZumbRunn, CI/PHOTO by HaRaLDO CaSTRO,

CI/PHOTO by KaTE baRRETT, CI/PHOTO by RuSSELL a. mITTERmEIER, CI/PHOTO by HaRaLDO CaSTRO, aRT

WOLfE/WWW.aRTWOLfE.COm*, aRT WOLfE/WWW.aRTWOLfE.COm*, CI/PHOTO by HaRaLDO CaSTRO

*mEmbER Of

OUR MISSIONBuilt upon a strong foundation of science,partnership and feld demonstration, CIempowers societies to responsibly andsustainably care for nature for the well-being

of humanity.

www.conservation.org

Conclusion

Functioning ecosystems are vital for conserving

biodiversity and for providing important services for

people. Many of these services are linked to fresh

water. Life on Earth, whether human, plant, or animal,

depends on access to clean, predictable sources of

fresh water, and quality of life diminishes markedlywhere this vital resource is lacking or depleted.

The pressures on freshwater ecosystems and resourcesare intensifying as development of water resourcesescalates and watersheds are altered and degraded. Ifwe are to conserve the unique biodiversity found withinfreshwater ecosystems, as well as our own essentialsources of clean, fresh water, we must protect thehabitats and hydrological processes that support them.

Conservation International is ready to act now to addressthe global freshwater crisisapplying science, leveraging

policy and best practices, and implementing watershed-and site-level freshwater conservation projects.

Building on our initial results, CI will develop a ve-year

business plan for freshwater conservation that focuseson mitigating threats in high-priority places. The plan willincorporate best practices for addressing freshwater andhuman needs/dependencies on freshwater resources,allowing us to leverage global nancing opportunities,

determine how to bundle services and create marketsfor water and forest carbon, and build governance andother enabling conditions required for successfullyimplementing payment-for-water-services programs.

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CI Freshwater and Ecosystem Services