Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project Anglophone regional practitioners training course

Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project

Anglophone regional practitioners training course

MODULE 1

WETLANDS AND INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

By Dalmas O. Oyugi, Lucy Iyango

5 MAY 2007A Wetlands International project supported by DGIS

Lecture 3Lecture 3

Wetlands and Poverty ReductionWetlands and Poverty Reduction

Learning objectives

• Explain the wise use principle and the concepts of

sustainability, sustainable livelihoods, resource

use/exploitation and trade-offs.

• Explain the potential impacts of wetland use on the

natural system

• Understand and describe the various use options and

limitations available in wetlands (e.g. agriculture,

aquaculture, biomass harvesting and water treatment)

Definitions

Wise use of wetlands

• “Maintenance of their ecological character within the

context of sustainable development” – (Millennium

Ecosystem Assessment)

Definitions

Wise use of wetlands

• "Sustainable utilization for the benefit of mankind in a

way compatible with the maintenance of the natural

properties of the ecosystem”(integrity, socio-economic

benefits & posterity) – (Ramsar Convention)

Definitions

Ecological character

• Combination of the ecosystem components, process and

services that characterize a wetland at a given point in time

Definitions

Sustainable Development

• Development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their

own needs” (Brundtland 1987)

Considerations: Ecological, Social, Economic & legal

sustainability, location.

Definitions

Sustainable utilization

• "Human use of a resource so that it may yield the

greatest continuous benefit to present generations

while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and

aspirations of future generations". (Ramsar Convention)

Definitions

Ecosystem approach

• Recognises that all components of the ecosystem

(physical, chemical & biological) are interdependent

and can not be managed in isolation.

Definitions

Ecosystem approach

• Stakeholders must understand the implications of their

actions on ecosystem sustainability

• Management flexible and adaptive

• Scientific and socio-economic aspects considered in

interventions

• Interdisciplinary approach used

Definitions

Ecosystem approach

• Stakeholders must understand the implications of their

actions on ecosystem sustainability

• Management flexible and adaptive

• Scientific and socio-economic aspects considered in

interventions

• Interdisciplinary approach used

Livelihood and poverty

“A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including

both material and social resources) and activities required

for a means of living/meeting needs e.g. resource

harvesting (fish, natural resources).


Sustainable livelihood - resilience

• “A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and

recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance

its capabilities and assets both in the future, while not

undermining the natural resource base”. (Chambers and

Conway 1992)

Criteria for sustainable livelihoods

• Profit - Increase in real value between two time periods;

• Economic effectiveness - minimum inputs for maximum

outcome;

• Value addition - non-declining values of natural capital;

• Social equity - promotes livelihood opportunities for a

household but does not impose negative externalities

on others presently or in the future, and;

• Resilience - able to cope with and recover from

vulnerability.


Poverty

• Material need - needy

• Deprivation of goods and services

• The Lack of economic resources – e.g. income, wealth,

assets

• The lack of social needs - social seclusion, dependency &

inability to participate in society

Poverty reduction programmes

• Target different areas

• e.g. Education, economic development, income

redistribution, improved health care, and lifting social and

legal barriers to income growth among the poor

Wetland Services and exploitation

Livelihoods and wetlands services

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Provisioning services - direct and visible services Provisioning services - direct and visible services

(wetland products) e.g. fish, medicine, crafts materials, grass (wetland products) e.g. fish, medicine, crafts materials, grass

for mulching & thatching, building materials( sand and clay) etcfor mulching & thatching, building materials( sand and clay) etc




Regulating services - processes related to water, sediment

and climate (wetland functions) e.g. water, purification,

waste water treatment, communication, water storage,

climate modulation




• Cultural services - attributes from wetlands - cultural

values ( heritage), aesthetic values- landscape

• Supporting services – include soil formation

(accumulation of sediment & organic matter and nutrient

cycling. Fundamental to the functioning of the wetlands,

catchment and vital for people adjacent to and away from

the wetland

Exploitation of wetlands

Issues

• Exploitation for provisioning services by people – e.g.

agriculture, fishing, mining sand & clay, hunting

• Impact by humans on the environment – dependent on

population size, per capita consumption and type of

technology used. Impacts include pollution, biodiversity

loss, resource degradation, introduction of alien species

etc


Issues cont’d

• Effects on people – humans impact on the environment &

experience the impacts e.g. nutrient depletion causing low yields,

reduction in fish stocks, raw materials, health problems due to

pollution, livelihoods etc.


Issues cont’d

Resources can also be looked at in terms of:

• Excludability – denied access e.g. Flower farms, farms,

industrial development

• Subtractability – monopoly, limiting access by others e.g.

individual vs community


Issues cont’d

Resources can also be looked at in terms of:

• Extractive use – based on provisioning services (e.g.

wetland products)

• Non extractive use – based on regulating, cultural, and

supporting services (e.g. Wetland functions and

attributes)

0

Example of integrated agriculture-aquaculture approach in Wetlands

Finger Ponds DVD

Species level use versus ecosystem level

• Species level use – mostly in extractive uses of natural

resources e.g. fisheries, agriculture and forestry

• Ecosystem level use – range from recreational to activities

that use the ecosystem functions or services

(provisioning)

Integrated agriculture in wetlands

• Wetland services contribute to poverty reduction,

especially provisioning services.

• Agriculture main stay for rural communities &

supplemented by remittances form urban areas –issues of

food security and purchasing power for goods & services

are important considerations


Potential for agriculture in & around wetlands high because of

accumulated nutrients & residual moisture in the dry season

Agricultural production systems

• Examples: rain fed extensive & small holder plots without

external inputs but supplying households to large scale,

irrigated, mechanized and industrial scale


Way forward

Agro-ecology and integrated natural resource management

– combination of traditional knowledge and modern

technology e.g. Aquaculture + cultivation (fish ponds &

finger ponds)


Characteristics of traditional farming systems

• Are adapted to local conditions

• Use limited amounts of chemicals fertilizers & pesticides

• Use traditional soil & water management techniques e.g.

terraces, raised fields, mulching


Characteristics of traditional farming systems cont’d

• Is knowledge intensive rather than input intensive

• Use an integrated approach

• Are based on the sustainable use & ecosystem approaches

Impact of use on wetlands

• Pollution – seen in the increased concentrations of

nutrients, toxins or microorganisms in the water or soil of

the wetland, the impact results from reduction of the

natural functioning/processes of the wetland (regulating

services)

• Depletion – seen in the reduction in abundance of certain

components of the wetland (Provisioning services)

Impact of use on wetlands

• Degradation – seen in alteration of the ecosystem to the

extent that it no longer provides some or all the services

(the changed hydrology due to whole/part conversion,

results in wetland degradation

e.g. upstream dam construction results in degradation

of downstream flood plains due to diversion of water.

Impacts due to agriculture

• Conversion through drainage & removal of vegetation

affects wetland integrity

• Surplus nutrients (e.g. nitrogen & phosphorus) in adjacent

water bodies form fertilizer & manure

• Pollution from herbicides, fungicides and pesticides

• Soil erosion & depletion of soil nutrients etc

Decision making & tradeoffs in wetland use

Guiding questions for decision making

• Currents wetland status

• What are its components, processes and services

• Level of encroachment

• Social economic value and impacts

• The nature of proposed exploitation/activities

Decision making & tradeoffs in wetland use

Guiding questions for decision making cont’d

• Type of & suitability of exploitation

• Expected benefits and beneficiaries

• Impact of proposed exploitation

• Impact on the wetland ecology by the proposed

development

Decision is based on tradeoff between the benefits of

exploiting the wetland & costs/disadvantages/impacts

associated with use

ALSO READ McCartney et al 2005

Strategies for interventions - an example

Kampala Matrix

Problems related to tradeoffs

• Limited knowledge base on wetlands

• Cost benefit analysis limited by the lack of quantitative

valuation of many wetland services

• Difficulty in synchronizing present & future costs and

benefits of using a wetland

• Assessments of wetlands for use, should be based on

existing/changing conditions & on a case by case basis

There is need to understand and There is need to understand and

clearly describe the livelihood of clearly describe the livelihood of

people in order to have effective people in order to have effective

strategies for poverty reductionstrategies for poverty reduction

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Documents

Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project Anglophone regional practitioners training course