Introduction & the 1st Drop

Intro

HELLO to whoever is reading this humble blog of mine! Well firstly just a little background on the blog. I am not ashamed to say that this is very much part of my Geography Module on "Water & Development in Africa" (and not my own initiative), so naturally a lot of the articles and my comments will focus on water resources in the African context. Regardless I have chosen to zoom in specifically on ECOSYSTEM SERVICES as the theme. This is ultimately because I believe that water, be it for domestic consumption or for food provision through agricultural and fisheries practices, should very much be understood as a service and resource provided as a result of various ecological and hydrological processes within the ecosystems. Hopefully through this blog I will be able to conscientiously apply insights and perspectives that I have learnt from the module on this theme that I am focusing on. Like the title of the blog, I do believe that my opinions are just like tiny droplets of water that make up an entire ocean (but hopefully not as insignificant as how the metaphor sounds) and I sincerely welcome any comments that any readers might have :)

1st Drop: Payments for Ecosystem Services? "Working for Water" in South Africa

The first post is a reflection on an article by Turpie et al, 2008: The Working for water programme: Evolution of a payments for ecosystem services mechanism that addresses both poverty and ecosystem service delivery in South Africa.

In summary the article talks about the effectiveness of the "Working for Water" (WfW) programme, a form of payment for ecosystem services system. In simplified terms water users are charged a water tariff which serve as a form of payment to preserve the key grassland ecosystems - through active restoration processes of clearing and controlling the spread of invasive alien plants - within catchment areas that capture and store much of the summer precipitation . The result of which is not just an improvement in water supply but also biodiversity conservation of the ecosystems and greater employment opportunities to help alleviate poverty. The authors thus highlight the potential to develop such a model where "water has the potential to be an 'umbrella service' to other ecosystem services" achieving both conservation and socio-economical objectives. 

Some reflections I had after reading:

1) Understanding of issues surrounding water resources from ecosystem services perspective...

• Identified as a water scarcity issue given threats to water supply ;grassland wetlands which capture summer precipitation and maintains baseflows during dry seasons threatened by invasive species
• But lack of mention of accessibility? article mentioned that water scarcity is closely linked to the prevalence of poverty, hunger and disease...but at the same time problems surrounding water resources is very much about having access to safe water in the first place. In this case the link between water and socio-economic factors such as poverty can very much be seen as bi-directional (i.e. lack of access to safe water due to inability to afford safe water => further exacerbating poverty situation through diseases and/or lack of water for subsistence food production)
• Issue of accessibility can be potentially addressed through poverty alleviation but ultimately depending on context of situation in South Africa, i.e. what is the key problem? with regards to affordability or with regards to lack of infrastructure?

> Ecosystem services perspective on water resources seems to directly address the issue of water supply and scarcity but is only indirectly linked to the issue of accessibility and distribution.

2) Potential of water as an 'umbrella service' to other ecosystem services!

• WfW has met both physical and socio-economic objectives, but most importantly the model is sustainable and productive over the long term.
• Largely because ecosystem service of water provision is inherently more marketable than other services; tangibility and measurability!
• Beyond water's marketability as a commodity it also has the greatest potential for application of payment for ecosystem services approaches (Pagiola and Platais, 2007) because it is (a) easily identifiable; (b) clear, well-defined benefits for users; and (c) existing financing mechanism.
• More importantly positive spillover effect on other ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation!!
• As highlighted by the authors, there is a need then to clearly identify how benefits in terms of ecosystem services (inclusive of water supply as well as other services such as biodiversity conservation) compare with the costs and actions needed. This will help in the linking of payments to service delivery to ensure overall sustainability!

> Ecosystem services are clearly interlinked with one another and there is the potential of harnessing such interconnections to address a wide-range of issues, eg. water resource, food provision and even climate change

KUDOS on enduring such a long first post. I will try to keep it more readable the next time round :P

~Till next time~

National Geographic Society stock photo by James P. Blair