Integrating ecosystem services into
planning processes: Lessons from
Pongola and Lesotho
Kate Pringle
Institute of Natural Resources
What are ecosystem services?
Provisioning
• Food
• Fresh water
• Raw materials
Supporting
• Nutrient cycling
• Soil formation
• Photosynthesis
Cultural
• Aesthetic
• Spiritual
• Recreational
Regulating
• Climate regulation
• Flood attenuation
• Water purification
Ecosystem services and Planning processes
•
What’s missing from planning and what can ES offer?
o Integration of biophysical and social components
o Consideration of different temporal and spatial scales
o Comparisons of alternatives
•
How do we integrate ES into planning?
o Pongola study
o Climate change adaptation in Lesotho
Lankford, B, Pringle, C., Dickens, C, Lewis, F, Chhotray, V, Mander, M, Goulden, M, Nxele, Z and Quayle, L (2010) The impacts
of ecosystem services and environmental governance on human well-being in the Pongola region, South Africa. Report to the
Natural Environment Research Council. University of East Anglia and Institute of Natural Resources, London, Norwich, UK and
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
Step 1. Linking cover classes and services in Pongola
Step 2a. Identifying drivers of change in Pongola
Step 2a. Identifying drivers of change
• Indirect drivers
o Population change
o Change in economic activity
o Socio-political factors
o Cultural factors
o Technological change
• Direct drivers
o Land use change
o Invasion of alien plants
o Climate change
Step 2b. Developing plausible scenarios for Pongola
Step 3. Determining the impact of the scenarios
• Structured single-sector economy
o Increase in settlement off the floodplain
o Increase in harvesting of natural resources
o Increase in agriculture both on and off the floodplain
o Reduced flooding causing shift toward more terrestrial
species
Impacts on cover classes
Impacts on ecosystem services in Pongola
Step 1. Linking cover classes and services in Lesotho
Step 1. Linking cover classes and services in Lesotho
Step 2a. Identifying drivers of change in Lesotho
Step 2b. Developing plausible scenarios for Lesotho
STABLE / STRUCTURED
SOCIETY
NON –COMMERCIAL /
NO INVESTMENT
SOCIO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS
Scenario
1
Scenario
2
ECONOMIC DYNAMICS
Scenario
4
Scenario
3
UNSTRUCTURED /
UNSTABLE SOCIETY
COMMERCIAL
ECONOMY /
CAPITAL
INVESTMENT
Step 3. Determining the impact of the scenarios
• Related impacts to capability classes:
o Scenario 2: Little increase in cultivation
o Scenario 4: All areas were cultivated
• Vegetation communities in high production areas most
at risk
Impacts on ecosystem services in Lesotho
Projected change in ES under Scenario 2 at Setibi
Impacts on ecosystem services in Lesotho
Projected change in ES under Scenario 4 at Setibi
Step 4. Assessing trade-offs in services
Conclusions
• ES approach provides a useful way of considering short
and long-term benefits
• Enables decision-makers to balance trade-offs
• Maintains resilience and ensures sustainability!
Way forward for Cape Town
• Vegetation communities already mapped and ES
identified – is this a suitable baseline?
• Recommended that planning processes incorporate this
information through a scenario approach
• Trade-offs made should not comprise sustainability
Thank you
kpringle@inr.org.za
033 3460796