CALN1508 Essay
Nature, our silent provider of water, soil, vegetation and sacred land, greatly
contributes R275 billion to South Africa’s economy. However, nature does not evenly
provide these benefits across the country, posing the thought that sustainability and
the long-term development of ecosystem services should be a major concern.
Ecosystem services not only provide nutritious food through soil formation, but also
flood regulation, sacred lands and national parks. This leads to psychological and
physiological needs being met, economic growth and a culturally-enriched nation.
The main issues addressed in this essay are the unequal availability of ecosystem
services and how valuable they are in South Africa, the benefits of these ecosystem
services and how they meet one’s psychological and physiological needs, and the
consequences of the loss of ecosystem services in South Africa.
Ecosystem services are highly valuable in South Africa, with the availability varying
from province to province. Provisioning services, like clean drinking water are not
adequately accessible; while national access has improved, provinces like Limpopo
(58.5% of households have access) and Eastern Cape (67.0% of households have
access) are sitting at the lowest numbers of water accessibility (Statistics South
Africa, 2024). Secondly, supporting services such as fertile soil which allows for
agriculture to produce vegetation are also unevenly distributed in provinces like the
Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which are facing soil degradation (Water
Research Commission, 2016) (Blignaut et al., 2013). Moreover, regulating services
such as flood control and water purification are also provincially unevenly distributed.
Areas like the uMngeni Catchment, where wetlands and rivers have been degraded,
are less capable of filtering water and reducing flooding (Nel and Driver, 2015).
Lastly, cultural services like sacred lands and national parks are also not evenly
available across the country, with traditional communities being limited from spiritual
and recreational opportunities. (DEA, 2015)
Ecosystem services are vital to meeting the psychological and physiological needs of
South Africans. Regulating services such as flood regulation address the
psychological need of feeling safe, however, when these services are compromised
as seen in the KwaZulu-Natal floods, this greatly impacts mental health (Van Straten
and Ncube, 2023). Secondly, supporting services like soil formation, enables the
agriculture necessary to provide nutritious food from crops to meet our physiological
needs. Ecosystem restoration in uMngeni Catchment has improved soil quality,
water retention, and long-term crop productivity (Blignaut et.al, 2013, p.2, pp2-3).
Thirdly, provisioning services such as wild foods and medicinal plants, are essential
for maintaining the physical health of rural South Africans. Lastly, cultural services
enrich mental health by providing access to places of historical and spiritual value,
deepening one’s cultural identity and psychologically enriching their experience
(Masilela, Hoogendoorn & Visser, 2023). Thus, the availability and functioning of
these ecosystem services are crucial to both our psychological and physiological
needs.
The loss of ecosystem services would have major environmental, economic and
cultural consequences. Without regulatory services like water purification provided
by wetlands, water shortages would occur in South Africa severely, resulting in an
increased water demand that outweighs the available surface water supply (Lorentz,
2019). Secondly, if cultural services like sacred lands are lost in Venda, the people of
Venda will become culturally depleted, as these spaces mirror the people’s cultural
identity and well-being (Pikirayi & Magoma, 2021). Lastly, when provisioning services
which are supported by soil formation, do not occur, crop production will not take
place, causing an economic burden for South Africa from importing food from other
countries (George, 2024). All in all, these ecosystem services are of much
importance, as their loss would result in an environmental, cultural and economic
burden placed on South Africa and its people.
There is an unequal availability of ecosystem services in South Africa while not
forgetting its value, it is crucial in meeting our psychological and physiological needs.
Its loss brings detriment to the cultural, economic and ecological aspects of South
Africa. Provisioning and supporting services like how agriculture is supported by soil
formation, and other types of ecosystem services like flood regulation, sacred lands
and national parks, are unevenly distributed. All this allows for cultural enrichment,
better physical health and meeting the psychological need to feel safe and secure.
The loss of ecosystem services in South Africa is of great detriment to South Africa’s
already strained economy. It is therefore important that South Africa’s government
implements targeted measures that will ensure the sustainability and availability is
increased for ecosystem services in limited access provinces like the Eastern Cape
and KwaZulu-Natal.
Reference List
Statistics South Africa, 2024. The state of basic service delivery in South Africa:
Analysis of the Census 2022 data (Report No. 03-01-83). Pretoria: Statistics South
Africa. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-0183/Report-03-01-832022.pdf [Accessed 20 May 2025]
Turpie, J.K., Forsythe, K.J., Knowles, A., Blignaut, J. & Letley, G., 2017. Mapping
and valuation of South Africa's ecosystem services: A local perspective.
Ecosystem Services, 27 Part B, pp.179-192. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.07.008 [Accessed 20 May 2025]
Nel, J.L. and Driver, A., 2015. National River Ecosystem Accounts for South Africa:
Discussion Document. Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute.
Available at:
https://seea.un.org/sites/seea.un.org/files/national_river_ecosystem_accounts_dis
cussion_doc.pdf [Accessed 20 May 2025].
DEA (Department of Environmental Affairs), 2015. South Africa’s Fifth National
Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Pretoria: Department of
Environmental Affairs. Available at: https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/za/za-nr-05en.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2025].
Blignaut, J., Mander, M., Schulze, R., Horan, M., Dickens, C., Pringle, C.,
Mavundla, K., Mahlangu, I., Wilson, D., McKenzie, M. and McKean, S., 2013.
Restoring and managing natural capital towards fostering economic development:
Evidence from the uMngeni Catchment. South African Journal of Science,
109(11/12), pp.1–10. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1590/sajs.2013/a0033
[Accessed 22 May 2025].
Water Research Commission, 2016. Policy brief: Soil erosion in South Africa –
Challenges and opportunities. [online] Pretoria: WRC. Available at:
https://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/PB_soil%20erosion.pdf
[Accessed 22 May 2025]
Mowat, S. and Rhodes, B., 2020. Identifying and assigning values to the intangible
cultural benefits of ecosystem services to traditional communities in South Africa.
South African Journal of Science, 116(7/8), pp.1–6. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/6970 [Accessed 22 May 2025]
Water Research Commission (WRC), 2014. Wetlands in South Africa: Their
contribution to well-being. WRC Report No. 1986/1/14. Pretoria: Water Research
Commission. Available at: https://www.wrc.org.za/wpcontent/uploads/mdocs/PB_soil%20erosion.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2025].
Masilela, N., Hoogendoorn, G. and Visser, G., 2023. Cultural tourism in South
Africa: A case study of the experiences of employees. African Journal of
Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 12(1), pp.326–338. Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370003739_Cultural_Tourism_in_South_
Africa_A_Case_Study_of_the_Experiences_of_Employees [Accessed 22 May
2025].
Van Straten, J. and Ncube, M.A., 2023. Spiritual and mental health of flood victims:
A case study in KwaZulu-Natal. Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 15(1),
pp.1–9. Available at: https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1435/2778
[Accessed 22 May 2025].
Lorentz, S., 2019. Why South Africa’s wetlands are in urgent need of rescue. Cape
Business News. Available at: https://cbn.co.za/featured/why-south-africaswetlands-are-in-urgent-need-of-rescue/ [Accessed 23 May 2025].
Pikirayi, I. & Magoma, M., 2021. Retrieving intangibility, stemming biodiversity loss:
The case of sacred places in Venda, northern South Africa. Heritage, 4(4),
pp.4524–4541. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4040249. [Accessed
23 May 2025]
George, A., 2024. South Africa and the import of food products. Modern
Diplomacy. Available at: https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2024/10/18/south-africa-andthe-import-of-food-products/ [Accessed 23 May 2025].