Myanmar
River Health Framework (MRHF)
Ecosystem Services and River Livelihoods
What are ESs and why are they important?
“the conditions and processes
through which natural
ecosystems, and the species
that make them up, sustain
and fulfill human life”
Daily 1997
“the combined actions of the
species in an ecosystem that
perform functions of value to
society” Walker and Salt
2006
“the benefits that people
obtain from ecosystems”
MEA 2005
Water
Quality &
Quantity
Biodiversity
Ecosystem
Services
Livelihood
benefits
They are People Focused and Defined
Categories of ESs
Provisioning
Services
Products obtained
directly from ecosystems
•Food
•Fresh water
•Fuel
•Wood, Fiber, Medicine
Regulating
Services
Benefits obtained from
regulating ecosystem
processes
•Climate regulation
•Flood regulation
•Disease regulation
•Water purification
Photo: Tracy Baker, IWMI
Cultural
Services
Material and nonmaterial ecosystems
benefits
•Aesthetic
•Spiritual
•Educational
•Recreational
Photo: Joseph King, TAMUS
Supporting Services
Services necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services:
Soil Formation
Nutrient Cycling
Primary production
MEA 2006
ESs represent a direct link between people and
ecosystems
Ecosystem Services
from rivers
Ultimately everyone depends on ESs but
often it is the poorest who depend the most
Value of ESs
Examples
Value
Mekong Capture Fishery (2.5 Mt)
$1.5 billion
Livelihoods – 2-3 million
Food/nutritional security millions more
That Luang wetland (Vientiane)
Reduced flooding ($ 3.5M)
Water purification ($ 1.7 M)
Products(US$ 2.5M)
Mangroves Thailand
$12,000/ha
Zambezi flood recession agriculture
$36 million
Nakivubo wetland, Uganda – waste
water treatment
$1 million
New York – watershed
protection/water treatment
$5-6 billion
Rivers
• Supply many ESs and
support many livelihoods
• But flow variability is a
problem for hydropower,
irrigation and water supply
The challenge modify flows
for socio-economic
development BUT
simultaneously maintain flows
to sustain a range of ESs that
also contribute to social and
economic objectives
Balancing “working” basins
 Living and building “with
nature” – optimizing
benefits (equitable and
sustainable)
 Balancing structural and
non-structural measures
 Decisions made in a way
that is different from the
present
Multifunctional “balanced” basin
Hydropower
Crops
Industrial
Regulation of
water balance
Recreation
Erosion control
Nutrient
cycling
Soil
formation
Climate
regulation
How to incorporate ESs in water planning and
management to achieve appropriate
development “balance” (sustainable and
equitable)
To transform decisions … decision
makers need clear and credible ESs
information
How?!
First step - knowledge
What ecosystems exist ?
Inventory
Where within a basin ?
Mapping
How do they function ?
Measuring & quantifying
What services do they provide ?
People
How do they interact with built
infrastructure ?
Modeling
Need to quantify as much as possible
Project partners
Thank you
Robyn Johnston
Team leader Salween
R.Johnston@cgiar.org
Tarek Ketelsen
Team leader Ayeyarwady
tarek.ketelsen@icem.com.au