Grobler, 2009; Grundling, 2014); however, at the time of the study, insufficient data did not allow for the value provided by this service to be demonstrated. The commodity price of peat stocks (i.e. the value of peat as an economic good for use as a compost or similar use) accumulated in South African peatlands was estimated as being as much as R6 billion and for peat accumulation R0.6 million per year (Grundling et al., 2017). These values are relatively low when compared to the cumulative economic values indicated by other services. This finding is highly significant as it indicates that the gain of revenue through peat harvesting is miniscule when compared to the loss of revenue due to replacing services lost through peatland degradation. The quantification and valuation of the hydrological regulation and cultural services including tourism, recreation and spiritualism were not possible due to limited data. This is not to say that the services do not exist. The ability for peat to provide additional hydrological regulation and cultural services needs further quantitative investigations to empirically include or exclude them as servicesenhanced by the presence of peat. This study by Grundling et al. (2017) demonstrated the value of services provided by South Africa’s peatlands. Peatlands are more valuable due to the presence of peat stocks within them. Based on the services evaluated and the available data, the value of the cumulative services provided by South African peatlands was estimated to be as high as R174 billion, expressed as an ecological infrastructure value. This means that for every R1 of carbon storage value, approximately another R12 can be added for other ecosystem services. This value equates to approximately R5.7 million per
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hectare. This is a substantial value that must be considered when making decisions regarding wetlands, and in particular peatland management in South Africa in order to conserve and sustain the peat and peat-forming conditions within them. South Africa’s wetlands are already at risk of degradation through various unsustainable land-use practices. These include alterations of water courses and water tables, infrastructure encroachment, urban and industrial effluent, peat extraction (mining), climate change and catchment transformation. These activities degrade wetlands and peatlands resulting in the exposure of the subsurface peat, and disruption of peatforming conditions. South African peatlands Less than 10% of the extent of South Africa’s wetlands (an equivalence of about 400 km²), is known to be peatland (Grundling et al., 2017). Globally, 50% of the world’s wetlands are peatland. According to South Africa’s National Peatland Database, 50% of South Africa’s peatlands are located in the Natal Coastal Plain Peat Ecoregion in the KwaZulu-Natal Province. Some peatlands also occur in the more arid regions of South Africa, such as the karst regions of the North West Province (Highveld Peat Ecoregion) and the Southern Coastal Belt Peat Ecoregion on the West Coast. Although peatlands are not common in South Africa, a number of these systems are unique, such as the endemic palmiet systems in the Cape Fold Mountains, and the world’s oldest known peatland, the Mfabeni Mire (which is 45 000 years old and still accumulating peat) located in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Contrary to the historic public perception in South Africa that wetlands are “wastelands”, the high economic value