8.1.3
Water Security
A well-‐designed PAN can contribute to securing the quality and quantity of water supplies. The water provisioning and regulating aspects of ecosystems is a part of ecological sustainability discussed above, however, given the fundamental importance of the availability of quality water to human well-‐being and economic prosperity it is useful in the MTC to highlight the contribution of PAs to water security PAs can protect water catchment area and the intact rivers and wetlands within PAs regulate and clean water thereby improving the quality of the resource for down stream users. Under the current context of diminishing water availability and quality being experienced in South Africa this benefit of PAs may become one of the more compelling arguments in support of PAs. South Africa’s historical water catchment areas show that the water supply benefit of these areas was recognised long before the biodiversity benefit (e.g. mountain catchments of the south-‐western Cape) Box 3: Investing in Ecological Infrastructure Yields Tangeable Benefits for Communities. Partnerships between government, NGO’s and rural communities to restore ecological infrastructure in rural areas does yield tangeable benefits for communities. The “Wise Use Project” based in the Ha-‐Makuya and Mutale villages in the Mutale River catchment of Limpopo has demonstrated that local-‐level investment and custodianship of natural resources is central to the successful restoration, maintenance and benefit-‐sharing of natural resources that underpin rural livlihoods, such as wetlands. A by-‐prodcut of this pilot project was that it helped to build trust within the community around government green infrastructure projects such as Working for Wetlands and the Expanded Public Works Programme. This project demonstrates that central to the long-‐term preservation of ecological infrastructure, of which PAs are a key part, is the role that communities play in managing and sharing in the benefits of these resources. The Blyde River Canyon Study clearly outlines how the socio economic activities currently associated with the forest can be harnessed, incorporated and developed into a symbiotic relationship with the proposed protected area. The forests are currently used to provide a number of services, including: wood for domestic use (building, furniture, crafts, fuel); fauna and flora for domestic and commercial use (food, medicine, hunting, florist trade); and forest-‐scapes are an important site for recreational, aesthetic, cultural and spiritual purposes.
8.1.4
Climate Change Resilience
It is recognised that intact ecosystems (i.e. ecosystems which are in a natural or near-‐natural state) withstand stresses better than highly modified and fragmented landscapes, and offer a buffer to human settlements against extreme events caused by climate change. In addition, healthy ecosystems may assist species to adapt more naturally, thus contributing to their survival and the survival of the ecosystem. Healthy, intact freshwater ecosystems are vital for maintaining resilience to climate change and mitigating its impact on human wellbeing. In the western part of South Africa, which is likely to become dryer, intact rivers and wetlands will help to maintain a consistent supply of water; in the eastern part of the country, which is likely to become wetter, intact rivers and wetlands will be important for reducing flood risk and mitigating the impacts of flash floods. In South Africa we explicitly consider climate change resilience in the planning of PANs and bioregional plans. Inclusion of natural features such as altitudinal gradients, topographic diverse areas, intact river corridors, coastal dune cordons, landscape green corridors and a greater range of
Limpopo Protected Area Expansion Strategy: Making the Case
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