Ecosystem Approach
And IWRM
by S. Diop
Que signifie la Gestion Intégrée des Ressources
en Eau (GIRE/IWRM)?
C’est un processus impliquant plusieurs influences dont l’ambition est de promouvoir l’exploitation et la gestion coordonnées du cadre naturel (l’eau, les sols et les ressources connexes), en prenant en compte les différentes populations et les influences changeantes à terme, en vue de tirer le maximum d’avantages économiques et sociaux qui en résultent de manière équitable sans porter atteinte à la pérennité des écosystèmes indispensables.
La Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau (GIRE/IWRM) prend en compte les mécanismes naturels et les implantations humaines
infrastructure
impacts
demands
laws,regulations,
management
natural system
institutionalsystem
socio-economicsystem
integratedwater resources
management
GIRE/IWRM: Approche intersectorielle
La GIRE/IWRM comporte:• Le fonctionnement/processus (les étapes successives, les institutions, les
contacts fructueux avec les partenaires)• L’équilibrage des avantages /la compensation• La détermination des choix (par rapport aux mesures politiques et
aux populations)• Des applications au niveau des bassins fluviaux.
L’eau pour les populations
L’eau pour l’alimentation
L’eau pour la nature e
Water for otheruses
Intégration intersectorielle
• Environnement favorable
• Institutions• Mécanismes
de gestion
Principes de Base de la GIRE • La Gouvernance est le plus important des principes d’application de
la GIRE. • L’Adhésion et la détermination des politiques.• Le Financement …• La Communication. La réussite du processus découlera
essentiellement du mécanisme de communication intense avec les partenaires concernés.
• Le Facteur temps. La GIRE est un mécanisme cyclique, elle doit donner en permanence reproduire sa propre image, et prendre en compte les différents points de vue de ses partenaires. Le processus nécessite beaucoup de temps.
• La Décentralisation de certaines responsabilités en matière de gestion des ressources en eau tendra à renforcer le sentiment d’appartenance de l’initiative au niveau des localités et réduira les pressions logistiques.
• Le cycle de la Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau (GIRE) ne doit pas se préoccuper en permanence de l’ensemble des bassins fluviaux. L’orientation du problème est également justifié dans certains cas.
Planification de la GIRE: Le mécanisme cyclique
Adoption des statuts Engagement en faveur des réformes
Analyser les déficiences
Elaborer une stratégie
Engagement en faveur des mesures concrètes
Appliquer les grandes orientations
Surveiller l’évolution
The Ecoyst based Approach in short
1. Ecosystems and their services
2. Principles of ecosystem management
3. Ecosystem management in practice
4. Key messages
5. Example of EMB applied to coastal marine environment
Ecosystems and their services
• The MA observed that the availability of water and other ecosystem services have been affected and
that aquatic ecosystems were the most impacted, resulting in affected livelihoods mainly due to:
o declined ecosystem function and resilience
o deterioration of water quality and availability
• Water allocation to ecosystems is critical for continuous provision of services essential for
sustaining livelihoods and development (critical for poverty reduction and attainment of MDG’s)
Ecosystems and their services
The MA also describes ecosystem services as,
• Freshwater• Food• Energy• Fiber• Genetic resources and biochemicals,…
provisioning• Water regulation• Purification and waste management• Natural hazard regulation• Climate regulation• Air quality, pests & disease regulation,...
• Inspiration• Recreation and ecotourism• Spiritual and religious values• Knowledge systems• Aesthetic values,…
regulating
Cultural Services
• Nutrient cycling• Water cycling• Primary production and biomass prod.• Soil formation and retention• Habitat provision,…
supporting
Ecosystems and their servicesWAZA-LOGONE,
Cameroonpasture, fisheries, grass
and reeds, forest products, tourism
$10 million a year$250/household
LAO WETLANDS, Mekong Basin
fish, frogs, snails$117 million a year$136/household
TANA FLOODPLAIN, Kenyamarine & freshwater
fisheries, forest products, pasture, flood-recession
agriculture, transport$3 million a year
$25-350/household
• Often the contribution of ecosystems is undervalued, because products are mainly not traded, and
products benefit marginal populations which are not taken into consideration in development decisions.
• These economic benefits are also not well understood by water managers, users, and policy-makers.
Water (and IWRM) in Ecosystem approach
Ecosystem approach, defined as a strategy for the
integrated management of land, water and living
resources that promotes conservation and sustainable
use in an equitable way; it is considered one of the
most important principles of sustainable
environmental management.
Ecosystem Management
Aims at managing ecosystems for resilience to maintain their
long term ability to provide a range of ecosystem services
critical to human well-being, and ensure benefits from these
services are shared equitably.
Resilience depends on the ecosystem’s ability to function
properly
In turn, ecosystem functioning depends on:
• Basic chemical elements of life (CHNOPS)- which affect
biogeochemical cycles
• Biodiversity: genes, species and attributes (composition,
structure, function) (natural variety and variability)
Ecosystem Management
Principles of Ecosystem Management
Ability of ecosystems to provide services�
Humans are an inherent part of the ecosystem�
Recognizes ecological boundaries & variability�
Considers cumulative impacts and necessary trade-offs�
Holistic policies and integrated management�
Consultative and informed by sound information�
Precautionary under uncertainty�
Adaptive to change
Ecosystem management in practice
Vital steps…• Reach consensus on priority ecosystem services
o Who decides what is important? How is a decision and the case made for?
o Identify interaction between ecosystems
o Identify trade-offs between ecosystem services
• Selecting ecosystem services will determine the scale of intervention
• Identify trends and drivers of change (direct and indirect)
• Understand intervention necessary to protect ecosystem services and put in place
• Monitor and adapt
• Provide policies/incentives
• Develop or strengthen appropriate institutions
The role of economic valuation
Valuation is not done in a vacuum
• Selecting priority ecosystem services: What is an ecosystem contributing to economic
activity or society, e.g. on average forests benefits in the Med region amount to about 1%
of GDP. Indirect use value such as watershed protection contributes about 35% of total
estimated value.
• Making the case and selecting management options and scenarios: What are the benefits
and costs of an intervention that alters the ecosystem (conservation investment,
development project, regulation or incentive)? Economic valuation makes ecosystem
services comparable to other investments.
• Ensuring equity and sustainability: How are costs and benefits of a change in ecosystem or
an intervention distributed?
• Designing economic instruments, esp. Incentives. How much to
pay/reward/compensate/tax?
The role of economic valuation
Examples: Costs of degraded ecosystems?
Waza Logone, Cameroon
Irrigation scheme curtails and poverty$2.4 million a year
Nakivubo Swamp, Uganda
Land reclamation red$2 million a year
Indus Delta, PakistanLow flows cause saltwater intrusion, mangrove die-off and reduced livelihoods Up to $95 million a year
Muthurajawela Marsh, Sri Lanka
Industrial expansion impacts
$8 million a year
The role of economic valuation
Of course, economic valuation is not a panacea, but:
• Economic valuation is one way to measure value and assign priorities between ecosystem
services
• Valuation has to integrate non monetary values (e.g. ranking)
• Benefit-cost analysis has many methodological limitations. Other ways to decide on
priorities include multi-criteria analysis, political negotiation and activism
• Who participates in the dialogue determines which ecosystem services will be considered
worth protecting
• How to adapt valuation methods to countries’ capacity?
• How to make the case using economic valuation?
Key Messages
• IWRM with an ecosystem perspective is about managing ecosystems for resilience to
maintain their long term ability to provide a range of ecosystem services critical to
human well-being
• This implies managing freshwater ecosystems, as well as ecosystems which impact or are
impacted by the management of freshwater ecosystems
• There is no recipe to put EM into practice as EM is a dynamic and non-linear process
• The boundary of an ecosystem depends on the issue at stake (multiscale)
• A lot of the tools are not new, the context and the way in which they are applied is new
• The issue at stake depends on who decides on priorities. A key element of EM is to empower
people (at all scales) to participate in decision making
• The effectiveness of the interventions will depend on their buy-in, hence the importance of
bottom-up approach
• Nobody works at ecosystem level unless there is an institution or a mandate to do so.
• We don’t manage ecosystems but people
Implications for building capacity:
• Various types of roles, various target audiences
• Many ways to learn: emphasize learning by doing, learning by sharing experiences and
networking, learning through mentoring
• Adapt old tools to new context with new examples
• Focus on multidisciplinarity (communication, social, political, economic, natural sciences,
communication)
• Emphasize link between science and policy
• There is no blueprint.
Example of EBM principles and key steps to getting started to national planners and decision-makers
National and provincial governments across sectors: environment, fisheries, transport, agriculture, planning, financing, etc…
Key strategic messages, with a focus on EBM:
• EBM includes people and promotes equity
• EBM concerns all sectors, not environment alone
• One size doesn’t fit all; in order for EBM to realize its full potential, capacity needs to be built for context-specific planning and governance.
• There is no single ‘correct’ approach – there are many different paths toward EBM.
• EBM can build on existing management structures and evolve from present approaches rather than reinventing them
• ICZM, and in the case of marine environment MPAs, fisheries
management are all part of EBM, (particularly when planned coherently)
EBM can evolve along a spectrum…No or low EBM Incremental EBM Comprehensive EBM
Individual species
Single sector management
Restricted scale— local only, for example
Short-term perspective:what do we need from theecosystem this year?
Managing commodities
Managing groups of species
Integrated management ofVarious sectors — e.g. fisheries & transport
Coordinated management at local and state levels
Medium-term perspective:what services do we need the ecosystem to provide 5 years from now?
Managing activities with those commodities in mind
Managing whole ecosystems
Integrating all sectors thatimpact, or are impacted by, the ecosystem
Coordinated management at all levels relevant to ecosystem
Long-term perspective: what will the ecosystem look like in 20 years with climate change?
Managing activities withsystem functioning in mind
In a Nutshell, MOVING TOWARDS EBM/IWRM:
Visioning Phase: Establish a Foundation for EBM
Planning Phase: Chart the EBM Process • Assess the ecosystem• Evaluate governance options, create cross-sectoral
frameworks• Identify measurable management objectives• Prioritize threats, examine trade-offs• Chose management strategy – e.g. on Coasts and
oceans; combinations of ICZM and ICAM, fisheries management, MPAs, etc
Implementation Phase: Apply and Adapt EBM• Monitor, evaluate, adapt• Communicate & educate• Secure sustainable financing over time
Putting EBM/IWRM into practice
Ecosystem Based Management/IWRM is a
balancing act!
Thank you for your attention
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