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