This policy paper details the preeminent that is waiting to be played by the adoption of ecosystems management as an instrument of natural resources management in Africa, and how such a change would open the way to greater sustainability in resource use in the continent and catapult the continent to a greener path to economic development. Many Africa’s societies have a broad diversity of natural resources (soils, vegetation, water, wildlife, etc.) which constitute the continent’s natural capital assets that have been harnessed to different degrees to enhance social, human and financial capital to alleviate poverty. However, inappropriate management practices in the use of these natural resources which form the basis of their ecosystems services and processes, have led to a decline in ecosystems ‘capacity to produce goods and services thus jeopardising their social and economic value for human societies across the continent.
Even though Africa’s societies depend upon ecosystems to deliver net development gains, benefits accruing from those ecosystem services are unequally distributed and have led to losses for some communities, leaving many groups unable to break free from poverty (MA, 2005). Deliberate and informed investing in ecosystems can bring enormous benefits to the Africa’s continent, providing the dual goals of supporting local communities, as well as helping them cope with and adapt to a changing climate.
This issues paper aims to:
i. demonstrate the foundational significance of ecosystems in maintaining Africa’s societies, and
ii. draw the attention of Africa’s policy-makers to the challenges and opportunities in ecosystem management
iii. Propose recommendations for enhanced actions on capacity building such as continent-wide ecosystem research network, policy setting and regional cooperation.
iv. The paper also aims to stimulate discussion and debate on how Africa’s societies can avoid degrading the natural environment and with it, the wealth and valuable benefits it provides, and instead promote and utilise healthy ecosystems to support a sustainable and more climate-resilient future for the continent.
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Key messages:
- To enhance understanding of ecosystem services and processes, functions and societal interactions, there is an urgent need to increase national awareness of their place in the development process.
- There is a crying need to work towards the legislation and institutional reforms in this important area. While existing laws may contain fragments of ecosystem management concepts, there are still significant challenges to be confronted. One such challenge involves educating the governments to employ ecosystems management as the most desirous approach.
- Institutional innovations that require merging ecosystems management with economic management at relatively larger spatial and temporal scales are needed for Africa. Notwithstanding, greater commitment to effective management of ecosystems on the part of countries and creation of an institutional mechanism for managing ecosystems across political and jurisdictional boundaries are essential co-requisites.
- Growth accounting without explicit valuation of ecosystem services is an incomplete analytical framework: Embracing and capturing economic values of ecosystem services in mainstream decision making tools and indicators
- Investing in a new development model using small-scale fiscal stimulus that mobilises the untapped potential of local people is imperative for unleashing a low carbon and Green Economy.
- An analysis of the role that an economic institution, specifically ‘the market’, plays in promoting the adoption of ecosystems management on both public and private domains is needed.
- Ultimately, there is the need to clarify the relationship between economic growth and ecosystems sustainability in Africa.
