Page 11 - Biodiversity and Conservation Framework

Biodiversity & Conservation Framework

CIWA and biodiversity conservation Coordinated and collective efforts are needed to protect and
manage global resources. Society does not pay for global public
Biodiversity as a Global Public Good goods such as oceans, tropical rainforests, and freshwater that
runs down regional river systems. These are often viewed as
Biodiversity is a public good at local, national, regional, and open access resources and suffer from the “tragedy of the
global scales. It underpins our lives and well-being and commons,” where regional and global resources such as
provides multiple essential benefits for all people, including transboundary water resources are consumed by individuals at
food security, clean water, and disease prevention and cure, the expense of society. This has resulted in unsustainable use,
climate resilience, and disaster risk protection and underinvestment, and depletion of resources where access to a
mitigation. Biodiversity plays a fundamental, though public resource by individuals acts to the benefit of their own
variable, role in the provision of ecosystem services. Many interest and, in so doing, ultimately depletes the resource.¹⁴
economic sectors directly rely on the flow of goods and
services generated by nature such as food, raw materials, Options are available that could simultaneously halt and
pollination, water filtration, and climate regulation. ultimately reverse biodiversity loss, limit climate change,
According to the World Bank’s Economic Case for Nature and improve the capacity to adapt to it and meet other
study, the partial collapse of ecosystem services would cost goals such as improved water and food security. These
2.3 percent of global GDP (US$2.7 trillion) in 2030, and pathways to a sustainable future rely on recognizing that
some of the poorest countries would suffer the most from bold, interdependent actions are needed across several
this collapse.¹³ fronts, each of which is necessary and none of which is
sufficient on its own. This provides an opportunity for CIWA
The collective way in which society lives, trades, travels, uses to use regional collaboration as a mechanism to greatly step
resources, and generates waste has consequences for up efforts to conserve and restore biodiversity and address
biodiversity, ecosystems, and the services these provide to climate change through strengthened transboundary
support human well-being and livelihoods. Key threats to resource management.
Africa’s biodiversity include human encroachment,
fragmentation and destruction of habitats, disease, alien Key benefits and threats to
species, unsustainable resource use, and pollution. Climate freshwater ecosystems
change compounds these and adds its own impact, including
more frequent and extreme droughts and floods and an Water, rivers, and other freshwater ecosystems are key to
increase in the frequency and extremes of high temperatures supporting biodiversity and the range of services and benefits
and changes in rainfall patterns. The impacts of climate change associated with healthy, functional natural systems. Rivers play
are evident across all fields and within most species’ groups an important role in sediment delivery to maintain riverbanks,
and often amplify the threats posed by other drivers of floodplains, coastal dunes, and deltas. Wetlands are some of the
change. Protecting, restoring, and maintaining healthy most biodiverse, rich ecosystems in the world, providing a range
ecosystems support natural climate adaptation and mitigation of services including flood risk reduction, carbon capture and
processes, offer increased protection to local communities, storage, water purification, and groundwater recharge and
and build resilience to climate impacts and natural disasters. supporting sustainable fishing populations. Freshwater fish
support the livelihoods of vulnerable rural communities, enhance
food security, and often play a significant role in local economies.
Sustainable groundwater supply is critical for GDEs, such as
riparian vegetation and grasslands, and indirectly sustains lakes
and wetlands. Groundwater and surface water environmental
flows are important in maintaining the components, functions,
processes, and resilience of aquatic ecosystems to ensure an
ongoing provision of goods and services to local communities. A
fundamental issue in management of transboundary waters and
their biodiversity is ensuring connectivity between elements of
land and water bodies from source to coast. This is vital to
maintain an appropriate flow of water, nutrients, and sediment
that define water resources and the migration and dispersal of
species upstream and downstream, laterally with floodplains,
and vertically with groundwater and over space and time.

Climate change is having a significant impact on Africa, with
increasing occurrence of extreme events such as floods and
droughts. This will have a profound effect on the economy and
its ability to support a growing population, which will be highly
exposed to the vagaries of climate change. Freshwater
ecosystems in southern Africa face significant challenges from
climate change, with some regions already experiencing
reduced precipitation. Addressing the threat posed by climate
change will require a coordinated effort between countries, as
many watercourses in the region share transboundary river
basins. Failure to cooperate in the collaborative management of
transboundary water resources could lead to conflict between
countries if effective transboundary natural resource
management is not achieved.

¹³ https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/publication/the-economic-case-for-nature
¹⁴ https://earth.org/what-is-tragedy-of-the-commons/ 07