The impacts of ecosystem services and environmental governance on human well-being in the Pongola region, South Africa

今世后代的福祉取决于生态系统服务的可用性和可持续性。然而，实现社会和经济发展目标往往需要生态系统使用者和管理者在这些服务之间作出权衡，并干预其管理，从而影响所获得的服务。此外，生态系统变化和自然资源管理决定与更广泛的环境治理框架相关联。在南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔北方的庞戈拉河洪泛区，这种权衡、影响和联系沿着十分明显。由于上游Pongolapoort大坝的建设，生活在洪泛区的人们所获得的生态系统服务发生了重大变化。主要用于商业种植的甘蔗和棉花灌溉的供水增加，牺牲了下游社区以前可获得的各种供应、管理、支助和文化服务。该系统位于极端贫困的Umkhanyakude区，该区失业率为53%，服务质量差，疾病发病率高。因此，下游社区过度依赖洪泛区和相关的生态系统服务，而这些服务又容易被滥用。拟议的研究旨在评估有助于洪泛区人类福祉的生态系统服务，加深决策者的理解，使他们能够考虑其行动对生态系统功能和人类福祉的影响。为了实现这一目标，该研究将确定和分类大坝建设前后系统产生的生态系统服务，并确定和评估Pongola社区的福祉要素。然后，将选定代表这些生态系统和人类福祉状况的指标和措施。这将包括对大坝建造前后的生态系统服务和水/土地生产力进行经济评估。将分析受生态系统服务支持和影响的福祉要素与影响这些服务的类似人类活动之间的联系，以确定环境治理、这些服务和人类福祉之间的关系。将对指标中的信息进行分析，以确定这些服务和人类福祉的现状，并将进行历史变化分析，以确定这些服务的趋势、可能的变化原因以及对社会的相关影响。最后，将确定影响对福祉至关重要的生态系统服务的治理驱动因素，确定可能的未来，并制定适当的应对战略。利益攸关方协商是该项目的一个关键组成部分，将在所有阶段进行，以促进吸收所开发的知识。目前，管理当局对福祉-生态系统服务信息的使用和理解有限，这是成功管理生态系统服务和改善该区域人类福祉的主要障碍。主要利益攸关方包括目前负责管理大坝的水务和林业部，以及负责处理生态系统服务减少的许多影响的农业和环境事务部和卫生部，这些影响包括农业潜力减少和疾病增加，从而影响到贫穷。该项目的一个关键组成部分将是在这些组织之间建立伙伴关系，并建设能力，以更好地了解对生态系统服务的影响以及与人类福祉的复杂联系。通过解决自然资源治理问题，该项目力求促进生态系统养护和改善人类福祉，不仅在Pongola洪泛区，而且在南非和更远地区的其他河流系统。

The wellbeing of present and future generations depends on the availability and sustainability of ecosystem services. However, achieving social and economic development goals often requires ecosystem users and managers to make trade-offs between these services and to intervene in their management, impacting on services gained. In addition, ecosystem changes and natural resource management decisions link to wider environmental governance frameworks. Such tradeoffs, impacts and linkages are evident along the Pongola river floodplain in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. People living on the floodplain have experienced a significant change to the ecosystem services they receive due to the construction of the upstream Pongolapoort Dam. The increase in water provision primarily for the irrigation of commercially grown sugar cane and cotton has come at the expense of various provisioning, regulatory, supporting and cultural services previously available to downstream communities. The system is located in the extremely poor Umkhanyakude District which has a 53% unemployment rate, poor service provision and high incidence of disease. As a result the downstream communities are exceedingly reliant on the floodplain and associated ecosystem services which in turn are vulnerable to abuse. The proposed study aims to assess the ecosystem services that contribute to human welfare on the floodplain and to deepen the understanding of decision-makers, empowering them to consider the impacts of their actions on both ecosystem functioning and human wellbeing. To achieve this, the study will identify and categorise those ecosystem services produced by the system before and after construction of the Dam and identify and evaluate the elements of wellbeing for the Pongola community. Indicators and measures to represent the state of these ecosystems and human wellbeing will then be selected. This will include an economic evaluation of the ecosystem services and water/land productivity of the system both before and after construction of the dam. The linkages between the elements of wellbeing supported and affected by ecosystem services and similarly human activities which impact these services will be analysed to identify the relationships between environmental governance, these services and human wellbeing. Information from the indicators will be analysed to determine the current state of these services and human wellbeing and an historic change analysis will be conducted to determine trends in these services, possible causes of change and the associated impact on society. Finally, governance drivers which impact ecosystem services important to wellbeing will be identified, possible futures determined and suitable response strategies developed. Stakeholder consultation is a key component of the project and will be undertaken in all stages to facilitate the uptake of the knowledge developed. At present the limited use and understanding of wellbeing-ecosystem service information by management authorities is a major hindrance to the successful management of ecosystem services and the improvement of human wellbeing in the region. Key stakeholders include the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, who are currently responsible for managing the dam as well as the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Health who are mandated to address many of the impacts of decreased ecosystem services such as reduced agricultural potential and increased disease thereby influencing poverty. A key component of the project will be to establish partnerships between these organizations and build capacity to improve understanding of the impacts on ecosystem services and the complex links to human wellbeing. By addressing natural resource governance, the project seeks to contribute to ecosystem conservation and improved human welfare, not only on the Pongola floodplain but in other river systems in South Africa and further afield.