Achieving the national development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through investment in ecological infrastructure: A case study of South Africa

Abstract

Ecological infrastructure (EI) refers to ecosystems that deliver services to society, functioning as a nature-based equivalent of, or complement to, built infrastructure. EI is critical for socio-economic development, supporting a suite of development imperatives at local, national and international scales. This paper presents the myriad of ways that EI supports sustainable development, using South Africa and the South African National Development Plan as a case study, linking to the Sustainable Development Goals on a global level. We show the need for EI across numerous development and sustainability issues, including food security, water provision, and poverty alleviation.A strategic and multi-sectoral approach to EI investment is essential for allocating scarce public and private resources for achieving economic and social-ecological priorities. Opportunities to unlock investment in EI, both internationally and on the national level, are identified. This includes leveraging private sector investment into landscape management and integrating the costs of managing EI into public sectors that benefit directly from ecosystem services, such as the water sector and infrastructure development. Additionally, investing in EI also aligns well with international development and climate change funds. Investment in EI from a range of innovative sources supports global and national development, while complementing other development investments.

meaning and practice of stewardship in South Africa

“…51 There is also recognition that integrating the biodiversity stewardship tool with other approaches to sustainable natural resource management could help South Africa to work towards its National Development Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals. 19,47 Examples of these include the integrated landscape-level initiatives identified here, but also marketbased incentive schemes, and rural development and environmental education initiatives, which were not identified in our findings but have been recognised as important forms of stewardship. 8 There is an opportunity to leverage the effectiveness and success of the biodiversity stewardship tool to achieve more integrated outcomes 47 , as practitioners are already beginning to do (Table 3).…”

“…19,47 Examples of these include the integrated landscape-level initiatives identified here, but also marketbased incentive schemes, and rural development and environmental education initiatives, which were not identified in our findings but have been recognised as important forms of stewardship. 8 There is an opportunity to leverage the effectiveness and success of the biodiversity stewardship tool to achieve more integrated outcomes 47 , as practitioners are already beginning to do (Table 3). To successfully implement the ideals of stewardship informed by a social-ecological view, a cross-sectoral policy framework which supports or mandates cooperative governance and creates an enabling environment for multistakeholder collaboration is necessary.…”

“…There are concerns about the dominance of stewardship practice by one sector through the biodiversity stewardship tool. The prevalence of biodiversity stewardship is perhaps to be expected given the institutionalisation of the approach in South African policy 8 , and its relative success within the conservation sector 6,47 . This institutionalisation demonstrates that both local and global policy play a strong role in shaping the understanding, discourse and practice of stewardship in South Africa -possibly more so than global theory (Figure 1) and practice.…”

“…Certainly, within the conservation sector in South Africa, this approach is considered a success story for biodiversity conservation and protected area expansion. 6,47 It is viewed as a cost-effective tool for securing protected areas on non-state land, and is considered a valuable means of securing commitment and investment from private and communal land users into long-term stewardship. 6 Through binding contractual agreements with landowners, practitioners can also potentially secure fiscal benefits for farmers (for example through tax rebates), supporting stewards to off-set the costs of voluntary stewardship actions on their land.…”

Impact of Economic Growth, Energy Use and Population Growth on Carbon Emissions in Sub-Sahara Africa

“…Economic growth plays a critical role in the improvement of the national output and improving living standards, reducing unemployment and reduction of nation debts [17,18]. The issue of economic growth has been greatly emphasized by many researchers [19][20][21][22] to be the result of carbon emissions.…”