Property rights, institutional regime shifts and the provision of freshwater ecosystem services on the Pongola River floodplain, South Africa

Abstract

This paper proposes a property rights perspective to interpret institutional regime shifts in the provision of freshwater ecosystem services. Institutional regime shifts are conceived as persistent changes in the structure and function of a system. Property rights are viewed as an important component of institutional regimes. The paper draws on a case study of flow regulation on the Pongolo Floodplain in South Africa to illustrate the central role of property rights in mediating institutional regime shifts. The case study illustrates that there are many combinations of property rights that underpin institutional regime shifts in the provision of freshwater ecosystem services. It provides useful insights into the consequences of failing to recognize, establish and enforce bundles of rights. A major thrust of the case study is that the nature and context of property rights are important in determining the long-term provision of these services. By examining the configurations of property rights that have governed the Pongola River flood- plain over the years, the paper demonstrates the importance of explicitly defining and categorizing the range of rights.Keywords: Property rights, institutional regime shifts, freshwater ecosystems services, common pool resources, provisioning, Pongola floodplain, South Africa Acknowledgements: We wish to acknowledge the funding contributions of the Water Research Commission of South Africa and the International Water Security Network. The International Water Security Network is funded by Lloyd's Register Foundation, a charitable foundation helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related education, public engagement and the application of research. We thank Jackie Crafford for constructive critique of the draft manuscript and Victor Bangamwabo for preparation of the map.

Regional Scale Risk to the Ecological Sustainability and Ecosystem Services of an African Floodplain System

“…This foundation research has contributed to the understanding of the dynamics of ecosystem functioning and the impacts of the dam and associated altered flood and flow releases on the integrity of the system Merron et al., 1993 Then in the 1990s and 2000s a shift in research occurred toward the social and ecological interactions, with a new emphasis on the characterization of ecosystems services, local community requirements, threat of pollutants to the health of communities, and the management of conflicts between regulators and local resource users (Bouwman et al., 1990; Breen et al., 1998; Heeg & Breen, 1994; Jaganyi et al., 2008; McCartney et al., 2003; Thompson et al., 2017; Yohannes et al., 2017). In the 2000s and 2010s many gaps in our understanding of specific biology, ecology, ecotoxicology, and socioecological issues were addressed (Bouwman et al., 2019; Coetzee et al., 2015; Dube et al., 2017; Evans & Bouwman, 2000; Nkhata, Breen, Hay, & Wilkinson, 2017; Volschenk et al., 2019; Wepener et al., 2012; Wolmarans et al., 2018). This research has culminated with ecosystem service and poverty alleviation plan development (Lankford et al., 2011) the implementation of South African water resource management measures to establish the Ecological Reserve and associated Environmental Flow requirements for the Phongolo Floodplain (Brown et al., 2018; Dube et al., 2015; DWS, 2014).…”

The role of accountability in the emergence of adaptive water governance

“…Although several other factors could have affected decisions around trade-offs, van Vuuren (2009) suggested that many scientists attributed the trade-off gridlock to the confusion between whether flow releases from the dam should be for the delivery of ecosystem services or solely for crop production. Accordingly, Nkhata et al (2017) argued that although some important governance outcomes were achieved during this epoch as a foundation for adaptive water governance, these outcomes were negated by the weak elements of accountability that led to governance "fuzziness. "…”

Chiefs in a Democracy: A Case Study of the ‘New’ Systems of Regulating Firewood Harvesting in Post-Apartheid South Africa

“…Here, changes to the broader social, cultural, economic and political landscape can impact on the effectiveness of institutions to moderate use (see Nkhata et al, 2017, Le Tourneau and Beaufort, 2017 [18,19]). Indeed, failure of societies to innovate new forms of governance in response to new stresses may mean that previously effective systems of resource control become ineffectual against the new conditions of resource extraction and could lead to over-use.…”

“…Differences between historical rules and new local contexts therefore often lead to weak regulation as the incentives to obey such laws no longer outweigh the pressures residents face (Dietz et al, 2003, Ostrom and Nagendra, 2006, Ormsby, 2013). Institutions therefore need to adapt to novel threats and absorb such system shifts to ensure ongoing sustainable management (Ostrom et al, 1999, Adger 2000, Nkhata et al, 2017, Armitage 2005).…”

“…Much research conducted worldwide, however, demonstrates the poor capacities of institutions to adapt to change and the consequences are generally some degree of resource degradation (Kepe and Scoones 1999, Nkhata et al, 2017, Armitage 2005, Frost et al, 2007). This, in turn, has the potential to directly undermine the livelihood security of those dependent on such natural resources for their everyday needs.…”