The Economics of Land Degradation
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
I am honoured to be amongst you in this important event marking the Land Day 6 as part of our Rio Conventions Ecosystems Pavilion series here at CBD COP11 in Hyderabad, India. I would like to extend our appreciation to the organisers of this event and the government of India for the warm hospitality accorded to us.
We also would like to thank our collaborators, UNCCD, Governments of India and Germany, International Foundation for Organic Agriculture (IFOAM), CBD and other partners.
Ladies and gentlemen, today, the world is faced with a growing loss of soil especially arable land and the increasing loss of our biodiversity which is alarming development. The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity” (TEEB)”, estimated annual biodiversity loss to be worth around $2.0 to $4.5 trillion. While recent reports (Parker et al., 2009, UNFCCC, 2007) indicate that the cost of halting deforestation in developing countries alone is in the range of USD 25 to 185 billion per annum, the cost of a fully comprehensive global conservation programme to sustainably manage agriculture, forests, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystem has been estimated at around USD 290 billion per annum (IUCN, 2010, James et al., 2001). It is not surprising that the IUCN has proposed a target to provide USD 300 billion per year to finance the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (IUCN, 2010b).
Ladies and gentlemen, land degradation and desertification threaten fertile land throughout the world. The consequences are alarming: smaller harvests, reduced availability of clean water, increased vulnerability of the affected areas to climate change including food insecurity and poverty. It is estimated that 1.5 billion people in all parts of the world are already directly affected. In view of the world’s growing population, food security is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. The ongoing degradation of fertile soil must be halted if the Earth is to produce sufficient food for its ever growing number of inhabitants
In South Africa, it is estimated that poor management of land and land degradation cost the country billions of Rands per year. Such significant loss which has a bearing on the economy and the well-being of society is exacerbated by over-exploitation of natural resources, poor agricultural practices, excessive soil erosion, pollution of rivers and poor water quality, unsustainable mining, flooding and premature siltation of dams, increased the vulnerability of the rural poor and women in particular. Hence we introduced Adopt a River project.
Recent studies on this issue make the same point: land degradation has negative effects on economic and social development in all affected countries. Some scientists put worldwide annual costs of soil loss at 400 billion US dollars. However, more work is required to obtain reliable figures for the economic costs of land degradation on a global scale.
As you are all aware, the objective of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas.
It is our understanding that towards 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the UNCCD will provide an analysis of the possible implications and impacts of enhancing Land Degradation Neutrality for policy-makers. This approach will enable the global community to identify investment opportunities, which will help to address desertification, land degradation and the effects of drought (DLDD) issues and to benefit from the sustainable land-use as well as showcasing the benefit of synergistic implementation of the Rio Convention using successful initiatives that, at once, conserve biodiversity and restore degraded land.
It is in this context that we welcome and value the Secretariat Land Day Series initiative which demonstrates synergistic benefits of coordinated implementation of the three Rio Conventions in meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Land Day 6 provides us with an opportunity to showcase successful case studies of implementing the CBD through pursuing a ‘land-degradation neutral world’. It focuses on the implications of drylands land restoration; the economics of climate change, ecosystems, biodiversity, and land degradation; and how alternative production models bridge the gap between agriculture, food and land policies.
Delegates gathered here will recall that the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity, held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, adopted a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity which includes the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, for 2011-2020. The 2020 target indicators address processes, such as the links between the loss of biodiversity and the drivers of DLDD issues, which lead to loss of ecosystem resilience and services, and their impact on human wellbeing. The targets include the restoration of 15% of degraded land and the sustainable management of land under agriculture, aquaculture and forests. Supporting these targets in the context of the implementation of the UNCCD not only advances the synergetic impacts of the three Conventions but also benefits the Parties to the CBD by providing practical examples to develop national and regional biodiversity targets.
In South Africa, it is estimated that close to 18% of our country’s natural land cover is transformed, mainly by cultivation (10.46%), degradation (4.47), urban land use (1.5%) and forestry (1.41%). Land in South Africa is increasingly in demand due to increasing population and a growing demand for food, space and other resources. Such significant loss which has a bearing on the economy and the well being of society is exacerbated by over-exploitation of natural resources, poor agricultural practices, excessive soil erosion, loss of soil and soil nutrients, pollution of rivers and poor water quality, unsustainable mining, flooding and premature siltation of dams, increased vulnerability of the rural poor, increased severity of drought and floods, and amongst other impacts. Sustainable land management is therefore critical to the country’s socio-economic development agenda.
As a consequence, South Africa is experiencing many environmental and developmental challenges such as rising levels of poverty, rising food demands, the impacts of climate change, degradation of the environment and over utilisation of natural resources. The areas mostly affected by desertification are the arid, semi-arid and sub-humid climate zones which cover 91% of South Africa. Most of these affected areas are in the former homelands of Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu Natal, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, Free State and Northern Cape Provinces due to political history of a land policy that concentrated poor people on limited, marginal and non-productive land.
The role of SLM in providing and enhancing opportunities for improved livelihoods of millions of people in South Africa, the creation of jobs, improved landscapes (urban, peri-urban and rural), enhanced ecosystem goods and services as well as providing opportunities for sustainable development and economic growth, is immeasurable.
As such, the evolving models adopted by South Africa are premised on the fact that sustainable land management is a knowledge-based procedure that helps to integrate land, water, biodiversity and environmental management including input and output externalities to meet rising food and production demands while sustaining ecosystems services and livelihoods. In effect SLM entails managing land without damaging ecological processes thereby reducing impact on biological diversity.
As part of the response and in keeping with its international obligations, South Africa developed and coordinates the implementation of the National Action Programme (NAP) to combat desertification, land degradation and the effects of drought and eradication of rural poverty as part of implementing the UNCCD in a holistic manner.
The various government initiatives and programmes that contribute to sustainable land management as part of the its expanded public works programme (EPWP), under its social responsibility policy funding window includes the Working for Water, Working on Fire, Working for Wetlands, LandCare, Community-based Natural Resource Management, the Sustainable Land-based Livelihoods, the National Open Space-based Greening Programme, People and Parks, Desert Margins Programme, the Participatory Forest Management and other national and trans-boundary initiatives. Below is a brief summary of some of these government programmes and initiatives.
In accordance with Article 17 of the UNCCD, a Drylands Research Programme has been developed to guide the intervention measures. The research programme is being implemented. A report on the piloting of impact indicators (informed by the UNCCD 10 Year Strategy) has since been developed. In this regard, the Government has dedicated institutes and agencies such as Council for Social and Industrial Research (CSIR), Water Research Commission (WRC), Agricultural Research Council (ARC), National Research Foundation (NRF) to ensure that scientific knowledge is generated in response to government and societal needs. As such combating desertification in general and sustainable land management in particular are key to the country’s conservation and development agenda.
Ladies and gentlemen, the extent of desertification, the effects of deserts to human and animal lives and the fact that deserts are spreading and bringing with them hunger, disease and conflict qualifies this as a global crisis which requires global concerted efforts encompassing partnerships, governance and efforts in combating desertification and land degradation. This can be in the form of multilateral agreements, cooperation agreements such as the South Cooperation, the North South Cooperation and other bilateral arrangements.
These should also incorporate other issues other than biodiversity conservation such as economic, social and political agendas for an integrated approach in the conservation and development processes to address desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
South Africa forms part of a number of regional projects within the SADC sub-region and the African region that are aimed at improving the natural-resource based livelihoods by reducing land-degradation, preventing and reducing the impact of land degradation on ecosystem services; and upscaling sustainable land management.
Going forward, South Africa will enhance these programmes through the synergies that can be created with the biodiversity and climate change response strategies and any value adding opportunities that may arise. South Africa will seek to provide impetus to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Sub-regional Action Programme to Combat Desertification (SRAP), which the SADC Council of Ministers approved in 1997 as it provides an effective collective response to problems of land degradation, drought, and desertification, especially those that cross national boundaries.
The inadequate support provided by the international community to the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is of great concern, despite its potential in preventing and reversing desertification and land degradation with positive impacts on poverty eradication, preservation of the resource base for food security, building adaptation and resilience of affected ecosystems and populations to climatic shock. South Africa will thus continue to advocate and lobby at global level that the UNCCD should be adequately resourced and be positioned as a tool towards achieving food security.
I thank you.
Deputy Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi’s speech delivered at the Land Day 6: Rio Conventions Pavilion, CBD-COP11, Hyderabad, India, 15 October 2012
