The Business Case for Nature and Water
Nature for Water
Enabling Nature-based Solutions for source water protection across the globe.
Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region NPC Catchment Investment Programme proves that investing in Nature will deliver downstream benefits for all.
On 19 April 2023, people gathered at Greater Kruger Hotel School & Training Centre to launch the business case for the Kruger to Canyons Catchment Investment Programme (CIP). While the sun set over the Northern Drakensberg mountains, the team described their case: The water resources flowing from the Mpumalanga Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area are under threat, but collective action for water security can improve the outlook for resilience in the region, protecting people, their livelihoods, and the irreplaceable biodiversity.
While collective action may seem an odd approach to solve a water security problem at first glance, a deeper dive into the complexity of the problems quickly reveals that it is the only way to move forward. In a dry landscape, the water from the Blyde River serves domestic, industrial, and agricultural users and supplements the Olifants system. Thereafter the Olifants river runs through the large town of Phalaborwa, on through the Kruger National Park and into Mozambique. Land degradation and invasive species are reducing both the quality and quantity of available water for everyone. The Catchment Investment Program aims to gather these stakeholders to protect the water together using three common objectives:
The CIP is changing the business-as-usual approach to a coordinated, long term investment program, providing a sustainable solution to these water security challenges.? Collective action is driven by both public and private stakeholders, with local communities to create strategies that work for everyone. The CIP is holistic – focusing on the nexus of water, land use, biodiversity and economic activities- where people and nature depend on each other.
Why Nature Based Solutions: The Investment Case
In the Kruger region, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for water security deliver a return-on-investment of around 2 to 1.
Using a six step process the business case assessed the impact (costs and benefits) of implementing NbS in the Blyde River Catchment.
This intensive process revealed incredible results: the benefits of NbS reach the value of double their costs, a net Benefit of over R400 million ($22mil).
领英推荐
Arguably more important than the total value of benefits is where some of these benefits will be realised including
Moving forward - Next Steps:
At the end of the launch event, if you were lucky, you might have been able to catch the attention of one of the team members who held answers for intrigued stakeholders: what now?
To realise all of these long-term benefits, the CIP will be established in two phases: The High-Impact Phase – over the first 5 years the CIP requires R125 million ($7 million) in funding to initiate and scale-up NbS implementation. Over this period the CIP will also fully establish its governance arrangements and its long-term sustainable financing mechanisms. Seed capital provided for the High-Impact Phase will support the CIP’s ability to prove its impact. This proof will catalyse longer-term support, the second phase, from a range of sustainable finance providers. The source of sustainable finance will be a blend of carbon credits, biodiversity compensation payments, and potential catchment levies. If the investment in the first phase is successful, this will enable a R260 million ($14.9 million) sustainably funded catchment restoration and conservation programme for the next 30 years.
Of course, none of this work would be possible without the support of the delegation of partners; Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region NPC , The Nature Conservancy , Conservation South Africa , Pegasys Consulting , Africlimate, and Mark Botha . The future structure of the project would not be possible without the foundation of work established by this team.