This past January the  Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) presented the draft of their National Broadband Strategy for public review. The strategy outlines a comprehensive plan for bringing communications services and ICT business development to all of Kenya. Expected to cost US$ 2.4 billion, 70% is budgeted for national infrastructure while the remainder will be used for capacity building and content development. Funding will be a combination of public and private sources and will include accessing Kenya’s capital markets. Read more …

Jonathan Malagon, (fmr) Director of Compartel, speaks at a February Compartel Broadband Strategy event

On October 23 Integra wrapped up its technical assistance in Colombia, with the presentation of a strategic plan for Compartel, a telecommunications organization under the direction of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MINTIC). The “Broadband Strategic Plan: 2013-2017” (below, in Spanish), was developed by Compartel in collaboration with Integra’s consultants working under USAID’s Global Broadband and Innovations program (GBI). The project also falls under the Broadband Partnership of the Americas, an initiative announced by President Obama while he was in Colombia in April 2011.

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According to a United Nations Environmental Programme –International Water Management Institute report, “An Ecosystems Approach to Water and Food Security”, ecosystem services should be incorporated into food security efforts, as should the proper incentives needed to involve local members of the community.  In part three of our Ecosystem Services series, we take a look at how ecosystems can be better managed and maintained, to play a vital role in nourishing communities around the world. 

As the global population approaches 8 billion people, it will become increasingly difficult to provide a steady supply of food, let alone at a price point the majority of people can afford. In this respect, ecosystems perform a vital function by producing food and providing access to water, thereby increasing food security for communities around the world. For example, it is estimated that a mangrove can yield an annual harvest per hectare of 220 lbs of fish, 44 lbs of shrimp, 33 lbs of crabmeat, 440 lbs of mollusk and 88 lbs of sea cucumber. With food prices predicted to rise an additional 30-50% over the next several decades, ecosystem-provisioning services will be heavily relied upon, particularly in areas of poverty.

In addition to the increased demand on food supply, climate change also has the potential to significantly impact an ecosystem’s ability to produce food, regulate water, and irrigate land (among other functions). Given the provisioning and regulating services ecosystems perform, it is crucial that agricultural areas in particular are managed and maintained to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change. For example, small-scale rainwater harvesting in Tanzania has improved agricultural production, and increased the water soil capacity, reducing vulnerability to dry spells. When correctly managed, ecosystems have the ability to resist drought and help prepare for water and food shortages that may occur throughout the year.

Jordan Valley Permaculture Pilot Project: start date, 6 months later, three years later
Photo credit: ProAct (2008)

One example of a natural resource management approach to improving ecosystem services is the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project, implemented by the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. Established in 2008, the project aimed to increase food and water production in the Jordan Valley by rehabilitating the land, known for month-long droughts ranging up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to improve the health of the ecosystem, a swale system, or land contouring system, was used to help the land trap water in the soil during the winter months to be used during summer droughts. Drought and salt resistant crops were also planted to better trap water in the soil. Using this system over 10 acres of land, the project was able to increase freshwater sources and overall food production. This can act as an important lesson in natural resource management, particularly for dry lands, which support one-third of the global population, up to 44 percent of the world’s cultivated systems, and approximately 50 percent of the world’s livestock.

Not only are ecosystems a vital source of food and water, but for poor and rural populations in particular, they are also a crucial source of income. Better-managed fisheries for example, can increase revenue by improving the fish supply. Water regulation is also very important, to enhance food production and provide water for livestock, fish farms, etc. Whether a community’s food supply is mainly a source of nourishment or a source of income, the livelihood of that population is greatly dependent on a given ecosystem’s ability to function properly. It is therefore very important that community members, farmers and fishermen, are also kept informed about natural resource management tools they can utilize.

As the world continues to rely on the provisioning and regulating services ecosystems provide, it will become increasingly important to ensure the health of ecosystems, and control for environmental degradation wherever possible. Environmental policy tools such as payment for ecosystem services, and economic valuation strategies can assist in this effort by making it easier to provide incentives for this purpose. In the forth blog of our Ecosystem Services series, we will look into how ICTs can help support such policies, involving a variety of players from corporate leaders to local farmers, in natural resource management.

Stay tuned next week for the final blog of our Ecosystem Services series, “ICT for Ecosystem Management and Environmental Policy”.

Ecosystem Services: Categories and Examples

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ecosystem services are defined as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, split into four categories of provisioning, supporting, regulating and cultural services. Because they are so beneficial in a variety of ways, the international community has begun to monitor and monetize these services, in addition to advocating for environmental sustainability.

Each category of ecosystem services provides a certain type of benefit to the global population.

• Provisioning services are often described as ecosystem goods, and refer to benefits such as food production.
• Supporting services are services that enable other categories to work, including but not limited to nutrient production and habitat provision.
• Regulatory services, such as carbon storing, are processes often considered to be public goods, and are perhaps the most difficult to measure.
• Lastly; cultural services refer to social aspects of the ecosystem, such as the services sacred land provides and eco-tourism.

As climate change increasingly warrants international attention, a system that measures and monitors the benefits of ecosystem services will prove to be more necessary than ever before. In addition to having a set measurable indicators, it will also be valuable to monetize these services for both the public and private sector.  Fortunately, some of the information and technology needed to perform these functions are already in development. The US Department of Agriculture for example, recently launched Comet 2.0, a web-based tool to help farmers estimate farm-specific carbon sequestrations and net greenhouse gas emissions from soils, biomass, annual crops, and fossil fuel usage.  Another tool, the i-Tree, allows municipalities to monetize the value of urban trees, and is used in over 6,000 communities worldwide for city planning initiatives.

Recognizing the monetary value of ecosystem services, the private sector has also begun to show their commitment to the environment as part of an overall business strategy. This past June at the Rio+20 Summit, 24 global Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, Dell, General Motors and Xerox, released a report called The New Business Imperative: Valuing Natural Capital. The report, sponsored by the Corporate Eco Forum and The Nature Conservancy, urges businesses to recognize how their companies are dependent on ecosystem services in a range of areas, from supply chain to cost savings.  Complete with a commitment from each company involved, the report estimated the world’s ecosystem contributes about $72 trillion in goods and services per year to the global economy.

While ecosystem services may be a relatively new topic on the environmental agenda, the momentum behind the discussion is building. In fact in February 2012, the UN Statistical Commission recently approved the System for Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) to account for material natural resources in a nation’s economy. It should be noted however, that an internationally accepted method of accounting for ecosystem services, as opposed to goods and materials, does not currently exist.

Because this is an increasingly important topic with a potential impact on Environmental Natural Resource Management (ENRM), we’ll be taking an in-depth look at ecosystem services in the areas of disaster risk reduction, food security, health and technology. Each week, we’ll look at specific areas of ecosystem services and how they fit into the larger development picture.