Biodiversity and ecosystem services
Our expertise lies in understanding and enhancing the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in maintaining and building healthy, sustainable and resilient social-ecological systems in multifunctional landscapes.
Contact information:
Highlights
Municipal guideline for sustainable water planning
Funded by the Water Research Commission, the CSIR worked with two Western Cape municipalities to co-create a step-by-step guide to help cities across South Africa manage their water resources in partnership with citizens, industry and neighbouring municipalities. Read more.
Place-based ecosystem-based adaptation guidelines and project evaluation matrix for two coastal communities
Funded by the Government of Flanders and World Wide Fund for Nature–South Africa, the CSIR conducted a feasibility and sustainability study for coastal economies in Kleinmond and Hamburg, providing climate, social and economic projections. This study formed the baseline for the next phase: evaluation of ecosystem-based adaptation projects in these coastal communities in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa to provide place-based guidance to the funders and implementers.
A framework to guide investments in the Western Cape’s ecological infrastructure
The CSIR developed an investment framework for the Western Cape Government’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning to inform decisions on where and how to invest in the region’s ecological infrastructure to promote the resilience of the Western Cape’s ecological infrastructure. This project included the development of an implementation and monitoring plan, which contained realistic and fit-for-purpose indicators to assess progress.
Our capabilities
We facilitate and apply ecosystem-based adaptation frameworks in South Africa and the southern African region to better manage and protect water sources and biodiversity. Taking a landscape view, we use green infrastructure and ecological infrastructure approaches to build resilience in urban and rural landscapes. The focus of much of our work is on ecosystem-based adaptation to climate shifts and nature-based solutions that promote community and ecosystem resilience to global change.
In our projects, we partner with a wide range of stakeholders to co-design and provide innovative decision-support tools that strengthen the governance of natural resources. Our work aims to empower stakeholders to make informed and transparent decisions – supporting their efforts to meet national and international environmental commitments. Our clients are the private sector, non-government organisations, statutory bodies and government agencies in South Africa and abroad.
Our capabilities include:
Ecological infrastructure and ecosystem service mapping, modelling and prioritisation
Environmental risk and resilience assessment
Facilitation of implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Nature-based Solutions, especially Ecosystem-based Adaptation interventions such as ecosystem rehabilitation and restoration
Integrating ecological and social knowledge to support decision-making
Work with us
We focus on how biodiversity and ecosystem services can unlock opportunities for resilient and sustainable social-ecological systems that can adapt to climate change and protect biodiversity and its benefits to people. Our analyses help businesses, government and society to understand and respond to the effects of scarce or over-exploited natural resources and environmental degradation on socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation.
Our offerings
Ecosystem-based adaptation projects, including nature-based solutions and monitoring and evaluation of outcomes
Services provided:
- Facilitation of the nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation planning process
- Design of monitoring, evaluation and learning system frameworks, indicators and baselines
- Capacity building for adaptive management and reporting
Client benefit:
- Comprehensive support to meet adaptation mandates and enhance resilience of ecosystems and communities
- Improved learning and adaptation effectiveness
- Credible data for funders and policy influence
Management, restoration and protection of strategic water source areas
Services provided:
- Catchment-wide strategy development for water resource protection
- Planning and programming of place-based catchment interventions, such as wetland restoration
- Policy and governance analysis for water benefit flows
Client benefit:
Support to meet amended National Water Act requirements, such as strategic water source area-specific land use regulations and development of catchment management strategies for management, restoration, and protection of strategic water source areas.
Green and ecological infrastructure for resilience
Services provided:
- Identifying green infrastructure assets through geographic information systems and spatial analysis
- Integrating green infrastructure into spatial development planning, such as spatial development frameworks
Client benefit:
- Protection and enhancement of natural assets and the ecosystem services that they provide, such as increasing the livability of urban spaces
- Improved resilience to climate change
- Conservation of biodiversity
Resources