Water and environment
Ecosystems regulate the amount of water available across space and time, as well as its quality.
Over-exploitation of provisioning ecosystem services (food, water, fibre and other raw materials) has impaired the capacity of ecosystems to regulate climate and water, among other benefits. Consequences are potentially disastrous and include conflict over environmental resources and the undermining of sustainable prosperity.
The extent of ecosystem degradation and its role in conflict and losses of prosperity highlights the scope for ecosystem restoration to become a dominant response to many water-related challenges.
as well as a tool to improve access to resources, manage climate-related security risks, reduce recruitment by terrorist groups and alleviate pressure on people to migrate
Degradation and fragmentation of ecosystems have been linked to outbreaks of diseases, including COVID-19, Ebola, and waterborne vectors of diseases such as malaria. They can also be a significant driver of losses in prosperity and augment conflict. Losses in ecosystem services reduce benefits, especially to the poorest and most vulnerable groups, and hence increase poverty.
The proactive use of ecosystems is the mantra of nature-based solutions (NbS). By 2030, 150 million people a year could need humanitarian assistance due to floods, droughts, and storms and by 2050, this is expected to have risen to 200 million people annually. Implementing NbS could reduce the number of people in need of international humanitarian assistance due to climate change and weather-related disasters.
Ecosystem restoration is recognized as an urgent and key element for conflict resolution and peace-building, as well as a tool to improve access to resources, manage climate-related security risks, reduce recruitment by terrorist groups and alleviate pressure on people to migrate.
Did you know?
About 75% of the world’s accessible freshwater comes from forested watersheds.
Every dollar invested in ecosystem restoration can create up to US$30 in economic benefits.
Action example:
The case of human-elephant conflict – Ecosystem degradation, water insecurity and the role of landscape restoration
Human–elephant conflict results from increased space and resource competition as human settlements and agriculture expand. Water security, for both people and elephants, is one root cause of conflicts.
Poor land management, particularly vegetation removal, and over-extraction of water lead to dwindling, and increasing variability of, water resources – a situation further exacerbated by climate change. These human-induced changes not only cause reduced agricultural productivity, but also reduce the forage availability for elephants, and the surface water availability for all. Hence competition increases.
India alone reports annual deaths of 400 people and 100 elephants during such incidents, with additional direct effects to 500,000 families through crop raiding. Sri Lanka annually documents over 70 human and 200 elephant mortalities from conflict, whilst Kenya reports that 50–120 problem elephants are shot by wildlife authorities each year and about 200 people died in human–elephant conflict between 2010 and 2017. Other Asian and African range countries document similar or worse consequences.
Current conflict management approaches focus on prevention through exclusion and on-site deterrents, many of which are nature-based. Examples include the use of spices or bees as deterrents, mitigation via elephant translocation or selective culling and monetary compensation for losses.
However, these merely address the symptoms of the problem. Sustainable solutions require site-specific measures to be framed within landscape level restoration planning that addresses patterns of water and vegetation quality and quantity across space and time. Improving landscape productivity and water security underpins long-term promotion of peaceful coexistence between people and nature.
Source: Shaffer et al. (2019).
