A SOCIAL COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF A SMALL-SCALE CLAM FISHERY IN THE EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA

When a proposal was advanced in 1991 to harvest the wedge clam Donax serra in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, for commercial gain, it elicited a huge public outcry. In order to shed light on the issue, a social costbenefit analysis (CBA), based on a biologically sustainable extraction rate of 100 ton of clams per year, was carried out on its commercial exploitation. Because fishery activities might exact a price on society in the form of negatively altering the quality of people\'s recreation experience in the area, as well as damage the aesthetic and ecological attributes of the beach system, such external effects were identified and valuated. Results from the CBA yielded positive net present values (NPVs) for project options involving live clams being sold on the export market (to Hong Kong) for R24.70 kg-1 and negative NPVs for domestic market options (Johannesburg and Cape Town), where the clam would be sold for R6.50 kg-1. Assuming a discount rate of 8&#37, the highest NPV was obtained for the scenario in which total production was sold on the foreign market and the firm rented facilities of an existing organization. The external cost was the single largest component of the cost of the fishery. The conclusion drawn is that the social benefit of the project exceeds the social cost – a conclusion which supports commercial exploitation of clam stocks along the St Francis Bay beach, but one which does not include the osts associated with policing.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 159–16

A political ecology of community gardens in Australia: form local issues to global lessons

The local impacts of global urbanization (e.g. dwindling green spaces, food insecurity, land shortages, loss of biodiversity) have triggered resurgent interest in various forms of urban agriculture (Godfray et al., 2010; Evers and Hodgson, 2011). In many rapidly growing cities across the Global North (GN) and Global South (GS), residents are clamouring for better access to places to grow safe and healthy food, for spaces that foster social inclusion, and improved environmental quality (Guitart et al., 2015). Urban cultivation initiatives are often framed around the social benefits of local food growing and typically seek to be 'sustainable' (Chapters 8 and 9, this volume). These twin goals have important implications for land-use planning and policy, implications that we address in this chapter

From beans to breams: how participatory workshops can contribute to marine conservation planning

Systematic conservation planning is increasingly being used in the marine environment, but the relative paucity of data on marine patterns and process still presents a problem, particularly in developing countries. For example, along the south-eastern component of the Agulhas marine bioregion of South Africa, current data regarding the habitat availability, distribution and abundance of 10 seabream species (Sparidae) were insufficient to design a regional-scale conservation plan. We report on how this data void was filled using information provided by marine resource users, managers and scientists during participatory workshops. Participants described the distribution of reefs, and then scored not only the relative abundance of each of the sparid species, but also benthic biodiversity, by arranging beans into piles on paper matrices. Reef positions were verified both by discussions within individual workshops and by subsequent comparisons of outputs among workshops. Similarly, extensive discussions provided an element of verification of relative abundance and biodiversity data. Although the free-scoring method employed in quantifying relative abundance and biodiversity meant that comparisons among workshops were problematic, this was resolved by assigning data to categories according to a simple five-level abundance index. After compiling results from all workshops, relative abundance data reflected conservation status of each species. Opinions by the participants regarding the reasons for recent declines in fish abundance tallied well with explanations from the literature. Biodiversity data were less comprehensive and more difficult to verify. Nevertheless, because participatory workshops provided relatively accurate data regarding fish abundance, were cost effective to run and generated a good level of buy-in from participants, they represent a valuable new tool for marine conservation planning.Keywords: marine conservation planning; participatory mapping and scoring methods; Sparidae; workshopsAfrican Journal of Marine Science 2008, 30(3): 475–48

The expert or the algorithm? - comparison of priority conservation areas in the Cape Floristic Region identified by park managers and reserve selection software

Expert-based and systematic, algorithm-based approaches to identifying priority areas for conservation are sometimes posited as alternatives. While both approaches have pros and cons, the systematic approach does have the advantage of providing a region-wide assessment of the options for achieving explicit conservation targets. A distinct advantage of the expert-driven approach is its incorporation of expert knowledge on biodiversity persistence and pragmatic management and implementation issues not normally included in biodiversity feature-site data matrices. Given the widespread application of both approaches, surprisingly little research has been undertaken to evaluate their conservation planning outcomes. Here we compare priority conservation areas in South Africa's Cape Floristic Region identified by park managers and reserve-selection software. Managers identified 29 areas (a wishlist) that together, comprised 31% of the planning domain and had 40% of its area under some form of conservation management. This wishlist was assessed for the extent to which it achieved targets for biodiversity pattern and process over and above the existing conservation system, and its incorporation of priority areas identified in terms of conservation value and vulnerability to processes that threaten biodiversity. Overall, the wishlist reflected a desire by managers to improve management efficiency and facilitate rapid implementation by expanding existing, largely montane reserves into low-priority areas where land tenure is sympathetic to conservation. Consequently, it was not very effective and efficient in achieving pattern and process targets, and it excluded large areas of vulnerable and inadequately conserved lowland habitat-the areas currently in most need of conservation action. Further, it provided no basis for scheduling implementation or for exploring alternative areas to achieve the same goals, unlike systematic approaches. Nonetheless, the manager's wishlist did include many highly innovative and feasible projects that make important contributions to the conservation of the region's biodiversity. Rather than emphasize the dichotomy between expert and systematic approaches, conservation planners should devise ways of integrating them. In particular, priority areas identified by experts should be carefully considered against the backdrop of the outcomes of systematic conservation planning. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Conservation on private land: a review of global strategies with a proposed classification system

With parks and protected areas insufficient to sustain global biodiversity, the role of private land in biodiversity conservation is becoming increasingly significant. This paper reviews global voluntary and involuntary strategies for private land conservation. Involuntary strategies can achieve effective conservation outcomes, but often lack social acceptability. In contrast, voluntary strategies enjoy greater social acceptance but may not achieve sufficient uptake to have meaningful conservation objectives. Based on the review, we propose a classification system for private land conservation as a complement to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN's) classification of global protected areas. The classification system provides a framework for identifying and describing conservation strategies on private land on the dimension of tenure and security. It also identifies opportunities and vulnerabilities in achieving conservation on private land while emphasising the need for systematic data collection similar to IUCN's efforts for protected areas

Benefits of wildlife-based land uses on private lands in Namibia and limitations affecting their development

Legislative changes during the 1960s–1970s granted user rights over wildlife to landowners in southern Africa, resulting in a shift from livestock farming to wildlifebased land uses. Few comprehensive assessments of such land uses on private land in southern Africa have been conducted and the associated benefits are not always acknowledged by politicians. Nonetheless, wildlife-based land uses are growing in prevalence on private land. In Namibia wildlife-based land use occurs over c. 287,000 km2. Employment is positively related to income from ecotourism and negatively related to income from livestock. While 87% of meat from livestock is exported $95% of venison from wildlife-based land uses remains within the country, contributing to food security. Wildlife populations are increasing with expansion of wildlife-based land uses, and private farms contain 21–33 times more wildlife than in protected areas. Because of the popularity of wildlife-based land uses among younger farmers, increasing tourist arrivals and projected impacts of climate change on livestock production, the economic output of wildlife-based land uses will probably soon exceed that of livestock. However, existing policies favour livestock production and are prejudiced against wildlife-based land uses by prohibiting reintroductions of buffalo Syncerus caffer, a key species for tourism and safari hunting, and through subsidies that artificially inflate the profitability of livestock production. Returns from wildlife-based land uses are also limited by the failure to reintroduce other charismatic species, failure to develop fully-integrated conservancies and to integrate black farmers sufficiently.TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa and Tom Milliken for instigating this project and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and African Wildlife Conservation Fund.http://journals.cambridge.orgam201