The role and value of water in natural capital restoration on the Agulhas Plain
Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Pretoria
Abstract
The Agulhas Plain is a low-lying coastal area within the Cape Floristic Region. It is heavily invaded by alien vegetation that infringes upon the sustainable supply of ecosystem goods and services provided by the native fynbos vegetation. Alien clearing and natural capital restoration is expected to recover these ecosystem goods and services and in particular to increase water availability. The study conducts cost-benefit analyses to assess whether alien clearing and natural capital restoration would add value to the Agulhas Plain through sufficiently increasing the supply of marketable ecosystem goods and services. The results indicate that the costs of alien clearing and restoration cannot be justified in the absence of water as a valued commodity. Other ecosystem goods and services included have a negligible impact on justifying costs.
Description
CITATION: Fourie, H., De Wit, M. P. & Van der Merwe, A. 2013. The role and value of water in natural capital restoration on the Agulhas Plain. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 16(1):83-95.
The original publication is available at http://www.sajems.org
The original publication is available at http://www.sajems.org
Keywords
Invasive plants, Water and cost-benefit analysis, Agulhas Plain (South Africa0, Strandveld (South Africa), Sustainability, Fynbos
Citation
Fourie, H., De Wit, M. P. & Van der Merwe, A. 2013. The role and value of water in natural capital restoration on the Agulhas Plain. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 16(1):83-95.