Finlayson agric and wetlands - Charles Sturt University

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Institute for Land, Water and Society

Issues associated with wetland biodiversity and

agriculture globally

and the extent of agriculture in Ramsar wetlands

Max Finlayson

Institute for Land, Water & Society, Charles Sturt University, Australia

UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands

research for a sustainable future




1. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

2. Agriculture in wetlands

3. Ramsar Convention and agriculture

Contents




The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) highlighted the key role played by agriculture in the loss and degradation of wetlands The primary indirect drivers of wetland loss have been population growth and economic development. The primary direct drivers included land conversion, water withdrawal, eutrophication and pollution, over harvesting and over-exploitation, often associated with agriculture.

1. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment




Large scale change and massive degradation caused by agriculture, including water extraction e.g. Aral Sea




Percent increase in nitrogen flows in rivers

Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment







Small-scale and ongoing, including subsistence




Destruction driven by external demand for timber & biofuels. Local poverty, loss of culture and livelihoods ……

• Rehabilitation underway – slowly, small scale •  Important point source of greenhouse gas • Policy changes being proposed, but the damage

is done……




Humans have been cultivating floodplains for millennia, such as in Mesopotamia some 6000 years ago, or along the Ganges and Yangtze. Riverine wetlands - fertile land for food and fodder due to regular sediment deposition during floods. Wetlands have been reclaimed for agriculture by drainage and infilling and conversion to agriculture. Totally destroyed the ecological character of many wetlands with some 80% lost since 1700 – where data exists. Some traditional practices more sympathetic to maintaining or substituting wetlands – wet meadows, rice paddy, fish ponds.

Agriculture in wetlands




Rice paddy

Claims that rice paddy substitutes for the biodiversity lost from natural wetlands not on the whole supported by the literature.

Rice paddy does have biodiversity value







IUCN Wetland Directories - Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Neotropics contain a compilation of consistent wetland site information at a continental scale. Published between 1989 and 1995. Source books on wetlands at the continental scale - descriptive information on different types of agricultural land use in each wetland site has been extracted and summarized at the regional level.

Extent of agriculture in wetlands




0

10

20

30

40

50

Neotropics Africa Asia Middle East Oceania

Agriculture

Livestock

Fisheries

Regional wetland statistics – number of sites with food production activities (fisheries and agriculture)

Directories did not include all major wetlands in each country or region. Number of sites with agriculture, livestock and fisheries can be shown – baseline data.




Agricultural sites - those where any of the following text fields

are found in the “Landuse in the site” field in the Ramsar Global Sites Database:

•  Livestock Agriculture Pastoral Arable •  Grazing Farming Irrigation Rice •  Horticult Aquacult Apiculture Fishing •  Plantation Forestry Vineyard Orchard

1256 out of 1602 global Ramsar sites are utilised for agriculture - 79% (Rebelo et al 2010)

Ramsar sites with agricultural activities Ramsar Global Sites Database:




Sites which contain any of the following descriptions under “Threats in the site” in the Global Ramsar Sites Database

•  Reclamation for agriculture •  Agricultural development impacts •  Slash and burn agriculture •  Unspecified agricultural runoff

378 out of the total 1602 global Ramsar sites are threatened by these – 24%

Rebelo et al 2010

Ramsar sites threatened by agricultural activities Ramsar sites database



Institute for Land, Water and Society IWMI

Spatial distribution of agricultural Ramsar sites and those threatened by agriculture across WWF Biomes

• Threatened • Agricultural activities




Agricultural wetland types also included under Ramsar

Europe







Coverage of STRP questions on agriculture

1. Agro-ecosystem-wetland inventory and baseline information 2. Integrated water resources management and basin productivity 3. Agricultural management practices 4. Groundwater 5. Non-crop forms of agriculture

6. Biodiversity and ecological services 7. Climate variability and change 8. Policies and institutions 9. Modified organisms 10. Capacity building and learning processes




Agricultural management practices

§ What is the future for wetlands with irrigation and others forms of intensification? Is there likely to be continued large-scale irrigation and what are the international, regional and local implications for wetlands? § What effect does agriculture have on wetland water quality (e.g. agrochemicals and sediment inputs) and conversely, what effect do wetlands have on the quality of water for agriculture? Pesticides, nutrients….

§ What are the agricultural impacts on wetlands in drylands in relation to drought? Drought is part of the natural variability.




Policies and institutions

§ What is the existing suite of governance, institutional and jurisdictional models that deal with agriculture, water, and wetlands? What are their relative strengths and weaknesses, with particular attention to cross-sectoral approaches? § How are consumer demands for agricultural products changing, and what are the implications of different trade regimes for local management practices?




Biodiversity and ecosystem services

•  What positive contributions can agriculture make to the

conservation of (wild) biodiversity in managed landscapes?

•  What are the impacts of particular agricultural plants that become weeds in wetlands, and of species introduced for pest control in agricultural systems, on natural and man-made wetlands?

•  How are increased climate variability and change expected to impact on agriculture and on water availability, and to what extent will the anticipated changes affect wetlands?




- recommendations for improving water management in agriculture to address the world water (food)




Comprehensive Assessment




Provisioning Regulating Cultural

Generalised changes in wetlands due to agriculture




In view of the huge scale of future demands on agriculture to feed humanity and eradicate hunger, and the past undermining of the ecological functions on which agriculture depends, it is essential that we change the way we have been doing business. To do this, we need to: Address social and environmental inequities and failures in governance and policy

as well as on-ground management. Rehabilitate degraded ecosystems and, where possible, restore lost ecosystems. Develop institutional and economic measures to prevent further loss and to

encourage further changes in the way we do business. Increase transparency in decision making about agriculture-related water

management and increase the exchange of knowledge about the consequences of these decisions.

Conclusions




Pesticide use patterns




Driver Pressure State Impact Response analysis of 90 case studies confirmed the findings from other assessments that ecosystem services in wetlands tended to be skewed towards overexploitation of provisioning services (food sources, or fresh water) at the expense of regulating and supporting services

Provisioning Regulating Cultural




Wood, A. and van Halsema, G. (eds) (2008) FAO, Ramsar and Wageningen University. FAO Water Report 33.

The main drivers of the exploitation of ecosystem services are natural resources dynamics and market demands (global and local). Another substantive driver is government policy – covering a wide range of issues not only regulation of wetland use. Drivers with regard to climate change and natural variability were conspicuously low or absent, expect for Africa. These drivers translate into pressures on wetlands related to increased agricultural activities such as: expansion (especially in Africa and the Neotropics), intensification (especially in the Neotropics and Asia), and increased water use/depletion.

Scoping agriculture-wetland interactions: towards a sustainable multi-response strategy




A big issue - where to find the fresh water and food for the future – consequences for biodiversity? 1.  Expand irrigated areas – divert more “blue water” from

rivers and aquifers 2.  Expand rainfed areas – turn more natural areas into arable

land – use more “green water” 3.  Increase water productivity: produce more with less water,

i.e. more crop per drop – some opportunities, but …..

4.  Or more realistic consumption patterns – social change

5.  Or……?????




Thank you

Do we have the institutional capacity and capability to implement the change in management that is needed?

Including participatory processes and engagement with

communities……

Finlayson agric and wetlands - Charles Sturt University

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