EPRU Researchers Share Insights at EI4WS Close-Out Celebration

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) held a close-out celebration for the 7-year-old Ecological Infrastructure for Water Security (EI4WS) project on the 5th and 6th of February. EPRU-EfD South Africa researcher Martine Visser attended and presented work done by EPRU-EfD South Africa researchers for the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in collaboration with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and SANBI in 2024. It highlighted the importance of Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in aiding policymakers.

This work aims to summarize and expand on research done by AfD in 2022-2023, which used NCA as a practical tool to connect environmental resources to economic models to aid in understanding how the environment affects people and the economy and how they impact the environment.

Agriculture is acutely vulnerable to climate change

The research showed that the South African environment is particularly at risk to the detrimental effects of climate change. South African agriculture was found to be particularly vulnerable. This is due to the agricultural dependency on water ecosystem services, which are quite vulnerable to climate change, and technological shifts to mitigate climate impacts. To read more about the paper Martine Visser presented, please read here.

There was celebration of policy impact

The EI4WS close-out celebration explored the different projects that had occurred under its lifespan and celebrated their success and policy impacts. Three sessions focused on partner reflections on different project themes surrounding the EI4WS project. Martine Visser’s presentation was a part of the Data to Impact session, which highlights the value of the research in making policy impact. The celebration also made space for reflection on challenges and strategies to ensure that project interventions are sustainable.

By: Josh Gray