Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya

This paper mapped and valued key inter-related drylands ecosystem services of importance to pastoralists, crop farmers, the tourism industry, conservationists, and policy planners in the Ewaso Ng’iro basin, the largest of the five major basins in Kenya. We used an ecosystem services approach where o...

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Main Authors: Silvestri, Silvia, Zaibet, L., Said, Mohammed Yahya, Kifugo, S.C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/28981
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author Silvestri, Silvia
Zaibet, L.
Said, Mohammed Yahya
Kifugo, S.C.
author_browse Kifugo, S.C.
Said, Mohammed Yahya
Silvestri, Silvia
Zaibet, L.
author_facet Silvestri, Silvia
Zaibet, L.
Said, Mohammed Yahya
Kifugo, S.C.
author_sort Silvestri, Silvia
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper mapped and valued key inter-related drylands ecosystem services of importance to pastoralists, crop farmers, the tourism industry, conservationists, and policy planners in the Ewaso Ng’iro basin, the largest of the five major basins in Kenya. We used an ecosystem services approach where only final benefits are valued to avoid double counting. The final benefits are ecosystem services or commodities which have an economic value. The supply of ecosystem services depends on the functioning of ecosystems, but rarely ecological and institutional boundaries coincide and often stakeholders in ecosystem services cut across a range of institutional zones and scales. Land use and management influence the system processes, properties and components that are the basis of services provision. Although much has been written about the need to quantify and value ecosystem services, there are fewer spatially explicit studies that delineate the supply and demand areas for ecosystem services and assess the trade-offs between ecosystem services over space and time especially on drylands. Based on the spatial distribution of resources and the existing competition over these resources, this paper assesses the current values attributed to the selected ecosystem services. Then, by mapping existing supporting infrastructure and drivers of land use change such as demographic pressure, we highlight trade-offs and synergies among alternative uses and opportunities for sustainable development. In particular, the paper identifies services that will be lost if a particular part of landscape is modified: e.g. benefits for livestock and wildlife can be affected by the lack of conservation of corridors and rangelands, while water supply and irrigated crops can be compromised by increased water demand as result of human population pressure mainly at the upstream sub-catchments. We demonstrate the value of spatial analysis to land use investments and management and highlight how conservation and management of ecosystem services require the understanding of the spatial links between ecosystems and human well-being.
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spelling CGSpace289812024-05-01T08:17:52Z Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya Silvestri, Silvia Zaibet, L. Said, Mohammed Yahya Kifugo, S.C. livestock environment This paper mapped and valued key inter-related drylands ecosystem services of importance to pastoralists, crop farmers, the tourism industry, conservationists, and policy planners in the Ewaso Ng’iro basin, the largest of the five major basins in Kenya. We used an ecosystem services approach where only final benefits are valued to avoid double counting. The final benefits are ecosystem services or commodities which have an economic value. The supply of ecosystem services depends on the functioning of ecosystems, but rarely ecological and institutional boundaries coincide and often stakeholders in ecosystem services cut across a range of institutional zones and scales. Land use and management influence the system processes, properties and components that are the basis of services provision. Although much has been written about the need to quantify and value ecosystem services, there are fewer spatially explicit studies that delineate the supply and demand areas for ecosystem services and assess the trade-offs between ecosystem services over space and time especially on drylands. Based on the spatial distribution of resources and the existing competition over these resources, this paper assesses the current values attributed to the selected ecosystem services. Then, by mapping existing supporting infrastructure and drivers of land use change such as demographic pressure, we highlight trade-offs and synergies among alternative uses and opportunities for sustainable development. In particular, the paper identifies services that will be lost if a particular part of landscape is modified: e.g. benefits for livestock and wildlife can be affected by the lack of conservation of corridors and rangelands, while water supply and irrigated crops can be compromised by increased water demand as result of human population pressure mainly at the upstream sub-catchments. We demonstrate the value of spatial analysis to land use investments and management and highlight how conservation and management of ecosystem services require the understanding of the spatial links between ecosystems and human well-being. 2013-08 2013-05-06T18:25:32Z 2013-05-06T18:25:32Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/28981 en Limited Access Elsevier Silvestri, S., Zaibet, L., Said, M.Y. and Kifugo, S.C. 2013. Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya. Environmental Science and Policy 31: 23-33
spellingShingle livestock
environment
Silvestri, Silvia
Zaibet, L.
Said, Mohammed Yahya
Kifugo, S.C.
Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya
title Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya
title_full Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya
title_fullStr Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya
title_short Valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes: A case study from Kenya
title_sort valuing ecosystem services for conservation and development purposes a case study from kenya
topic livestock
environment
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/28981
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