Collaborative learning to unlock investments for functional ecological infrastructure: Bridging barriers in social-ecological systems in South Africa

Abstract

Maintenance of functional ecological (or green) infrastructure is threatened by habitat conversion, fragmentation and loss, water scarcity, invasive species, climate change, resource extraction, poor policy implementation and societal inequity. Using South Africa as a case study, our transdisciplinary team identified actions likely to be effective in scaling up research and development projects that support implementation of policy about ecological infrastructure by active adaptive management. Based on expert knowledge at three scales, we analysed South Africa's opportunity to active adaptive management and to unlock investments that enhance functional ecological infrastructure. Barriers included lack of trust among actors, limited collaborative governance and integrated planning, including local partnerships; as well as a poor inclusion of evidencebased knowledge based on monitoring of landscape restoration efforts and its social and ecological consequences. Bridges include practicing transdisciplinary knowledge production, enhancing social learning among actors and stakeholders, and advocacy based on improved understanding. We propose a portfolio of place-based actions that could help to facilitate unlocking investments for functional ecological infrastructure by prioritising conservation, management and restoration through integrated cross-scale, collaborative and multisector spatial planning. Understanding the structure and dynamics of social-ecological systems, identifying champions, framing key messages for different audiences, and sharing failures and success stories internationally, are crucial requirements to unlock investments.

Defining Benchmarks for Restoration of Green Infrastructure: A Case Study Combining the Historical Range of Variability of Habitat and Species’ Requirements

“…This means that well-informed social innovations need to be encouraged in landscapes as social-ecological systems [87]. The Kristianstad Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve governance system has been deemed a social success story [88,89].…”

Multilevel Coordination and Cooperation during Implementing Supranational Environmental Legislation: A Case Study on Invasive Alien Species

“…AT: Approval to an IAS list of REGIONAL importance, n=16 To achieve feasible results in real life, the MS must exceed challenges of economics [18,31] and of competence distribution [11].…”

Defining Priority Land Covers that Secure the Livelihoods of Urban and Rural People in Ethiopia: a Case Study Based on Citizens’ Preferences

“…The introduction and integration of high-yield crops to increase farm productivity, the improvement of value-added production from food and traditional cash crops, and the creation of opportunities for off-farm employment to support the increasing population of landless farmers are essential [61,88]. Furthermore, participatory and action research that combines bottom-up and top-down approaches are needed to develop viable livelihood opportunities that are centered around the needs of rural communities [5,11].…”

“…The development of a systems perspective on local development issues in rural Ethiopia that integrates a bottom-up approach, and the spatial planning of land covers with different functions is a potentially powerful tool in understanding the implications of management and governance options, strategies, and tools. This requires both evidence-based knowledge about ecological benchmarks [97] and the development of collaborative learning opportunities for stakeholders at multiple levels of governance [5,98].…”