Climate Change with Agriculture and Natural Resources (Biodiversity)

1
Climate Change with Agriculture and Natural
Resources (Biodiversity)
A presentation to KZN Pre-COP 17 Summit
Caiphus Ernest Khumalo Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
(EKZNW)
26 September 2011, ICC - Durban
2
Presentation Outline

1. CC impact on agriculture
2. Contribution of agriculture to CC
3. Impact on biodiversity
4. Impact on marine ecosystems
5. Impact on inland water ecosystems
6. Ezemvelo mitigations to CC
7. Linkages of sub-themes
8. Summary

3
Impacts on Agricultural Ecosystems

• 1/3 of worlds land area used for agriculture
• Climate change impacts badly on these areas

• gt 7 000 plant species cultivated for food
• Now only about 15 plants 8 animals
• Most lost adaptability over time
• ¼ wild potatoes to die out in 50 years

• Continued heat stress drier soils will reduce
  yield heat tolerance

4
Agriculture Contributes to Climate Change!!!!!!!!!

1. Land use change
2. Flooding for rice sugarcane
3. Burning crops residues/remnants
4. Raising ruminant animals
5. Nitrogen fertilizers

Global agriculture accounts for 20 anthropogenic
emission of greenhouse gases
5
Managing Impact Reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases

• Through
• - better management of agricultural soils
• - improve efficiency of fertilizer use
• - restore degraded agricultural lands
• - improve rice farming to reduce methane emissions

6
Impact to Biodiversity
Global warming

• Changes species distribution
• Increases extinction rates
• Changes the reproduction timings
• Changes length of growing seasons for plant

7
Climate Change Drives Species to Extinction

• Some first know victims of climate change
• Golden toad
• Monteverde harlequin frog
• Many more predicted to follow suite due to
  current rate of temperature increase

8
Linkages Biodiversity Climate Change
Biodiversity is affected by Climate
Change whereas Proper management of biodiversity
significantly reduces impacts of climate
change Climate change will never be excluded
from our system, but can be mitigated/reduced
9
Marine Biodiversity
Elevated sea temperature causes coral bleaching
El Nino event in 1998 was a wake up call for
scientists and decision makers - 16 of worlds
corals died - 46 of corals in Western Indian
Ocean Whereas in 2000 - 12 corals died in
Sodwana Bay
10
Climate Change Inland Water Ecosystems

• gt 20 of freshwater fish species - extinct
• Continuing to decline faster than terrestrial
• Drier conditions increase water demands thereby
  causing a loss of ecosystem services

11
Mitigation Options

• Avoid
• wetlands degradation/transformation
• draining peatlands and swamps
• potential emission of greenhouse gases
• inland water habitat fragmentations
• overexploitation of aquatic resources

12
KZN Provincial CC Mitigations

• Altitudinal gradient
• Ecological processes
• C-Plan allow other land use
• Biogeographic

Greening strategies and guidelines
13
Linkages of sub-themes
14
Summary

• Reduce activities causing greenhouse gases
  emissions
• Practice agriculture that doesnt promote global
  warming
• Create connectivity to allow species migration
• Limit anthropogenic climate change
• Ensure biodiversity conservation and sustainable
  utilization of natural resources
• Develop greening strategies implementation
  plans
• Plant commercial forestations/crops on designated
  agricultural land avoid prime conservation
  sites
• Encourage green economy renewable energy
• No to pollution, resource depletion etc.

15
Thank You
Discussions
Ngiyabonga