Clearing invasive alien plants as a cost-effective strategy for water catchment management : the case of the Olifants River catchment, South Africa

dc.contributor.authorMorokong, Tshepo
dc.contributor.authorBlignaut, James Nelson
dc.contributor.authorNkambule, Nonophile Promise
dc.contributor.authorMudhavanhu, Shepherd
dc.contributor.authorVundla, Thulile
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-12T08:07:31Z
dc.date.available2017-01-12T08:07:31Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractInvasive alien plants have a negative impact on ecosystem goods and services derived from ecosystems. Consequently, the aggressive spread of invasive alien plants (IAPs) in the river catchments of South Africa is a major threat to, inter alia, water security. The Olifants River catchment is one such a catchment that is under pressure because of the high demand for water from mainly industrial sources and unsustainable land-use, which includes IAPs. This study considered the cost-effectiveness of clearing IAPs and compared these with the cost of a recently constructed dam. The methods used for data collection were semistructured interviews, site observation, desktop data analysis, and a literature review to assess the impact of IAPs on the catchment’s water supply. The outcomes of this study indicate that clearing invasive alien plants is a cost-effective intervention with a Unit Reference Value (URV) of R1.44/m3, which compares very favourably with that of the De Hoop dam, the URV for which is R2.93/m3. These results suggest that clearing invasive alien plants is a cost-effective way of catchment management, as the opportunity cost of not doing so (forfeiting water to the value of R2.93/m3) is higher than that of protecting the investment in the dam.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentEconomicsen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2016en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.sajems.org/en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMorokong, T, Blignaut, J, Nkambule, NP, Mudhavanhu, S Vundla, T 2016, 'Clearing invasive alien plants as a cost-effective strategy for water catchment management : the case of the Olifants River catchment, South Africa', South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 774-787.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1015-8812 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2222-3436 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.17159/2222-3436/2016/v19n5a6
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/58494
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherUniversity of Pretoria, Department of Economicsen_ZA
dc.rights© 2016 The Authors. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.en_ZA
dc.subjectCatchment managementen_ZA
dc.subjectCost-effectivenessen_ZA
dc.subjectInvasive alien plants (IAPs)en_ZA
dc.subjectRiver catchmentsen_ZA
dc.subjectOlifants River catchmenten_ZA
dc.subjectSouth Africa (SA)en_ZA
dc.subjectUnit reference value (URV)en_ZA
dc.titleClearing invasive alien plants as a cost-effective strategy for water catchment management : the case of the Olifants River catchment, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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