Clearing invasive alien plants as a cost-effective strategy for water catchment management : the case of the Olifants River catchment, South Africa
dc.contributor.author | Morokong, Tshepo | |
dc.contributor.author | Blignaut, James Nelson | |
dc.contributor.author | Nkambule, Nonophile Promise | |
dc.contributor.author | Mudhavanhu, Shepherd | |
dc.contributor.author | Vundla, Thulile | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2017-01-12T08:07:31Z | |
dc.date.available | 2017-01-12T08:07:31Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2016 | |
dc.description.abstract | Invasive 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.department | Economics | en_ZA |
dc.description.librarian | am2016 | en_ZA |
dc.description.uri | http://www.sajems.org/ | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.citation | Morokong, 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.issn | 1015-8812 (print) | |
dc.identifier.issn | 2222-3436 (online) | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.17159/2222-3436/2016/v19n5a6 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58494 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
dc.publisher | University of Pretoria, Department of Economics | en_ZA |
dc.rights | © 2016 The Authors. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence. | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Catchment management | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Cost-effectiveness | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Invasive alien plants (IAPs) | en_ZA |
dc.subject | River catchments | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Olifants River catchment | en_ZA |
dc.subject | South Africa (SA) | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Unit reference value (URV) | en_ZA |
dc.title | Clearing invasive alien plants as a cost-effective strategy for water catchment management : the case of the Olifants River catchment, South Africa | en_ZA |
dc.type | Article | en_ZA |