Valuing wetlands: what if TEV doesn’t Valuing wetlands: what if TEV doesn’t work?work?

- case of the Yellow River Delta*, China

Presenter: Kam Suan Pheng

WorldFish Science Week

18-22 July 2011

*Part of a two-year research project ‘Valuing living aquatic resources of wetlands in China’, funded by the Challenge Program for Water and Food, CPWF Phase 1

The Yellow River and its Delta

The Yellow River supplies water to12% of China's 1.3 billion people and 15% of its farmland; its annual runoff is only 2% of the national total

Prior to 1999, the lower reaches of the Yellow River ran dry in 21 out of 27 years, for a total of 1,090 days

The Yellow River

The Yellow River Delta (YRD) covers 6000 km2 and is still accreting, forming the youngest temperate wetland ecosystem in the world

153,000 ha of the YR estuary has been gazetted as nature reserve, with 58,000 ha of core zone

Challenges faced

To justify maintaining environmental flow to the YRD estuary

Direct economic value of the delta resources is extremely high; the Shengli oilfield fuels Dongying’s economic growth - 2008 GDP: RMB2 trillion (~USD300 billion), growth rate: 13.7%

Local awareness of ecosystem services of wetlands is low; TEV for YRD is RMB3.2 billion

Rather than conducting economic valuation, we opted for semi-quantitative approach, focusing on raising stakeholder awareness

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Mudfl

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Agriculture, Agriculture, with with pockets of pockets of drained drained wetlandswetlands

DongyinDongying Cityg City

20 June 2009 Landsat 5 satellite image courtesy of the U.S.

Geological Survey, http://www.usgs.gov

Protective coastal dyke & road

The YRD Nature The YRD Nature Reserve core Reserve core conservation area – conservation area – 37,000 ha37,000 ha

Yellow

Yellow

River

River

Airport

Study Site: Eastern Dongying municipality in the Yellow River Delta

OilfieldOilfield

Methodology

Stakeholder consultations to identify the main wetlands ecological functions and ecosystem services that they recognize as important

GIS mapping of landuse using satellite imagery

Literature review to collect evidence and quantification of ecosystems services of wetlands

Engaged the local experts in rating the relative contributions of the main ecosystem services of the natural, disturbed and man-made wetlands (including aquaculture areas)

Map of land use in the study area

Criteria and indicators of the key ecosystem services of the wetlands in the Yellow River delta

Criteria category Wetland service Indicator

Economic Direct human use Production value: Harvesting mollusksHarvesting reedsAquacultureSalt productionAgriculture Eco-tourism Cultural value

Water quality Purification Nutrient (N, P) retention

Climate change GHG mitigation C storage & GHG emission

Biodiversity Food web support Bird diversity

Estimates of production value for economic indicators related to direct use of wetland resources

Per unit area production value RMB/ha

Harvesting mollusks 4,300

Harvesting reeds 2,300

Freshwater – crab 21,600

Freshwater – fish 40,500

Freshwater - shrimp 120,000

Brackishwater - shrimp 67,500

Brackishwater - sea cucumber 120,000

Salt production 47,000-310,000

Agriculture 12,000-28,000

Aquatic bird occurrence in different habitats in the Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve

Factors that favor carbon and nutrient retention in wetlands

Factors that favor GHG mitigation Nutrient sinks

High rate of sediment accumulation

Increases C burial Increases nutrient (N, P) burial

High biomass (roots, microflora, phytoplankton)

Captures atmospheric CO2

Some vegetation types increase N burial

Low O2 condition Discourages CO2 and

NO2 release

Encourages N2

release

Saline condition, high SO4

2-

Lowers CH4

generation

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Standardized rating scores on wetland ecosystem services for different land use types.

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Climate change (GHG mitigation)气候变化 (减少温室气体的危害 )

Climate change (GHG mitigation)气候变化 (减少温室气体的危害 )

Economic (income/returns)经济 (收入 /收益 )Economic (income/returns)经济 (收入 /收益 )

Biodiversity (food web support)生物多样性 (维持食物链 )Biodiversity (food web support)生物多样性 (维持食物链 )

Water quality (purification)水质 (净化 )Water quality (purification)水质 (净化 )

Mapped results of standardized rating scores on wetland ecosystem services for different land use types.

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Multi-criteria combination map

平等权重Equal weightEqual weight

Figure 4. Overall rating of wetland ecosystem services for different land use types, with equal weighting for the four criteria – direct economic value, water quality regulation, climate change mitigation and biodiversity support.

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Multi-criteria combination map

注重经济发展Economics emphasisEconomics emphasis

Figure 5. Overall rating of wetland ecosystem services for different land use types, with 50% weighting for direct economic value and the remaining 50% equally weighted among the other criteria - water quality regulation, climate change mitigation and biodiversity support.

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Multi-criteria combination map

注重减缓气候变化Climate change emphasisClimate change emphasis

Figure 6. Overall rating of wetland ecosystem services for different land use types, with 50% weighting for climate change mitigation and the remaining 50% equally weighted among the other criteria - water quality regulation, biodiversity support and direct economic value.

Recommendations

1. Enhance the value and benefits of the Nature Reserve - use it as outdoor laboratory and benchmark for quantifying ecosystem services of temperate estuarine wetlands

2. Provide incentives for low-impact and biodiversity-enhancing agriculture surrounding the Nature Reserve

3. Promote low-carbon aquaculture of organisms that sequester carbon, are lower down the food chain and requiring good-quality water, e.g. molluscs, sea cucumber, algae

4. Promote cleaner industries that create less water pollution

Conclusions Without being thoroughly quantitative, but by presenting

map outputs, we were able to flag key issues relating to the management of the wetlands and other land uses

Opportunities to improve the management of the wetlands of the YRD hinge on recognizing the broader ecosystem services of wetlands, both natural and manmade, and how their value can be enhanced.

Protecting the wetlands does not have to mean depriving people of opportunities for economic benefits. Carefully chosen economic activities can coexist with natural wetland conservation and, further, complement the ecosystem services that the wetlands provide. This can help realize the “highly efficient eco-economy” that Dongying municipality envisions, and for it to be a model for emulation elsewhere in China and around the world.

Thank you for your attention

Table 1. Current uses of the wetlands in eastern Dongying municipality

USE VALUES CURRENT USE

DIRECT USE

Conversion: physical land area Urban/industrial

Agriculture

Salt production

Aquaculture - freshwater

Aquaculture - brackish water

Consumptive: product extraction Mollusk, crustacea, fish

Reeds, medicinal plants

Non-consumptive Recreation, tourism

In-situ research, education

INDIRECT USE

Regulatory (due to ecological processes)

Storm protection

Water purification

Climate change mitigation

Biological (including living aquatic resources)

Recruitment/feeding

Biodiversity

Table 5. Nutrient removal rates of wetland types (example from the Netherlands)

Nutrient removal (kg/ha/yr)

Land cover N P

Agricultural use 0 0

Reed marsh 279 13

Open water 45 0

Woodland 95 9

Reservoir 0 0

Source: Goosen, 2006

Table 6. Carbon sequestration capacities of different forest types

Ecosystem

Standing carbon stock (gC m-2)

Long-term rate of carbon accumulation

in sediment(gC m-2y-1)

Plants Soil

Tropical forests 12,045 12,273 2.3-2.5

Temperate forests 5,673 9,615 1.4-12.0

Boreal forests 6,423 34,380 0.8-2.2

Tropical savannas and grasslands 2,933 11,733

Temperate grass- and shrub-lands 720 23,600 2.2

Deserts and semi-deserts 176 4,198 0.8

Tundra 632 12,737 0.2-5.7

Croplands 188 8,000

Wetlands 4,286 72,857 20

Tidal Salt Marshes 210

Mangroves 7,990 139

Seagrass meadows 184 7,000 83

Kelp Forests 120-720 NA NASource: Kennedy and Bjork (2009)

Study objectives

To assess how the ecosystem services of the coastal wetlands have been affected due to modification and conversion of wetlands for various economic activities;

To raise awareness and understanding among development agencies of the value of wetlands beyond their immediate and direct economic contributions; and

To identify strategies for reducing development impacts and enhancing future use value of the wetlands.