Drakensberg Cable Car

Another good reason for preserving the environment of the Busingatha: Payment for Ecological Services (PES)
Communities such as the AmaZizi, stand to get payment for looking after their land, which in turn produces clean water. The AmaZizi and the AmaNgwane have well developed plans in place for managing their land and preserving their natural wilderness. This goes hand in hand with the years of planning towards a community-managed nature reserve, and with the high biodiversity which has been professionally assessed in this area (see documents listed earlier on this thread). The cableway is in conflict with these plans.

The following two documents provide foundations for PES, particularly for the Mnweni and Busingatha areas.

We describe a proposed large-scale restoration and land use management project planned for a portion of the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa. Some 250,000 ha of high-lying land in the Drakensberg range are a protected conservation area and also a World Heritage Site. Bordering this conservation enclave is another 250,000 ha of increasingly degraded land subject to a variety of competing land uses. Conflicting land use objectives could, in theory, be mitigated and reconciled by identifying and developing a market for the delivery of ecosystem services such as water use and quality, carbon sequestration, erosion and siltation reduction, combating desertification, and the promotion of biodiversity conservation.
The project we describe here can serve as an example of how long-term investment in the restoration of natural capital (RNC) will benefit both developed and developing countries, with payment for ecosystem services as a key way to finance the restoration work. International investments in the Drakensberg project are being sought in emerging markets for carbon, water, and biodiversity credits—the so-called “umbrella ecosystem services.” Food, water, energy, and income security for local people however remain top priorities. We argue that this kind of RNC project is a way to simultaneously pursue the objectives of the global conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Desertification arising from the United Nations’ Rio Summit of 1992, and to help meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals for alleviating poverty

www.vertical-endeavour.com/documents/Investing-in-Natural-Capital-and-Economic-Development-SAs-Drakensberg-Mountains-June-2008.pdf

Within South Africa, the Maloti Drakensberg mountains are the most strategic water source in the region, supplying much of the sub-continent through rivers, and national and international inter- basin transfers. The Maloti Drakensberg mountains fall within the country’s most important water supply area. River catchments within the bioregion form the source or contribute to a number of major rivers, including the Umzimvubu, Umzimkulu, Umkomazi and Thukela on the South African side, and the Vaal and Orange / Senqu Rivers on the Lesotho side. The rivers rising on the South African side contribute over 8000 million m3 in mean annual runoff (MAR) to systems within the region (Diederichs and Mander 2004). This initiative has developed a model for investment in water security by using the trade in ecosystem services as sustainable foundation.

www.vertical-endeavour.com/documents/Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services-May-2008.pdf

You also connect tamper with a formula that produces clean water, and expect the result to still remain the same!

Latest article in the Witness from March 6, titled: Cableway to nowhere? It highlights all the major issues nicely, the introductory comment being:

The proposed Drakensberg cableway has been called economically unfeasible, Ezemvelo KZN Widlife has condemned it and the community most affected by it, the AmaZizi, are asking why their existing upliftment and conservation projects are being ignored.

Note the renewed AmaZizi statement on the matter:

Long years of planning and working for our community nature reserve are being ignored. We have made a proper management plan for this area with expert help and do not want this cableway on our land.
..

Why is the DEDT ignoring the royal family and the traditional leadership of the AmaZizi as well as the project we have been working on for so long?

A scanned copy of the article can be downloaded here (not sure what happened to the online version):
www.maloti-drakensberg.co.za/cableway/documents/Cableway-to-nowhere-The-Witness-March-2014.pdf

Great article.