Application of economic valuation tools for wetlands ecosystems management in the Nile Basin (ECOMGT19)

Ecosystem services are the benefits to people from nature. These benefits include food, water purification, carbon sequestration, soil stabilization, recreation, cultural values, among others. The contribution of natural ecosystems to these benefits is often un-quantified and unmeasured, but the value of such benefits is gradually becoming more apparent as human populations grow and the demand for natural resources increases. Ecosystems can provide for many human needs now and into the future. People do not pay directly for many ecosystem services. Additionally, because people are not familiar with purchasing such goods, their willingness to pay may not be clearly defined. However, this does not mean that ecosystems or their services have no value, or cannot be valued in dollar terms. It is not necessary for ecosystem services to be bought and sold in markets in order to measure their value in dollars. What is required is a measure of how much purchasing power (dollars) people are willing to give up to get the service of the ecosystem, or how much people would need to be paid in order to give it up, if they were asked to make a choice similar to one they would make in a market. Ecosystem services are crucial for the well-being of people, but their contribution to economic systems is difficult to quantify in monetary terms. Since they are not traded in commercial markets, they are often given too little or no weight in decision making. Thus, final decisions may favour outcomes which do have a commercial value, turning unsustainable use of ecosystems more profitable in a short term.

A new edition of his course is not planned for the moment. Please subscribe to the Cap-Net newsletter to receive latest news and information of coming courses, or contact Damian Indij, Cap-Net Virtual Campus Coordinator.

Modules

ECOMGT19 Module 1: Course Opening and Introduction to Wetlands Ecosystem approach and services

ECOMGT19 Module 2: Earth observation tools for wetlands ecosystems management and Valuation

ECOMGT19 Module 3: Wetlands Ecosystems resilience and risk reduction

ECOMGT19 Module 4: Economic Valuation Tools for Wetlands ecosystems management

ECOMGT19 Module 5: Gender aspects in economic valuation of wetlands

ECOMGT19 Module 6: Tools, Data Requirements and Case Studies (Valuation Applications from the Nile)

About this Course

The course will use different learning tools, focusing on participants sharing their own experiences, and guided by the introduction of new conceptual approaches and tools supported by case studies. There will be a combination of short video lectures, online material, assignments and exercises, group assignments, discussions and practical exercises for the face to face part of the course. The course will be supported by training materials developed by IHE-Delft, ITC, SIZU and the case studies developer’s partner institutes. The online part of the course will be composed on modules each module will covered in one week.

Course Objectives

This component of the course aims to achieve the following objectives

To introduce and highlight the general importance of wetlands ecosystems services with a focus on the Nile basin.
To introduce the different methods of wetlands ecosystems assessment
- Be more familiar with using EO as tools for wetland ecosystem management.
- How to Map and monitor the wetlands ecosystem,
- How can EO tools support valuation of wetland ecosystem
To give an Introduction to economic valuation tools and methods of ecosystems services
To practice the Application of selected economic valuation tools on the project case studies
To provide guidelines on valuation procedures and steps with applications and case studies form different regions
To better understand the role of gender groups in wetlands services valuation for wise use.
To give better understanding of integrating the value of water and wetlands into decision-making.

ORGANISATION AND PARTNERS

The Training course will be organized by NBCBN-SEC in coordination with the Capnet-UNDP, the CapNet “Virtual Campus Team” and the Nile Eco-VWU project partners. The online course is planned to be implemented in direct collaboration with CapNet-UNDP virtual campus team, Implementation partners: The Nile Basin Capacity Building Network (NBCBN), Cap-Net UNDP, Makerere University Egerton University, Ain Shams University, UNESCO Chair in Water Resources (UNESCO-CWR) WaterCap, IHE- Delft , The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) of the University of Twente, Szent István University (SZIU).

Module 1: Course Opening and Introduction to Wetlands Ecosystem approach and services
Module 2: Earth observation tools for wetlands ecosystems management and Valuation
Module 3:Wetlands Ecosystems resilience and risk reduction
Module 4: Economic valuation tools for Wetlands ecosystems management
Module 5: Gender aspects in economic valaution of wetlands
Module 6:Tools, Data requirements and Case studies (valuation applications from the Nile)

Participants

WHO SHOULD APPLY:

The course will in particular target participants from the Nile basin countries with basic experience and background on wetlands and ecosystems management, participants from other regions of the world are also encouraged to join this course. A background in economics or socio-economics will be an added value. In this context, participants are expected to come from multidisciplinary backgrounds with a common focus on wetlands and ecosystems management. NBCBN network members and partners from other networks, who are working in the field of research or management of wetlands, are welcomed to join this course.

The maximum expected number of participants for the online part is expected to be: 30 respecting gender and geographic balance and representing various stakeholder groups from the entire water sector:
• Stakeholders and professionals forming part of water management, civil society, river basin or international organizations; development programmes and members of UN organizations; and representatives of the private sector;
• decision makers, policy makers, and high-level professionals and managers active in governmental bodies;
• capacity developers active in the fields of sustainable water management, Ecosystems Management, Wetlands management and economic valuation of wetlands services

Registration

A new edition of his course is not planned for the moment. Please subscribe to the Cap-Net newsletter to receive latest news and information of coming courses, or contact Damian Indij, Cap-Net Virtual Campus Coordinator.

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Description