AHEAD Update – April / May / June 2013

Dear AHEAD Colleagues:

*Welcome to the second AHEAD Update of 2013. Please note that URL hotlinks for many of the organizations mentioned below can be found at http://www.wcs-ahead.org/links.html.

If you would like to post an item in the next AHEAD Update, please just send it to us- thanks. News on training opportunities appears towards the end of this Update.

MINI-TORIAL

Hot Off the Press: New Economic Data Point to Win-Win Land-Use Opportunities at the Wildlife / Livestock Interface

This issue of the AHEAD Update is even more packed than usual, with an exciting range of studies and publications that speak to our ongoing interest in solving conservation and development problems at the wildlife / livestock / human health and livelihoods interface. We wanted to flag two new studies in particular, with their focus on the economics of alternative approaches to beef production in southern Africa that could positively transform livelihoods for farmers and pastoralists, while helping to secure a future for wildlife and wildlife-based tourism opportunities. As most AHEAD Update readers know, market access for livestock and livestock products from Africa is constrained by the presence of foot and mouth disease (FMD). Fear of FMD largely precludes large-scale beef exports from Africa to potentially lucrative overseas markets and hinders trade within Africa itself. Wild buffalo, an ecologically and economically critical species in the region, can transmit FMD viruses to livestock but are not themselves affected. Two new studies on reconciling this land-use challenge, one from WCS AHEAD and WWF and the other from USAID, were undertaken separately but reached remarkably convergent conclusions based on the best available regional data. They looked at new commodity-based (value chain) approaches to beef trade that focus on the safety of the process by which products are produced rather than on whether a given cow was raised in a location where wildlife like buffalo also live. This food safety-type approach offers the potential for export of meat products that are scientifically demonstrable as safe from animal diseases for importing countries, while also diminishing the need for at least some of the veterinary fencing currently aimed at separating livestock and wildlife and constraining the Southern African Development Community’s vision for regional transboundary wildlife conservation. But what about the economic implications of such an approach? These two reports,

Economic Analysis of Land Use Policies for Livestock, Wildlife and Disease Management in Caprivi, Namibia, with Potential Wider Implications for Regional Transfrontier Conservation Areas,

and

Establishing Priorities through Use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for a Commodity Based Trade Approach to Beef Exports from the East Caprivi Region of Namibia

are available through the links below and represent a significant milestone, as they are the first quantitative analyses ever done on the socioeconomic implications of key land-use choices related to livestock agriculture and wildlife conservation for a SADC transfrontier conservation area [in this case, the five-nation Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area- the largest such terrestrial area dedicated to conservation on the planet, and home (for example) to the largest population of elephants left in the world – approximately 250,000]. The bottom line is that a new approach to animal disease management has the potential to be a real win-win opportunity for both local and regional livelihoods, as well as for wildlife conservation. If fully implemented, the ideas in these reports have the potential to facilitate access to new beef markets for southern African farmers and pastoralists as well as to greatly enhance the long-term viability of transfrontier conservation areas by facilitating true landscape connectivity for the benefit of migratory wildlife. But check out the reports, and evaluate the data for yourself: we believe these studies merit thorough scrutiny by stakeholders at all levels interested in and responsible for making sure land-use planning in southern Africa is socially, ecologically and economically sustainable for generations to come.

NEW RESOURCES & PUBLICATIONS

*New WCS AHEAD / WWF Report – Economic Analysis of Land Use Policies for Livestock, Wildlife and Disease Management in Caprivi, Namibia, with Potential Wider Implications for Regional Transfrontier Conservation Areas (2013), Barnes JI. Technical Report to the Wildlife Conservation Society's AHEAD Program & the World Wildlife Fund, 84 pp. – A robust socio-economic analysis of how different sectors (with an emphasis on rural communities) in Caprivi, Namibia, would likely fare under a range of animal health policy and related land-use regimes has just been completed. Standard cost-benefit analysis was applied to several future policy options with emphasis being placed on the livestock / wildlife interface and Caprivi’s role as central to the Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA). Empirically based enterprise models measuring private and economic values for the livestock and wildlife sectors were used to measure returns on investment for policy options regarding animal disease management and land-use allocation. Four options were considered, including commodity-based trade (CBT) and veterinary control fencing. CBT is a production and marketing approach, which assures product safety regardless of the "infected" or "free" disease status of the area of origin and therefore permits adaptation of conventional (geographical, or fence-based) animal disease control measures. The basic measure of economic efficiency was incremental change in net national income. Local livelihood contributions were also measured.

The results indicate that CBT approaches to disease management and formal meat production are highly likely to be economically efficient. Moreover, the economic costs associated with a CBT approach would be outweighed by new economic gains in terms of wildlife-based incomes, abattoir viability, and livestock farming incomes. On the other hand, the introduction of spatially segregated, fenced foot and mouth disease (FMD)-free compartments is technically impractical and would be economically undesirable. Here, significant loss of growth in wildlife-related incomes, and significant costs for fencing would outweigh any new economic gains in abattoir viability and livestock farming incomes. The findings have importance for development policy in the KAZA TFCA, and possibly other TFCAs in southern Africa. They strongly suggest that initiatives aimed at introduction of CBT as part of a value chain approach to sanitary risk management offer significant economic potential. See http://www.wcs-ahead.org/workinggrps_kaza.html or http://www.wcs-ahead.org/kaza/kaza_additional_resources.html for a downloadable PDF.

*New USAID / Southern Africa Sanitary and Phytosanitary Support (SPS) Program Report – Establishing Priorities through Use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for a Commodity Based Trade Approach to Beef Exports from the East Caprivi Region of Namibia (2013), Cassidy D, Thomson G, and Barnes J. Technical Report to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) / Southern Africa Sanitary and Phytosanitary Support (SPS) Program for Regional Trade in Southern Africa, 109 pp. – In addition to the above-mentioned WCS / WWF cost-benefit analysis, a complementary but parallel multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) has just been completed. MCDA is a structured framework that enables the costs and benefits of alternative capacity-building investments to be defined and identifies those options that offer the greatest return over a range of interacting criteria. In this study, MCDA was used to examine four land-use options in the Caprivi region of Namibia according to criteria that include conventional costs and benefits re- livestock production and tourism, impact on trade, agricultural productivity, as well as environmental and social effects. The options examined were:

• status quo of conservancies and multispecies land use including formal and informal beef production (no additional investment);
• two options where investments are made in slaughter for chilled beef or processed meat production;
• an option to create FMD-free compartments.

The results of the analysis strongly indicate that implementing the CBT option based on the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code standard (Article 8.5.25, with specific modifications) was the most favorable scenario across most criteria. The study represents a significant contribution to the economic analysis of CBT in animal products, though the results need to be revisited and revised on an ongoing basis in the light of improvements in the availability and/or quality of scientific and other data, or changes in policy priorities that could shift the decision weights and/or introduce new decision criteria. See http://www.wcs-ahead.org/kaza/kaza_additional_resources.html for a downloadable PDF.

*Proceedings and PDFs of presentations now available from the SADC TADs Project "Scientific Symposium on Foot and Mouth Disease in SADC" and Joint SADC / AHEAD Workshop "Reconciling Livestock Health and Wildlife Conservation Goals in Southern Africa: Strategies for Sustainable Economic Development" held November 13-16, 2012 at Phakalane Golf Estate, Gaborone, Botswana – The basis for the meeting (please see meeting homepage at http://www.wcs-ahead.org/phakalane_workshop_2012/
phakalane_workshop_2012.html), which included more than 100 participants and produced The Phakalane Declaration highlighted in the last AHEAD Update and available at http://www.wcs-ahead.org/phakalane_declaration.html, was the fact that it is now well recognized that across parts of southern Africa both livestock and wildlife represent economic growth opportunities. However, costs associated with current approaches to managing international trade-associated animal disease risks often preclude the livestock sector's access to international markets. Many attempts to meet international standards related to 'freedom from disease' under currently emphasized geographically-based policies have had significant negative repercussions for free-ranging wildlife, largely related to veterinary cordon fencing. The time has come to seriously explore alternative animal health and trade management regimes that do not implicitly pit the livestock and wildlife sectors against each other. PDFs of the PowerPoint presentations from the diverse four day agenda are now viewable / downloadable at
http://www.wcs-ahead.org/phakalane_workshop_2012/agenda.html.
The final combined 61 pp. Proceedings are also downloadable at
http://www.wcs-ahead.org/phakalane_workshop_2012/
phakalane_workshop_2012.html, and will also be emailed to those who were in attendance. Special thanks go to Nidhi Gureja of Seanama Conservation Consultancy, the SADC team of co-hosts, and to the Rockefeller Foundation, the African Development Bank, the U. S. Agency for International Development, and the Botswana Vaccine Institute for the critical support that made the week's deliberations possible.

*AHEAD Kavango Zambezi 'Beyond Fences' Draft Year 4 Implementation Plan is now available in English and Portuguese –

DRAFT Year Four AHEAD-Kavango-Zambezi Work Plan for USAID-funded "Beyond Fences: Policy Options for Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Transboundary Disease Management in Southern Africa" Program

DRAFT Plano de Implementação do Ano-4, "Para Além Fronteiras: Opções de Políticas para Biodiversidade, Meios de Subsistência e Gestão de Doenças Transfronteiriças na África Austral" Programa Financiado pela USAID

Or see http://www.wcs-ahead.org/kaza/kaza_work_plans.html.

*Benefits of Wildlife-Based Land Uses on Private Lands in Namibia and Limitations Affecting their Development (2013), Lindsey PA, Havemann CP, Lines RM, Price AE, Retief TA, Rhebergen T, Van der Waal C, and Romanach SS. Oryx 47(1) pp. 41-53 – Legislative changes during the 1960s–1970s granted user rights over wildlife to landowners in southern Africa, resulting in a shift from livestock farming to wildlife-based land uses. Few comprehensive assessments of such land uses on private land in southern Africa have been conducted and the associated benefits are not always acknowledged by politicians. Nonetheless, wildlife-based land uses are growing in prevalence on private land. In Namibia wildlife-based land use occurs over c. 287,000 sq. km. Employment is positively related to income from ecotourism and negatively related to income from livestock. While 87% of meat from livestock is exported ≥95% of venison from wildlife-based land uses remains within the country, contributing to food security. Wildlife populations are increasing with expansion of wildlife-based land uses, and private farms contain 21–33 times more wildlife than in protected areas. Because of the popularity of wildlife-based land uses among younger farmers, increasing tourist arrivals and projected impacts of climate change on livestock production, the economic output of wildlife-based land uses will probably soon exceed that of livestock. However, existing policies favour livestock production and are prejudiced against wildlife-based land uses by prohibiting reintroductions of buffalo, Syncerus caffer, a key species for tourism and safari hunting, and through subsidies that artificially inflate the profitability of livestock production. Returns from wildlife-based land uses are also limited by the failure to reintroduce other charismatic species, failure to develop fully-integrated conservancies and to integrate black farmers sufficiently. To access the full paper see http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311001049 and then click on “View PDF.”

*Community Visioning in a Transfrontier Conservation Area in Southern Africa Paves the Way Towards Landscapes Combining Agricultural Production and Biodiversity Conservation (2012), Chitakira M, Torquebiau E, and Ferguson W. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 55(9) pp. 1228-1247 – This study employed participatory approaches to establish ways of engaging local communities within a transfrontier conservation area, towards achieving the goals of integrated agricultural production and biodiversity conservation at a landscape level, known as ecoagriculture. We facilitated farmers' meetings to create charts of local environmental and livelihood concerns and of their vision of the future. Water scarcity, bad road conditions, unemployment and low harvests emerged among the most prevalent concerns. Through a visioning process, participants arrived at a desired future that was largely inclined towards improved livelihoods, with comparatively little attention on biodiversity enhancement. We conclude that stakeholder-driven ecoagriculture could be a sustainable strategy to simultaneously achieve the community's vision and the goals of transfrontier conservation areas, provided biodiversity management strategies are linked to infrastructure improvement and income generating activities. We recommend a community visioning process as an effective approach to encourage collective action and to support local ownership of development programmes.
See http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2011.640149 for more information.

*The Valuation of Biodiversity Conservation by the South African Khomani San “Bushmen” Community (2012), Dikgang J and Muchapondwa E. Ecological Economics 84 pp. 7-14 – The restitution of parkland to the Khomani San “bushmen” and Mier “agricultural” communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and environs in South Africa. Biodiversity conservation will benefit from this land restitution only if the Khomani San, who interact with nature more than do other groups, are good environmental stewards. To assess their attitude toward biodiversity conservation, this study used the contingent valuation method to investigate the economic values the communities assign to biodiversity conservation under three land tenure arrangements in the Kgalagadi area. For each community and land tenure arrangement, there are winners and losers, but the winners benefit by more than the cost that losers suffer. The net worth for biodiversity conservation under the various land tenure regimes ranged from R928 to R3456 to R4160 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Khomani San, compared to R25 600 to R57 600 to R64 000 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Mier. See http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.09.001 for more information.

*New spatial mapping tool launched by WWF – WWF has recently released “PADDDtracker.org” - a new wiki-style, crowd-sourced spatial mapping tool. Although conservation policy assumes that national parks and protected areas (PAs) are permanent fixtures on the landscape, recent research points to widespread - yet largely overlooked - protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD). PADDDtracker.org, currently released in beta version, is intended to monitor these processes globally and foster more informed policymaking. For more information, please visit http://www.PADDDtracker.org.

*New report – Africa Environment Outlook 3: Our Environment, Our Health (AEO-3) (2013), United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya, 40 pp. – The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the Third African Environment Outlook (AEO-3) Summary for Policy Makers, commissioned by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). The report focuses on the links between environment and health, and includes subsections on: air quality; biodiversity; chemicals and waste; climate change and variability; coastal and marine resources; freshwater and sanitation; and land. The Summary for Policy Makers is intended to provide information to assist AMCEN member countries to strengthen capacity for policy making and advocacy at national, regional and global levels. The report highlights emerging issues, assesses trends related to environmental change, reviews the consequences for human health in the region, and proposes new policy directions for enabling transformative changes for a sustainable future. For more information see
http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2704
&ArticleID=9414&l=en
or access the Summary for Policy Makers at http://www.unep.org/pdf/aeo3.pdf.

*New book – Parks, Peace, and Partnership: Global Initiatives in Transboundary Conservation (2012), Quinn, MS, Broberg, L and Freimund W (eds). University of Calgary Press, Calgary, Canada, 400 pp. – Today, over 3,000 protected areas around the world contribute to the protection of biodiversity, peaceful relations between neighbouring countries, and the well-being of people living in and around the protected environs. Historical and geo-political constraints are disappearing in a new spirit of collaboration to address common issues confronting ecosystems, species, and communities. Managing across boundaries is seen as the only way to ensure the long-term viability of ecological systems and sustainable communities. Current international thinking in this area is reflected in this collection of essays written by park managers, biologists, scholars, scientists, and researchers. From Waterton-Glacier International Park to the European Alps, and Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia, the essays provide illustrative examples of the challenges and new solutions that are emerging around the world. For more information, see http://uofcpress.com/books/9781552386422.

*New briefing note – Zoonoses: from Panic to Planning (2013), Grace D, Holley C, Jones K, Leach M, Marks N, Scoones I, Welburn S, and Wood J. IDS Rapid Response Briefing 2, IDS (Institute of Development Studies), Brighton, UK, 4 pp. – Partners in the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium (see additional details below) have published a four-page IDS Rapid Response Briefing. The briefing, funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), proposes a One Health approach to zoonoses management. It offers seven key recommendations to policymakers: ringfence long-term funding; plan for uncertain futures; improve measurement and mapping; improve systemic surveillance; develop more flexible and collaborative working arrangements; draw on multiple forms of expertise; and develop a One Health approach that is justice- and rights-based.
See http://www.ids.ac.uk/publication/zoonoses-from-panic-to-planning to download the PDF and http://bit.ly/XRnzaC for more information.

*African Women Adopt Vaccine in Fight Against Poverty (2013), Roginski A. Partners Magazine, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), pp. 19-21 – This article presents the results of a successful ACIAR program established in Africa to vaccinate chickens against Newcastle disease. Specifically, it highlights the significant contribution of improved village chicken production to food security, poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women. To view the article, see:
http://www.cop-ppld.net/cop_knowledge_base/detail/?dyna_fef%5Buid%5D=3541.

NEW VIDEOS

*Vaccine for Newcastle Disease in Village Poultry Transforms the Lives of African Farmers (2013) – The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has supported the development of the vaccine against Newcastle disease for over 25 years in SE Asia and some African countries. This video, produced in 2013, presents the success stories of village poultry farmers who, thanks to the vaccine program supported by ACIAR, have transformed their lives. For more information, and to watch the video, visit the website: http://www.cop-ppld.net/cop_knowledge_base/detail/?dyna_fef%5Buid%5D=3542.

*Gorillas in Our Midst (2013) – In February, the work of AHEAD collaborator Conservation Through Public Health was featured in a documentary on Chinese CCTV News’ “Faces of Africa” series entitled: Gorillas in Our Midst. The documentary illustrated a One Health approach through Population, Health and Environment (PHE) work. To view this 30-minute video, see http://english.cntv.cn/program/facesofafrica/20130204/100515.shtml or http://www.ctph.org.

NEW CONSORTIUM

*New Zoonoses Research Consortium – A major new international multidisciplinary research consortium is now working in five African countries as it explores the links between disease, ecosystems, health and wellbeing. The Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium, funded by Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA), is investigating trypanosomiasis in Zambia and Zimbabwe, henipavirus infection in Ghana, Rift Valley fever in Kenya and Lassa fever in Sierra Leone. The Consortium's natural and social science partners include vets, epidemiologists, anthropologists, geographers and economists from universities, research institutes and governments in Africa, Europe and the US. They are collecting evidence and working together in innovative ways to test their core hypothesis: that disease regulation as an ecosystem service is affected by changes in biodiversity, climate and land use, with impacts on people’s health and wellbeing. The Consortium's ultimate objective is to reduce the risks of disease emergence and the negative consequences for poor people in Africa by ensuring that ecosystems are managed sustainably in ways that assure disease regulation while avoiding negative trade-offs for livelihoods. See http://www.driversofdisease.org or feel free to contact n.marks@ids.ac.uk or c.holley@ids.ac.uk.

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA OPPORTUNITY

*Recanati-Kaplan Centre Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice, 2014, University of Oxford – The Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) of University of Oxford invites applications for the 2014 Recanati-Kaplan Centre Postgraduate Diploma in International Wildlife Conservation Practice. The full time, seven month residential course runs from March to September each year, and is preceded by one month of distance learning. Designed specifically with the needs of conservation practitioners in mind, the emphasis is on equipping students with the practical skills and theoretical understanding required to contribute effectively to conservation research and action in the developing world. The diploma course is suitable for those already working in conservation, and also for recent graduates, provided they have gained field experience prior to or during the course of their first degree. A degree in an appropriate natural science is required, but in exceptional cases candidates with demonstrated equivalent experience in field-based conservation and aptitude for postgraduate level studies may be accepted. Applications are particularly welcomed from early-career field conservationists from developing nations, for whom sponsorship is possible. Candidates without field conservation experience interested in a career change will not be considered as priority candidates.

The application deadline for the 2014 course is Friday, June 14, 2013.

For more information on the course curriculum, the background of past and current students and how to apply, please visit the diploma website (www.wildcru.org/diploma). If you have queries following consultation of the online information, please contact the course coordinator at wildcru.diploma@zoo.ox.ac.uk.

*Several organizations have recently been added to the LINKs section of the AHEAD website at http://www.wcs-ahead.org/links.html. We are pleased to now have a link in place, for example, to the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium.

Again, if you have items for the next AHEAD Update, please just let us know – thanks.

"What is AHEAD?" Animal & Human Health for the Environment And Development was launched at the 2003 IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. By assembling a ‘dream team’ of veterinarians, ecologists, biologists, social and economic scientists, agriculturists, wildlife managers, public health specialists and others from across East and southern Africa, the Wildlife Conservation Society, IUCN, and a range of partners tapped into some of the most innovative conservation and development thinking on the African continent- and AHEAD was born. Since then, a range of programs addressing conservation, health, and concomitant development challenges have been launched with the support of a growing list of implementing partners and donors who see the intrinsic value of what WCS has called the “One World, One Health” approach. AHEAD is a convening, facilitative mechanism, working to create enabling environments that allow different and often competing sectors to literally come to the same table and find collaborative ways forward to address challenges at the interface of wildlife health, livestock health, and human health and livelihoods. We convene stakeholders, help delineate conceptual frameworks to underpin planning, management and research, and provide technical support and resources for projects stakeholders identify as priorities. AHEAD recognizes the need to look at health and disease not in isolation but within a given region's environmental and socioeconomic context.

All the best,

Steve, Mark & Shirley

www.wcs-ahead.org

Please see the News Archives page for previous AHEAD Updates.