Sustaining Animal and Ecosystem Health in Large Landscapes:

1. Sustaining Animal and Ecosystem Health in Large Landscapes: Draft concept/discussion paper for a programme to address Wildlife, Livestock and related Ecosystem and Human Health issues in the SADC Region with particular reference to Transfrontier Conservation Areas

2. Outline • Origins of the proposed Project • Context • Problems and opportunities • Assumptions and approach • Overall objective & themes • Modules within themes • Budgets

3. Origins Animal Health for the Environment and Development(AHEAD) 2-day Forum at World Parks Congress (WPC) Sept. 2003 • Strong regional representation • Working groups across countries • One southern African group (Bw, Mz, SA, Zw) selected GLTFCA and Shashe-Limpopo as priority areas Group elected a “champion” to develop a concept for a programme on Animal, Human and Ecosystem Health for the GLTFCA/Shashe-Limpopo area  David Cumming was tasked by the GLTFCA Working Group, with support from WCS, to develop the concept.

4. Origins Animal Health for the Environment and Development(AHEAD) Developments since WPC Sept. 2003 • Preliminary concept presented to WG 8 Nov 03 in Pretoria (Wildlife Diseases Conference) • Draft Concept/Discussion Paper circulated Jan 2004 • Paper critically examined by WG at 25th Feb. 2004 meeting • Informal presentations of concept to SADC Secretariat on March 3rd (Jbg.) and 16th March (Gaborone). • Revised Concept paper circulated 8th April, 2004 . Next Steps: 4th Meeting of working Group

5. Context SADC Region: • 20 TFCAs covering 120 million hectares • Most in marginal, poorly developed areas • Cross border disease issues of major concern and a major threat to TFCA concept • Minimal integrated, cross disciplinary research • Policy and protocols on animal health do not appear to have been developed yet

6. GLTFCA Context - GLTFCA

7. Context 1. Key features of the GLTFCA (100,000 km2 +) • Low altitude, high temperatures, low and uncertain rainfall, extended dry season • Long history of wildlife/livestock interaction • Agriculturally marginal land with very low potential apart from pockets of irrigable land • Historically neglected, poor infra-structure and sparsely populated - relegated to wildlife and subsistence agro-pastoralism • But, effective animal disease control measures based on national borders and fences were in place (i.e. until recently!)

8. Context 2. Current trends • Development of TFCAs with major focus on wildlife and culturally based tourism • Infrastructure development and removal of fences (and other barriers) to encourage tourism and restore mobility of wildlife over larger landscapes • High expectations for tourism development and wealth generation on the part of governments, parks agencies and TFCA residents • But, serious wildlife, livestock and associated human and resource use issues remain to be addressed across national and land use boundaries

9. Context 3. Animal health and humans • Major Wildlife and Livestock diseases & related human health issues * Zw now has a strain of FMD not formerly present in the TFCA ** Priorities (??) for surveillance and strategic control/containment

10. Context 4. Ecosystem services, animal health & human wellbeing • Water, Grazing, timber, fruits, firewood etc. • Inappropriate land uses (e.g. dry land cropping) • Scale mismatches between ecosystem processes and economic enterprises • Conflicting policies driving sectoral interests • Water – a key resource but from outside the TFCA TRENDS? • Land degradation • Food insecurity and malnutrition (people & livestock) • Increased susceptibility to zoonoses • Increased pressure on natural resources  Poverty traps and social unrest

11. Problems and Opportunities • The TFCA concept envisages the creation of larger landscapes made up of diverse but complimentary land uses that promote conservation and human welfare. • Is this a problem or an opportunity? • We don’t know the answer because we have not previously attempted to manage such large landscapes in an integrated manner. • International policy and agreements have been based on optimistic conservation and tourism scenarios • Consequences (both + & -) for the remaining landuse sectors and actors have been largely ignored – something that could undermine the sustainability of TFCAs. • Animal health interventions that work at local scales may not do so over large landscapes

12. Implementation Mgmt. alternatives The “Backloop” Collapse? Creative destruction?  Innovation Mgmt plan Mgmt. failure Problems and Opportunities • Increasing animal health problems? Are existing Command & Control approaches to managing animal health in confined landuse units applicable to large landscapes?

13. Problems and Opportunities Ecological insights on extensive rangeland systems indicate that we should: • Increase scale & diversity • Scale land uses to savanna process scales • Match socio-economic enterprise scales and ecological process scales • Increase adaptive capacity and resilience of ecological & social systems IRC presentations (2003): du Toit & Fritz; Cumming & Slotow

14. Assumptions and Approaches • Pilanesburg Resolution • Dealing with a TFCA not only the TFNP • Management practices need to match scale • Scaling up will result in trade offs • Command and Control inappropriate • Strong participatory approach • Healthy mix of scientific approaches • Common understanding needed • Communication - costly but essential

15. Assumptions and Approaches • Scientific approaches? • Employ a healthy mix of appropriate scientific approaches, paradigms and methodologies • Normal science (hypothetico-deductive, reductionist) • Integrative science (consilient, inductive, holistic) • Post normal science (dealing with uncertainty)

16. Assumptions and Approaches Applied Science Management High Post normal Decision Stakes Consultancy Normal Low High System Uncertainty (Funtowicz & Ravetz 1991) (Peterson et al 2003) Scientific & Management approaches

17. Overall Objectives & Themes Objective: Contribute, through innovative and integrated inter-disciplinary research ……. to improving animal and ecosystem health, and human wellbeing in the TFCAs in the GLTFCA (and SADC Region ?) • Themes: • Overarching conceptual framework • Animal health and diseases • Land use, ecosystem goods and services, and animal health • Human livelihoods and animal and ecosystem integrity/processes • Policy support and protocols on Animal Health • Communications and outreach

18. Themes and Modules Theme #1: Overarching conceptual framework • To provide: • Common interdisciplinary understanding of linkages and interaction between the major components of interest (i.e. animal & ecosystem health and human wellbeing) • Building a common understanding amongst participants • Basis for participatory interaction between researchers and resource managers and spreading knowledge between resource managers • Defining core projects Alternative? A disparate set of projects that are unlikely to gel or result in clear policy support

19. Themes and Modules Theme #2: Animal health and diseases • Modules: • Epidemiological studies of key wildlife & livestock diseases • Surveillance, monitoring and spatially explicit epid. models • Alternative strategies animal health & disease control • Biological, social and economic implications • Theoretical studies • Anthropogenic interventions on host parasite population dynamics • Effects of interventions/disturbances on virulence, enzootic stability, competitive displacement of pathogenic strains • Influence of landscape scale – host population sizes and dispersion and movements on host/parasite dynamics

20. Themes and Modules Theme #3: Land use, ecosystem goods & services, and animal health • Modules: • Spatial relationships between ecosystem health and disease • Animal impacts on ecosystem goods & services • Scale and pattern of land use & their impact on animal health • Linkages between animal and human health • Animal husbandry practices, disease and predators

21. Themes and Modules Theme #4: Human livelihoods and animal health &ecosystem goods and services • Modules: • Scenarios to explore alternative futures for land use & development • Economic, social & ecological trade offs of alternative patterns and scales of landuse. • Policy and institutional effects on alternative scenarios • Baseline indicators of wellbeing (ecosystems, animals, humans)

22. Themes and Modules Theme # 5Animal Health policy and protocols • Facilitate and provide support to local, national and regional (and SADC?) needs in the development of policy related to animal health and the linkages between animal health and human and ecosystem health • Explore likely consequences of alternative policies using scenarios and related approaches

23. Themes and Modules Conceptual Framework Animal Health & Disease Human Livelihoods Land Use & Ecosystem Services Theme # 6: Communications and Outreach • Within the program between modules and projects

24. Themes and Modules Govt. Vet. Services Conceptual Framework Agriculture Parks & WL AH&D H L Local Govt. Planning LU & GS Theme # 6: Communications and Outreach • Between the program, resource managers and agencies DONORS NGOs WCS, WWF, CESVI, PPF, FNP Universities TFNP-JMB UP, UN, UZ, EMU, UCB Resource Managers & Communities Committees

25. Themes and Modules Govt. Vet. Services Conceptual Framework Agriculture Parks & WL AH&D H L Local Govt. Planning LU & GS Theme # 6: Communications and Outreach • Between the program, consortium and SADC SADC AHEAD-GLTFCA Consortium/ Partnerships

26. Coordination Collaborative Partnership or Consortium – Still to be formed • Mozambique: • University Eduardo Mondlane • Veterinary Services • Dept. National Parks & Tourism • South Africa: • SANParks, • University of Pretoria, University of Kwazulu-Natal • Dept. Veterinary Services • PPF • Zimbabwe: • Zimbabwe Veterinary Services, NPWMA • University of Zimbabwe - TREP • International: • Wildlife Conservation Society • WWF-SARPO, AWF

27. Coordination ? Existing initiatives – building synergies & avoiding overlap • NGOs: • Peace Parks Foundation • CESVI regional CBNRM project • SELCORE Programme & Resilience in SE Lowveld of Zw. • WWF Rhino Conservancies • Sand County Foundation - landholder monitoring • FNP – support to Zinave & Banhine • AWF – Heartlands program • Co-management programmes e.g. Makuleke • Several Universities in the region and elsewhere

28. Project Budgets • GLTFP Programme • Approximately $10 million per annum • Policy & Protocol support • Approximately $2 million per annum