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Stakeholder management key to sustainability

11th October 2013

By: Carina Borralho

  

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Independent consultancy The Narrative Lab is finishing a two-year study into stakeholder engagement regarding the water management of the Wilderness and Swartvlei lake systems in the Wilderness section of the Garden Route National Park, on the southern Cape coast of South Africa.

The final report is the last deliverable outstanding and the company has proposed a follow-up project and is awaiting approval.

The Garden Route National Park is partially located in populous urban areas and the extensive anthropogenic modifications of the lake catchments and residential developments adjacent to the waterbodies could influence the water quality in the lakes substantially, according to a 1999 paper, titled ‘Changes in the water quality of the Wilderness and Swartvlei lake systems, South Africa’, by South African National Parks (SANParks) estuarine ecology scientist Dr Ian Russell.

The water levels of the lakes are managed to prevent flooding of adjacent low-lying residential properties by implementing periodic artificial breaching of estuary mouths.

However, The Narrative Lab points out that many houses built on flood plains in the area are damaged when SANParks does not manually open the river mouths in time.

“Co-management of water is important in ensuring the sustainability of this resource in South Africa,” says The Narrative Lab cofounder and MD Aiden Choles, adding that the management of water cannot exclusively be left to managing agencies and authorities.

“Our water management issues are too complex and widespread for only manage-ment to deal with; therefore, citizens need to participate actively in the co-management of water.”

The Narrative Lab uses narrative research techniques to understand the mindsets and experiences of stakeholders involved in water management and, in turn, grasps peoples’ behaviour regarding water resource management.

The Wilderness and Swartvlei lake systems are important in sustaining surrounding communities, such as Knysna, Tsitsikamma and Wilderness, and have been doing so for many years, Choles points out.

Agriculture, forestry, municipalities and households all use the water from these systems, necessitating their proper manage-ment, he adds.

“It is important to understand the inter-dependence between people and ecological systems. “The challenges regarding the effective and equitable management of water resources in South Africa can potentially be addressed more effectively if there is an understanding of what drives and inhibits stakeholder engagement,” says the consultancy.

The Narrative Lab notes that gathering narrative is a helpful and powerful research tool, as it investigates individual opinions more thoroughly and uncovers a more substantive description of how people view the world.

“The Narrative Lab analyses a database of drivers and patterns within the information relayed by community members through their stories to determine what governs people’s behaviour,” he adds.

Choles notes that understanding people’s perceptions of water management at sites, such as the Wilderness and Swartvlei lake systems, is important because they have strong opinions on and suggestions about overcoming the mismanagement of water in the lake systems, as well as suggestions on the issue.

The proper management of water derived from these lake systems is important, since the estuary mouths at Wilderness and Swartvlei are only a few of the naturally opening and closing mouths in the world, he says.

Problems arise when these mouths are closed, owing to south-westerly wave conditions, longshore sand transport and erratic river inflow; flooding also occurs in these areas because of increased rainfall.

Stakeholder Feedback

The Narrative Lab conducted interviews pertaining to the Wilderness and Swartvlei lake systems in early 2012 and consequent knowledge dissemination workshops in February of that same year. Several themes and issues pertain-ing to engagement emerged from various stake-holder groups in the study areas.

Workshops were attended by individuals in their own capacity, as well as representatives from various forums, associations, sport clubs, government departments, spiritual groups and businesses. Participants held active discus-sions on stakeholder maps and timelines created for each study area.

The first theme identified was the apparent significant role of key individuals. The Narrative Lab found that some people are more likely to actively engage than others. “We have seen how influential personal leadership styles and characters are in terms of citizen engagement,” notes Choles, adding that, although water is a technical issue, The Narrative Lab has seen how open, collabor- ative and visionary leadership styles spark higher engagement levels in citizens.

He highlights that collaborative and vision-ary leadership styles work best, specifically in an environmental context. “We have conducted similar research in another area of South Africa, which proves that a collaborative leadership style is needed.”

The second key theme identified by the consultancy is the continuity of a forum.
“Individuals have different reasons for joining forums and getting involved – some do it for practical reasons, for example, when their houses are flooded, while others join because of a strong belief in the principles of democracy.

“From a forum perspective, the need to be informed and available when called upon for public opinion seems to be an important motivation,” explains Choles.

People who have the most power are retired engineers, he points out. “They have technical knowledge and vast experience, combined with free time to be involved, which sometimes silences other less experienced voices.”

“The role of development in conservation areas is a catalyst for high engagement, as citizens will act to protect their natural resources from developers,” Choles says.

However, The Narrative Lab notes that closed and insular approaches by manage-ment agencies toward citizens inhibit citizen engagement. “People feel that forums become shop talk, with no resultant action, and they disagree on the importance of the water resource challenge, compared with other community issues,” he adds.

Technology

Workshop participants noted how the arrival of electronic media has changed forums. “People no longer need to attend meetings, but can stay informed through traditional channels such as newspapers, and newer mediums such as Twitter and Facebook.

“Electronic media provides leaders with a platform to engage with a wider audience and average citizens can get their voice heard,” says Choles.

The consultancy notes that, as people’s lifestyles became busier, they also tend to have less time for stakeholder engagement. At the Wilderness and Swartvlei study sites, a significant proportion of the active stake-holders are retired professionals.

“These retired individuals dedicate a lot of time and energy to convening residents forums and conducting their own research on water issues at study sites,” says Choles, adding that, although their expertise make them credible, they are not always in agreement – for example, on effective strategies for water management that can be implemented by government.

Lake System Background

Russell’s paper states that a water-quality monitoring programme was initiated in 1991 by SANParks to address concerns about a possible decline in the water quality of the Wilderness and Swarvlei lake systems.

This programme supplemented monitoring undertaken by the then Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.

The first seven years of the programme found several short-term changes in water-quality parameters in relation to runoff and breaching of the estuary mouths.

“Freshwater inflows and the status of the estuary mouth are linked, in that reduced river inflows will lead to prolonged estuary mouth closure. “Freshwater depravation resulting from the further development of lake catchments could thus have significant direct and indirect effects on the water quality in the lake sys-tem,” notes the paper.

It also highlights that altered water chemistry could, in turn, contribute to changes in the distribution, abundance and productivity of aquatic biota and in the func-tioning of environmental processes.

Russell also states in the 1999 paper that all catchment management authorities afford high priority to the freshwater quantity and quality requirements of the lake systems when managing scarce freshwater resources to ensure that these waterbodies function as viable, dynamic ecosystems that justify their current high standing in national and international conservation.

 

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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