Abstract
The Agulhas Plain is a low-lying coastal area within the Cape Floristic Region. It is heavily invaded by alien vegetation that infringes upon the sustainable supply of ecosystem goods and services provided by the native fynbos vegetation. Alien clearing and natural capital restoration is expected to recover these ecosystem goods and services and in particular to increase water availability. The study conducts cost-benefit analyses to assess whether alien clearing and natural capital restoration would add value to the Agulhas Plain through sufficiently increasing the supply of marketable ecosystem goods and services. The results indicate that the costs of alien clearing and restoration cannot be justified in the absence of water as a valued commodity. Other ecosystem goods and services included have a negligible impact on justifying costs.
Highlights
By reducing the resilience of indigenous biodiversity and ecosystems, invasive vegetation threatens the sustainable supply of ecosystem goods and services
Growing human societies and impending climate change is threatening the sustainable supply of ecosystem goods and services
Invasive vegetation poses an additional threat to the goods and services supplied by indigenous ecosystems
Summary
By reducing the resilience of indigenous biodiversity and ecosystems, invasive vegetation threatens the sustainable supply of ecosystem goods and services. Valuing the impact of invasive species requires an interdisciplinary approach that draws from an understanding of the ecological and hydrological processes that drive and are in turn influenced by invasive vegetation. The economic impact of invasive species is determined by the ecosystem in question and the related ecosystem goods and services (Perrings et al, 2010). Estimating the value of these impacts allows decision-makers to evaluate project investments aimed at clearing invasive species and restoring natural vegetation. The economic return of such projects is determined by the direct project costs and the value of the affected ecosystem goods and services
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