06 April 2017

Matthias Jonas, Phoebe Barnard and Lavinia Perumal gave a talk at the Austria–South Africa Science & Technological Cooperation Launching Workshop

Matthias Jonas, Phoebe Barnard and Lavinia Perumal gave a talk on "Biodiversity intactness, ecosystem health, food production and security: An assessment of the impacts of major infrastructure projects in South Africa" at Austria–South Africa Science & Technological Cooperation Launching Workshop which took place in Vienna, Austria on 6 April, 2017.

Biodiversity intactness, ecosystem health, food production and security: An assessment of the impacts of major infrastructure projects in South Africa

The focus of this two-year research is on Africa but touches on an issue of global relevance. Many countries in Africa rely on foreign direct investments for significant large-scale infrastructural development. However, such development can pose severe and critical trade-offs for biodiversity, ecosystem health and landscape services supporting human populations. If not mitigated, the fragmentation of natural landscapes by intensifying infrastructure development can cause spiraling biodiversity loss and disruption of ecosystem function, to the point of functional collapse of natural ecosystems, widespread degradation of biodiversity value, and significant costs for ecosystem health. When this happens, human social and economic well-being are impaired, and while short-term economic benefits may accrue to society, long-term costs may outweigh these.

The research objective is on identifying indicators that allow linking the socio-economic impact of infrastructure development on biodiversity intactness and natural capital under climate change.



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Last edited: 12 June 2017

CONTACT DETAILS

Matthias Jonas

Guest Senior Research Scholar Advancing Systems Analysis Program

CONTACT DETAILS

Wei Liu

Guest Research Scholar Equity and Justice Research Group - Population and Just Societies Program

Biodiversity Futures Program

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313