Cape Town: Ecosystem Services - Environmental Resources, Threat, Protection and Priorities

Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape region are home to an endemic plant kingdom - that is to say, the entirety of one of the world's six plant kingdom is wholly contained within this region. The are boasts the richest plant species biodiversity, in species per unit area, in the world, with roughly four times more species per square kilometer than even the Brazilian rain forest according to a sign on Table Mountain. However, in a region with intense pressures of housing development (to provide adequate shelter for the millions without as a result of historic structural violence described previously) and limited resources, preserving rare plant species is a tough investment to prioritize. UNESCO has designated the Cape Floral Region a world heritage site to help. Local planners have turned to the ecosystem services approach to build justification and a rationalized prioritization system for saving species. The logic of ecosystem services is that the function of the ecosystem, not just its individual components, provides services of immeasurable value. Individual plants and even species may be lost so long as overall diversity, health and function are maintained. Still, its a tough trade-off, but would be an even tougher loss.