Project alternative

The project consists of improving riverine wetland ecosystems and increasing connectivity with the main river. This requires structural measures related to the water system to create or recreate a connection between the main river and the wetlands and non-structural measures related to improving/restoring ecology and habitats. It also requires activities, such as outreach and training, to support households and communities to change their livelihoods that are aligned with sustainable use of the ecosystem services of the wetlands. Finally, it involves engaging other stakeholders, such as the private sector to set up eco-tourism in the area. This will ultimately lead to a situation in which the wetland sustainably provides its ecosystem services and works together with other livelihoods supporting a sustainable and complimentary income (such as agriculture, aquaculture and tourism).

At the basin scale, it is assumed that the case study project would be replicated up to the point where it would be implemented in 25% of the highly suitable land area for riverine wetlands, which amounts to 22,000 ha. Doing the projects at the basin scale would likely lead to scale advantages in costs and benefits. After all, an ecosystem of significant scale is required to provide ecosystem benefits.

In economic and financial analysis, the project period or project horizon is relevant as cashflows are discounted to a present value and different stakeholders have different time horizons. The project has an infinite lifetime as the improvement of riverine wetlands should be permanent. However, households and private sector stakeholders may have a horizon of one to a few years, as they would like to see relatively short-term returns on their efforts and investments. Public sector investments and societal benefits have much longer horizons as infrastructure generally has a lifespan of several decades and some effects may only materialise in the long run. Costs and benefits also need to be placed in a timeline, and for this, it is assumed that for the local scale project implementation takes 2 years and that at the basin scale, it takes 10 years to achieve the improvement of 25% of riverine wetlands. A project horizon of 50 years, from 2024 to 2073, is assumed.