Ecosystem services assessment of landscape interventions in Mazowe catchment, Zimbabwe

Anchor undertook a detailed assessment of ecosystem services in the Mazowe catchment in northeastern Zimbabwe. The assessment included the identification, modelling, and economic analysis of potential landscape interventions to restore and/or secure these services. A scenario analysis was undertaken to compare a Business-as-Usual Scenario to a Sustainable Land Use Scenario in which the effects of a range of interventions to improve land and resource management practices in the study area were modelled. The priority interventions included climate-smart agriculture, recovery and sustainable use of rangelands and harvested resources, restoration and protection of riparian buffers, and the promotion of community conservancies. The impact of these interventions on the following ecosystem services were assessed: crop production, harvested wild resources, carbon storage, flow regulation, erosion control and sediment retention, and tourism. A high-level cost-benefit analysis at the sub-catchment level was conducted to evaluate the potential of the proposed interventions to generate positive ROI in the form of enhanced ecosystem service delivery.