Aquatic ecosystem services are essential to sustain life, development in all its forms, and the environment. In many areas of South Africa the availability of these services is often limited and, in turn, regulates the nature and pace of social and economic development. The Convention of Biological Diversity through Strategic Goal D aims to Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services with Target 14 specifically addressing water i.e. By 2020, ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being, are restored and safeguarded, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities, and the poor and vulnerable.

In South Africa, the concept of Ecological Infrastructure is being promoted to achieve this. Ecological infrastructure refers to functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people (SANBI, 2012) which highlights the importance of social and ecological connections i.e. social-ecological systems (SES). This provides an alignment with the WRC Green Village lighthouse, the aims of which are to uplift the standard of living by transforming an impoverished dependent rural and peri-urban community to a self-sufficient independent community through sustainable development that is informed by integration of science and technology. Anderies et al (2004) provide a framework for a SES approach through which the link between resource users and public infrastructure providers is seen as a key aspect affecting the robustness of such systems, and so provides an approach where governance, institutional and financial mechanisms, inclusive of civil society, can be considered. The SES approach highlights a need to move beyond assessments which are focused only on human benefits, to one which reflects on how achieving and sharing these benefits feeds back to influence governance and policy (Reyers et al 2013) and provide for a holistic and shared appreciation for how the benefits of ecological infrastructure are realized.

This will facilitate the emergence of integrated understandings and shared meanings that are necessary foundations for achieving the intent of IWRM (Bodhanya 2010). The resilience of social-ecological systems is thus determined in significant ways by how stakeholders network, collaborate, learn about and strive to manage demands for, and distribution of, the benefits that can be derived from ecosystem goods and services (Jewitt, 2002; Biggs et al., 2012) ecological infrastructure. With this understanding it may be concluded that the process of sharing benefits is a significant determinant of the structure, function and resilience of social-ecological systems that are logically bounded at the scale of river basins. (Adapted from Breen and others, 2010).

This introduction provides background for this research and summarises a preceding joint venture of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban University of Technology and others in support of integrated water resources management at the basin scale (UKZN and DUT, 2012) and is aligned and integrated with the uMngeni Ecological Infrastructure Partnership (UEIP). The overall purpose of this joint venture is three fold:

1. To grow our knowledge base in institutional and technical areas in support of effective governance and management of the river basin
2. To build the capacity of our current and future generation of river basin leaders, managers, practitioners and researchers
3. To act as a catalyst for collective and coordinated action

It is within this conceptual and spatial context that we wish to conduct research. With a focus on the case study catchments identified by the UEIP, i.e. the Midmar Dam catchment, the Baynesspruit and the Palmiet, within a broader integrative framework for the uMngeni as a whole, the overall objective is To develop and test an adaptable multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral socio-ecological water resource governance framework in selected catchments or basin(s) through action research for inclusive and participatory catchment management. This research is aimed at responding to the green economy, water for growth and development, and government strategies/ priorities as reflected in the National Development Plan and other strategies, such as the WRC Green Village lighthouse and knowledge tree.

The case studies selected by the UEIP provide a suitable range in terms of biophysical environment, trajectory of development (rural, peri-urban, urban), intervention approaches and issues which they represent within the broader uMngeni catchment.