South Africa’s diverse suite of novel Conservation Areas are ensuring the protection of our natural heritage, while also promoting inclusivity in conservation and providing a range of social and economic benefits.
Cape Town, South Africa – Recent international reports have illustrated the rapid rate at which we’re losing our biodiversity. Area-based conservation efforts to stem this decline rely on increasing the global network of both protected areas and conservation areas to conserve biodiversity, improve land management and provide various socio-economic benefits. This task has traditionally fallen solely on governments; however, the enormity of the task requires support, and recent research has indicated a shift towards more diverse forms of governance and ownership.
BirdLife South Africa, with funding from the Table Mountain Fund, undertook a project aimed at enhancing the role of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in area-based conservation. South Africa is blessed with a diverse suite of models which allow communal and private landowners to protect the biodiversity on their properties while receiving certain benefits in return. The so-called Biodiversity Stewardship Initiative is considered to be a global leader in private and communal land conservation.
From this work, BirdLife South Africa produced two reports which aim to enhance conservation further.
The first of these details the challenges and opportunities for organisations in the sector, and specifically looked at ways to enhance government and NGO collaboration. Dale Wright, BirdLife South Africa’s Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) – Conservation Implementation Manager, undertook this review.
“We are fortunate to have many strong partnerships within Biodiversity Stewardship in South Africa, and our work has illustrated how these public-private partnerships may be maximised to enhance outcomes for conservation and society,” comments Wright.
The project also included a review of the diverse suite of models for securing land for conservation, specifically focusing on the novel, alternative mechanisms which have arisen in recent times. Importantly, the review shows that these alternative mechanisms are able to enhance inclusivity in conservation, by allowing for partnerships with stakeholders who may not previously have been involved, including rural community groups, communal property associations and the commercial agricultural sector.
The mechanisms also often allow for a variety of conservation-compatible land-uses within their boundaries. It may not be possible to establish protected areas throughout an entire landscape, and the alternative mechanisms can act to bridge those gaps by facilitating conservation in combination with other land-uses. Partnerships with agriculture provide benefits for conservation while ensuring food security and maintaining jobs.
“These options can be used as stepping stones to more formal, long-term conservation action. They can encourage initial involvement in conservation and subsequently upskill and empower stakeholders to make stronger commitments to conservation. South Africa’s suite of conservation areas have an essential role to play in mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into other sectors, facilitating connectivity across the landscape, and engaging a wide diversity of stakeholders. At a time when biodiversity faces ever-increasing threats, South Africa’s conservation community is constantly innovating and rising to the challenge of protecting our incredible natural heritage”, concludes Wright.
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