Two decades of successful biodiversity stewardship puts South Africa at the forefront of inclusive conservation in partnership with communal and private landowners
South Africa’s biodiversity stewardship programme has emerged as the country’s most effective mechanism for expanding protected areas for the benefit of people and nature – securing 2.76 million hectares across 469 sites in the last 20 years.
Established in the early 2000s, the biodiversity stewardship programme enables conservation authorities to enter into voluntary agreements with private and communal landowners to protect biodiversity priority areas through a range of conservation options.
These include formally declared protected areas such as national parks, nature reserves and protected environments along with conservation areas through voluntary biodiversity stewardship agreements.
By conserving intact landscapes, wetlands, catchments, strategic water source areas and ecological corridors, these areas provide essential ecosystem services, such as freshwater, carbon storage, soil protection, pollination and climate resilience. The value of these services amounts to hundreds of billions of rand annually.
Over the past two decades, around 2.76 million hectares have been signed up through stewardship arrangements, accounting for some 90% of all protected area expansion under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act of 2003, and delivering significant environmental, economic and social benefits to the country.
These details are revealed in an “Analysis of 20 years of implementing South Africa’s biodiversity stewardship programme” launched at the recent 4th National Biodiversity Stewardship Conference in Kimberley. The assessment forms part of World Bank-funded initiatives aligned with South Africa’s biodiversity economy objectives.
The assessment notes that by securing critical ecosystems through collaborative partnerships with private and communal landowners, the programme delivers long-term benefits for biodiversity, people and the economy. It also evaluates the impact, lessons learnt and future of a successful stewardship programme while taking into account South Africa’s complex socio-economic and environmental landscape.
Mr Shonisani Munzhedzi, Chief Executive Officer of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), said, “Biodiversity stewardship tells an important South African story, that conservation works best when it is inclusive, partnership-driven and rooted in the landscapes where people live and work.
From the early days of C.A.P.E. to today’s 2.76 million hectares under stewardship, we have shown that protecting nature can go hand in hand with creating jobs, securing water resources and building climate resilience. The next chapter must be even bolder, investing in youth, communities and extension capacity; strengthening governance and finance; and ensuring that stewardship remains a cornerstone of how we secure nature’s contribution to people and livelihoods for generations to come.”
South Africa is internationally recognised as a mega-diverse country, hosting extraordinary levels of species richness, endemism and ecosystem diversity, including three globally significant biodiversity hotspots. But biodiversity is under increasing pressure. According to the National Biodiversity Assessment, 36% of terrestrial ecosystems and 65% of inland aquatic ecosystems are currently threatened.
As biodiversity underpins critical sectors of the economy, including tourism, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, water security and bio trade, its protection is essential for sustainable economic growth and livelihood security.
The findings affirm the programme’s growing importance in supporting South Africa’s climate adaptation and resilience objectives. Healthy ecosystems reduce vulnerability to droughts, floods and other climate-related impacts, helping communities and industries adapt to a changing climate.
The programme has also demonstrated economic benefits, particularly in rural and communal landscapes. Biodiversity stewardship enables job creation through natural resource management, invasive species control, conservation management, tourism and enterprise development.
Beyond its conservation achievements and livelihood benefits, biodiversity stewardship has become a key mechanism for delivering on both national and international policy commitments.
The programme plays a significant role in South Africa’s implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly Target 3, which calls for the effective conservation and management of protected and conserved areas.
It also supports national priorities outlined in the National Development Plan, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Protected Area Expansion Strategy, White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, and the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy.
Importantly, the programme provides the legal certainty and governance framework needed to attract investment into the biodiversity economy, ecological restoration initiatives, sustainable agriculture, and nature-based tourism ventures.
“Biodiversity stewardship tells an important South African story; that conservation works best when it is inclusive, partnership-driven and rooted in the landscapes where people live and work,” said Shonisani Munzhedzi, CEO of SANBI. “From the early days of CAPE partnership, a government and civil society programme, hosted by SANBI to protect the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) to today’s 2.76 million hectares under stewardship, South Africa has shown that protecting nature can go hand in hand with creating jobs, securing water resources and building climate resilience.”
“The next chapter must be even bolder, investing in youth, communities and extension capacity; strengthening governance and finance; and ensuring that stewardship remains a cornerstone of how we secure nature’s contribution to people and livelihoods for generations to come.”
Dr Morné du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa:
“Significantly, this 20-year assessment shows that devolving the management responsibility from the state to landowners – be they private or communal owners – is not only the most inclusive way of growing our formal conservation areas, but also the most cost-effective way of safeguarding South Africa’s extraordinary biodiversity. Looking ahead, biodiversity stewardship is a tool, including everything from contractual national parks to other effective area-based conservation measure (OECMs), that provides us with a realistic opportunity of achieving our most ambitious goals while enabling both people and nature to thrive.”
Success stories and partnerships between government, NGOs and the private sector
- In Mpumalanga, the Kwamandlangampisi Protected Environment, South Africa’s first protected environment declared under the current protected areas legislation, demonstrates how long-term partnerships between landowners, communities, NGOs and government can conserve biodiversity while sustaining productive agricultural landscapes.
- The proposed Grasslands National Park in the Eastern Cape highlights a new model of inclusive conservation at the highest level, where private and communal landowners voluntarily agree to manage their land sustainably and derive economic benefit through activities such as agriculture and tourism.
- The Mgundeni Community Protected Environment in KwaZulu-Natal highlights how biodiversity stewardship can support community development, sustainable farming, youth and women’s participation, and biodiversity conservation through strong local leadership and long-term partnerships.
- The Maloti Thaba Tsa Metsi Protected Environment demonstrates the potential of biodiversity stewardship to protect critical water source areas on communal land while supporting rural livelihoods and strengthening climate resilience.
- The Mabola Protected Environment is a nationally significant example of how biodiversity stewardship helps safeguard South Africa’s strategic water source areas and ecologically sensitive landscapes from incompatible development pressures.
- Nambiti Private Game Reserve illustrates how conservation paired with tourism can generate substantial economic benefits by creating more than 220 jobs, community ownership and revenue-sharing while conserving nearly 10 000 hectares of biodiverse habitat.
- At Babanango Game Reserve, biodiversity stewardship partnerships have supported ecological restoration and job creation, with more than 1 500 hectares of invasive alien vegetation cleared and 40 local community members trained and employed through natural resource management programmes.
- Biodiversity stewardship has played a critical role in supporting WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP), helping to secure at least five sites as protected areas, including community-owned land of some 87 000 hectares.
- Partnerships between government and NGOs have been instrumental to the programme’s success providing technical expertise, funding and implementation support.
- Between them, NGOs have leveraged more than R1.3 billion for biodiversity conservation initiatives in South Africa, with much of this investment linked directly to biodiversity stewardship projects.
- International and local funding partners, including the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), WWF Nedbank Green Trust, Table Mountain Fund and Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust, have helped expand conservation efforts and support landowner and community participation.
Facts Only
* The biodiversity stewardship programme secured 2.76 million hectares across 469 sites in the last 20 years.
* The programme enables conservation authorities to enter voluntary agreements with private and communal landowners.
* Conservation options include formally declared protected areas and voluntary biodiversity stewardship agreements.
* Conserved areas include national parks, nature reserves, protected environments, conservation areas, and ecological corridors.
* Conserving these areas provides ecosystem services such as freshwater, carbon storage, soil protection, pollination, and climate resilience.
* Around 2.76 million hectares were signed up through stewardship arrangements over the past two decades.
* Stewardship accounted for some 90% of all protected area expansion under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act of 2003.
* The programme supports objectives outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, specifically Target 3.
* Stewardship enables job creation through natural resource management, invasive species control, and tourism in rural landscapes.
* Partnerships involved government, NGOs, and the private sector, with NGOs leveraging over R1.3 billion for biodiversity conservation initiatives linked to stewardship.
Executive Summary
South Africa's biodiversity stewardship programme has secured 2.76 million hectares across 469 sites over the last twenty years by enabling voluntary agreements with private and communal landowners. This programme allows conservation authorities to implement various conservation options, including formally declared protected areas and voluntary stewardship agreements. These efforts protect critical ecosystems such as landscapes, wetlands, catchments, and ecological corridors, which provide essential ecosystem services like freshwater, carbon storage, and climate resilience valued in the hundreds of billions of rand annually.
The success of this approach is demonstrated by its contribution to protected area expansion, accounting for about 90% of expansion under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act of 2003, delivering environmental, economic, and social benefits. The initiative supports national objectives and international commitments, including targets within the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Furthermore, stewardship facilitates job creation in rural areas through natural resource management, tourism, and enterprise development, while providing the legal framework necessary to attract investment into the biodiversity economy.
Full Take
The narrative centers on a paradigm shift: moving conservation responsibility from the state to landowners as the most inclusive and cost-effective means of achieving broad ecological and socio-economic goals. The pattern observed is the successful integration of conservation outcomes with economic development and community empowerment, framed by the concept of partnership-driven governance. This structure inherently challenges traditional state-centric conservation models by recognizing the direct linkage between landscape management, local livelihoods, and global environmental targets.
The implication is that conservation is not merely an ecological endeavor but a mechanism for decentralized socio-economic structuring. The reliance on voluntary stewardship acts as an innovation in governance, suggesting that localized, place-based knowledge—held by communal and private stewards—is more effective than centralized decree for managing complex ecosystems under climate stress. However, the call to make the next chapter "even bolder" suggests a tension: how can the system simultaneously deepen community capacity and strengthen governance without reintroducing hierarchical control? The success stories highlight that economic incentives (jobs, water security) are powerful levers, but the persistence of the need for strengthened finance and governance implies an ongoing structural friction between aspirational partnership models and administrative realities.
What assumptions must be questioned about "inclusive" stewardship if it remains reliant on voluntary agreements? Does the framework risk commodifying ecological services, or is the focus genuinely on enhancing agency at the local level? How do we ensure that economic benefits are distributed equitably across all stakeholders, preventing a scenario where stewardship becomes another mechanism for externally driven development agendas rather than truly rooted community self-determination?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads like a well-researched summary of an official report or conference presentation, successfully weaving together data, policy, and anecdotal evidence about South Africa's conservation efforts.