Green grouping presses environment minister to rekindle conservation plan

A group of 30 environmental organisations is urging environment minister Dion George to put fresh political weight behind SA’s pledge to protect 30% of its land and sea by 2030 — a global goal known as the “30×30” target of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Biodiversity and climate change go hand-in-hand and healthy ecosystems slow climate change and soften its effects. Forests, wetlands and reefs lock away carbon while absorbing floods, cooling heat and securing water. Degrade them, and stored carbon escapes leaving communities exposed to harsher storms, droughts and fires.

The group, called the Environmental NGO Collaboration, was convened by Wildtrust in 2022. It helped the department of forestry, fisheries & the environment draft a 30×30 implementation plan in June 2023, but “with the change in leadership … it’s lost some traction at a government level”, collaboration convenor Louise Duys told Business Day.

“We’re hoping to reignite that now with the new minister George.”

Duys said the coalition sprang from conversations ahead of COP15 in 2022, when Wildtrust and Conservation SA realised many NGOs were grappling with fragmented lobbying and overlapping projects.

At the time, she noted, “the 30 × 30 target was on the table and SA had not yet signed up for it”.

Heavyweight groups have since joined forces with community-based outfits “with the common goal of encouraging the government to commit to the 30x30 target, which it did at COP15”. 

Environmental NGO Collaboration membership has doubled from 14 to 30 groups — including WWF-SA, BirdLife SA, the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Peace Parks Foundation, Conservation SA, the Conservation Strategy Fund and The Nature Conservancy — and community-based organisations such as the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa) have a seat at the table.

The collaboration meets online every second month with task teams and a steering committee overseeing day-to-day work. The WWF Nedbank Green Trust has given the coalition a three-year grant.

According to Duys, the collaboration has three priorities:

• Unblock: formalise a partnership with the department through a memorandum of understanding and routine policy dialogues.

“[This is] very much about unblocking the way forward in terms of policy and legislation, about ensuring the partnerships in place, engaging with the department on a regular basis as a partner,” Duys said.

• Unlock: co-ordinate bids for sustainable finance via global and multilateral funds.

“Let’s not have duplicate efforts in terms of trying to access it. Let’s make sure that that funding flows right the way down to community-based organisations,” Duys said.

• Strengthen: map, train and amplify local conservation groups, working closely with Contralesa to integrate traditional authorities’ indigenous knowledge.

“We recognise the priority of including the voices of the smaller organisations and community-based organisations, and recognising so often they’re the guys that are doing the work on the ground.”

Duys said NGOs can unlock international finance that often cannot be channelled directly to states that require proof of official buy-in.

“Not only do we have access, we have skills. We are the experts in biodiversity, and we have the scientists. We’re the experts in implementation. We can make this happen on the ground.”

“It’s for them [the department] to take us seriously … to recognise our value, to engage with us meaningfully, [and] to work with us on achieving the clear vision for the country around protection and conservation.”

Business Day has approached the department of forestry, fisheries & the environment for comment. Any response will be added once received.

marxj@businesslive.co.za