1. NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN
SOUTH AFRICA

2. WHAT IS THE NBSAP Framework for managing country’s biodiversity
Goal: Conserve and manage terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity to ensure sustainable and equitable benefits to the people of South Africa, now and in the future
Strategic component (20 years)
Desired outcomes to be achieved
Actions to achieve outcomes
Roleplayers needed to achieve outcomes
Priorities of actions needed
Lead agents
Support partners
Targets
Indicators

3. WHY THE NBSAP
Fulfill requirements of the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity (art 6)
Plan to achieve 2002 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) targets
Translate 1997 Biodiversity White Paper into action
Implement 2004 NEM: Biodiversity Act

4. NBSAP PROCESS
Project concept document developed over a period of two years finalised in November 2002
Submitted to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to obtain the amount of USD 448,080
Prepared by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism during period May 2003 to 2005
Steering Committee consisting of departmental officials and UNDP
Stocktaking, assessment and analysis to identify priorities, existing initiatives and stakeholders on following thematic areas:
-Policy and legislation
-Institutional capacity
-Social aspects of conservation
-Sustainable use
-Economics and poverty alleviation
-Access and benefit sharing
-Invasive alien species
Two year consultation process including national departments, provinces, NGO;s, academics, industry etc

5. STRUCTURE OF NBSAP
GOAL: Conserve and manage terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity to ensure sustainable and equitable benefits to the people of South Africa, now and in the future
5 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES (15 YEAR TARGETS)
Policy framework for biodiversity management
Institutional framework for biodiversity management
Integrated management of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
Sustainable use of biological resources
Conservation areas
A number of outcomes have been identified for each of these strategic objectives, with five year targets and indicators, and activities to achieve the outcomes, complete with priority, lead agency, support partners and role of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

6. NATIONAL SPATIAL BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT (NSBA) AND COUNTRY STUDY
Using systematic biodiversity planning techniques, the NSBA provides the spatial component of NBSAP, indicating nine priority areas for conservation action integrating marine, river, terrestrial and estuarine ecosystems
SOUTH AFRICAN COUNTRY STUDY 2005
Country study was prepared as part of stocktaking and assessment phase of the NBSAP development process. Country study is detailed examination of the status of South Africa’s biodiversity and the current socio-economic, policy and institutional context

7. ROLEPLAYERS IN THE NBSAP PROCESS
National departments of which work impact on the environment
Provincial environmental departments
Non governmental organisations
Community based organisations
Local governments
Scientists
Academia
Industries
Conservation agencies
Research institutions
Funding agencies
Etc

8. MAINSTREAMING OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION: BIOREGIONAL PLANS
Biodiversity Act makes provision for bioregional plans in section 40
Bioregional approach to protected area management
NSBA provides guidance for national and provincial government regarding biodiversity priority areas
Several bioregional plans and programmes e.g.
-Cape Action for people and Environment (C.A.P.E)
-Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Programme (SKEP)
-Subtropical Ecosystem Planning (STEP)
- Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Area
-National Grassland Biodiversity Area
Guideline for publishing bioregional plans in process of being approved

9. CAPE ACTION FOR PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Large-scale, multi stakeholder, multifaceted programme
Conserve Cape Floral Kingdom and adjacent marine environment
Funded by GEF
Partnership between government, private sector and communities
Spatial plan identified areas that need to be conserved
Strong focus on:
-mainstreaming
-participatory
-public private partnership
-international partnership
-co-ordinated approach

10. Building the biodiversity economy through CAPE
It is envisaged that in the period that the implementation of the CAPE will be accelerated through the laying of the foundations for an economy based on biodiversity.
This will be done:
Through cooperation of relevant institutions which will collaborate in order to develop a foundation for mainstreaming biodiversity in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) into social and economic development
Adapting programmes for sustainable management to enhance conservation of the CFR

11. SUBTROPICAL THICKET ECOSYSTEM PLANNING (STEP)
Goal: To promote the conservation of critical and globally significant biodiversity in the Eastern Cape while delivering economic and social benefits
Aim: to enhance the capacity of municipal and land-use planners and decision makers to use bioregional planning tools
Integration of social, economic and environment factors into planning, implementation and decision making
CAPE, SKEP and STEP intersect in the Eastern Cape
SANBI project leader

12. SUCCULENT KAROO ECOSYSTEM PROGRAMME

13. Covers 116 000 sq km from southern Namibia through Namaqualand into the Little Karoo
Unique approach to conservation planning that integrate high level scientific expertise with on the ground socio-political, economic and institutional expertise
Started in 2003 with USD 8 million from Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund identifying 6 strategic funding directions:
-Expand protected area corridors through public-private-communal partnerships
-Engage key industrial sectors in meeting conservation objectives
-Retain and restore critical biodiversity in areas under greatest land-use pressure
- Mainstream conservation priorities into land use planning and policy making
-Increase awareness of the Succulent Karoo hotspot
-Create the capacity to catalyse the SKEP Programme

14. Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and Development Area
Collaborative initiative between the Governments of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa .
The main objectives
-to conserve the globally significant biodiversity that occurs in the catchments of the 300km border straddling the Maloti and the Drakensberg mountains, and
-to stimulate integrated nature-based tourism development with maximum participation of local communities
Implementation of the five-year project is funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank). On July , the Governments of the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa , and the World Bank signed the GEF Trust Fund Grant and Project Agreements.
The Maloti-Drakensberg Mountain bioregion has globally significant plant and animal biodiversity, with unique habitats and high levels of endemism largest concentration of rock art and paintings in sub-Saharan Africa led to the declaration, in December 2000, of one of the largest parks in the bioregion, the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park , as a World Heritage Site.
The Maloti-Drakensberg bioregion, a 300km long alpine and montane zone, is also the most important water catchment area for the people of Lesotho and South Africa . Two of the largest civil engineering projects in southern Africa, the Tugela-Vaal Scheme and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, supply water from the mountains to the rest of the Kindom of Lesotho and the economic powerhouse of Africa, the Province of Gauteng.
Threat from commercial uses, timber plantations and agricultural practices that are unsustainable. In addition to specific conservation and development projects implemented on the ground, two specific outputs of the project will be a 25-year bioregional conservation strategy and a tourism development strategy for the bioregion.

15. NATIONAL GRASSLANDS BIODIVERSITY PROGRAMME
UNDP funding of USD 8.3 million
AIM: Sustain and secure biodiversity and associated ecosystem services of the grassland biome
Mission:
-to ensure that the wise management of biodiversity contributes to sustainable development in grasslands biome
-to ensure the production and development activities are appropriately located and managed
-to mobilise and empower land uses and landowners to be effective stewards of the landscape
Strategy involves
-implemented scaled backed activities within key areas
-prioritising human resource needs
Work with various sectors:
-urban
-forestry
-agriculture
-coal mining

16. THE WAY FORWARD
Communication strategy involved launching at International Biodiversity Day
NBSAP sent to all stakeholders
Implementation Committee in process to be established with assistance of UNDP
Results of NBSAP rewritten into law (National Biodiversity Framework in terms of section 38 of Biodiversity Act)
Stakeholders compelled to implement the National Biodiversity Framework

17. THANK YOU