Intégrer l'EbA dans la gestion de la biodiversité en Afrique du Sud pour soutenir la résilience des communautés

South Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, particularly in rural areas where communities rely directly on ecosystems for their livelihoods. Many of these communities live in or around key biodiversity and water source areas and face growing pressures from climate variability, land degradation, and limited access to adaptive support. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) offers a critical opportunity to enhance resilience and secure ecosystem services that underpin these climate-sensitive livelihoods.

This project will focus on integrating EbA into South Africa’s biodiversity stewardship approaches through the co-development of a practical Toolkit with National and Provincial Governments. The Toolkit will be tested in the communities of Mgundeni and Donkerhoek in Mpumalanga, which are participating in WWF’s biodiversity stewardship programme. These communities are custodians of communally or privately owned land and play a central role in catchment protection and conservation. The co-developed Toolkit will guide the incorporation of climate adaptation into land management plans and stewardship processes, ensuring both ecological and socio-economic benefits.

Key interventions will include conducting vulnerability assessments, stakeholder workshops, learning exchanges, and on-the-ground community engagements on testing the EbA Toolkit and build capacity within existing governance structures such as the Biodiversity Stewardship Working Group. The approach will serve as a scalable model for embedding climate resilience into stewardship programmes across the country.