By Julie Shaw
The Cape Floristic Region biodiversity hotspot, home to the greatest non-tropical concentration of higher plant species in the world, will receive an additional $1.65 million in grant funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).
The new grants are part of a major new initiative designed to sustain and build on conservation advances made possible by the global program’s previous investments in many of the biologically richest areas on Earth.
In the Cape Floristic Region, located at the southern-most tip of South Africa, selected nongovernmental organizations will receive funds to meet six new investment priorities based on an analysis of the program’s initial 5-year, $6 million investment in the region.
Investment priority: Consolidate and strengthen implementation efforts for corridor conservation
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Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve Company will receive $150,000 to sustain the gains made in the implementation of a management plan for the 370,000-hectare reserve. The plan includes fund-raising goals, community mobilization and community-based projects.
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Western Cape Nature Conservation Board, known as CapeNature, will receive $324,000 to builds upon previously successful work in the Cederberg and Gouritz biodiversity conservation corridors and stewardship sites. The project will secure the gains made by improving institutional capacity to address and strengthen corridor, biosphere and World Heritage site planning and implementation.
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Wilderness Foundation will receive $110,000 to take steps toward the handover of the Baviaanskloof Mega-reserve to the Eastern Cape Parks Board. The project will focus on a biodiversity and citrus initiative, stakeholder engagement and protected-area management. It will enhance management capacity through a reduction in the role of the Wilderness Foundation and an increase in the role of the parks board. .
Investment priority: Support the sharing of lessons learned across and beyond corridors within the region
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South African National Biodiversity Institute will receive $150,000 to ensure that lessons learned through the initial CEPF investment are shared and built upon across the member organizations of Cape Action for People and the Environment.
Investment priority: Engagement with the business sector
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Conservation International will receive $193,054 to work with agricultural industries in South Africa to address threats selected industries pose to the region's biodiversity and develop models and case studies that other industries and partners can learn from. The initiative will support existing biodiversity and agricultural initiatives, and promote biodiversity-friendly food production and sustainable natural-resource harvesting.
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World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-South Africa will receive $106,651 to help ensure the sustainability of conservation initiatives by engaging the South African business sector in addressing blockages some initiatives currently face. This project focuses on stimulating growth in sales of biodiversity-friendly products.
Investment priority: Securing support from government
- Wilderness Foundation will receive $150,000 to use wilderness trails to educate decision-makers about the importance and impact of conservation. The Wilderness Foundation and its sister organization, the Wilderness Leadership School, have been pioneers in using wilderness trails as a means of influencing decision-makers and opinion leaders for more than 30 years. Their project will replicate this across the region.
CEPF is also finalizing plans for two additional consolidation projects to be implemented by WWF-South Africa. These include training a new group of stakeholders to participate in conservation projects selected for investment. Funds will be channeled in the form of micro-grants to community-based organizations and new participants. The second project will support capacity building in conservation-implementing agencies that manage priority biodiversity efforts. The initiative will train local economic development officers for municipalities, as well as municipal officials and their consultants in key locations.