This fourth phase of the Mondi-WWF Partnership will see the continuation of one of WWF South Africa’s longest-running corporate partnerships which has existed in various formats for over 30 years.

Working towards water security sits at the heart of the partnership and is the need that gave rise to the partnership in the first place. This need continues today, as South Africa’s water resources, and the catchments that produce most of this water come under increasing land-use pressures.

Candice Webb, Head of Environment at Mondi South Africa, explains that historically, the Mondi-WWF partnership focussed on wetland conservation and more recently, water stewardship in priority catchments and supporting securing of South Africa’s Strategic Water Source Areas.

In 2013, the partnership broadened its focus to catalyse a variety of water stewardship projects at a landscape and catchment level by bringing multiple stakeholders together from government, local communities, NGOs, and other private sector organisations to improve management of freshwater resources and governance. Mondi’s aim is to work not only within our own operations reducing our water footprint, but also supporting water security initiatives outside our fence line.

Webb says, it’s been an incredible journey with WWF, and we have learnt so much, most importantly that long lasting and meaningful partnerships need to be backed by insightful leadership, strong scientific input, consistent corporate funding to develop a core team of experts, and most importantly - passion. We now look forward to the next phase of the partnership.

While continuing its water focus, the next phase of the partnership will expand to explore other WWF areas of work around circular economy, land and biodiversity stewardship and climate resilience.

Some of the projects for the next phase include:

• Creating a Richards Bay Eco-Industrial community promoting a circular economy, that integrates Mondi’s Richards Bay Mill.

• Expanding the existing and new initiatives for improving water stewardship in the uMhlathuze catchment that supplies Mondi’s Richards Bay Mill with water.

With increasing impacts of climate change, the already water-stressed uMhlathuze catchment, which flows from Babanango hills near Melmoth and enters the sea at Richards Bay, will be heavily impacted as was evident in 2016’s major drought. Key land uses include forestry, agriculture, business and industry, as well as the domestic sector in both a rural and urban setting.
 
Reuben Thifhulufhelwi, Project Manager with WWF South Africa who chairs the uMhlathuze Catchment Management Forum, comments: “To address water security risks at catchment level, the WWF-Mondi partnership works in collaboration with partners and the catchment management forum to strengthen collective action.

“A good example of this work is the development of a real-time, open source water flow monitoring tool which allows all stakeholders to learn about the state of water in rivers and dams in the uMhlathuze catchment. This provides additional knowledge and capacity for action towards effective and efficient decision making, especially in response to climate change threats, such as drought.”