The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

With a few exceptions, South Africa’s indigenous farming systems have been eroded by modern production methods and the negative impacts of historical apartheid-era land laws. Meanwhile, coastal fishing communities have been hard hit by the accelerating effects of climate change and challenges with access to markets. While some communities have managed to regroup and recover, many more are struggling to reorient themselves towards sustainable systems of production and natural resources management. 

In this context, WWF has adopted a nuanced, tailored approach to supporting the local governance of natural resources by working with communities to co-develop effective management systems. To this end, we supported them in establishing appropriate, inclusive structures such as rangeland associations and communal property associations (CPAs) to govern their natural resources. Where governance structures were present but struggling, we have sought to share capacity, business skills and scientific knowledge. With every engagement, WWF’s objective has been to find a solution that benefits both communities and nature.

Mpumalanga

Further north, in Mpumalanga, the people of Donkerhoek are foundational to WWF’s efforts to restore and conserve one of the most ecologically important landscapes in South Africa: the Enkangala Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area. Here, grasslands provide a habitat for a variety of animals – including the emblematic blue crane and the endangered grey crowned crane – while acting as a natural water filter and preventing soil erosion. However, across much of Mpumalanga, unsustainable farming practices and coal mining pose a risk to these natural riches, with both activities impacting water quality and reducing biodiversity.

Over the past five years, WWF worked with eight CPAs within the Donkerhoek community to raise awareness of the long-term damage caused by coal mining and unsustainable farming. To this end, the area’s abandoned coal mines and invasive alien trees have been mapped to better allow decision-makers to understand the scale and location of challenges to their ecosystems.

In addition to enriching their technical knowledge, our support enabled the eight CPAs to combine into a single representative governing body, called the Donkerhoek Development Committee, which includes two representatives from each individual CPA. This voluntary collective governing body is a first of its kind in South Africa. The Donkerhoek Development Committee sits weekly to discuss matters relating to the management of their lands, including the call to sign a biodiversity agreement to protect a conservation-worthy portion of their collective property.

Eastern Cape

Based on these successes, BRUVs and smart devices were also given to 16 small-scale fisheries cooperatives in Port St Johns in the rural Eastern Cape to help them assess the state of marine life, maintain electronic logs of their catches and access markets – mainly for high-value East Coast rock lobster – using the ABALOBI Fisher and ABALOBI Monitor apps. This data, in turn, supports the cooperatives’ efforts to attract further investment in, for example, cold chain facilities.