African Wildlife Environment Issue 75 FINAL

CONSERVATION

and the need to conserve other areas of biodiversity importance have been identified the reality is that in the majority of the provinces in South Africa there is a steady decline in the capacity of the provincial conservation agencies to fulfil their mandates. Many of the provincial bodies no longer have the capacity to develop and manage them. If South Africa is to take advantage of its world class natural riches and manage these resources sustainably, for the benefit of its people a workable model for doing this is essential. In this regard Wessa Lowveld, has motivated for the creation of a new NGO that will focus within South Africa on Provincial protected areas that should be included in the nation’s protected area network. The goal here would be to reverse the downward trend in the management of South Africa’s provincial protected areas and to help expand the country’s protected area network, through a professionally managed, non-profit NGO that would work with the above-mentioned NGOs and aim to assist Government by developing and managing those protected areas that are beyond its current capacity. Such a professionally managed non- profit NGO could partner with conservation agencies to run selected Protected Areas and provide selected services focusing on custodianship/ stewardship. This partnership of state and non-profit NGO has worked in conservation areas elsewhere in Africa. Ecotourism remains an effective tool in providing benefits to both people and wildlife and best practice guidelines in the respective areas could help secure and consolidate many of the protected area expansion priorities discussed in this article. The Big 5 remain a draw card for ecotourism in South Africa and present opportunities for protected area expansion. The ideas expressed in this article re-iterate efforts taking place to attempt to safeguard protected areas and their respective suite of biodiversity in the wake of human population growth and development across the globe. Harvard Professor and doyen of Conservation Biology, Edward Wilson, in his book ‘Half Earth – Our Planet’s Fight for Life’ (Liveright Publishing 2016, New York Times Bestseller) proposes that the only way for biodiversity to survive and not to become extinct is to dedicate at least half of the remaining wild places as protected areas and for the conservation of fauna and flora in these areas. Within the next decade the threat of biodiversity loss is becoming as a major cause of concern as is global warming and climate change. With its exceptional biodiversity and as party to the Convention for Biological Diversity, South Africa has an opportunity to secure and safeguard its precious wildlife, biodiversity and natural heritage and showcase its exceptional values to both its local people while appealing to

an international audience. By working together for people and wildlife and striving for a sustainable future, protected area managers have the obligation to ensure that what remains of the wilderness stays wild and that their specific concerns especially around protected area expansion are mainstreamed, consolidated and prioritised by the Department.

References Adocks, J.P.H. 1953. Veld types of South Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Afr. No. 28. 1-192. Department of Environmental Affairs (2016) National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy for South Africa 2016 . Department of Environmental Affairs, Pretoria, South Africa. Low, A.B. & Rebelo, A. 1996. Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria. Mucina, I. & Rutherford, M.C. (eds) 2006. The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia 19. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Pole Evans, I.B. 1936. A vegetation map of South Africa. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Afr . No.15. 1-23. Taylor, W.A., Davies-Mostert, H.T., Friedmann, Y. and Patterson-Abrolat, C. 2019. How NGOs count in conservation: A review of the role of NGOs in biodiversity conservation in South Africa. The Endangered Wildlife Trust, Johannesburg, South Africa Wilson, E.O. 2016. Half Earth – Our Planet’s Fight for Life. Liveright Publishing, New York.

Rael Matthew Loon The Wilderness Association rmloon@icon.co.za

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