Challenges · Biodiversity · Climate Change · Landscape Restoration · Resilience · Water
443,000
5 million
Subtropical Highland
Dairy, Forestry, Livestock, Potato, Sugarcane
The WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme (WWF-MWP) operates throughout South Africa. Work in the Upper Umgeni, Upper Umvoti, and Groot Brak catchments began in 2014 as a part of the initiative’s Resilient Landscape Approach. In this diverse matrix of land uses, local community livelihood activities include forestry, sugarcane and potato production, dairy farming, pork and poultry production, and other agricultural activities. Industry and manufacturing are other sources of livelihoods in the region, which produces an estimated 20% of South Africa’s GNP.
Freshwater resources, especially wetlands, which host a diverse range of plants and wildlife, are under pressure even as water demand is expected to rise 50% in South Africa over the next 30 years. Water stewardship among these diverse agricultural, forestry, and environmental land uses and stakeholders is a critical goal. Surrounding grasslands and savannahs contain giraffes, zebras, antelope, and other wildlife.
Well-designed and well-managed plantations that take into account protected areas, high conservation value areas and ecological networks can maintain biodiversity at the landscape level and contribute to sustained economic growth as well as social and environmental benefits.
Peter Gardiner Natural Resources Delegate, Mondi GroupThe WWF-Mondi Wetland Programme has effectively engaged government partners to support a national wetlands delineation policy to identify and restore critical wetlands. WWF-MWP’s work has also helped spur a national program, Working for Wetlands, that provided employment opportunities for local communities to restore these critical ecosystem services.
Over the next 3-5 years, WWF-SA and Mondi will implement the Resilient Landscape Approach (RLA), which emphasizes resilience thinking, creating shared value, and social learning, in the Greater uMngeni River Catchment. RLA connects partners from the forestry, sugar, and dairy industries and their value chains, from manufacturers and retailers to banks and insurance companies as well as water companies, local government, and local communities.
WWF-SA and Mondi have worked together to engage the forestry, agricultural, and livestock sectors as well as government regulatory agencies and municipalities, agribusiness supply chain companies, civil society groups, financial and insurance institutions, and water companies to improve water stewardship and reduce scarcity by reversing the loss of wetlands and riparian areas through improved land use planning and management. United around this common goal, the partnership has engaged in wetland delineation and assessment and promoted social learning to advance the project.
The booklet was designed for leaders of African agriculture, food and beverage companies, and for the civil society and government land managers working to engage them. It offers cases of front-running companies who have applied the landscape approach in their African operations, a summary of the approach’s basic principles, a selection of cutting-edge tools, and an explanation of core integrated practices and their relevance to business operations.
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Climate change, ecosystem degradation, and increasing competition over limited resources pose significant risks to agrifood businesses. In this report, LPFN looks at what agribusinesses stand to gain from a landscape approach, and examines the benefits and trade-offs faced by early adopters.
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