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Taking Flight over the Karoo Vulture Safe Zone: 5 years later

Taking Flight over the Karoo Vulture Safe Zone: 5 years later

 

Taking Flight over the Karoo Vulture Safe Zone: 5 years later

By Danielle du Toit, field officer Birds of Prey, Endangered Wildlife Trust.

Returning Cape Vultures (Gyps coprotheres) to their historic breeding and roosting sites has been a dream of Karoo farmers for many years.

It was through interaction with the Endangered Wildlife Trust that the Karoo Vulture Safe Zone came into being in 2019. The project, which is a practical example of landscape conservation of a species, aims to cover 23,000 square kilometers. It includes three national parks and the largest protected environment in South Africa, the Mountain Zebra Camdeboo Protected Environment. It was implemented in partnership with SANParks, the Mountain Zebra Camdeboo Protected Environment and SANParks Honorary Rangers, and has received seed funding from the Rupert Nature Foundation and further funding from Cennergi and the Charl van der Merwe Trust.

To date, 95 farmers have dedicated their properties to becoming Vulture Safe Zones, creating an area of more than 700,000 ha for vulture conservation. Dedicating or signing up one’s property for a Vulture Safe Zone means that they are committed to reducing, as far as possible, threats to vultures within the confines of land under their ownership.

In creating the Vulture Safe Zone, two options were considered—reintroducing Cape Vultures to the Karoo or creating an area that is safe for the raptors. Unfortunately, reintroduction was not an option at the time due to the exceedingly high cost of physically bringing in the birds and habituating them, without any assurance that they would stay. More importantly, however, was the need to ensure safe breeding, roosting and foraging ranges for them outside of protected areas.

Vultures are referred to as nature’s ‘clean-up crew’, and because of the importance of their role in the ecosystem and the benefit to human health, they are often used as a flagship or umbrella species through which we can conserve biodiversity. By implementing conservation interventions to support the survival of vultures across large areas, we can benefit all species. This includes other birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and even plants.

The need for large areas to be conserved and mitigated of threats as far as possible is integral to the conservation of Cape Vultures due to their characteristically wide-ranging behaviour. Studies and GPS tracking data of fledglings have shown an average maximum distance travelled per day to be well over 250km from their nests. This age group is most likely to fall victim to threats as they are not yet experienced fliers and must compete with adults for food and roosting spaces. This is why having large safe spaces, even if it is a conglomerate of private properties, communal land and protected areas, is so important to the survival of the species.

 

Left: Cape Vulture Sightings. Right: Cape Vultures on nest.

The project focuses on “working with people, mitigating threats, saving vultures”. This can only be achieved through community engagement, landowner buy-in and active mitigation of threats. These initiatives include covering or safe-proofing reservoirs to prevent drowning; changing to less ecologically harmful ways of predator control; removing dangerous chemicals from the property; and reporting wildlife injuries or mortalities caused by electrical infrastructure so that they can be mitigated. Some landowners have moved away from using lead ammunition as the fragments in the entrails or carcasses of animals shot with lead bullets can be harmful to scavenging species. Others have changed the active ingredient in their non-steroidal anti-inflammatory veterinary drugs (NSAIDs) to ensure that carcasses of animals that have been treated prior to their death are not contaminated with drugs that can harm scavenging bird species, like these vultures.

Besides the ecological importance of the Cape Vulture, this area also holds a special place for farmers and residents in the heart of the Karoo. Historically, Cape Vultures roamed the Karoo in large numbers. Many farmers have childhood stories focused solely on them. Whether it be how they would seek out their nests on horseback, climbing up the mountains that hugged the borders of their properties, or how they would simply looked up into the sky in search of a rain cloud and instead found these magnificent birds littering the air in the hundreds, stories are littered with memories of vultures.

The Karoo covers around 400,000 square kilometers of brittle ecosystems. It is an area known for its rich biodiversity with large varieties of plants, birds, insects and mammals that occur naturally on private and public land.

Through the Vulture Safe Zone relationships created between the EWT, private landowners and national parks, the project has been able to bridge the gap between agriculture, tourism and conservation. This promotes a sustainable business model for all sectors and decreases the potential of human-wildlife conflict through targeted conservation measures and holistic approaches.

The project is still in its infancy, but has already seen successes including an increase in sightings, repopulation of historic summer roosts and the willingness and eagerness of people to take part in this project in whichever way they can. The hope remains that through landscape- and farm-level threat mitigation, collaboration with all stakeholders and role players, and a multi-pronged approach driven by robust science and understanding of the species, region and people, the Cape Vultures will once again call the Karoo home.

For more information, please contact the Karoo Vulture Safe Zone Field Officer: Danielle du Toit, email: danielled@ewt.org or Gareth Tate, Birds of Prey Manager at garetht@ewt.org

 

Left: reservoir mitigation – tanks in dams. Right: drowned vulture in Namibia

Raptor protector on powerline

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Roadkill remains a problem along South Africa’s major transport corridors

Roadkill remains a problem along South Africa’s major transport corridors

 

Roadkill remains a problem along South Africa’s major transport corridors

By Thabo Hlatshwayo, Wildlife and Transport Project: senior field officer, Endangered Wildlife Trust.

 

Although monitoring of the ecological impacts of transport infrastructure on biodiversity is still an emerging field of science in South Africa, it remains poorly supported in terms of funding. This is despite the fact that roads are responsible for the massive loss of biodiversity.

To determine the extent of roadkill in South Africa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has been facilitating and supporting various road ecology research since 2011. From the data that we have gathered, it is clear that roadkill is prevalent.

South Africa’s road network covers around 750,000km. Our database on roadkill for the BAKWENA N1/N4, TRAC N4 and N3 toll routes indicates that a total of 8,569 records of wildlife roadkill incidences were reported from the three toll companies combined between 2012 and 2024. This is an increase of 1,565 from the roadkill magnitude reported in 2023, meaning that these animals were victims of roadkill on the toll route in 2024.

This emphasises the need for advancing biodiversity loss accounting in the transportation sector and crafting national transportation policies that are ecologically sustainable and support just transitioning to green transportation in South Africa. Supporting research on understanding how our road systems impact threatened habitats, habitat use and movement by animals is critical.

The construction and operation of transport corridors, such as roads and railways, have a range of both direct and indirect negative impacts on wildlife and natural ecosystems. Clearing natural landscapes for the construction of transport infrastructure causes vegetation cover loss, often leading to degraded landscapes. In the 28 years up to 2008, South Africa reportedly lost 0.12% of its natural vegetation cover per year as a result of massive linear infrastructure development, including transport corridors. Thus, all these contributed to landscape fragmentation, reduced land cover and connectivity loss for wildlife. It is interesting to note that the country’s roads  stretch through sensitive habitats and wildlife hotspots, some of which are home to Threatened Species.

Habitat loss because of fragmentation is a primary threat to terrestrial biodiversity and could drive species extinction as it affects numerous endemic species. The fragmentation of a landscape limits the migration rates of species and its available habitat. Besides affecting migration patterns, it also contributes to inbreeding because species’ behavioural patterns, such as hunting, foraging, breeding and other home range activities have been disrupted. Habitat loss and fragmentation, because of transport corridors, also increases human-wildlife interactions. This leads to human-wildlife conflicts as animals are forced to cross roads for dispersal and migration. This further accelerates biodiversity loss through increased wildlife roadkill incidents, and numerous threatened species suffer the greatest risk from roadkill.

Small-to-medium sized mammals such as Serval, African Striped Weasel, Cape Clawless Otter, Honey Badger, Cape Porcupine, Cape Fox, African Wild Dog, several antelope and mongoose species are the most impacted mammal species. The reptiles that are most affected include Southern African Python, Puff Adder, Leopard Tortoises, Natal-hinged Tortoises, and Monitor Lizards. Among bird species, owls are the most affected, this includes the African Grass Owl, Barn Owl, Spotted-Eagle Owl and Marsh Owl.

 

Genet
Warthog
Various reptiles
Serval
Porcupine

 

However, we do come across incidents that involve large mammals like Hippopotamus and savanna buffalo along the N4, and Greater Kudu along the Bakwena N4 and N4, as well as cows. We have also recorded incidents that involved an Elephant and a Leopard along the R40 and R71 regional roads in Hoedspruit area.

Monitoring wildlife roadkill is the first step in understanding the impacts of roadkill on threatened species. By collecting data on roadkill, we can track mortality rates and distribution patterns of the roadkill of different species (where and to what extent). Studying these elements will expand our understanding of the ecological impacts of road infrastructure and traffic on wildlife movement. These will enable us to scientifically map conservation hotspots and further develop effective mitigation strategies to reduce these threats.

As much as we talk about roadkill becoming a threat to biodiversity, it is important to understand that the landscapes fragmented by road networks that intersect animal habitats are the core drivers for wildlife roadkill incidents across the globe. Changing climatic conditions influence animal movement patterns, causing numerous species to move frequently within their landscapes in search of important ecological resources. In an environment increasingly fragmented by road infrastructure, such movements could potentially result in a deathtrap for animals due to wildlife-vehicle collisions and a lack of connectivity corridors.

The EWT and the N3 Toll Concessionaire (N3TC), Trans African Concessionaire (TRAC) and Bakwena N1/N4 have trialed several roadkill-reduction methods for reducing the negative impacts on roads and highways on biodiversity. The first was to deploy temporary roadside fencing, directing wildlife to cross safely through underpasses such as drainage culverts. Camera traps were installed in several underpass structures that are located within hotspots to monitor whether wildlife used them, and we were excited to see that several mammals did. This includes Serval (Leptailurus serval), the most common animal killed on the N3. These results indicate that underpasses are a promising and cost-friendly alternative for wildlife crossing in a global south country like South Africa.

Preliminary results indicated increasing animal activity and the use of the underpass structures, with more mammal species appearing to use the structures that are retrofitted with mesh fencing; these include Serval, Southern Reedbuck (Redunca arundinum), Cape Clawless Otter (Aonyx capensis), Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis), and Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus). When more animals use the underpass structures to cross the highway, animal activity adjacent to the road is reduced; hence, reducing collisions whilst improving road safety.

Because owls and other raptors tend to use signboards and safety barriers along roads to perch on while hunting prey, such as rodents and squirrels, a second roadkill-reduction method has been tested. This has seen the EWT placing raptor perches 100 m from the road to encourage owls and other birds of prey to use these as safer alternatives and to reduce hunts on the roads. Cameras on the owl perches have recorded several birds of prey species using the installed perches for feeding or perching. This includes African Grass, Barn and Spotted Eagle Owls. Our findings showed that the more owls use the installed structures for hunting and feeding, their activity on the road is reduced.

South Africa’s road and rail network is essential for our socio-economic development through travel and tourism, and the transport of food and goods. It is therefore critical that solutions are found to reduce the impact of transport infrastructure on people and wildlife without hindering our transport sector.

Left: Camera Trap at Raptor Perch recording a African grass owl. Right: Black winged Kite Vs Pied Crow recorded at Raptor Perch

 

Modified Culverts for wildlife crossing

Wildlife and Transport Project

  • The EWT is the only African organisation with a dedicated project focusing on transport and wildlife interactions.
  • The project works across South Africa and collaborates on similar projects with colleagues worldwide.
  • Our goal is to reduce the impacts of transport infrastructure on wildlife and vice versa. We focus on improving our understanding of the threats to wildlife from transport activities and infrastructure and identifying solutions suitable to the southern African context.
  • In 2013, the EWT launched a smartphone app called “RoadWatch” – one of the first roadkill reporting apps in the world. To date, almost 30,000 data points have been reported via the app.
  • The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s National Roadkill Database for South Africa shows that mammals are the most commonly-reported roadkill (50%), followed by birds (18%), reptiles (6%), and amphibians (1%), with 24% of species being unidentifiable.
  • Large mammals, such as carnivores and antelope, are likely to cause damage or delays to trains and vehicles. Collisions with animals can be expensive with insurance claims suggesting that approximately R82.5 million is paid yearly against vehicle collisions with wild animals.

Roadkill map of South Africa

The EWT has provided support for a study that has developed a Drivers-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework of ecological connectivity in transport sustainability in South Africa. Because of the Framework, steps are being taken to help shape a sustainable transport sector that promotes robust monitoring and mapping of hotspots and the support of a consultation process to formulate policies that promote sustainable land-use planning by considering wildlife needs in green transport infrastructure planning frameworks in South Africa.

Unfortunate incidences involving large mammals

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Communities and Cranes benefit from Spring Protection project in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands

Communities and Cranes benefit from Spring Protection project in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands

 

Communities and Cranes benefit from Spring Protection project in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands

By Eleanor Momberg (Communications manager, EWT)  and Samson Phakathi (Snr Community Project Officer, Drakensberg, SA, EWT)

Left: Clean, high pressure water coming from a newly installed tap providing access to spring water otherwise accessed in a dense forest up the mountain. Right: Two women inspecting a second tap installed within the community.

 

Supplying water to the community of KwaMkhize in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands not only benefits the people living in this mountainous area but also ensures that Crane species living in an adjacent wetland are protected.

KwaMkhize lies in the shadows of the Drakensberg mountains with Giants Castle looming large in the distance. It is an area of rolling hills and lush veld. It is also an area of extreme poverty, and an area which is difficult to access, given the state of access routes, which have been under construction for some time. The extreme rainfall in recent months has also not helped. But, that rain has fed the many springs in this area ensuring a continuous supply of water to the newly-installed water points in the village by the Endangered Wildlife Trust/International Crane Foundation Partnership(EWT/ICF), and filling the nearby rivers and streams that nourish the wetland home to the Grey Crowned, recently downlisted Wattled and Blue Cranes.

This catchment is home to an estimated 25% of South Africa’s Wattled Cranes and is a critical breeding ground for two of the three crane species – Wattled and Grey Crowned Cranes. But, Cranes are not the only reason the EWT/ICF Partnership is working in this area, also considered one of South Africa’s water factories—a source of water to cities like Johannesburg and eThekwini.
Samson Phakathi, senior community field officer for the EWT/ICF African Crane Conservation Programme, holds much praise for the KwaMkhize community, which has not only taken ownership of its water supply issues, but has, as a collective, worked with the EWT/ICF Partnership since 2016 to address numerous issues of concern. Of late, that has expanded to land use management, which includes planning to remove alien and invasive species such as the Natalie Bramble especially around rehabilitated springs and rangelands used for grazing of cattle, as well as the pollution of rivers and streams, the installation of pit latrines close to springs, and ensuring new housing developments don’t encroach on grazing lands.

Besides working as a collective to ensure all residents have access to clean potable water, the community is set to workshop a landuse plan for the area so that human development does not affect their primary activity—livestock farming.

Many rural areas receive limited access to governmentally supplied services due to the distance the communities are to main roads. Springs are, therefore, vital in these communities. Interacting with communities to better support natural resource management helps protect the landscapes in which cranes in South Africa live, primarily wetlands, grasslands and farming landscapes. Through our Springs project, the EWT/ICF Partnership has protected seven springs across two communities in the Drakensberg, KwaMkhize and Mqatsheni.

Overall, the implementation of the seven spring protection projects has served 2,445 individuals across 292 households, two schools and a clinic that services 150 people a day 365 days a year; therefore, a total of 54,750 individuals benefit from potable water at the clinic.

The key benefits of spring protection include clean potable free water, easy access, enabling children to spend more time in school, improved health of the community, especially the children and a secure water source. Furthermore, the protection prevents cattle from getting stuck in mud and either succumbing or becoming ill from polluted water.

The primary uses of springs were for potable water, cooking, cleaning and washing. However, some households use spring water for watering vegetable gardens and traditional medicines.

All the residents of KwaMkhize rely on springs as a primary source of water. Getting up the mountains to reach the water sources created an opportunity for the EWT/ICF Partnership to bring water to the community through the installation of pipes and taps in key sections of the expansive village.

Because KwaMkhize is a water factory area, it is important that the catchments are protected so that enough water of good quality can be captured to supply the cities, said Phakathi. “We thus need a constant supply of water, and this increases the importance of the area.”

One spring supplies water to hundreds of households. In the past, residents, particularly women and children, trudged to the water sources several times a day to collect water.

 

Community members discuss the benefits of the newly installed taps and how these have greatly impacted their lives and those of their families.

 

“In the past we had to wait two hours for a bucket to fill and then we had to wait because the water was polluted because livestock also drank at source, so we had to wait for pollutants to settle before could use the water,” said 20-year-old Nosipho shortly after she and her sisters had collected buckets of water from a nearby tap. “The water quality we have now is the greatest benefit.”

“This has made our lives much easier,” said an elderly woman as she inspected the recently installed tap.

Close to another spring is a spring silt box, which catches sediment before storing water for community use. This is maintained once every three years to ensure the water being supplied is not dirty.

The pipes from the spring, said Phakathi, are installed in such a way that they do not interrupt the flow of water to streams feeding the wetland. The aim is not to destroy or harm the environment while improving the lives of the community.

“This project has been an eye-opener to learn how a project of this nature has impacted people positively,” said Phakathi.

An important aspect of the EWT/ICF Partnership’s work has been to focus on encouraging the community to take the lead so that once the organisation withdraws from the area, the community is able to live sustainably and be self-reliant, critically important aspects in a rural area such as this.

“The communities are actually participating quite fully from the leadership to the people on the ground,” added Phakathi.

Projects such as this are extremely important, he said, especially since water is a human right but also forms part of one of the Sustainable Development Goals. A project of this nature not only addresses access to water, but also encourages people to sit down and discuss issues of concern and formulate measures, and draw on local capacity to solve problems through participation.
He believes this project is a step in the right direction when it comes to saving Cranes, as the EWT/ICF Partnership has not imposed its will on the people, but rather allowed the community to take the lead while the team advises on how best to manage the area and interact with their immediate environment.

“We are not here to impose on the community, but to work with them,” he said. “As much as we are a conservation organisation, when we approach communities, we don’t look at that as something that we should be pushing, but we look at the challenges that they are facing in order to address their challenges while addressing environmental issues at the same time.”

At a meeting with local indunas, access to water was highlighted as a key issue for KwaMkhize. But, the indunas pointed out, this project has brought with it a number of benefits, especially easier access to clean water. Waterborne diseases, they believe, may be a thing of the past if all community members could eventually have access to spring-fed water points.

The hope was also that the EWT/ICF Partnership could have the ability to mobilise more resources so that the entire community could be accommodated in the long term.

“A project of this nature can do a lot to improve the lives of people, and we are very thankful for a project like this,” said one local induna.

The EWT/ICF Partnership would like to extend a huge debt of gratitude to the Paul King Foundation and the HCI Foundation for providing funding for this important piece of work.

A breeding pair of Wattled Cranes just outside of KwaMkhize. 100 out of the 400 Wattled Cranes that take up residence in South Africa can be found around the KwaMkhize community.

 

Read more about how we are working to save cranes, conserve their vital habitats, and benefit the people living with them 

SAVING CRANES
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Conserving the African Penguin

Conserving the African Penguin

Conserving the African Penguin is critical for South Africa’s economy and reputation: Report

By Lauren Waller (Regional Planning Coordinator, ewt) and Eleanor Momberg (Communications manager, ewt)

 

 

The loss of the African Penguin would be a very large reputational risk to South Africa, the moral custodian of the species.  

The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) only occurs in Namibia and South Africa. 

“Just as South Africa’s foreign policies and economic decisions contribute to its reputation, its position on environmental stewardship and the measures it implements to protect global assets, for which it is perceived as a guardian, will shape its international brand,”  state the authors of the Assessment of the Value of African Penguins published by the Endangered Wildlife Trust towards the end of 2024. 

The study was commissioned by the EWT in collaboration with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. 

The African penguin is the only penguin species that breeds on the African continent and is endemic to the southern African coast. The species has declined from an estimated 0.5-1 million breeding pairs in the early 1900s to the approximately 42 500 counted in 1991, and 8324 in 2023. The remaining birds are mostly found in seven colonies in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.  

Several factors have contributed to their population decline. Initially, a key reason was habitat destruction through Guano harvesting and egg collection. However, over the last few decades, a shortage of small pelagic fish species, the penguins’ main food source, seems to have been the main contributing factor. Increased vessel traffic and the resulting noise pollution has also contributed to the decline.  

This study aimed to provide an assessment of the value of the African penguin in South Africa to inform decision-makers at all levels of government, conservation organisations and other stakeholders involved in decision making around African penguins.  

While determining whether the economic value of penguin conservation is useful to inform policy decisions, it was acknowledged that it represents only one way to think about conservation. Besides economic arguments for threatened species conservation, arguments for species protection can also be made for moral reasons, or be linked to South Africa’s international commitments under the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity to halt all species extinctions.  

Based on the estimation of tourism value, existence value, property benefits, educational and media-related benefits, the total value of the penguin colonies of South Africa was estimated to be between R1,946 million and R4,545 million in 2023.  

 

Tourism value  

Tourists visiting penguin colonies generate revenues for the park authorities and for a range of tourism-related business, all of which generates knock-on effects in the economy.  

Tourists visiting the Boulders penguin colony in Cape Town generated around R95 million in entrance fees for SANParks in November 2023. Based on visitor surveys, the total expenditure in South Africa related to the Boulders penguin colony was estimated to be in the range of R535.6 – 2273 million in 2023 based on median and average visitor expenditure, respectively.  Based on spatial data, and fairly conservative assumptions, it was estimated that Boulders accounted for approximately R505 million of tourism expenditure, and that the remaining penguin colonies in South Africa generated some R108.3 million in tourism expenditure.  

The total tourism value of all penguin colonies was thus estimated to be in the range of R613 – 2702 million in 2023.  

 

Existence value  

The report found during its survey of Capetonians that people benefit from knowing that African penguins exist and that they are willing to pay for their conservation. From the survey, it was determined that the aggregate willingness to pay for penguin conservation in Cape Town was in the order of R551 – R731 million per year. Even though this attenuates with distance, it is assumed that South African residents outside of Cape Town would also be willing to pay for penguin conservation. If extrapolated to the rest of the country, it is estimated that South Africans would be willing to contribute up to R1,101 million to know that penguins continue to exist, that they have an option of visiting them in future, and protecting them for future generations.  

Among the other benefits in penguins in areas such as Simonstown and Betty’s Bay, where penguins live in close proximity to built-up areas, include education and environmental stewardship. The study found that publications on penguins generated subsidies of at least R1.9 million in 2023. Penguins also star in advertisements for Cape Town and films and documentaries, such as Penguin Town,, and have not only entertained but also raised awareness about penguin conservation issues. The direct media related value of the penguin colonies was estimated to be almost R2.9 million per year.  

The report states that successfully conserving the African penguins is not a one agency issue, but requires big systemic changes. Ultimately, improved management and policy is going to be the answer: an ecosystem approach to fisheries is needed and Ocean health needs to be better managed.

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Biodiversity and Business Action Plan

Biodiversity and Business Action Plan

A South African business perspective – The EWT’s Biodiversity and Business Action Plan

By Catherine Kühn – Biodiversity Disclosure Project Manager, Endangered wildlife trust

The Biodiversity and Business Action Plan (BBAP) is a cross-sectoral 65-page document which culminates the 2 years of work with Business for Nature.

 

It is a guidance tool and a feedback resource for South African businesses which captures insights directly from companies to reflect their progress in biodiversity mainstreaming while also supporting them on their journey.

 

The BBAP offers sector mapping, a roadmap for biodiversity mainstreaming, and key indicators for integrating Target 15 into business practices.

Biodiversity loss is no longer a separate or secondary issue to climate change. It’s a very real and prevalent environmental concern and a business reality. The biodiversity crisis is an urgent and interconnected issue that threatens the stability of natural systems. It is waking up economies, industries, and businesses. As planetary boundaries continue to be pushed beyond safe limits, the consequences are becoming increasingly harder to reverse. If we don’t act collectively and decisively now, we risk tipping the scales beyond recovery. 

As the world moves towards sustainability, South African companies are beginning to recognise that integrating biodiversity into decision-making is not just about compliance – it’s about long-term resilience. Many businesses are already on this journey with some making steady progress; a few are emerging as leaders, while others demonstrate interest but remain uncertain about where to begin. And then there are those yet to wake up to this urgency. But the message is clear: biodiversity action is not optional—it’s a business imperative. 

Our Business Advisory Group (BAG) engagements confirm that businesses need support in biodiversity integration. The Biodiversity and Business Action Plan (BBAP), developed by the EWT’s Biodiversity and Business Unit (BBU), serves as a guidance tool and feedback resource, capturing insights directly from companies to reflect their progress and support their journey. 

 

Key findings 

There is strong business awareness of biodiversity’s importance—77% of our Business Advisory Group participants see it as extremely important to South Africa’s economy while 100% of respondents acknowledge biodiversity loss as a risk to their company, highlighting the urgent need for action. 

While most companies recognise biodiversity’s importance, 64% are still in the early stages of the journey towards biodiversity action. 

The top three focus areas of companies’ biodiversity efforts are 1. biodiversity initiatives at local sites, 2. employee capacity building and training around biodiversity and 3. meeting biodiversity compliance and reporting obligations. 

Companies are familiar with, amongst others, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the King IV report for Corporate Governance in South Africa and the JSE Sustainability 

Disclosure Guidance, yet most lack a formal biodiversity strategy. A total of 60% said they did not have dedicated budgets for biodiversity, highlighting a gap between awareness and action. 

Many companies rely on biodiversity consultants for environmental work, while some have in-house sustainability teams. A total of 85% of respondents said their company needs additional biodiversity training and capacity-building. 

Discussions from the four BAG workshops in 2024 provided valuable insights into how businesses viewed their role in supporting biodiversity targets. The dominant Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) themes that emerged were ‘Implementation and Mainstreaming’, followed by ‘Reducing Threats’ and ‘Sustainable Use and Benefit Sharing’. 

Notably, there is strong alignment with Target 15 (Business) and Target 19 (Finance), with recognition of Target 19 increasing significantly throughout the BAG process. This shift highlights the growing awareness of the need for financial mechanisms to support biodiversity integration, including investment in nature-positive solutions. 

 

What does this mean? 

Businesses recognise biodiversity’s importance and risks, yet most are still in early integration stages. Awareness is high, but action, reporting, and investment remain limited. There is a need to embed biodiversity into corporate decision-making, rather than viewing it as an additional expense and burden. With all the respondents recognising biodiversity loss as a risk means there is urgency to develop structured biodiversity strategies. Yet, with most companies still relying on consultants and lacking dedicated budgets for biodiversity, this remains a challenge. 

The reliance on compliance-driven actions rather than proactive biodiversity decisiveness suggests that many businesses are reactive rather than strategic. The high demand for capacity-building (85%) further re-inforces that businesses need more guidance to navigate this. Without adequate skills, knowledge, and funding structures, biodiversity commitments risk remaining future aspirations. 

The results also indicate a need for business-government cohesion, clearer policy direction, stronger incentives, and greater regulatory support to ensure businesses can effectively align with national biodiversity commitments. 

 

The road ahead 

While the BBAP is a milestone, real change will come from businesses taking ownership of their biodiversity strategies. Businesses must strengthen biodiversity knowledge and skills, supported by standardised reporting frameworks to meaningfully track progress.  There is also a need for collaboration across sectors – including government and NGOs.  Additionally, financial incentives and policy support are needed to encourage and incentivise biodiversity-positive practices. 

From referring to the many frameworks and tools that exist to “framework chaos”, our BAG members have been pivotal in providing honest, constructive and catalytic feedback when it comes to their specific needs, challenges and vision for their business and for their sector. 

Companies require clear roadmaps, sector-specific strategies, and the right tools to integrate biodiversity into operations. However, the lack of dedicated biodiversity roles, capacity and budgets indicates the urgency to make a stronger business case—one that highlights both the risks of inaction and the opportunities of nature-positive practices. 

This process has also proven that businesses have a voice in shaping government policy, contributing to the National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan (NBSAP) and ensuring corporate commitments are reflected in national targets. This work is a call to action for businesses to take the lead—not just as participants but as pioneers of innovation and sustainability. The journey is challenging, but the opportunity to leave a legacy for generations to come makes it one worth taking. 

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From Kalahari to Malawi: Cheetahs Thrive in New Home

From Kalahari to Malawi: Cheetahs Thrive in New Home

 

From Kalahari to Malawi: Cheetahs Thrive in New Home

Both females relocated to Liwonde National Park (Malawi) in December are doing exceptionally well. After a brief adjustment period in the boma, they were released into the reserve on December 28th, 2023, at the height of the rainy season.

The rainy season in Liwonde can pose challenges for cheetahs, as large areas of the park occasionally flood, and the game is widespread. However, this appears to have also limited their post-release movements, meaning they had less area to explore and, as a result, settled quickly. We are pleased to report that both females have been thriving since their release. This is especially encouraging for the female who was born and raised in the Kalahari and unfamiliar with this environment – this just shows the adaptability of these remarkable animals!

One of the females exhibited denning behaviour a few months after her release. While we typically encourage den checks to enhance our monitoring and understanding of the population and breeding success, the Liwonde cheetah population has shown successful denning in good habitats over the years. As a result, we recommend minimising disturbances and instead suggest monitors check on this female from a distance using telemetry. Female cheetahs generally den for 50 to 54 days, after which they begin moving with their cubs, often caching them while hunting. By conducting daily monitoring, we can track whether the female remains at the den site, indicating that denning is still ongoing.

Regrettably, the female left the den after approximately 40 days and did not return, suggesting that her denning was unsuccessful. The exact cause of the cubs’ death remains unknown, as is often the case. However, we have recently observed denning behaviour again, and monitors have reported that the female is also showing signs of nursing! While we will watch closely to see if this litter survives the denning period, both females are first-time mothers, which often results in the loss of first litters or lower overall cub survival rates. Nevertheless, the relocation of these females has been a massive success so far, and we look forward to following their progress as they continue to explore this new environment!

We once again thank Manyoni Private Game Reserve and Tswalu Kalahari Reserve for donating these females to this important conservation project. We also thank our partners African Parks for creating a safe haven for this threatened species, and the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust for their diligent monitoring efforts, along with The Bateleurs and Mercy Air Africa for assisting us in transporting these cheetahs to Malawi!

Maps showing the movements of both cheetahs (from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve and Manyoni Game Reserve) after their release into Liwonde National Park. Both females have exhibited extensive exploration behaviour, which is to be expected. Hopefully, this will help them find suitable denning areas going forward.

 

Images of the two females released into Liwonde National Park in December 2023. Due to the limited road network in Liwonde National Park, the vast majority of sightings of these females have been through camera traps placed by Lilongwe Wildlife Trust monitors. However, this can be a fantastic way to remotely monitor their body condition. Thank you to Lilongwe Wildlife Trust for providing us these images!

 

The female from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve after successfully killing of a young kudu. This female has adapted amazingly well, especially considering she was born and raised in the Kalahari. This just shows how adaptable these animals can be! (photo credit: Tilly Sant’Ana)

 

The female from Manyoni Private Game Reserve after tucking into a meal of a male impala (photo credit: Tilly Sant’Ana)