Page 19 | Endangered Wildlife Trust

The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Livestock Guardian Dogs protect farmed animals from predation.

In South Africa, poor livestock husbandry practices negatively impact livestock farmers through predation and threatened carnivores through persecution.

In 2008, the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) created a Livestock Guardian Dog Project in its Carnivore Conservation Programme (CCP) to provide non-lethal solutions to livestock farmers who had experienced unsustainable losses due to predation by free roaming carnivores. This includes Jackals, Caracals, Cheetah, African Wild Dogs, Leopards and other small carnivores.

Through the project, guarding dogs are placed with livestock as puppies and grow up with the herd. This enables them to bond with the herd animals and thus protect them from carnivores that may try to predate on them. The provision of guardian dogs to farmers ultimately reduces and prevents the retaliatory killing of carnivores.

To achieve the goal of non-lethal intervention, we work together with farmers to, as far as possible, integrate this conflict mitigation methods with their farming practices.

Working with local farmers it had become clear that many lack the skills, knowledge or capacity to employ best-practice livestock husbandry methods to protect their livestock from naturally occurring large carnivores. Instead, they use lethal mitigation methods, such as snaring, shooting, gin-trapping, poisoning and hunting predators with dogs. Most lethal methods used are non-specific which means that any number of other species, and not the target species, are killed. This includes Critically Endangered White-backed Vultures, Hooded Vultures and other wildlife, such as Jackal, Caracal, Cheetah, Leopard and African Wild Dogs.

Since the inception of the project by the EWT in 2008, it became clear that among the farming practices implemented, and which increasingly put livestock at risk of predation, included letting calves that are too young into the fields with the rest of the herd, not kraaling livestock at night and even using inadequate basic livestock husbandry practices.

We have, therefore, been educating farmers and communities about the ecological and economic benefits of co-existing with carnivores. Through workshops hosted by the CCP, communities and farmers are informed about the impacts of killing key species, such as Leopard and Cheetah, and how the use of non-lethal mitigation methods prevent conflict. In the case of livestock husbandry, we reach out to our network of vets and animal technicians to advise and teach farmers how to take care of their livestock.

In order to receive a Livestock Guardian Dog, a farmer must be able to show that unsustainable losses have been suffered and that there is potential conflict between the farmer and wild species predating on his or her livestock.

Our field staff will then conduct a site visit to confirm predation issues and assess the suitability of the farm to host a guardian dog to ensure that the dog’s welfare is prioritised. Once the farmer enters into an agreement with the EWT, a Livestock Guardian Dog is provided to protect his or her animals for 12 months. Within this time, we will, on a monthly basis, provide the farmer with high quality dog food, ensure the dog is treated for both ectoparasites and endoparasites. Any veterinary needs are taken care of by the EWT, at no cost to the farmer.

A field officer visits the guardian dog once a month to check on its well-being and its effectiveness. This provides us with an opportunity to address any issues that may have arisen during the month. Once the farmer and the field officer are happy that the dog is effectively doing its job and that it is well taken care of, the EWT signs the dog over to the farmer and it becomes his or her responsibility.

Although the Livestock Guardian Dog is then no longer our responsibility, farmers are encouraged to continue keeping contact with us for any help regarding any conflict-related issues that may arise, such as conflict between the dog and carnivores. Additional free support is provided to communities to ensure that their dogs are spayed and vaccinated. This reduces the spread of disease and stops the overpopulation of dogs.

Since the inception of the Livestock Guardian Dog project, we have placed 241 guard dogs with over 200 commercial and community farms throughout South Africa, dramatically reducing the level of predation and human-wildlife conflict. The dogs placed as puppies on farms are mostly Anatolian Shepherds and Maluti Shepherds.More than Eighty percent of dogs placed develop into successful Livestock Guardian Dogs. These dogs have reduced predation on farms by up to 90 percent in most cases. This makes this project the most successful mitigation method that we have to deal with livestock predation.

How is South Africa’s national bird, the Blue Crane, doing?

By Christie Craig of the Endangered Wildlife Trust/International Crane Foundation, Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology

In an ever-changing world, conservation scientists face the daunting task of keeping pace with the shifting dynamics of threatened species and adapting conservation action accordingly. This is especially true for South Africa’s national bird, the Blue Crane.

Historically, the Blue Crane’s population in its natural core range, the eastern grasslands and Karoo, suffered significant declines due to agricultural expansion and poisoning, leading to it being classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

In contrast to the eastern side of the country, the Western Cape conversion of natural land (fynbos) to cereal agriculture and pasture was favourable for Blue Cranes and a new core population established and thrived there. Today, more than half of all Blue Cranes in South Africa are found in this intensively farmed landscape.

Despite this, there were major concerns about the sustainability of this population amidst the myriad threats posed by intensive agricultural practices. These are the questions I aimed to answer when completing my PhD. Between 2018 and 2023 we conducted field work to assess the distribution of the birds, their breeding success and predominant threats to the species. We also used citizen science data to determine population trends over the last 30 years.

Population estimates reveal a promising recovery of Blue Crane numbers since 2002. This is attributed to the recovery of grasslands due to ongoing conservation action, and Blue Cranes establishing a stronghold in the Western Cape.

However, this scenario changed in 2010 when Blue Crane numbers declined. Summer Coordinated Avifaunal Roadcounts showed that Blue Crane numbers dropped by 19% nationally between 2011 and 2019, particularly in the Overberg region where counts declined by 22%.

It was difficult to determine the exact cause of the decrease, and equally difficult to know whether it would continue. But, some clues as to where the problem may lie was sourced from survival and breeding data. Between 2016 and 2021 we fitted 31 satellite trackers to flighted Blue Cranes in the Western Cape.

From this data collected I was able to determine their survival rate, finding that 95% of breeding Cranes survive a given year, compared to 85% of non-breeding cranes. From the trackers we found that non-breeding cranes move significantly more (on average 9.5km per day) than breeding cranes (5.8km). This puts them at greater risk of dying as a result of collisions with powerlines and fences.

We also conducted extensive powerline surveys in the Western Cape and Karoo, walking or slowly driving 1,994km of powerlines to record collisions by Blue Cranes and other birds. We found that Blue Cranes were the most commonly recorded species, and collisions were particularly likely to occur if a powerline was within 2.5km of a seasonal waterbody. This is because Blues Cranes use shallow seasonal waterbodies to roost, and at low light they find it particularly difficult to circumvent powerlines. This knowledge will help us to, in future, better route powerlines and to proactively mark them to improve visibility. While there are significant casualties on powerlines, Blue Crane survival rates in the Western Cape are quite good compared to those found in regions such as the Karoo, and to other crane species outside South Africa.

This indicates that poor survival is not the primary reason for the population declining in this region. Rather, an alarm bell rang when I compared the breeding success of Western Cape cranes to past rates, and to rates in the Karoo and grasslands.

Recruitment of juveniles into the population is half of what it was in the Overberg 30 years ago. Swartland and Overberg Blue Crane breeding pairs successfully produce fledglings 43% and 40% of the time, compared to 68% of grasslands pairs and 67% of Karoo pairs. A caveat is that our data from the grasslands and Karoo is now over 10 years old, whereas the Western Cape data is recent, reiterating the need for continued monitoring.

Following a recent study showing that high temperatures and nest disturbance are risk factors for nest failure, we will need to actively work with land users to reduce disturbance at nests and give cranes their best chance at successfully raising young. The success of our long-term datasets for Blue Crane within South Africa is largely due to inputs by citizen scientists. Without this information we would not be aware of the decline in the Blue Crane population.

In 2023 we held a successful first Conservation Planning Workshop, facilitated by the Conservation Planning Specialist Group, to kickstart a process that will result in a finalised conservation plan when stakeholders meet again in October this year.

** A big thank you to Peter Ryan and Tanya Smith who supervised the PhD, and to Leiden Conservation Foundation, Eskom, Dave Myers, Hall-Johnson Fellowship and Bateleurs for supporting the research. We are grateful to the Leiden Conservation Foundation, Neuwied Zoo, Safari West and Jacksonville Zoo for sponsoring the conservation planning process.

TORTOISE CONSERVATION – A RACE AGAINST TIME

Bonnie Schumann, Nama Karoo Coordinator

Note: Chelonians includes all tortoise, turtle, and terrapin species. For the purposes of this article, we will use the term “tortoises”.

South Africa is one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world and is home to no less than two of the world’s most well-known botanical biodiversity hotspots, the Succulent Karoo and Fynbos Biomes. However, few people are aware that South Africa also holds the title as the tortoise capital of the world. The country is home to no less than 13 tortoise species, most of which are endemic.

Tortoises in one form or another have been around pretty much forever if you consider that the earliest known turtle lived 260 million years ago. This little lizard-like creature had a unique characteristic: its ribs curved backwards and were exceptionally thick, forming an armoured dome under its skin. Eunotosaurus was to become the ancestor of all tortoises, turtles and terrapins. Scientists put their secret to outliving even the dinosaurs, which disappeared approximately 65 million years ago, to their conservative morphology and time-tested adaptations.

Incredibly, despite their over 200-million-year track-record of survival, globally tortoises are struggling to persist in the modern world under mankind’s relatively short but deadly reign. The statistics are damning, showing that over 60% of the 357 recognised species have either become extinct or are threatened. Approximately 52% of all assessed tortoise taxa have been classified as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Extinct.

What is driving this global spiral to extinction? Here there are no surprises. The litany of causes is familiar: habitat loss and importantly the degradation of remaining habitat, the impacts of climate change, illegal trade, and a few more locally specific ones, such as uncontrolled fires and electric fencing. However, a relatively new threat that has emerged globally is that of hyperpredation by airborne predators, primarily crows and ravens (part of a group collectively known as corvids).

A recent article by Patrick Moldowan, published in Herpetological Monographs (2023), chronicles the impact of corvid hyperpredation on tortoises globally. Unfortunately, this impact has been poorly documented in many countries, but the evidence is mounting rapidly to demonstrate that without interventions, we will see the extinction of many more tortoise species within our lifetime.

Crows are extremely intelligent, highly adaptable and will eat virtually anything. Crows and ravens have joined the ranks of what are known as subsidised species. Simply put, they are thriving globally on the wide selection of resources human activity has inadvertently provided for them. Their populations are increasing exponentially and expanding into new areas, where they become native invaders.

Hyperpredation occurs when subsidised species exert excessive pressure on prey populations. This effect has been particularly catastrophic for tortoises for several reasons. They are very long-lived but grow and mature slowly and reproduce at a slow rate. Smaller species, like the dwarf tortoises, produce only 1 – 3 eggs a year from the age of around twelve. For a population to remain stable, mature individuals need to reproduce for decades to produce enough offspring that survive to adulthood.

When it comes to crow predation, size matters, as in the case of dwarf tortoises where even adult tortoises are highly vulnerable to crow predation. Crows use their powerful bills to peck through the shells of young tortoises and can fly up with adult dwarf tortoises and drop them onto rocks to break their shells open. The loss of adult tortoises makes the recovery efforts of dwindling populations that much more challenging.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), in partnership with Dwarf Tortoise Conservation (DTC) and the Turtle Conservancy (TC) launched a dwarf tortoise project two years ago to locate viable populations and implement conservation action for two species of dwarf tortoises in the Karoo.

The Karoo is home to nine of the 13 tortoise species found in South Africa. There are five species of dwarf tortoise globally, four of which occur in the South African Karoo and one in Namibia. As their name implies, dwarf tortoises rank amongst the smallest of the tortoise species. In fact, the Speckled Dwarf Tortoise (Chersobius signatus), endemic to Namaqualand, is the world’s smallest tortoise species, reaching a maximum length of about 10cm. Dwarf tortoise conservation champion and researcher Victor Loehr has spent most of his life unravelling the secret life of these diminutive reptiles, contributing much of what is known about them to the scientific world. Up to 20 years ago scientists regularly surveyed tortoise populations and during Victor’s early work on Speckled Dwarf Tortoises, they were abundant. However, follow-up work at his study sites 10 years later and his most recent research on the Karoo Dwarf Tortoise (Chersobius boulengeri) has demonstrated an alarming decline in population numbers for both species.

Certainly, the EWT team has struggled to find a single viable population of the Karoo or the Speckled Dwarf Tortoise over the last two years of extensive surveys; these two species are the focus of the initial conservation project. Over 20 surveys have yielded depressingly few live animals; in most cases only shell fragments are to be found. During the most recent survey near Calvinia in April this year, the EWT team recorded the largest number of dead Speckled Dwarf Tortoises at a single location. A total of 45 carcasses were documented under and around a crow’s nest in a dead tree, with another 10 carcasses recorded on the adjacent slope. Five more were recorded elsewhere on the property, bringing the total to 60 dead Speckled Dwarf Tortoises on one property, many of which were mature tortoises. In stark contrast the team found only two live tortoises. It is important to understand that although tortoises occur in some of South Africa’s protected areas, this does not mean we can pack up and go home. If the causes of decline, including hyperpredation by crows, are not clearly understood and addressed, their survival in protected areas is not guaranteed and may have already been compromised.

Currently the only species of tortoise in South Africa with a dedicated conservation project is the Critically Endangered Geometric Tortoise (Psammobates geometricus). We urgently need to implement concerted conservation efforts for the other tortoise species, including all the dwarf tortoise species and other relatively small species such as the tent tortoises. The outlook for all these species is grim without specific conservation interventions. The EWT is collaborating closely with local and international tortoise experts, landowners, and provincial conservation authorities, in a race against time to come up with a strategy to protect South Africa’s remaining dwarf tortoise populations. 20 Years of research in the Mohave Desert, aimed at understanding the raven-tortoise conflict, and to come up with innovative solutions, is helping inform the way forward in South Africa. What is clear though, is that time is running out fast and we cannot afford to be timid in our approach. Tough decisions are going to need to be made when it comes to protecting tortoises from crow predation and any further loss of habitat.

The EWT tortoise conservation work is supported by Turtle Conservancy, Dwarf Tortoise Conservation, Rainforest Trust and the IUCN NL. A special word of thanks to the tortoise survey volunteers, especially the Conservation Biology students from the University of Western Cape and UNISA, and the Ford Wildlife Foundation.

How you can help:

Manage grazing responsibly.
Include the ecology of sensitive species in your fire management plan.
Deter crows; remove unused windmills and telephone poles.
Raise electric strands at least 25cm above ground, switch power off during the day and install offset wire for larger tortoise spp.
Drive with care, especially when in the veld.
Combat wildlife crime by reporting suspicious persons.
Verify people claiming to do research with the organization the claim to be from.
Support local conservation initiatives.

All tortoises are protected species and listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as well as provincial legislation, such as the CapeNature Conservation ordinance of 1974 and National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004. It is illegal to collect any tortoise species in South Africa, and they may not be kept as pets without a permit.

Speckled dwarf tortoise Picture: JP le Roux
Karoo Padloper
A rare find: A Greater Padloper

Speckled Dwarf Tortoise graveyard
UWC and Unisa students on a field trip to research tortoises in the Karoo

Lions remain listed as Vulnerable in the 2023 Red List Assessment

By Dr Samantha Nicholson, Senior Carnivore Scientist & Manager of the African Lion Database

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (hereafter the Red List), established in 1964, offers a comprehensive overview of global conservation status, covering plants, animals, and habitats.

With 150,300 species assessed globally, 28% are threatened with extinction, including notable percentages in various taxa. These assessments serve as vital tools for conservation efforts, employing standardised criteria to evaluate extinction risk based on factors such as threats, habitat loss, and population trends. This approach, guided by rigorous standards, provides a clear understanding of species vulnerability and aids in prioritising conservation actions.

The Red List’s systematic approach helps identify species at high risk of extinction, guiding global, regional, and local conservation priorities. While appeals are possible, listings are generally accepted by range states, conservation bodies, and international conventions. Red List assessments inform targeted conservation strategies and resource allocation, guiding conservation action for species and habitats. They foster global commitment and unity among range states in addressing conservation challenges. Additionally, the Red List Index tracks overall trends in extinction risk, serving as a crucial indicator for measuring progress towards reducing biodiversity loss on an international scale.

Determining a species’ listing involves a systematic process conducted by expert assessors following IUCN Red List criteria. Assessments consider factors like population decline, current population size and trends, distribution, and population fragmentation. They also incorporate the probability of extinction over a specified timeframe, often utilising modelling techniques. Data from various sources, including scientific studies and expert assessments, inform these evaluations. Assessors apply strict criteria to determine the species’ conservation status accurately.

Data on the Lion, an omnipresent symbol for Africa, was recently updated by several lion experts led by the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Dr Sam Nicholson.

The Lion, once widespread in Africa, has suffered significant declines in population and range in recent decades. These declines, more severe for lions compared to other large carnivores, have led to consistent Vulnerable listings in IUCN assessments since 1996. The team of assessors found that the extant Lion range in 2023 is estimated to be only 6% of its historical range, highlighting the severity of the decline. The current population of adult and subadult Lions in Africa is estimated to be between 22,000 and 25,000, with an additional ~670 Lions in India. These figures represent a decline from previous estimates and underscore the urgency of conservation efforts.

Various factors contribute to the decline of Lion populations. Habitat loss, primarily driven by human activities such as deforestation and land conversion, is identified as the most significant threat. Depletion of prey bases, exacerbated by poaching and the bushmeat trade, further exacerbates the problem.

Human-Lion conflict, often resulting in the killing of Lions to protect human life and livestock, adds to the pressure on populations. Additionally, the trade in Lion body parts for traditional medicine poses a growing threat, as does poorly regulated trophy hunting, which can lead to population declines if not managed effectively. The impact of violent extremism in certain Lion ranges in Africa is also a concern, as it further jeopardises conservation efforts. Instances of poaching for Lion body parts, particularly in Mozambique, highlight the need for increased vigilance and enforcement measures to combat illegal trade.

Despite these challenges, there have been efforts to mitigate threats and conserve Lion populations. Reintroduction programs in certain areas have shown promise (e.g. Zembeze Delta in Mozambique, Akagera National Park in Rwanda), and recommendations for improved management practices in activities such as trophy hunting have been made. However, more comprehensive monitoring and enforcement are necessary to ensure the long-term survival of the species.

Given the ongoing and increasing threats faced by Lions across their fragmented range, it is recommended that the species be closely monitored, with a reassessment of its threat status after a minimum three-year period, or as soon as new information emerges. The decline in both population and range, coupled with the continuation of known threats, justifies its classification as Vulnerable according to the specified criteria. Urgent action is needed to address the complex challenges facing Lion conservation and secure a future for this iconic species.

The Lion’s Vulnerable status reflects a critical need for long-term survival efforts. The dwindling lion population not only raises ecological concerns, but also has economic and cultural repercussions. As apex predators, lions regulate ecosystems, affecting biodiversity. Economically, reduced lion numbers may impact tourism revenue in countries reliant on lion-based tourism. Culturally, lions hold symbolic importance, and their decline could affect traditions and spiritual beliefs.

The latest Red List assessment provides enhanced knowledge on the status of the species including data gaps, threats, geographic distribution and changes in range. The full assessment is on the IUCN website and can be accessed here

First comprehensive meta-analysis shows conservation action contributes to reversing and halting biodiversity loss

By Eleanor Momberg

A new study published in the scientific journal Science provides the strongest evidence yet that environmental conservation is not only successful, but that scaling up conservation interventions will contribute to reversing and halting biodiversity loss.

“We have shown that across a full suite of conservation actions and intervention types, multiple levels and metrics of biodiversity, and over a century of action, conservation has improved the state of biodiversity—or at least slowed its decline—compared with no conservation action,” the report states.

The findings of the first-ever comprehensive meta-analysis of the impact of conservation action are critical as more than 44,000 species are listed as being at the risk of extinction. This holds tremendous consequences for ecosystems that stabilise the climate and which provide millions of people worldwide with a number of ecosystem services, including clean water and supporting livelihoods.

The research, funded through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) by the Global Environment Facility, points to the recent adoption by government of the Global Biodiversity Framework aimed at reversing and halting biodiversity loss adding this made it even more critical to understand whether conservation actions are working.

Lead author of the study and executive vice president of Re:wild, Penny Langhammer, said: “If you look only at the trend of species declines, it would be easy to think that we’re failing to protect biodiversity, but you would not be looking at the full picture. What we show with this paper is that conservation is, in fact, working to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. It is clear that conservation must be prioritised and receive significant additional resources and political will globally, while we simultaneously address the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss, such as overconsumption and production.”

The report in Science indicates that although many papers look at individual conservation projects and interventions and their impact compared to no action taken, these papers have never been pulled into a single analysis to see how and whether conservation action is working overall.

Lauren Waller, the EWT’s Regional Planning Coordinator in the Conservation and Science Planning Unit said a meta-analysis of 186 case studies, including more than 665 trials, was conducted to determine the impact of the various conservation interventions undertaken globally. These were compared with what would or could have happened without any conservation interventions.

“The study showed that conservation improved the state of biodiversity, or slowed the decline in biodiversity loss. It also showed that species-targeted interventions were particularly effective,” said Waller, who is also the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) Regional Resource Centre Convenor for Southern and East Africa.

Among the key findings are that in two-thirds of cases, conservation either improved the state of biodiversity or at least slowed declines and that interventions targeted at species and ecosystems, such as invasive species control, habitat loss reduction and restoration, protected areas, and sustainable management, are highly effective and have large effect sizes. This provides the strongest evidence to date that conservation actions are successful but require transformational scaling up to meet global targets, the report states.

Robust impact assessment using a counterfactual approach revealed that conservation action has prevented extinctions and reduced extinction risk for species across taxonomic groups compared with an absence of conservation action. There has been an increase over the last decade in studies evaluating the impact of specific conservation actions from global to local scales using counterfactual comparisons, including effects of protected areas, payments for environmental services, invasive alien species (IAS) eradications and sustainable management of ecosystems.

“This paper is not only extremely important in providing robust evidence of the impact of conservation actions. It is also extremely timely in informing crucial international policy processes, including the establishment of a 20-year vision for IUCN, the development of an IPBES assessment of biodiversity monitoring, and the delivery of the action targets toward the outcome goals of the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Thomas Brooks, IUCN chief scientist and co-author of the study, said.

The paper also argues that there must be more investment specifically in the effective management of protected areas, which remain the cornerstone for many conservation actions. Consistent with other studies, this study finds that protected areas work very well on the whole. And what other studies have shown is that when protected areas are not working, it is typically the result of a lack of effective management and adequate resourcing. Protected areas will be even more effective at reducing biodiversity loss if they are well-resourced and well-managed.

Protected areas have been shown to be effective in reducing conversion of natural land cover, terrestrial habitat loss, coral loss, tropical forest fires, species extinction risk, and in increasing biomass and density of marine organisms. The results, however concur that while their effectiveness is not universal, protected areas are an important tool for achieving conservation outcomes. Well-resourced and well-managed protected areas are needed to effectively reduce biodiversity loss, the paper states.

Dr Sam Ferreira, SANParks large mammal ecologist said at the South African National Satellite Event of the World Species Congress, that the global biodiversity crisis, driven primarily by human activity, was accelerating at unprecedented rates.

Human-driven threats such as poaching, habitat destruction, and human-wildlife conflict are increasing with growing human populations, leading to alarming declines in animal populations and ranges. This crisis, irreversible in nature, poses one of the most serious environmental threats to the planet. The interconnectedness of species within ecosystems underscores the significance of biodiversity, with the extinction of one species disrupting the delicate balance of entire ecosystems. For instance, the decline of bee pollinators due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change threatens not only plant species but also other species dependent on them, illustrating the cascading effects of species loss on the web of life, including humans.

“Urgent action is needed to mitigate these threats and preserve biodiversity for the health of ecosystems and human well-being,” said Ferreira.

The meta-analysis adds that although the state of biodiversity is declining across the globe in absolute terms, conservation actions work most of the time. The challenge now is to expand these to the scale necessary to reverse the global biodiversity crisis. That is, conservation interventions are working but there are simply not enough conservation actions implemented or in the right places.

Realising the highly ambitious vision of the GBF will require ongoing assessment of the impact of specific conservation interventions to inform adaptive management with evidence. Importantly, it will require substantially scaled-up funding and commitment for implementation of demonstrably effective conservation interventions—a real transformational change—which in turn depends on increased political will and investment.

Such an increase in conservation action and associated outcomes will require expanded implementation and significant additional investment across many sectors of society, particularly beyond the traditional conservation sector, the report said.

The authors of a meta-analysis contend that more and better counterfactual studies are needed for a wider range of conservation interventions and geographic regions. Particular gaps include assessments of pollution control, climate change adaptation, sustainable use of species, habitat loss reduction (beyond protected areas), actions targeting species and genetic diversity, and conservation actions in the Global South.

The EWT calls for a revision and republication of a completed Draft Biodiversity Economy Strategy for public comment

By Eleanor Momberg

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has called for a revision and the republication for public comment, for a period of 30 days, of the government’s National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES).

The Strategy was published for a 14-day public comment period on 8 March 2024. The comment period was later extended to 16 April 2024.

The EWT submitted extensive comments in two parts to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) on 16 April 2024 outlining its general arguments regarding the NBES and detailed comment on specific issues contained in the document.

An initial NBES was published for implementation by the Department in 2016 outlining the steps necessary to ensure the success of the commercial wildlife and bioprospecting industries, as well as the transformation of both sectors of the South African economy. The 14-year plan’s aim was to provide a basis for addressing constraints to growth, ensuring sustainability, identifying clear stakeholder’s responsibilities and monitoring progress of the Enabling Actions. In terms of the first NBES, the goal has been to achieve an average annualised GDP growth rate of 10% per annum by 2030 in the biodiversity economy.

The Draft National Biodiversity Economy Strategy gazetted in March 2024 (link to the gazette) is a revision of the existing NBES and aims to “optimise biodiversity-based business potentials” across most economic sectors “for thriving people and nature”.

“In reviewing the NBES, the Strategy has been broadened to respond to the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa ‘s Biodiversity (the White Paper) as well as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), whilst incorporating the outcomes of the National Operation Phakisa Oceans and Biodiversity Labs, and addressing opportunities associated with all ecosystems,” the NBES Executive Summary states.

By broadening the terms of the Strategy, it has been “completely reconceptualised as a broad strategy to guide the whole of the biodiversity economy”.

The EWT, in its comments on the latest iteration of the NBES (link to the laws document), recognises the value that ecological sustainable use of wildlife brings to South Africa, and supports conservation practices that, within the scope of the law in the country, promote the ecologically sustainable use of wild animals in natural free-living conditions to the benefit of all.

While the EWT upholds the provisions of the environmental right contained in the Constitution, it does not support the industrial-scale production and management of South Africa’s wildlife when these activities are not in line with the principles of ecologically sustainable use, animal well-being and do not benefit the conservation of the species in the wild.

“These practices may also result in environmental harm and wildlife well-being concerns,” the EWT submission states.

In welcoming the opportunity to play a constructive role in developing an appropriate and equitable biodiversity economy strategy as part of the broader development of a sustainable green economy, while ensuring the enhanced protection of the country’s biodiversity, the EWT submits that the NBES itself is lacking in both content and clarity. Unless revised, it risks impeding ecologically sustainable use.

More information is required on the business cases underpinning the actions listed, and the economic information that has been considered in motivation for these activities.

“Critically, the NBES as it stands lacks SMART objectives, objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.”

Detailed comments by the EWT deal with the goals outlined in the NBES highlighting various shortcomings requiring attentions. In almost all instances, the EWT points out a lack of clarity on the goals proposed, whether these can be justified, or considered realistic.

The EWT’s response to the first goal related to leverage biodiversity-based features to scale inclusive ecotourism industry growth in seascapes and in sustainable conservation land-use, points out the lack of explanation to justify targets provided, as well as the lack of clarity on what type of ecotourism infrastructure is to be developed in the buffer zones.

Similarly, with the goal to prioritise infrastructure development and viable enterprises in community reserves and areas adjacent to fauna/ Biq 5 areas. Here the EWT states the prioritising infrastructure development on the edge of protected areas undermines the principles of establishing ecological buffers around protected areas, a core principle for retaining the integrity of these areas as illustrated by the spatial structure of biosphere reserves, as well as Ecological Support Areas surrounding Critical Biodiversity Areas. These projects in must comply with environmental regulations to mitigate potential negative impacts on ecosystems, habitats, or protected areas, ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations and avoiding residual impacts where possible.

The EWT points out that the second goal of consumptive use of game from extensive wildlife systems at scale that drives transformation and expanded sustainable conservation compatible land-use lacks clarity. It is unrealistic and could potentially undermine sustainable management efforts to expect consumptive use of game from extensive systems at scale to “drive” transformation.

Questioning how realistic the hunting targets proposed are, the EWT points out that the NBES is silent on whether there is in fact a market for the degree of hunting indicated, adding that the quota targets have not been justified with an economic motivation that explains their contribution towards national tourism and or socio-economic revenue. The same applies to the actions related to so-called traditional hunting. If these hunting methods are illegal, unsustainable or do not ensure the well-being of the animal, the EWT cannot supported the action, even if it is considered traditional.

Regarding legislation to guide the implementation of the game meat industry, the EWT states that while it supports initiatives to advance game meat consumption, “we are wholly opposed to the slaughter of wild animals in abattoirs as this fundamentally infringes on their well-being”.

Until the Game Meat Regulations are promulgated and the exception to section 11(1)(i) of the Meat Safety Act 40 of 2000 becomes effective, game meat production as an economic opportunity is not viable. Game meat production can only be commercialised if the legislation governing the slaughter, processing and sale is promulgated, implemented and enforced.

The NBES is also silent on how the well-being of the individual animals will be considered and ensured. It is critical that the well-being of the animals utilised have been addressed with respect to their nutritional, environmental, physical, behavioural and mental health, when placed within these areas for ecologically sustainable harvesting.

The EWT adds that while it recognises the importance of a more inclusive fisheries sector, most of the country’s commercial marine harvesting is already at capacity and there is very little room to sustainably expand this without compromising the stocks and detrimentally impacting vulnerable ecosystems and threatened species. Thus, any strategy developed around sustainable marine harvesting would also need to account for maintaining fish stocks at a viable level to sustain species dependant on them such as the African Penguin.

The organisation also argues that abalone poaching cannot be attributed to “non-transformation of the sector,” stating that enhanced regulation and stringent enforcement is required to curb these illegal activities.

With regard to identifying mechanisms to scale cultivation of indigenous medicinal plants for sustainable use within the traditional medicine sector, the EWT submits that without the inclusion of market evaluations and financial data, it is difficult to evaluate how the number of nurseries identified in the NBES is warranted and can be sustained.

With regard to the resolution of outstanding land claims, the EWT submits that this is a critical barrier to protected area exapansion and proposes that a target be included for provincial proclamations of protected areas It would be beneficial, the EWT statesm if all undeveloped governmentproperties are collated and published for more insight and a review into the realistic opportunity for long-term conservation security.

Clarity is sought to what the NBES regards as “large community owned conservation areas”, as without this it would not be possible to determine whether this objective has been achieved or not.

Commenting on the enabler related to financing of the biodiversity economy, the EWT expressed its concern with the suggestion that this action would pay for conservation alone, without an assessment of the contribution of the full value chain of biodiversity and for the value of all ecosystem services towards the national economy and for human well-being being considered.

Alternative and more creative means of finance needed to be sourced and implemented to ensure the success of the biodiversity economy, and related Strategy.

Although the EWT supports the intention of DFFE to explore and develop economic opportunities relating to the ecologically sustainable and ethical use of biodiversity resources, the draft NBES requires extensive amendment. It is hoped that through the public comments received the present draft NBES would be enhanced before being published for a new round of public participation.

“The NBES needs to be revised, fully completed and republished for public comment for a minimum of 30 days,” the EWT submission reads.

The Endangered Wildlife Trusts Commits to the future as it ends its 50th anniversary celebration under African skies

The Endangered Wildlife Trust ended its 50th anniversary with a gala event on 18 April 2024.

The earth-friendly event, with solar power and repurposed, natural and recyclable décor was held as a bush banquet under African stars at our Conservation Campus in Midrand, Gauteng. On arrival, guests were able to take a walk through the one-of-a-kind gardens that depict the ecosystems that the EWT works in.

We were honoured to share the evening with two of our founders, Clive Walker and James Clarke, former CEO’s, John Ledger and Nick King, present and past Trustees of the EWT Board, present EWT Board Chair Muhammed Seedat and the EWT’s CEO Yolan Friedmann.

During the evening of celebration, Yolan stated that the EWT’s 50th anniversary may not be a celebration of a “coming of age, but is one of a youthful spirit, blended with wisdom, a touch of maturity, a dash of streetsmarts, a helping of hope and a lot of energy still to be spent to realise dreams that are still big enough to scare us, in the words of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.”

As the country’s longest-serving female CEO of a conservation organisation, Yolan said the EWT prides itself on instilling hope and not a sense of fear, loss or hopelessness when talking about our natural world.

“Instead, we prefer to show, with evidence, the difference we can all make when we work together,” said Yolan. “For 50 years, we have pushing back the tide and finding solutions; this is the thread that binds us and which continues to blur the generational lines, to form one united EWT”.

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said during her keynote address that non-governmental and non-profit organisations, such as the EWT, play an important role in securing the future of not only our country’s rich biodiversity and conservation, but also in ensuring that communities living with wildlife outside conservation areas are able to share in the benefits of the environment.

In reference to the country’s commitment to achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal of conserving 30% of land and 30% of the sea by 2030, Creecy pointed out that South Africa may only achieve this target between 2036 to 2040, adding it may take longer in the marine environment which was less well researched and documented.

Achieving this objective created new challenges for all involved in the biodiversity and conservation fields, particularly important organisations such as the EWT which, in celebrating its 50 years of work, would be posing the question of what the fundamental issues will be in conservation in the next half a century, she said.

Addressing the issue of land restoration, transformation of the biodiversity sector, unemployment and community beneficiation – all areas which impact on the conservation estate — would require support from NGOs “because sometimes government is too big and too far away to undertake those processes properly”.

Deputy Board of Trustees Chair Dirk Ackerman raises a toast to the EWT’s 50th anniversary.
EWTEWT staff ready for the gala event at the Conservation Campus. staff ready for the gala event at the Conservation Campus.
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy, in thanking the EWT for its contributionto government’s environmental agenda, said she had no doubt that we could continue to contribute to “government’s policy and to our common struggles”.

Guests were honoured with an inciteful Founders Forum facilitated by MC and radio personality Rob Vega, during which Clive Walker, John Ledger, James Clarke and Nick King shared their experiences and insights, providing all with a glimpse into the founding and growth of the EWT.

When the EWT was founded in 1973, biodiversity and conservation were not household issues, said John, who added during the discussion that biodiversity, wildlife and all components of ecosystems are outside protected areas.

Clive said it was after a hike with John that he came to realise that all people play a role in conservation.

His entry to conservation and the ultimate establishment of the EWT came about through Ian Player’s Wilderness Leadership School. “I went on a five-day walk….and realised that I would like to do something like this”.

Speaking to all who support the work of the EWT, Clive said: “All of us play a role in conservation…. Never ever underestimate the work that you do”.

Nick reminded all the conservation is not just about animals. Environment is not a fad issue; it is fundamental, and it is life, he said.

Reminiscing about his tenure as CEO of the EWT, Nick told of how the organisation has grown from a staff complement of about 40 in 2003 to more than 120 today under Yolan’s guidance.

The EWT, he said, has turned around from an organisation conserving species in the seventies to focusing on a better and healthier environment for people and everything else, which the EWT has shown is possible.

James said after witnessing the changes that have taken place in the past 50 years, “when I came here, I was overwhelmed by what I saw”.

The Minister said in a country where there are enormous demands on the fiscus and where the economy is not growing, there is a need to find a way in which conservation can be self-sustaining and self-financing, and where “developed countries, which created the climate crisis which is threatening all our well-being, must come to the party and must support developing countries, who own most of the conservation estate in the world, in our conservation objectives better”.

Referring to the issue of climate depression, she said it was when one comes to event such as the EWT’s 50th anniversary celebration and where “one sits with many, many people who have dedicated their entire lives to promoting conservation and biodiversity objectives in our country; who have made sure that endangered species have not gone extinct – in fact, on the contrary have thrived and multiplied – one realises that what this journey requires is willpower, human willpower, to make sure that the very precious, God-given environment that we have, is not destroyed and can benefit current and future generations”.

“Let me take this opportunity to say thank you for the relationship that we have enjoyed and thank you for the contribution that the EWT is making, and I have no doubt will continue to make to government’s policy and to our common struggles. I hope we will continue to work for the better of our country and for biodiversity and conservation,” she said.

Casting an eye to the future, Yolan said in 50 years the world will not be an easier place for much of the planet’s human and wildlife populations.

Because of this, the EWT needs to write a new chapter, and this book will come with new challenges and opportunities. “We owe it to the next generations of brilliant EWTers to continue in the footsteps of our giant founders and to stay connected to the dreams of what we know can be achieved tomorrow, as we sit here tonight”.

Through the launch of our Fund for the Future in our 50th year we aim to secure the EWT, our people and our impact, for the wildlife and the communities that they will serve, for decades to still come and for generations not yet born.

“This strategy will ensure that we channel our efforts into achieving targets that stretch us and will achieve high impact; that will galvanise cohesive, collective action towards achieving global, and national conservation priorities and which will benefit a maximum range of species, and humans, realistically,” she said.

Read Yolan’s address here

** The EWT would like to thank Painted Wolf Wines for their kind support in hosting our 50th anniversary gala event.

EWTEWT staff ready for the gala event at the Conservation Campus. staff ready for the gala event at the Conservation Campus.

Financial Support and Collaboration Key to Saving Species from Extinction

By Eleanor Momberg

Greater financial support and collaboration between all stakeholders is needed to save the world’s endangered species from extinction.

That was the message from participants in the first World Species Congress Satellite Event on 14 May 2024 co-hosted by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), BirdLife SA and the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation.

The World Species Congress is a virtual 24-hour congress hosted by Reverse the Red. It offers a forum for collaboration and the chance to develop a roadmap for success for anyone striving to create a healthier planet.

The South African event held ahead of the 24-hour World Species Congress on 15 May 2024 showcased a number of examples of species recovery. Participants in the virtual event also discussed the country’s global commitments towards species recovery, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. For South Africa, the inputs received are an important contributor to the national targets to be set in the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

Mukondi Matshusa of the DFFE said the South African event provided the government with an opportunity to shape and quantify its collective conservation efforts through collaboration, inclusiveness and partnership.

Collaboration between government, NGOs and communities as the people who live with the species is what was needed for conservation and recovery to make implementation of the White Paper, and the development of the GBF, workable, she said.

Target 4 of the GBF aims to Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage Human-Wildlife Conflicts. This means ensuring urgent management actions to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species. The aim is to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential. This can be done through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimise human-wildlife conflict for coexistence.

Domitilla Raimondo, SANBI’s Programme Manager of the Threatened Species Unit, pointed out the conservation in South Africa is a whole of society approach. South Africa is unique in the number of citizens, including community members and traditional healers, that help to monitor species, assisting scientists with data on the health of species.

“We do things together and will continue to do things like that,” she said.

Raimondo stated that in South Africa a landscape approach is used to conserve species. The country has intricate spatial biodiversity planning and in that targets are set for every type of ecosystem which allows for the conservation of common and threatened species. By doing this, unchecked development can be halted to protect vulnerable and threatened species.

The Red List assessments done for 12 taxonomic groups in SA indicate that 25 species are faced with extinction. The highest level of threat is to 30% of freshwater fish for which a huge increase in funding is required to intervene in their conservation and management. Eleven amphibian species, including the Desert Rain Frog which is facing collapse because of climate change and mining, 14 mammal species of which 50% are small mammals, 16 bird species including the Botha’s Lark, Blue Swallows and Vultures, as well as numerous marine species and 109 plant species, are in need of urgent recovery.

“We will require significant upscaling of investment to reach Target 4. We have the know-how, we have the people, we just need the financing, said Raimondo.

The EWT’s Senior Manager Sustainable Financing and Business Partnerships Kishaylin Chetty said although the landscape approach is central to species conservation, and there is a focus on stewardship and large intact areas, the EWT remains a species-focused conservation NGO.

“We understand that funding is absolutely critical for us to take our work forward, and that collaboration is key. For us to achieve conservation impact at a national and international scale we need to collaborate with the right types of partners to make sure that we have action on the ground,” he said.

The EWT has a vision in terms of a healthy planet, and an equitable world that values and sustains the diversity of all life. It is mainly dedicated to conserving threatened species in southern and East Africa to the benefit of all. With 12 programmes and over 110 employees the EWT’s paw print has touched 21 countries within the African continent. Although species-led, the EWT equally recognises the value of conserving habitats and benefiting people.

Reaching the Global Biodiversity Framework targets of conserving 30 percent and land and water by 2030 and 50% by 2050 is still within reach. While parts of the world, the African continent and parts of South Africa have been highly impacted by environmental destruction, there are also parts that are still largely intact.

But, to achieve these goals, would require reversing species decline by determining which opportunities exist to restore what has been lost, and to focus on conserving what we have, and more specifically reversing declines. To address this, the EWT has a multitude of programmes directed at reducing habitat loss, engaging in regards to poaching, trying to adequately address the issues and concerns around disease and poison, particularly around impacts to vultures, the intersection between human-wildlife conflict and how we can actively and positively work with communities. Also being addressed pro-actively and reactively is the illegal wildlife trade.

Chetty said because developing infrastructure is a key to the development of the South African economy, the EWT works to ensure this is done responsibly through support to entities within this space.

Proactively, the EWTs Conservation and Science Planning Unit contributes towards helping and guiding South Africa minimise or mitigate the impact of development on species. This is done through the National Environmental Screening Tool which the EWT provides with information about species. This has included the development of a threatened species node mapping tool, and Red List work related to mammals. In progress is the development of a tool for the renewable energy sector linked to support for the just transition and the approach towards mitigation against climate change. By utilising a tool that looks at landscape planning and the intersection between conservation, agriculture and renewable energy will actively support renewable energy development across the country.

One of the other tools that is critical is protected area expansion. The EWT is working across the country looking at the intersection between the National Environmental Management Protected Areas Act and the opportunities that exist in terms of conservation stewardship or conservation servitudes and Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs). The EWT has secured large portions of protected areas and are in the process of trying to secure more land to protect species.

“A lot of our focus of late has been around buffer areas and trying to work with entities like SANParks to better help them to create those buffer areas around the national parks,” he said.

Chetty said the EWT’s selection of species for conservation and research was based on science. Besides looking at the global threat to a species, whether it is locally threatened, endemic and whether another organisation is already addressing concerns around a species, a decision to work to conserve a species also takes into account what the conservation impact for the species would be.

Collaboration, said Chetty, is “absolutely key” when it comes to species conservation.

The EWT works very closely with DFFE, the provinces, a lot of conservation agencies and a number of NGOs to ensure that it can actively contribute toward species conservation in southern Africa.

One of the greatest challenges faced by the NGO is unlocking new funding for conservation. The GBF highlighted that there is a biodiversity financing gap of close to $711 billion. The EWT supports the country’s biodiversity agenda and has been trying to contribute towards enabling the country to become a nexus between socio-economic development and conservation so that. The organisation has thus had to brush up on the green economy, the wildlife economy, sustainable use, the circular economy and the just transition to ensure that it has a good take of how these areas can be utilised to drive species conservation.

“We have also looked at conservation market-based instruments … quantity based and market friction instruments to ensure that we can be innovative in this space and really try to bring in different types of funding to stimulate the growth of our species conservation work in South Africa and throughout Africa,” he said.

In order to drive conservation around particularly Wild Dogs and Lions, the EWT is working with Rand Merchant Bank to develop Wildlife Bonds for both species with the aim of bringing in between R100 million to R150 million in funding for the conservation of Wild Dogs and Lions, including the collaborative work on Lion being done with the Peace Parks Foundation.

A Wildlife Bond is a sustainable finance instrument that enables large funding to come from asset management investment to drive outcomes-based conservation that speaks to species-related work.

“Hopefully this can be the catalyst for further Wildlife Bonds in South Africa.”

A word from the CEO – 50th Celebration

Word from the CEO

Yolan Friedmann, CEO

On behalf of the Endangered Wildlife Trust Board of Trustees may I welcome you all, on this chilly autumn evening, to this prestigious event, a celebration of 50 years of conservation in action.

Good evening Minister Creecy, Minister for Fisheries, Forests and the Environment. Welcome to David Freeman, First Secretary for Environment, Science, Technology, Health, and Minerals, U.S. Embassy Pretoria.

Good evening to the EWT founders that are here with us tonight Clive Walker and James Clarke and our previous CEOs Dr John Ledger and Prof Nick King, all the way from the United Kingdom.

To our Board of Trustees and the Chairman of the Board, Muhammad Seedat and

To all past Trustees who have played such a pivotal role in forming the EWT, some of whom have travelled many miles to be with us tonight.

Welcome to the many donors, associates, colleagues, friends, members of the media and our highly valued partners who are with us tonight.

And last but never ever least: welcome to the staff of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, past and present. Our greatest assets.

You are all welcome.

Tonight has been in the making for 50 years. I used to think that 50 years was an inordinate amount of time until I too turned 50 just before the EWT did. I can now assure you that 50 is the new 21 and this is not a celebration of a coming of age, but of a youthful spirit, blended with wisdom, a touch of maturity, a dash of streetsmarts, a helping of hope and a LOT of energy still to be spent to realise dreams that are still big enough to scare us, in the words of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Tonight has been a very special gathering of many remarkable people and a celebration of many remarkable achievements.

The EWT prides itself on instilling hope, and sharing a vision of what our future can be. We do not like to instil a sense of fear, loss or hopelessness when we talk about our natural world. Instead, we prefer to show, with evidence, the difference we can all make when we work together. You’ve seen firsthand how our work, and with your support, has turned South Africa into the only country in Africa with an increasing population of Cheetah. How Wild Dogs now flourish in Malawi and Mozambique where they had previously gone extinct. How lost species like the Amatola Toad and de Winton’s Golden Mole have been rediscovered and can now be protected. How rivers can flow when invasive plants are removed and how communities can use this water for their livelihoods, their crops and their general wellbeing.

How populations of Blue Cranes and Cape Vultures have been downlisted due to concerted and targeted conservation effort, and how the Brenton Blue Butterfly was the first species to trigger the declaration of a nature reserve to save just one species. How communities now run conservation-friendly enterprises on their land, and rangers, ecowarriors and businesswomen have been borne out of rural children and their mothers. How hundreds of thousands of hectares of critical habitat are now protected, spanning biomes from the Succulent Karoo to the Soutpansberg and covering the lifegiving rivers, grasslands, wetlands, forests and deserts in between.

In 1973, the world had a human population of 3.9 billion. We have now come to remember the 1970s as a time of activism and the birth of multiple social movements that galvanised action and created momentum for stimulating social change for the decades to come. The environmental movement benefited from this period of awakening and the United Nations Environmental Programme was born, as was CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, the RAMSAR convention for the protection of wetlands and the landmark Endangered Species Act that was passed in the USA. World Environment Day was kickstarted and of course the globally significant UN Conference on the Human Environment was held, catapulting the world towards a slew of environmental agreements that would attempt to safeguard our natural resources and our climate for decades to come.

President Richard Nixon said it for us all when he stated in 1973 that “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which America has been blessed.” It was at this time that way down on the southern tip of Africa, the Endangered Wildlife Trust was born.

Despite all this activity, fast forward to 2024 and the WWF tells us that populations of globally monitored mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have declined by an average of 68%. In Africa alone, the percentage is 66. Our Freshwater systems show the worst, and most rapid decline in quality and species loss. 2023 was the hottest year on record, with extreme weather events causing devastation, globally.

And the world human population has reached 8.1 billion, and is still growing. That is a more than 200% increase in the number of humans and a more than 2 thirds decrease in the number of wild animals left on our planet today. The EWT has done well over the past 50 years. But we have to do more.

Right now, in the safe havens of our national parks and in our remote wilderness areas and mountain ranges, snares are being set, poisons are being planted and rifles are being loaded. From the African savannahs and deep into our oceans, land is being ploughed up and plastic is being dumped. Rivers are being choked and skyways are stolen from the winged creatures that really do own them.

Every night the EWT staff go to bed dreaming up ways to do more to stop the harm and reverse the trends. Every day they get up and channel every heartbeat into actions that will fight extinction. For 50 years, we have pushing back the tide and finding solutions; this is the thread that binds us and which continues to blur the generational lines, to form one united EWT.

As you have witnessed, the EWT staff, volunteers and trustees have, for 50 years, been the most tenacious, innovative and energetic, and we are defined by an unbreakable spirit that binds us like a steel thread and ignites our purpose. We have literally saved species and changed lives.

To the EWT staff past and present: you are all a force of nature! Thankyou for the years of unimaginable hard work, sacrifice and souldeep commitment that comes from place that makes you special people, and a privilege for me to serve. Having stepped into the EWT myself, around midway into its story, I look both backwards and forwards from this halfway mark and see many extraordinary people on both sides, that have not just shaped the EWT’s life but my own too. Thankyou to you all.

To those extraordinary EWTers that will come next and to what we have termed #TheNextFifty. The world will not be an easier place for much of the planet’s human and wildlife populations. The EWT needs to write a new chapter now, and this book will come with new challenges and opportunities. Many of us here tonight will not be here to witness the commemoration of the EWT’s centenary but our impact MUST still be felt. We owe it to the next generations of brilliant EWTers to continue in the footsteps of our giant founders and to stay connected to the dreams of what we know can be achieved tomorrow, as we sit here tonight.

This we can all do by leaving our future teams a legacy that goes beyond another doubling of the human population and the loss of more species, but through the establishment of a Fund for the Future that will secure the EWT, our people and our impact, for the wildlife and the communities that they will serve, for decades to still come and for generations not yet born.

The EWT is launching – in its 50^th year – our Fund for the Future to ensure that the EWT never faces the risk of shutting its doors and ending our story, which in many ways, has just begun. On behalf of the EWT’s FirstFifty founders, CEOs and Chairs of our Board, we invite you to join us to continue our story and make your pledge tonight to the Fund, to secure forever, together. Pledge cards are on your tables and can be handed to any EWT staff member.

Thankyou to the Meterman, The Elizabeth Wakeman Henderson Charitable Fund, Trappers and the Oppenheimer Family for already making their pledges to this fund.

A powerful, impactful conservation strategy, underpinned by financial security and implemented by high performing teams of the best talent. This is the three-pronged approach that will define the next few decades for the EWT and we are developing what we are calling our Future Fit strategy for the NextFifty. This strategy will ensure that we channel our efforts into achieving targets that stretch us and will achieve high impact; that will galvanise cohesive, collective action towards achieving global, and national conservation priorities and which will benefit a maximum range of species, and humans, realistically.

Our Future Fit strategy will simplify our approaches, catalyse new science, engage new partners and embrace a new way of thinking. It will take the EWT into new regions where we will support new partners, and scale our impact. And building on our strengths, our Future Fit strategy will remain firmly rooted in the core principles of the EWT which are to save species, conserve habitats and benefit people.

We will build resilient systems, and develop nature-friendly businesses; we will safeguard the habitats that protect all life, we will prevent more extinctions and we will bring peace to human-wildlife conflict. We WILL halt the loss of biodiversity.

Our planet may be ailing, but our spirits are not. We are powerful, passionate and energetic. We have solutions and knowledge and we CAN turn the tide.

In the words of António Guterres, Solidarity is humanity. Solidarity is survival.

In the words of the EWT: together we CAN protect forever.

Thankyou for making our birthday so special and for being part of our story.

Yolan Friedmann,

CEO, Endangered Wildlife Trust

A word from the CEO April 2024

Word from the CEO

Yolan Friedmann, CEO

The Endangered Wildlife Trust was well-represented at the inaugural Biodiversity Economy and Investment Indaba, themed: “Collective Action for Thriving Nature and People” in Gauteng from 25 to 27 March 2024. As the EWT’s CEO, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion under the theme of leveraging biodiversity-based features to scale inclusive ecotourism industry growth in seascapes and in sustainable conservation landuse. Along with fellow panellists from the WWF-SA, WildTrust, iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Nature Speaks and Heals, the focus was on what is required to establish mega-living conservation landscapes through voluntary involvement in suitable state, private and community areas.

The crux of the message that I conveyed was that we already have a Biodiversity Economy in South Africa because no economy can exist without food, air, water, energy, soil, plants, animals and all the components of biodiversity that give us life. Our human-constructed financial economy depends entirely on the natural environment and cannot be seen as separate and biodiversity already IS what makes our economy work. Second, I emphasised that humans are a component of biodiversity and also cannot be separated out; we are an integral part of nature, and we need to start talking about humans, biodiversity and our economy in an integrated, interdependent fashion. Third, I emphasised the significance of the responsibility of the current generation which is, to quote Jarred Diamond, the most privileged generation to potentially ever live. The current generation has all the benefits of modern communication, technology, transport, medicine, and cheap food, among others, and whilst the generations to come may benefit more from advancements in these components of life, they will bear the brunt of the disasters of climate change, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, desertification and air pollution, again, among others. We therefore cannot ignore the intergenerational rights enshrined in our constitution which remind us that we are simply the custodians of our environment and are managing it for the generations yet to come. We cannot destroy it all in the pursuit of short-term gains and inequitable financial wealth. For equitable benefit sharing in a sustainably managed environment in which no species go extinct, ecosystems flourish and nature thrives, we need to think creatively about how to invest in nature-positive development options that drive equitable prosperity for all and this should be the crux of the inaugural Biodiversity Economy and Investment Indaba.

After the panel discussions, breakaway sessions were held to unpack options for nature-based job creation, the financing of entrants into the Biodiversity Economy, finding ways to expand investment in the wildlife, biotrade and eco-tourism sectors, as well as the need for skills development and transfer, the acknowledgement and integration of traditional knowledge systems into contemporary conservation practices, and developing a robust strategy to engage and involve communities meaningfully, in policy development and the cocreation of protected areas of the future, to underpin the successful expansion of South Africa’s economy.

The EWT congratulates the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and her Department, for putting on a highly successful Biodiversity Economy and Investment Indaba

Yolan Friedmann,

CEO, Endangered Wildlife Trust

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