The interface between natural and urban landscapes provides its own challenges (e.g. fire breaks, erosion
mitigation measures, access to protected areas, protection from and safeguarding of ‘damage-causing’
animals, etc.).
invasive species appropriately.
Researching, monitoring and protecting biodiversity
as best as is possible.
Alleviating poverty by making use of and providing
access to job opportunities.
Improving access to protected areas to create
awareness.
Mainstreaming biodiversity concerns in development planning and decision-making.
Going hard for the full suite of climate change response actions.
The future
At the 21st annual session of the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP21) in December 2015, also
known as the Paris Climate Conference, 195 countries
adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global
climate deal. The agreement sets out a global plan of
action to now legally bind all signatories to reduce
their green-house gas emissions so as to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting the global temperature
increase to well below 2°C. The agreement, however, is
only due to enter into force in 2020 and so once again
highlights the slow pace of global political willpower.
For conservationists, probably the greatest challenge is
accepting biodiversity loss as being inevitable. This
statement is so bewildering in cities like Cape Town,
especially when one considers that the Cape Town Stadium requires R124 million per year to maintain, and it
will take only R165 million over 15 years to secure the
entire protected area network for the province required
to meet convention targets. To realise this support, it
will be important to link biodiversity loss and conservation to food security, water security, energy security,
and the improvement of human livelihoods. This said,
time remains of the essence. The longer we take, the
greater the likelihood of any concerted effort being
simply too late!
Further Reading
DEA-SANBI. 2012. National Biodiversity Assessment
2011: An assessment of South Africa’s biodiversity and
ecosystems. Synthesis Report. South African National
Biodiversity Institute and Department of Environmental
Affairs, Pretoria. (http://bgis.sanbi.org/nba/project.asp).
Government of South Africa. 2015. National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Department of Environmental Affairs, Pretoria.
Raimondo D (ed). 2015. South Africa’s Strategy for
Plant Conservation. South African National Biodiversity
Instit