On October 1-3, the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility (STAP) convened a group of more than 30 conservation practitioners from diverse backgrounds to discuss mainstreaming biodiversity at the research center of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden – Cape Town, South Africa. Biodiversity mainstreaming is the process of embedding biodiversity considerations into policies, strategies and practices of key public and private actors that impact or rely on biodiversity, so that it is conserved and sustainably used both locally and globally.
Almost a decade ago a similar group met at the same location, also convened by the GEF and STAP, to define biodiversity mainstreaming, review case studies, and develop a series of guidelines for the GEF to consider as it supported biodiversity mainstreaming projects around the globe. This month’s meeting shared lessons and experiences gained over the past 10 years with the aim of sharing knowledge and good practice and to further develop and refine the guidance developed for the GEF as it supports the next generation of biodiversity mainstreaming activities.
South Africa was the perfect setting to understand how biodiversity can be successfully mainstreamed in different sectors. Participants saw the impact of the Working for Water program, which removes alien invasive trees from the highly threatened Cape Floral Kingdom while securing water supplies, creating jobs, and reducing wildfire risk. Participants also learned about how, through a series of innovative and well-designed sequenced investments supported by the GEF, South Africa’s government and civil society organizations’ successfully engaged with businesses ranging from the mining sector to wineries to make choices and set policies that work for both biodiversity and business.
“We now have a significant body of evidence that supports the framework on which GEF investments have been based - interventions in policy, planning, production practice, and financial mechanisms. These have incrementally and often radically mobilized local and national initiatives whereby biodiversity concerns have been embedded in development agendas. The biodiversity mainstreaming journey continues - a project that will require decades to reach the scale we need, and which still needs a convincing theory of change to underpin its process - but a journey which we cannot dismiss because of its manifold challenges” said Brian Huntley, STAP member, workshop leader and former head of the SANBI. In face of such a daunting challenge, participants were reminded of the quote from Nelson Mandela “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
Presentations from the meeting are available on the STAP website, and a final report from the workshop will be available by the end of the year.