Introduction • South Africa is home to a significant portion of global biodiversity (Cowling et al. 1996, Myers et al. 2000), and many of its natural ecosystems are relatively intact (Scholes & Biggs, 2005), despite the changes in land cover that have accompanied societal development. • Anthropogenic climate change are likely to cause increasingly adverse impacts on the country’s ecosystems and biodiversity (Midgley & Thuiller, 2005) • Impacts of climate change on species, and their adaptation interact strongly with human activities.

Values of Biodiversity • Biodiversity provides excellent conditions for and drives the processes that sustain species survival. • Biodiversity provides for ecological, economic and cultural values to the world’s community. • Climate change is changing species distribution through shifting habitat, changing life cycles, and development of new physical traits,

Values of Biodiversity (cont) • People need ecosystems for adaptation and ecosystems need people. • Biodiversity plays a major role in meeting human needs directly while maintaining the ecological processes upon which our survival depends. • Biodiversity is a national asset and a powerful contributor to economic development, provision of natural resource, ecological processes, and improving human wellbeing.

GLOBAL ECOSYSTEMS Climate Stability Biodiversity Natural habitats, Trees Air, Water, Land, Soils Buildings, Places Streets, Routes Working, Shopping, Moving Living, Playing, Learning Community Networks Social capital Incomes, Innovation Markets, Investments Macro-economy, Politics Culture, Global forces The determinants of health and wellbeing in human habitation Other Neighborhoods Other Regions

Problem statement • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) – climate change and loss of natural habitat are two greatest threats to biodiversity. Loss of natural habitat through land-use changes, climate change and ecosystem degradation accounts for the loss of biodiversity around the globe. • South Africa’s National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (2004) found that 34% of terrestrial ecosystems, 82% of the main river ecosystems and 65% of marine ecosystems are threatened, with few of these threatened ecosystems currently afforded any formal protection. • South Africa’s National Biodiversity Assessment (2011) found that 40% of terrestrial, 57% of the river, 65% of the wetlands, 44% of estuaries, 41% of offshore and 59% of coastal and inshore ecosystems are threatened, with few of these threatened ecosystems currently afforded any formal protection.

Biodiversity in South Africa • Biodiversity is defined as "the variability among living organisms from all sources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems. • South Africa is one of the world’s top 3 mega-biodiverse nations, has 3 biodiversity “hotspots”:- the Cape Floristic kingdom; the Succulent Karoo region; and the Maputaland-Pondoland region, • Climate change affects biodiversity causing complex interaction across sectors, that’s economic, energy, natural resources, water, social and health services. • Biodiversity is a recognized sector in White Paper- and has an extensive Policy and Legislative Framework to form the basis of a sector response

Basis for Sector Response • Loss of biodiversity, ecosystem degradation and climate change affect the environment, development and security issues, i.e., they undermine: • food, water and human security • the economy (loss of natural capital) • poverty alleviation and the livelihoods of the poor • human health • personal, national and regional security • Biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and climate change are inter-and intra-generational equity issues: • the actions of today will affect future generations • Poor people are the most vulnerable.

Basis for Sector Response (cont) The vulnerability and adaptive capacity of ecosystems is closely linked to the social and economic systems that surround them. The economic cost of adapting to climate change is likely to be substantial, but the economic cost of not adapting would be even greater. Ten principles will inform the policy directions and key elements of the biodiversity and climate change response strategy.

Response Strategy principles • Manage further loss and degradation of natural ecosystems in priority marine, coastal and terrestrial areas for climate change resilience, • Avoid strategies that pose a high risk to the integrity of ecosystems to adapt naturally, • Prioritise adaptation strategies which deliver multiple benefits across several sectors (for example, benefits for the safety of human settlements, benefits for agriculture, as well as benefits for natural ecosystems), • Prioritise adaptation strategies that facilitate resilience both to increased climate variability and to long-term climatic shifts, • Prioritise cost-effective adaptation measures where possible.

Response Strategy principles (cont) • Address adaptation to climate change at landscape, ecosystem, species and genetic levels, • Where possible, integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation responses into existing programmes and institutional arrangements rather than creating new programmes and institutional arrangements, • Ensure ongoing generation of scientific knowledge to support climate change adaptation and mitigation, and facilitate strong links between science, policy and implementation to ensure that the best available science informs the biodiversity and climate change response strategy and action plan, • Draw on indigenous and traditional knowledge to support climate change adaptation and mitigation through biodiversity and ecosystem strategies.

Sector Approach • National Government is coordinating the sector response as part of outcome 10, • Biome approach provides a framework for a national level assessment of potential impacts and adaptation approaches. • Initial focus is on determining the vulnerabilities of the major biomes. (50% completed) • Thereafter there will be a broader stakeholder engagement process to develop 9 biome adaptation plans.

Conceptual Framework 2011 2014 2012 2013 Framework document for biodiversity and climate change completed Vulnerability assessment or all nine biomes developed Response measures for all nine biomes to be developed Climate change adaptation plans for all biomes to be developed 2015 Implementation of the climate change adaptation plans

National Policy Perspective • There is a Framework policy for Biodiversity and Climate change response, • The core elements have been incorporated into the White Paper, • Accounting for the value of biodiversity and the ecosystems it supports, • Adaptation measures for biodiversity should be explicitly linked with the wider benefits that they bring, • Impacts of Climate Change and Biodiversity loss affect different economic sectors

THE ENABLING LEGISLATIVE ENVIRONMENT • NEMA • NEM: Biodiversity Act • NEM: Protected Areas Act • Marine Living Resources Act • Integrated Coastal Management Act • World Heritage Convention Act • MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS • Convention on Biological Diversity and the Programme of Work on Protected Areas • World Heritage Convention • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change • United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification ( UNCCD) • Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) • Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Policy Tools • National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan • National Biodiversity Framework • Protected Areas Register • National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy • National Action Programme to Combat Desertification • Regulations on Threatened or Protected Species • Draft Regulations on Alien and Invasive Species • Guidelines for Bioregional Plans • Listed Threatened Ecosystem • Norms and Standards for Species Management Plans • Framework for Assessing Risk of GMOs • Regulations on Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing • Fiscal incentives for biodiversity management • Regulations for proper administration of special nature reserves, national parks and World Heritage Sites

Existing Implementation Mechanisms • ‘People and Parks’ & ‘Kids in Parks’ Programmes • Sustainable land management and land based livelihoods programmes, (UNCCD & CBNRM) • National policies and tools relating to Bio-prospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing (BABS) in terms of NEMBA • Implementation of the National Action Programme to combat land degradation and/or desertification priorities • UNCCD Drylands Fund

Vulnerability assessment of SA biomes • The Grassland biome appears to be at most risk of significant change under all scenarios. • Eastern and northern sections of Fynbos most likely to be under climate stress • The climate predictions shows that Nama-Karoo is likely to resemble an arid Savanna, and might resemble the Desert biome under the worst case scenario. • The Indian Ocean Coastal Belt increases under the best case scenario with the warm moist conditions which favour this biome expanding but Indian Ocean Coastal Belt shifts to a Savanna biome under worst case scenarios. • Succulent Karoo largely persist under all the scenarios. This contrasts with previous predictions from the mid-1990s as newer climate models indicate far smaller impacts on winter rainfall than early models predicted.

Strategic Adaptation Response • Reducing existing threats to biodiversity to promote resilience of natural ecosystems and species, especially in priority areas for climate change resilience identified in spatial biodiversity plans, • Enhancing understanding of and increasing the value and application of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation responses. These integrate the sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall adaptation strategy. It is cost-effective and generate social, economic and cultural co-benefits while also contributing to the conservation of biodiversity, • Incorporating climate change information into management tools for biodiversity management, including bioregional plans and biodiversity management plans, • Ongoing development and expansion of a comprehensive, adequate and representative protected areas network which incorporates adaptation to the impacts of climate change,

Strategic Adaptation Response (cont) • Protected areas need to be expanded to incorporate altitudinal gradients and topographic range, intact river corridors, coastal dune cordons, and a greater range of microhabitats, in order to conserve the climatic gradients required to give us some leeway for climate change. Taking a bioregional approach, i.e. working to conserve intact ecosystems in priority areas throughout the landscape not only in the protected area network, • Assisting the natural adaptation of species and ecosystems through improved in-situ and ex-situ management of areas of high conservation value, • Increased monitoring and research into the impacts of climate change and adaptation options for species and ecosystems threatened by climate change, and • Integrating biodiversity and adaptation strategies into climate change mitigation programmes already under way.

Scientific base for sector response • Biodiversity has the best science available, and fruitful collaborative work with research institutions and organizations such as SAWS, CSIR, SANParks, SANBI, • Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)- Global body providing scientifically sound and relevant information to support more informed decisions on how biodiversity and ecosystem services are conserved and used around the world. • Desert-Margin Programme- to conserve and restore biodiversity in the desert margins through sustainable utilization. Its specific objective is to develop and implement strategies for conservation, soils and carbon stocks, restoration and sustainable use of dryland biodiversity (to enhance ecosystem function and resilience). • Kalahari-Namib Project- enhancing decision-making through Interactive Environmental Learning and Action in Molopo-Nossob River Basin: The overall goal of the proposed KNP is to contribute towards enhancing and sustaining the livelihoods (land degradation, loss of biodiversity, primary productivity, and the loss of ecosystem functioning of all inhabitants of the Molopo-Nossob Catchment).

Ecosystem-based adaptation • Ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change is a major focus of South Africa’s biodiversity and climate change response strategy- significant value for societal adaptation, ability to provide additional benefits and the maintenance of diverse agricultural landscapes to support productivity under changing climate conditions. • Ecosystem-based adaptation, if designed, implemented and monitored appropriately, can: • Generate multiple social, economic and cultural co-benefits for local communities, • Contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, • Contribute to climate change mitigation, by conserving carbon stocks, reducing emissions caused by ecosystem degradation and loss, or enhancing carbon stocks. • Rehabilitation, conservation and economic values

Public Awareness and Participation • Making a case for Biodiversity- Raising Public understanding of the role of biodiversity in climate change responses , enhancing participation & increasing Treasury funding for the sector. • The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) programmes developed as part of sector contribution to Green Economy. Valuation Studies • Community-based Natural Resource Management • People and Parks- aims to conserve natural resources by protecting and upholding the rights of communities in the conservation of our rich natural and associated cultural heritage resources. • LandCare programmes- include aspects such as yield management, controlling bush (unpalatable species) encroachment, preventing overgrazing, fostering land-user empowerment and commitment to sustainable land management. The programme seeks to optimize and sustain resources in order to attain greater productivity; food security; job creation and a better quality of life.

Adaptation Programmes underway • Many ecosystem based approaches are being demonstrated within South Africa from reforestation of riparian areas, clearing of alien vegetation, conservation of intact grasslands for soil carbon, and mangrove restoration. • Applying the pro-poor methodology and ensuring biodiversity, community and climate benefits (Wildlands Conservation Trust) • Applying approaches of community conservation in climate change adaptation corridors in KwaZulu-Natal (Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife) • Connectivity, restoration and working with farmers in building resilience to climate change (Conservation International) • Restoration and connectivity in riparian habitats (Endangered Wildlife Trust Riverine Rabbit Programme) • Sub-tropical thicket restoration for carbon sequestration and ecosystem restoration: The Wilderness Foundation

Projects with Adaptation potential

Institutional Arrangements • Sector Participation in IGCCC, NCCC, Minmec, MINTECH • Oversight over SANBI, SANPARKS, iSmangaliso • Bioregional Programmes • Outcome 10 • Member of NGO Adaptation network

Conclusions • There is growing recognition of the interface of biodiversity, climate change and society. • Changes in biome distribution affect production services such as wool, meat and grassland products. • Monitoring efforts and some key experimental studies at national and sub-national scale will be critical for evaluating future risk, for improving model projections of impacts, • There is increasing awareness of the value of using biodiversity in assisting societal adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change, but more information is needed. • Expand existing programmes to combat the spread of alien and invasive species and the destruction of sensitive ecosystems including Working for Water, Working for Wetlands and Working on Fire,

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