The NBA reports on the state of South Africa’s biodiversity, accounting for the various pressures affecting ecosystems, species and genetic diversity. This approach reveals potential avenues through which pressures on biodiversity can be reduced and biodiversity conservation outcomes and sustainable resource management may be improved. Each key message in the NBA makes a ‘call to action’ that addresses the particular finding and identifies specific interventions that could be considered. Through this process, the NBA contributes to the body of knowledge that enables the multitude of stakeholders to co-develop, through participatory whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, the various policy responses and detailed action and implementation plans required for the benefit of both biodiversity and people.
Seven broad themes for action
The fifteen key messages of NBA 2025 highlight a range of actions that can be summarised into seven broad themes:
Biodiversity inclusive spatial planning (Key Messages A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, B4): Biodiversity and ecological infrastructure are powerful socio-economic engines contributing to South Africa’s development. The negative impacts on biodiversity, both direct (e.g., land clearing, built infrastructure) and indirect (e.g., pollution, changes to natural processes), from land and sea use change can be avoided or minimised through effective biodiversity inclusive spatial planning. South Africa has well-established provincial spatial biodiversity planning and prioritisation processes, plus screening tools for biodiversity sensitivity in development sites (Figure 1). Ongoing investment is needed to keep these plans and tools current with the latest biodiversity data, and ensure they inform decision-making at national, provincial and local levels. Marine Spatial Planning processes offer robust opportunities for biodiversity plans to influence use in the marine realm and along the coast. Biodiversity inclusive spatial plans can also guide ecosystem restoration and expansion of protected and conserved areas.
Policy development or refinement (Key Messages A3, A4, A7, B2, B4, C1): National, provincial and local policies and regulations unlock biodiversity and ecological infrastructure’s benefits to people. NBA 2025 identifies key sectors needing effective policies (providing required frameworks, incentives and governances structures) to address pressures on biodiversity. For example, policy gaps around pollution, freshwater flow requirements to marine environments and management of invasive species introduction pathways can be addressed through cross-sectoral approaches that strengthen interconnectivity between people and biodiversity. Closing these gaps requires strengthening collaboration between all levels of governments, particularly to local government where targeted capacity building and technical support is needed to help municipalities integrate biodiversity conservation and sustainable use responsibilities into their policies and operations.
Enforcement and compliance (Key Messages A3, A7, B2, B5, C1, C3): Although South Africa has strong environmental policies, effective enforcement and compliance mechanisms are required to achieve biodiversity conservation outcomes. Compliance and enforcement reporting should be strengthened as this provides both impetus for implementation and means of monitoring progress towards targets. Limited capacity and budgets for compliance and enforcement are major challenges, and effective cooperation and innovative solutions are needed to transform the relationship between people and nature, address the underlying causes of non-compliance and enable adaptive management.
Management plans and programme/project implementation (Key Messages A1, A5, A7, B1, B2, B4, B5, C2, C3): Co-produced local management plans and projects/programmes are key tools for ensuring sustainable use of biodiversity, protecting livelihoods, and restoring nature’s contributions to people. Scientifically-sound project/programme design and robust project management are essential for cost-effective, successful implementation with lasting positive impact.
Innovation, access to and transfer of technology (Key Messages A4, A6, C2, C3): Innovation is required to address pressures on biodiversity and persistent compliance and implementation challenges. For example, new approaches for legal wildlife trade may deliver better results than decades of enforcement efforts that have had limited success. Crucial investments include artificial intelligence and new technologies for remote sensing, data science and forensics, alongside fostering innovations in citizen science and stewardship of biodiversity. Building partnerships that facilitate exchange of skills, knowledge and best practice is key.
Data collection and monitoring (Key Messages A1, A3, A4, A5, B3, B5, C2): Effective biodiversity monitoring depends on continuous long-term data collection and analysis. Without this foundation, biodiversity inclusive spatial planning and biodiversity assessments are compromised. Interventions to mitigate pressures on biodiversity must be planned using the best possible data to ensure return on investment. Measuring impact through targeted data collection and monitoring enables adaptive management of current projects, informs future project improvements, supports meaningful reporting, and contributes to national datasets.
Innovative financing and resource mobilisation (Key Messages C3): Current financial flows are insufficient for South Africa’s ambitious biodiversity targets. It is essential to ensure that the baseline funding for biodiversity is not eroded while exploring new sources. There is urgent need for coordinated action to scale up innovative public and private financing mechanisms. Blended finance models, biodiversity offsets, green bonds, and other nature-positive finance solutions can help bridge this funding gap, while partnerships with the private sector and development finance institutions can unlock considerable additional capital. Strategic resource allocation and measurable outcomes depend on investment in robust financial tracking systems, natural capital accounting, and transparent reporting.
The framing of action, response and intervention plans
The NBA 2025 presents a suite of findings that can inform diverse international, national and local biodiversity initiatives, providing context, indicators and avenues for intervention.
At the global level, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework sets 23 urgent targets for 2030 and four outcome-oriented goals for 2050. The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration focuses on interventions to reverse biodiversity loss. The various assessments by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) guide global thinking on biodiversity trends and solutions (e.g., the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment emphasises that transformative change requires a redefined relationship between people and nature). The NBA provides national context and important trends in biodiversity for these processes, and contributes many indicators specifically needed to report against South Africa’s international commitments.
National initiatives include South Africa’s National Development Plan’s 2030 and SANParks’ ‘Vision 2040’which reimagines the role of conservation as a catalyst of redress, economic advancement and job creation through the Mega Living Landscapes. Furthermore, South Africa’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) is being updated around four strategic dimensions: i) conservation (including formal protection, stewardship, OECMs, and targeted species efforts); ii) enhancing nature’s contributions to people (including inclusivity in the biodiversity economy); iii) mainstreaming biodiversity (across all sectors and levels of government and society); and iv) resource mobilisation (innovative, sustainable, and diversified strategies).
There are also many local, district and provincial-level initiatives under which actions, responses and interventions can be framed. South Africa has limited resources to implement these plans, and must capitalise on past successes, existing initiatives and strategic innovation to meet national targets for both biodiversity and development. The NBA can guide these initiatives and provide a wealth of data products to support decision-making.
Reflecting on twenty years since the first NBA
These seven themes have remained consistent across all iterations of the NBA, although each has been substantially refined and expanded over the years. Global and national approaches to biodiversity conservation and management have seen important, nuanced changes. For example, the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2004 called for expanding the formal (i.e., state-owned) protected area network, but today’s approach recognises that very effective conservation also happens outside formal reserves through private landowner initiatives (e.g., biodiversity stewardship programmes) and community-led other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). The often repeated calls for better regulations and enforcement for certain pressures are now augmented by innovative technologies (e.g., satellite monitoring, AI-powered wildlife tracking), and the move towards a whole-of-society custodianship approach to nature. Similarly, the perennial challenge of inadequate funding has led to numerous diverse and innovative finance mechanisms for biodiversity and greater focus on economic systems to benefit both nature and people. The NBA has grown in content and participation, and reflects how conservation thinking and practice has developed.
