Nature-based solutions (NBS) are activities that harness nature’s power to address climate change’s impacts on human well-being.  NBS include natural climate solutions, ecosystem-based adaptation, and eco-disaster risk reduction (Preethan and Gupta, 2020). NBS involve conserving, restoring, or sustaining natural ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, and rivers to provide environmental, social, and economic benefits. NBS are cost-effective and bring more diverse natural features and processes through climate adaptation, resource-efficient and systemic interventions.

NBS is critical in South Africa because the lack of access to nature and natural areas leads to ill health. Most affluent suburbs in South Africa tend to have more green spaces. About 96% of the affluent suburbs of South African cities with low-density houses have high green space per capita (Venter et al., 2020). For example, in Johannesburg, tree canopy covering the northern affluent suburbs is approximately 24,2% compared to 6,7% in other suburbs (Van Staden, n.d.). Therefore, there is a need to address the spatial inequality of NBS in South Africa. Around 2006, Johannesburg started the Greening Soweto Initiative to plant 200,000 trees in Soweto (Cities4Forests, n.d.).  The project created many benefits, such as jobs, wildlife habitat, shade, and improved quality of life.

The City of Cape Town has developed a green infrastructure plan to protect and enhance existing natural assets. The plan includes expanding ecosystems as key interventions to reduce climate change impacts, as outlined in their Climate Change Policy. The city of Cape Town identified the lack of knowledge of the extent, value, and benefits of NBS. In 2010 and 2011, the city of Durban initiated three large–scale community reforestation projects. The main objective of these projects was to sequester carbon as part of their plan to host the FIFA World Cup. The 650-ha site was reforested and is estimated to sequester around 20,000 tons of CO₂ over 20 years.

South Africa has demonstrated the benefits of different nature-based solutions projects at the national level. These projects include ecological infrastructure for water security to rehabilitate and maintain critical water catchments in South Africa. Also, Africa Nature-Based Solutions safeguards rural livelihoods, creates new jobs, and restores natural capital in South Africa.

South Africa is participating in the scaling up of the Urban Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SUNCASA). This project focuses on restoring and conserving upstream watershed areas, creating and planting trees in urban areas, and aims to reduce the anthropogenic climate change of streamflow.

South Africa tracks the impacts of NBS using the National Biodiversity Assessment and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). The two mechanisms provide data for assessing biodiversity, ecosystem services, and conservation efforts. According to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment, the NBS in South Africa has the potential to sequester about 10 – 30 million tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions annually.

This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard South Africa Country Manager Rugare Zhou.

Learn More Resources

1. Preethan, P. and Gupta, S. 2020. Nature-based Solutions for Reimagining the Pathway to a Sustainable Future. WRI India. wri-india.org/ blog/nature-based-solutions-reimaginingpathway-sustainable-future
2. Van Staden, E. n.d. Undertaking a Tree and Urban Forest Assessment in the City of Johannesburg. ierm.org.za/Undertaking a tree and urban forest assessment in the city of Johannesburg by Elize van Staden. pdf.
3. Venter, Z.S., Shackleton, C.M., Van Staden, F., Selomane, O., and V.A. Masterson. 2020. Green Apartheid: Urban Green Infrastructure Remains Unequally Distributed across Income and Race Geographies in South Africa. Landscape and Urban Planning, 203: 103889. doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103889.
4. n.d. Inner Forests. cities4forests.com/cities/Johannesburg.
5. https://www.nbi.org.za/focus-areas/environmental-sustainability/water/nature-based-solutions/