Building biodiversity knowledge for action in Southern Africa: spatial biodiversity assessment, prioritization and planning in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi.
Few African countries currently have spatial data on biodiversity to enable them to make informed decisions and policies on land use planning and biodiversity protection in their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), a requirement for parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The SBAPP Regional Project addresses this issue.
It started in July 2022, ends in June 2027 and is funded by donors the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM). The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is the Lead Implementing Agency, working with the following Country Implementing Agencies:
In Mozambique, MTA has assigned the National Directorate of Environment (DINAB) as the focal institution for this project to work in collaboration with WCS, similarly to what has been done in the past for COMBO program and the KBA and Red List projects. WCS’s Mozambican Program has established a joint team with DINAB for project implementation. WCS has been working over the past few years on SBAPP related activities within Mozambique, which includes the development of a national ecosystem map, assessment of species threat status, and identification of KBAs, which will be important corner stones of this project.
The project has 4 Components, 10 Objectives, and 17 Expected Outputs. The diagram below gives a rough idea of how the Expected Outputs of the project depend on each other. More information on the project can be found here.
SANBI link: https://www.sanbi.org/
Goals
The SBAPP Regional Project aims to develop and/or enhance national spatial biodiversity assessments, prioritization and planning (SBAPP) processes and products in four Southern African countries in order to strengthen the national knowledge base on biodiversity; and ensure this knowledge informs land use planning and decision making, assists with the development of environmental policy and strategies, and provides a basis for future biodiversity monitoring.
All four countries have a substantial number of shared species and ecosystem types across their borders, making regional cooperation vital for mapping and assessment processes.
Accomplishments
Project Launch
- Launch showcase of the SBAPP Regional Project on 16 November 2022, in Macaneta, Mozambique with the presence of the Embassy of France (Click here for more information).
- Establishment of the project steering committee.
Training of young conservation leaders in Macaneta Bioblitz.
One of the objectives of the SBAPP is to contribute to the construction of citizen-science for the monitoring of species through online platforms that allow citizens to practice with images and geo-locations of species using cell phones or cameras. As part of the launch of the SBAPP project, a fun filled BioBlitz was held where photos of species found at the event site were captured and uploaded to the iNaturalist application as an interactive way to illustrate the importance of citizen science and community involvement in collecting field data that underpin the important scientific work of this project.