Analysis of 20 Years of Implementing South Africa's Biodiversity Stewardship Program

South Africa is globally recognized for its exceptional biodiversity, hosting high levels of species richness, endemism, and ecosystem diversity across three global biodiversity hotspots. But 36% of the country’s terrestrial ecosystems and 65% of inland aquatic ecosystems are threatened. Declining government budgets and competing socio-economic priorities demand innovative, cost-effective conservation solutions. Biodiversity Stewardship emerged in the early 2000s as South Africa's response to these challenges — enabling conservation authorities to enter into voluntary agreements with private and communal landowners to secure biodiversity priority areas. Two decades later, it has become the country's primary and most effective mechanism for expanding protected and conservation areas, delivering measurable ecological, economic, and social results at scale. This World Bank report, Analysis of 20 Years of Implementing South Africa's Biodiversity Stewardship Program , developed in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and with technical support from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), presents the first comprehensive 20