African NCA Community of Practice Webinar: The Shifting Nature of South Africa's Landscape: A 24 Year Snapshot of Land and Ecosystem Change

The webinar is part of a series under the Africa Natural Capital Accounting Community of Practice organized in cooperation between UNSD and the World Bank Global Program on Sustainability, the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Green Growth Knowledge Platform, the Conservation International and the Capitals Coalition. 

Date and time: Thursday, 10 December 2020 at 11:00 - 12:30 UTC / 13:00 - 14:30 CEST / 14:00 - 15:30 EAT / 06:00 - 07:30 EDT

Context

On 2 December 2020, Statistics South Africa releases the Land and Terrestrial Ecosystem Accounts, 1990 to 2014, the first publication in its new Natural Capital series. These accounts are a first of their kind for South Africa and have been produced as part of the Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) project, which was launched in 2017 by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) with funding from the European Union (EU).

South Africa is one of five countries (along with Brazil, China, India and Mexico) participating in this international project, which aims to advance the global knowledge agenda and initiate testing of SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting. In South Africa, the NCAVES project has been led jointly by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI),in collaboration with the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) and a range of national and sub-national stakeholders.

This webinar will provide an overview of the approach, methods and results from the Land and Terrestrial Ecosystem Accounts.

Objective

The objective of this webinar is to share with the Africa NCA community of practice information and reflection on the process and institutions involved in compiling the accounts; the approach to land and terrestrial ecosystem accounts used in South Africa; and some of the key indicators and findings from the accounts.

In so doing, we hope to inspire further discussion on differences and synergies with other African country experiences. To achieve this objective, the webinar will offer several presentations, time for discussion.

Program Outline

• Welcome remarks - Peter Katanisa, Coordinator for the Africa Community of Practice
• Introduction - Aimee Ginsburg, SANBI
• Presentation: Developing the land and terrestrial ecosystem accounts: process and partnerships - Gerhardt Bouwer, Stats SA
• Presentation: South Africa’s approach and methods for compiling the land and terrestrial ecosystem accounts - Nokuthula Mahlangu, SANBI
• Presentation: The shifting nature of South Africa’s landscape: key indicators and findings from the accounts - Mandy Driver, SANBI
• Presentation: Reflections on value and application of the accounts - Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF)
• Open Q&A with the audience

Recording of the webinar