Latest news with #Mpulo
IOL News
03-07-2025
- General
- IOL News
SANBI to implement eco-disaster risk reduction project with Green Climate Fund support
Floods in the Eastern Cape in June 2025 claimed more than 92 lives. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) will receive a R700 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to support nature-based disaster risk reduction over eight years. The project is expected to take place in the Eastern Cape Province: Alfred Nzo District, Umzimvubu and Ntabankulu Local Municipalities. Image: OR Tambo District Municipality The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) will receive a R700 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to aid SANBI's Eco-Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco DRR) project. The GCF announced their support for nature-based disaster risk reduction over eight years during their board meeting held in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday. This investment will support the implementation of the project called, 'Scaling up ecosystem-based approaches to managing climate-intensified disaster risks in vulnerable regions of South Africa', or the Eco-DRR project, said Nontsikelelo Mpulo, SANBI's Director of marketing communications and commercialisation. The Eco-DRR project is expected to take place in four climate-vulnerable district municipalities. The proposed project sites have been identified are: Eastern Cape Province: Alfred Nzo District, Umzimvubu and Ntabankulu Local Municipalities; Limpopo Province: Sekhukune District, Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality; Mpumalanga Province: Ehlanzeni District, Bushbuckridge Local Municipality; and North West Province: Ngaka Modiri Molema District, Ramotshere Moiloa Municipality. The exact location of the intervention sites will be determined through an operationalisation phase at the start of the project, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, stated SANBI. The lessons that emerge will be applied to climate change adaptation responses across the country. Mpulo stated that the project is expected to benefit approximately 366,000 people and indirectly reach over 5.1 million South Africans, especially those in areas most affected by floods, droughts, and wildfires. The project is expected to restore and protect critical ecosystems such as catchments, wetlands, and forests and is intended to reduce the communities' exposure to extreme weather events, enhance water security, and promote sustainable, nature-based livelihoods. Mpulo said that the Eco-DRR project is part of SANBI's broader climate adaptation portfolio and contributes directly to the GCF's targeted results for 2024-2027, for ecosystems and food systems. Dr Dion George, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), said SANBI's leadership as a direct access entity reinforces South Africa's role in pioneering sustainable climate solutions and reflects the country's commitment to harnessing ecosystem-based approaches to tackle climate-induced disasters. "The initiative will embed ecosystem-based approaches into disaster risk planning. This will bolster infrastructure resilience, safeguard livelihoods, and enhance adaptive capacity against climate change impacts,' he said.
IOL News
29-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
South Africa's Fynbos wins gold at UK flower competition as Kirstenbosch maintains strategic absence
The beautiful display of Fynbos that won gold. Image: Supplied For the sixth consecutive year, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden did not exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), which manages the iconic garden, confirmed that its decision to step away from the world-renowned event was made in 2019 and remains in place. According to Nontsikelelo Mpulo, Director of Marketing, Communication and Commercialisation at SANBI, the decision was based on a combination of practical and strategic considerations. 'The Chelsea Flower Show was a costly exercise for the organisation with no clear return on investment,' said Mpulo. 'Our displays featured indigenous flowers and materials that were often confiscated at the UK border and not permitted for use. Additionally, our sponsors withdrew their support.' The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic further affected SANBI's financial stability, and revenue has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. While a return to Chelsea has not been ruled out, Mpulo said the organisation is exploring local alternatives, including plans to establish a Biodiversity Expo in the Western Cape and Gauteng. 'It has been some time since Kirstenbosch participated in the show. The questions you pose have periodically come to the organisation, and our position remains the same,' she added. Despite its absence from Chelsea, Kirstenbosch continues to be celebrated internationally. It has been named one of the top ten gardens in the world by The New York Times, received the 2024 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Best of the Best award, and was voted Best Botanical Garden in Africa by the World Luxury Travel Awards in 2023. South Africa won big Image: Supplied Kirstenbosch also became the first South African botanical garden to receive Level IV accreditation from the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Programme and The Morton Arboretum in the USA — an honour currently shared by just 46 gardens worldwide. While Kirstenbosch was not at Chelsea, South Africa was proudly represented by designer Leon Kluge and horticulturist Tristan Woudberg, whose spectacular fynbos exhibit won a gold medal at the 2025 show. The display captured the beauty and diversity of the Cape Floristic Region through two towering mountain slopes divided by a ravine, designed to evoke a secret Cape waterfall in springtime and constructed with over 25,000 stems of fynbos blooms. Grootbos Private Nature Reserve was one of several sponsors supporting Kluge's display, alongside Hazendal Wine Estate, the Rupert Nature Foundation and Southern Sun. Michael Lutzeyer, owner of Grootbos, expressed his pride in the team's achievement. Chelsea Flowers in Stanford will be open to the public in spring from 10-24 September 2025 Image: Supplied 'I am delighted and proud of Leon Kluge's fynbos display which received international recognition and a gold-award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, confirming what we at Grootbos have always known — the Cape Floristic Region is one of the most beautiful and unique regions of the world and fynbos itself is the star of the show. "Grootbos was one of the proud sponsors of the exhibit which celebrates the beauty of fynbos — thank you and well done to the whole team who worked so hard. Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and the Grootbos Foundation have protected and conserved this landscape for 25 years and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has confirmed that the world (and even the fox) believes this biodiversity hotspot is worth protecting.' To ensure South Africans can also experience the magic of Chelsea, Grootbos and the Grootbos Foundation will sponsor a full-scale replica of the winning display in the village of Stanford. Titled Chelsea Flowers in Stanford, the exhibition will run from 10 to 24 September 2025 and coincide with the region's spring bloom.
