Community members walk along a seasonal river to identify potential sand dam site.
Utooni Development Organization
Sand dams (some times called more general groundwater dams) store water under the ground. A sand dam is a small dam build above ground and into the riverbed of a seasonal sand river. Sand accumulates upstream of the dam, resulting in additional groundwater storage capacity. Similar to sand dam a subsurface dam obstructs the groundwater flow of an aquifer and stores water below ground level. Sand and subsurface dams are suitable for rural areas with semi-arid climate in order to store only seasonal available water to be used in dry periods for livestock, minor irrigation as well as for domestic use.
Benefits include:
Storage of rain water in seasonal rivers
Minimum evaporation since water is stored in sand
Reduction of contamination by livestock and other animals since water is under sand
Filtration of water flowing through the riverbed sand improves water quality
Sand dams can be built with locally available material and labour but building a dam still requires relatively high investments, is labour intensive and specific expertise is needed.
The technology is labour and physical capital intensive. Depending on site location, some communities may not be able to implement it without some external aid.
The campaign employs a multi-stakeholder approach by ensuring that relevant stakeholders including the relevant Government Ministries, Schools, Private Sector, Farmers, Media, PELUM Kenya member organizations and othe CSOs are involved in the campaigns as a strategy of enhancing sustainability of the project beyond the project period.
The project targets the wider public through mass awareness creation so as to raise awareness on the need to grow and eat organic foods.
Media is embraced to reach to the wider public through both electric and print media methods. This includes continuous update of PELUM Kenya’s social media sites with organic food and farming messages. The media practioners are also invited to cover and air the various activities.
It also targets to build capacity of small scale farmers to further embrace organic foods and farming for healthy environments and people. This is done through exchange visits to successful organic enterprises and organic exhibitions.
As a way of enhancing the spirit of networking within PELUM Kenya network, all the member organizations of PELUM Kenya in the focus areas are involved in all aspects of this project.
Various stakeholders have different roles to play in enhancing the plight of organic food and farming. Relationship building, partnerships and networking is also key for ensuring that anticipated results are achieved.
Our mission as a network is to promote Ecological Land Use Management (elum) practices, which include organic farming and foods. A majority of PELUM Kenya member organizations promote organic farming as well. Green Action Week therefore compliments well with our mission as an organization
The global campaign gives added value to national activities as it exposes the efforts of other stakeholders in promoting sustainable production and consumption of organic products; it also helps in creating awareness to the public beyond what the national team would do.
Undertaking joint activities with all the implementing partners and stakeholders in activities yields results faster than when a single organization does it and also provides a learning and sharing forum
There is need for early planning and engagement to reach a broader scope of stakeholders- schools, tertiary colleges, government departments, business people, and farmer organizations
Target and organize special meetings with decision makers in efforts to popularize the idea among relevant authorities and to bring them on board using advocacy strategies that are friendly and not activitism
Integrated Tax Flow Diagram: South Africa's first biodiversity tax incentive required niche tax skills to achieve its introduction
Candice Stevens| BirdLife South Africa
Tax Specialist, Candice Stevens, showcasing South Africa's tax incentive work
Yann Laurans
The nature of this Project sought to create a biodiversity finance solution for South Africa's protected areas that was built on tax law. In order to succeed in this venture, it was central to have a tax specialist undertake the Project. Previous attempts to introduce biodiversity tax incentives in South Africa had failed due to incorrect tax structuring and lack of practical tax testing. In both the amendment of national tax legislation, as well as the actual appropriation of the tax incentives on behalf of landowners, a skilled tax practitioner, who understood both detailed tax law as well as the environmental policy and legislation that the tax incentives linked to, was required. The very unique nature of this work required a niche skill set to ensure its effective and efficient implementation. This biodiversity finance solution could not have been introduced without a tax specialist.
The use of niche tax skills was enabled through catalytic funding secured to employ such skills to undertake this Project.
Key lessons learned from the niche skill set building block include:
Cross-sector bridges: attracting different skill sets into the mainstream conservation sector was a catalytic step in being able to introduce this innovative solution for biodiversity conservation.
Thinking outside of the box: the utilisation of a skill set uncommon in conservation, created an out-of-the-box solution;
Niche expertise are vital to achieve specific and intricate deliverables: the use of a very specific skills set and expertise regarding tax law was vital to achieving this innovation. The idea was insufficient and key skills were required for successful implementation.
Team work in introducing South Africa's first biodiversity tax incentive
Candice Stevens
Introducing South Africa’s first biodiversity tax incentive required the support and assistance of a very effective and cohesive community of practice within South Africa’s national biodiversity stewardship initiative. The tax incentives relate directly to South Africa's protected areas declared on private or communally owned land. This context required the support of the implementers of these types of protected area declarations to facilitate this unique biodiversity finance solution. The implementers of biodiversity stewardship in South Africa range from representatives of national and provincial government, NGOs, and various experts and specialists. They work together in a collaborative community of practice which provided its full support to the tax incentive work. The novelty of the tax work, as well as the numerous components of the Project that required simultaneous success, required the direct support, advice and assistance of the community of practice. This support facilitated Building Blocks 1 and 2 and ensured that the Project deliverables could be achieved in the most conducive environment possible.
The nature of South Africa’s biodiversity stewardship community of practice was the enabling factor of this building block. The community of practice, into which the work on biodiversity tax incentives was placed, is by nature collaborative, communicative, and cohesive. This allowed for the tax work, despite its uniqueness and complexity, to be supported and assisted by key members of the community of practice. The community of practice is constituted in this way due to the individual experts who work within this field.
Key lessons learned in utilising the community of practice building block:
Team work: attempting to introduce South Africa’s first biodiversity tax incentive in isolation would have been an error. The tax incentives had to be introduced into the context of biodiversity stewardship in South Africa. The Project was integrated into this community of practice during its scoping phase and throughout its implementation.
Partnerships: From the inception of the Project, key partnerships were sought. These partnerships, their support, skills, advice, and varied expertise, were vital to the successful implementation of this complex undertaking.
Regular feedback: the Project provided regular feedback to the community of practice, key partnerships, and stakeholders throughout its duration. This regular feedback allowed for the dissemination of information. Additionally, it allowed for collaborators to remain invested in the Project’s success and ensured continued support.
Communities are key custodians and beneficiaries of South Africa's Wildlife Economy
Barbi Forsythe
South Africa's grasslands are beneficiaries of protected area status and tax benefits
Angus Burns
The Project launched a number of pilot sites across the country to test the use and applicability of biodiversity tax incentives in different contexts. The pilot sites enabled the Project to engage with the people directly impacted by the tax benefits. The pilot sites covered parastatals, international companies, communities, and individual farmers undertaking different commercial activities. The sites also covered different biomes and biodiversity priority areas. This grassroots engagement was a crucial building block as it took the policy engagement of the Project, as well as the achievement of amending national legislation, and practically tested its impact on the ground. To determine what impact the tax incentives would have on landowners declaring protected areas, landowners themselves needed to be engaged deliberately. This grassroots engagement effectively illustrated the financial and tangible benefits of the incentive. These pilot sites also showed that the new biodiversity tax incentive was applicable to all types of legal entities in South Africa and could be applied to a varied array of commercial and private enterprises and activities. It effectively applied the tax impact to landowners and showed that it was successful and replicable.
The primary enabling factor was willing landowners and communities. Without their voluntary engagement, the practical application of the biodiversity tax incentives would not have been possible.
The community of practice assisted in facilitating introductions to landowners and communities and allowed relationships to be built on existing engagements.
A further factor was clear communication about the tax incentives and the fact that they were being tested; expectations were mitigated and the challenges were outlined from the onset.
Key lessons learned in implementing the Grassroots Project Engagement:
Working with an existing community of practice: voluntary participation was needed for this Project. Working within an existing community of practice allowed for relationships to be forged, and more deliberate engagement to be undertaken based on relationships that were already established. Having to start this process from scratch takes time, and in this case, the Project was under timeline and policy pressures.
Clear and honest communication: again, voluntary participation from grassroots stakeholders was required to determine the Project aims. Clear and honest communication was delivered from the onset of the Project with the aim of mitigating expectations and not making false promises. The challenges and nature of the pilot sites was outlined from the very first engagement and this proved successful throughout the pilot phase of the Project.
The success of introducing South Africa's first biodiversity tax incentive into the protected areas network began with the amendment of South Africa's Income Tax Act. Without the tax incentive being lodged into national fiscal legislation, the solution would never have been possible. This first successful step required the building block of: National Policy Engagement. Amending the Income Tax Act required deliberate engagement with key national ministries and departments, primarily: the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. Institutional support was provided by the Department of Environmental Affairs and the department endorsed the tax work at a national level. This allowed for direct engagement with key environmental fiscal policy makers within South Africa's National Treasury. This engagement was direct, open, collaborative and positive, and allowed for the formulation of South Africa's first tax deduction aimed at supporting and benefitting taxpayers formally protecting South Africa's natural heritage in the public interest.
The success of this building block was due in part to the historically positive relationships between national ministries and conservationists, which the Project was able to leverage.
Additionally, the project manager is a tax specialist; without these niche tax skills the national policy engagement would not have been as successful.
Policy makers also understood two key points: the country’s environmental need and the use of protected areas, and the need to fiscally reward land stewards for their public benefit investment.
Key lessons learned in successfully engaging with national policy makers:
The use of niche skill sets: when aiming to introduce specific tax incentives, a tax specialist was required to effectively discuss this with national tax policy makers.
Deliberate and direct communication: regular, professional, and accurate information and Project updates ensured that communication enhanced the policy engagement and expectations were met.
Networking and relationship building: ensuring project implementers knew, and were known, by policy makers allowed for the Project’s goals to not be forgotten and allowed for personal communication and messaging.
Institutional support: having institutional support from key government departments was crucial to securing the support from other government departments and policy makers.
Historical relationships: understanding the history behind previous engagements, positive and negative, was vital in determining how the policy engagement proceeded.
