GEO-6 for Youth: Africa
5.4 Unlocking biodiversity’s green jobs for youth in Africa
Beyond effective financial mobilization and adequate political momentum, which already exist, young people need to think broadly, be selective, and start small, when thinking around the creation of green economy hotspots. Successful initiatives by youth to restore landscapes and conserve biodiversity will require a ground swell of community support and action. Young people must therefore be
innovative in their outreach tactics and mobilize public support, while also assessing current progress.
There are new and current voices, creators, innovators, and community activists, that young minds can learn from. Young people need to inspire one another and share best practices, especially in the field of social entrepreneurship and technology-based start-ups, in order to collectively create waves within broader environmental movements and identify new restoration horizons. The initiatives below are a good place to start.
People and parks in action: The story of the Makuleke contractual park, South Africa
The overall aim of the People and Parks Programme is to spotlight issues at the nexus between conservation and communities, particularly the realization of concrete benefits for communities displaced by the establishment of protected areas (South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs 2014).
At 26,500 hectare, Makuleke Contractual Park is more than half the size of Seychelles. Located at the northern extremity of Kruger National Park (KNP), it is surrounded by the Limpopo River to the north, the Luvuvhu River to the south and the Mutale River to the west. This community owned park is considered to be one of the highest areas in biodiversity in South Africa.
In 1998, the Makueleke Community won a land claim that gave them rights to use land in this area for socioeconomic development on condition that conservation was a central part of the agenda. This arrangement was part of a settlement plan that also paved the way for this land to be co-managed by the community together with KNP. Consequently, the community was entitled to a share of the tour operators’ earnings in addition to a percentage of jobs in this sector. As a result, there has been a significant direct benefit to employees through wages.
There are a number of ways in which Makuleke youth have benefited and can continue to benefit from this initiative. Some of these ways include:
• Capacity building and bursary programmes with partner institutions such as the South African Wildlife College, Southern African College for Tourism; EcoTraining, University of South Africa and others. Between 1998 and 2018, over US$359,000 were spent on youth capacity-building programmes alone.
• Employment in the Makuleke concession. • Free access to Makuleke concession.
• Skills development for youth through research programmes where young people are trained on data collection, situation assessments, translation, GIS, and report writing.
The Communal Property Association (CPA) and its Consultative Forum all have youth in their executive structures who are involved in the management of the Makuleke Contractual Park. The youths who have been through the CPA’s capacity programmes form the majority of the people employed in the concession at management level. However, a lot of work still needs to be done in this area to ensure that there is equal representation of all segments of economically-active people in the community.
There are other options that the community is exploring, such as having fully-owned community lodges in the concession. This will give youth, who are interested in ecotourism, an opportunity to explore potential business ownership in the form of shareholding or other interest stakes.
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