“Ten years ago, when C.A.P.E started, agriculture and conservation were considered as opposites”. This is how Mandy Barnett, coordinator of the Cape Action for People and the Environment programme (C.A.P.E), introduced the 2011 CAPE Partners Conference themed ‘Conservation and Agriculture: A Common Agenda’. “When we decided to launch C.A.P.E, it was to answer this question: What if we share our resources?” This question stemmed from a lack of communication between all the stakeholders working for biodiversity conservation. The aim of the partnership was to increase the efficiency of all the projects by sharing knowledge so that biodiversity be conserved while creating benefits for all the people of the Cape Floristic Region.

The C.A.P.E. programme was launched by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). For a long time, it has been aiming to demonstrate the values of biodiversity and how it benefits people, especially outside of what is considered the ‘conservation sector’. “The entry point to make the case was the loss of biodiversity” explains Carmel Mbizvo, SANBI’s Deputy Director General. “But this loss is already impacting on humans. The objective of conservation is not only to protect natural space, but humans and their activities. Do we have to put people or conservation first? The question cannot be asked: they come at the same time!”

Living Lands was representing PRESENCE, and its ongoing collaborative projects, emphasizing its crucial role of network with the necessity to share knowledge between all the stakeholders involved in biodiversity conservation. In the Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve, sustainable farming is an envisioned land use in the future, and in that kind of area where agricultural land is an essential element of a living landscape, it could definitely be called ‘conservation farming’. Therefore, the conference was a great opportunity for PRESENCE to learn about similar case studies in South Africa and expand its contacts with organizations involved in sustainable farming.

To conclude the conference, each participant was required to write down what they thought was the most important thing to do in the future for agriculture. I selected the ones that seemed of most interest to me. Firstly, land access opportunities for small and emerging farmers. Secondly, manage rivers in close collaboration with farmers. Thirdly, to ensure that better communication may enable farmers to attend these kind of informative conferences in the future. Next step? Hope that those wonderful ideas get implemented…

Text: Opaline Lysiak (student currently based at the PRESENCE Learning Village and focusing on sustainable agriculture)

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