PRESENCE

PRESENCE stands for:
Participatory Restoration of Ecosystem SErvices & Natural Capital, Eastern Cape.

PRESENCE is a learning network which acts as a multi-stakeholder platform for: catalysing capacity building initiatives; guiding transdisciplinary social-ecological research; and supporting implementation (best management practices) aimed at restoring ‘living landscapes’ in South Africa.

The shared vision of the PRESENCE network is to ensure:

• Rigorous transdisciplinary research to address critical knowledge into restoration strategies;
• Best Management Practices (BMP) for natural resource and ecosystem management
• Stakeholder-driven participatory approaches
• Socio-economically acceptable in supporting local livelihoods and cultural traditions
• Ecologically sound by maximising ecosystem integrity and biodiversity outcomes
• Financially sustainable through innovative reward mechanisms for ecosystem management
• Institutionally feasible through good governance, community-based learning & social change
• Local capacity building through the mainstreaming of restoration processes.

This PRESENCE approach is currently being piloted in the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve through the collaborative research-implementation programme: PRESENCE in the Baviaanskloof. The overall objective of the ongoing programme of work is to:

Guide the social-ecological restoration of ‘living landscapes’ across the
Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve.

This Baviaanskloof initiative is joint partnership primarily funded through the Dutch Government’s Water for Food & Ecosystems Programme with contributions from Wageningen University’s Ecosystem & Landscape Services Programme (SELS),  South African Government’s Department of Water Affairs (Working for Water) and Gamtoos Irrigation Board.

Partners

• South African Department of Water Affairs & the Environment (DWAE/Working for Water);
• Dutch Ministry for Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality (LNV);
• Dutch Government Service for Land and Water Management (DLG);
• Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR);
• South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI/Working for Wetlands);
• Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD);
• Gamtoos Irrigation Board;
• Eastern Cape Parks;
• WWF-SA;
• Restoration Research Group (R3G);
• German Aerospace Agency (DLR);
• Subtropical Thicket Restoration Programme (STRP/Working for Woodlands);
• Wageningen University (with Alterra and the Ecosystem & Landscape Services Programme (SELS))
• Rhodes University;
• Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University;
• Stellenbosch University;
• Pretoria University;
• ASSET;
• For Elements

Connect:

PRESENCE Learning Network Website:
www.livinglandscapes.co.za

PRESENCE Learning Village Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pages/PRESENCE-Learning-Village/166983175790