Africas restoration economy: insights from South Africas wetland

This research paper examines the 'restoration economy' in Africa, using South Africa's 'Working for Wetlands' program as a primary case study. It argues that ecological restoration can support economic recovery and resilience ('build back better') if integrated with development planning and funded by a mix of public and private sources, particularly from production sectors like mining and agriculture.

• The 'Working for Wetlands' program, established in 2003, has rehabilitated approximately 1,300 wetlands and employs 1,650 people annually by linking ecological restoration with poverty relief.
• Four key enablers of the Working for Wetlands program include a shared vision among political and scientific leadership, a strong link to poverty relief (accessing Expanded Public Works Programme funds), an operational model using semi-independent contractors, and ongoing engagement between practitioners and the scientific community.
• The program faces constraints, including the risk that poverty-relief goals may eclipse ecological outcomes, bureaucratic rigidities in funding cycles and supply chains, and a lack of organizational learning that hinders adaptation to new opportunities.
• Effective ecological restoration requires holistic, catchment-wide planning and a focus on early-stage degradation, which is generally more cost-effective than treating highly degraded sites.
• To ensure sustainability, the restoration economy should move away from over-reliance on government and donor funding, instead targeting production sectors that impact wetlands, such as plantation forestry, irrigated agriculture, and urban water users.
• Circular economy models can integrate restoration into production; for example, a pilot in KwaZulu-Natal uses invasive black wattle biomass for dairy cow feed, with Nestlé investing back into the restoration initiative.
• Ecological restoration is critical for mitigating impacts from high-impact developments like mining and urban growth, as seen in the Zaalklapspruit project (reducing mine pollution) and the Greater Edendale Mall development (ensuring 'no net loss' of habitat).
• Other African restoration examples include the rehabilitation of the Logone floodplain in Cameroon to restore grazing, the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, and the Great Green Wall initiative along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2021). Africas restoration economy: insights from South Africas wetland. https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-restoration-economy-insights-from-south-africas-wetland/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Africas restoration economy: insights from South Africas wetland. 2021. https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-restoration-economy-insights-from-south-africas-wetland/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Africas restoration economy: insights from South Africas wetland |date=9 June 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-restoration-economy-insights-from-south-africas-wetland/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2021africas, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Africas restoration economy: insights from South Africas wetland}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/africas-restoration-economy-insights-from-south-africas-wetland/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }