INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES

This fact sheet by WWF South Africa describes the 'Ecochamps' initiative in Matatiele, Eastern Cape, as a model for using community champions to bridge the gap between rural residents, NGOs, government, and researchers. It highlights how upskilling local youth to facilitate the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus can improve natural resource management, citizen science, and social cohesion.

• Community champions, such as the 'Ecochamps' in Matatiele, act as essential intermediaries who facilitate dialogue and communication between traditional leadership, local residents, and external agencies like NGOs and the state.
• Between 2017 and 2025, the NGO Environmental and Rural Solutions (ERS) upskilled more than 135 young community champions, typically aged 18 to 35, who are selected in collaboration with traditional chiefs.
• Ecochamps perform diverse technical and social roles, including conducting veld condition assessments, spring protection, alien plant clearing, and climate-smart agroecology, while also translating technical information and mediating stakeholder conflicts.
• The initiative has provided significant employment pathways for local youth; since 2017, over 50% of Ecochamps have secured permanent employment in local NGOs or started their own enterprises in sectors such as animal husbandry, fresh produce sales, and charcoal production.
• The WEF Nexus Knowledge Festival held in March 2024 in Matatiele demonstrated the utility of Ecochamps in facilitating inclusive events, where they translated between English and local languages for over 200 participants.
• The document recommends the establishment of formalised local knowledge hubs to better manage and aggregate traditional and scientific data, which would enhance the impact of community champions and researchers.

APA

WWF South Africa (2025). INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-community-champions-factsheet_web.pdf

Chicago

WWF South Africa. INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES. 2025. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-community-champions-factsheet_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF South Africa |title=INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES |date=2025 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-community-champions-factsheet_web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfsouthafrica2025inclusive, author = {{WWF South Africa}}, title = {{INCLUSIVE LIVING LANDSCAPES WITH THRIVING COMMUNITIES}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2025}, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wef-community-champions-factsheet_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }