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The document advocates for a holistic 'biodiversity lens' in agriculture, emphasizing the role of soil health, indigenous plant restoration, and regenerative farming in the Western Cape's Fynbos Biome. It details the differences between rehabilitation and restoration, provides plant palettes for various farm areas, and presents case studies on using livestock for soil health, creating wildlife corridors, and managing riverine buffers to mitigate flood damage.

The document details a pedagogical application of Photovoice, a qualitative participatory research tool, within a post-graduate psychology course at the University of the Western Cape. Students used cameras to document defining elements of resilience in their communities, engaging in a process that included compulsory training on ethics and social justice, the creation of audiovisual reflective journals, and individual presentations. The project aimed to enhance students' research skills and cultural competence while challenging negative community narratives. This initiative is part of the Southern African Resilience Academy's (SARA) broader effort to develop a contextually grounded understanding of 'equitable resilience' in the Global South, specifically within Southern Africa, to address the gap in research typically dominated by high-income countries.

The WWF Groundwater Awareness Project, funded by the Danish government via the Table Mountain Water Source Partnership, implemented an educational campaign in Cape Town primary schools to highlight the importance of groundwater. The project included multimedia lesson plans, a poster competition involving 15 schools, and a celebratory field trip for 38 top-performing students to the Greenpoint Urban Park on 28 February 2022. Additionally, a billboard campaign sponsored by Tractor Outdoor ran from 1 February to 31 March 2022 across the Western Cape, with two video billboards recording a combined total of 743,429 playouts.

Warwick Wine Estate installed a 23 kl/d MBR wastewater treatment plant to replace an ineffective system and reduce the costs of sewage removal. The project provides a sustainable irrigation source of 10 kl/d, reducing reliance on rain and groundwater. With a capital cost of R 1,100,000 and a payback period of 2.9 years, the estate expects monthly savings of R 31,350 after the payback period.

The document argues that standard lockdown measures are often impractical and potentially more damaging than COVID-19 in Africa due to high poverty levels, weak democratic institutions, and a large informal economy. It highlights risks such as the erosion of democratic processes, food insecurity, and a disproportionate burden on women. The author advocates for localized, flexible responses and calls for wealthier Northern states to provide debt cancellations and aid to prevent regional instability.

A buyback centre in Vrygrond, Cape Town, diverts approximately 1,500 tonnes of waste from landfills annually, providing an annual community income between R950,000 and R1.9 million. The centre employs 20 people and supports 300 waste reclaimers, though it faces challenges regarding land access and infrastructure. The document recommends formalising engagement between the municipality and buyback centres to improve waste management in informal areas.

The iShack project in Enkanini, South Africa, provides solar home systems to households in an informal settlement, reducing reliance on hazardous energy sources and creating local employment. Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and South Africa's Green Fund, the initiative has installed 1,026 solar systems, saving 92,556 kWH per year and creating 11 jobs for residents. The project focuses on incremental upgrades to slums through green technology and skills training for community-based 'iShack Agents'.

The report highlights that South Africa wastes approximately 10 million tonnes of food annually, representing a third of its total production. This waste results in significant economic losses of R61.5 billion and substantial environmental degradation, including the waste of 1.7 km3 of water and the emission of greenhouse gases from landfills. The document identifies that most waste occurs at the pre-consumer stage, particularly on farms, and calls for a coordinated effort between the public and private sectors to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target of halving food waste by 2030.

The document details the establishment and operation of GreenCape, a nonprofit sector development agency created by the Western Cape Government to bridge the public and private sectors. It outlines how GreenCape's independent structure, multidisciplinary team, and strategic alignment with government policies enabled it to facilitate significant private sector investment and job creation in renewable energy and other green sectors. The case study highlights key success factors, such as maintaining political neutrality and providing impartial market intelligence, and provides quantitative results of its impact between 2010 and 2015.

The document details a resource efficiency project where WISP connected Farbe Designs, a clothing company in Stellenbosch, with CSK Material Handling to manage textile, plastic, and paper waste. Because the Western Cape lacks textile recyclers, CSK collects and bales the waste in Cape Town before transporting it to KwaZulu-Natal, where textiles are shredded for carpet underfelt production. The collaboration results in 20 tonnes of waste diverted from landfills annually and an estimated R8 000 in annual savings for Farbe Designs.

The document explores the application of AI in material recovery facilities (MRFs) in South Africa, specifically focusing on the solutions provided by Dragonfly. It argues that AI can augment human labour rather than replace it, particularly in developing economies where labour is cheap but efficiency is often low due to human error. Dragonfly's system uses high-resolution cameras and deep learning to classify waste, providing real-time data to optimise picker performance and conveyor speeds. In Cape Town and Stellenbosch, this technology increased material recovery by approximately 640 tonnes, reduced tailings by 22% to 30%, and led to a 10-15% wage increase for staff.

The document outlines the potential for industrial symbiosis by using waste foundry sand (WFS) as a secondary material in sectors like brickmaking and road construction. It highlights the economic benefits for foundries and off-takers, the regulatory hurdles involving waste classification and management licenses, and the technical requirements for processing WFS to ensure product quality.

The document provides a guide for Western Cape businesses on adopting solar PV to reduce energy costs and carbon footprints. It details various financing models—including outright purchase, debt finance, and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)—and provides pricing benchmarks for 2025/26. The brief highlights the role of municipal feed-in tariffs and national tax incentives, while warning of risks related to changing utility tariff structures and policy shifts.

The document highlights a gap in South Africa's climate finance landscape, where a low risk appetite for early-stage green SMMEs coincides with a lack of investment-ready pipelines. It presents the FNF GreenPitch Challenge as a mechanism to address this by sourcing pipelines and supporting SMME investment readiness. The case of STROOM, a women-owned electric cargo bike enterprise, illustrates the potential for micro-mobility to reduce operational costs by over 80% and create jobs in township and rural markets.

The document provides a comprehensive overview of South African legislation governing alien and invasive species, primarily focusing on the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act and the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act. It details the classification of invasive species, the permitting process for restricted activities, and the specific duties of land owners to control or eradicate listed species. Additionally, it explains how other laws—including those regarding water, forests, heritage, and occupational health—intersect with invasive species management, and specifies the criminal and financial penalties for non-compliance.

The document details the control of four invasive Hakea species in South Africa: H. sericea, H. gibbosa, H. drupacea, and H. salicifolia. It advocates for an integrated approach combining mechanical, chemical, and biological controls, with a heavy emphasis on biological agents to manage inaccessible mountain terrains. It provides specific biological profiles and application guidelines for six agents: the gummosis fungus (Colletotrichum acutatum), seed weevil (Erytenna consputa), seed moth (Carposina autologa), stem-boring beetle (Aphanasium australe), flowerbud weevil (Dicomada rufa), and leaf beetle (Cydmaea binotata).