Sustainable biodiversity stewardship and inclusive development in South Africa: a novel package for a sustainable future

Sustainable biodiversity stewardship (SBS) is needed on private lands in order to promote inclusive development (ID). Managing private land for conservation and landscape functionality can be costly, therefore, fiscal incentives like income tax deductions and property rates exclusions can help encourage biodiversity stewardship and thereby contribute to meeting the social and ecological goals of inclusive development. The experience of South Africa shows that such fiscal incentives can ensure that private landowners protect ecosystems, improve water yields, mitigate fire and flood risks, and promote landscape-scale connectivity. Furthermore, it can contribute to broader socio-economic goals such as rural development, inclusion of marginalized or disadvantaged communities and create green jobs. This paper reports that many private landowners have entered into agreements for biodiversity stewardship.