Cape Winelands District Municipality
South Africa
Western Cape
Sector
Environment & Waste
ICLEI is a high-energy, membership driven global association of local governments working together to tackle global problems and building sustainable communities. One of the key objectives is to develop and implement solutions, supported by expertise, programmes, tools and strategic alliances.
ICLEI is built to serve a world wide movement of local governments to achieve tangible improvements in global environmental and sustainable development conditions through cumulative local actions. Since 1990, ICLEI has been leading the movement for local sustainability with global campaigns on climate, water, eco-procurement, biodiversity and more.
The Cape Winelands District Municipality, which represents 5 municipalities and 28 towns, on Monday 18 May 2009, officially entered as a new participant to an international initiative to manage urban biodiversity – effectively South Africa’s first district municipality in the country to do so and the newest member to ICLEI’s Africa region in Phase II of the Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Programme.
Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) was established in 2006 under the international ICLEI programme, which promotes sustainability issues pertaining biodiversity in local government. Cape Winelands is working closely in partnership with key partners in a joint commitment towards key programmes aimed at the conservation of biodiversity within the region.
The goals and objectives of Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) include:
- ICLEI support to the project cities and districts in their local biodiversity work.
- Facilitating lesson-sharing.
- Producing good practice biodiversity case examples.
- Promoting mainstreaming of biodiversity into municipal planning processes.
- Profiling and promoting the importance of urban biodiversity.
- Raising the status of local government’s management of biodiversity; and
- Leading the way for the next generation of participating local governments across the world.
Key deliverables of the LAB Programme includes a baseline assessment of biodiversity and the production of a Biodiversity Report, the production of a long-term local biodiversity strategy and action plan (LBSAP) and the implementation of at least five biodiversity projects for the Cape Winelands region.
The LAB Programme, co-ordinated by the international organization ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability, has become one of the world’s leading biodiversity projects and is endorsed by a range of local, national and international agencies and institutions. International Institutions such as IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as well as the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) provides direct support to the LAB Programme.
The overarching aim of LAB is to improve biodiversity management at the level of local government, in recognition of cities and districts’ enormous potential to contribute locally to conserving global biodiversity. LAB also aims to profile and promote the importance of urban biodiversity and the significant role of local governments in its management, and to coordinate the sharing of lessons and experiences among the diverse group of participating local governments from around the world.
From 14 to 18 June 2009, 600 participants from 57 countries gathered in the City of Edmonton in Western Canada for the triennial World Congress of 'ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability”, a global network of 1100 cities working on sustainable development. The program, underpinned by the theme: Connecting Leaders for Sustainability, touched upon many areas of Environmental Sustainability, Climate & Energy, Biodiversity, Climate Change Resilience & Adaptation, Integrated Water Resource Management, etc. in large plenaries and small working groups. A delegation from the Cape Winelands District Municipality attended the World Congress and participated through discussions in plenary and delivered poster presentations on key interventions within the Cape Winelands.
Throughout the Congress a strong sense of unity and agreement was shared amongst ICLEI Members. Members recognized the need for faster and more radical action to advance local sustainability. There was a wide consensus in ICLEI council sessions to adopt proposals ranging from supporting young municipal leaders to advancing ICLEI’s work in urban biodiversity.
ICLEI members witnessed a wide range of global scenarios presented by experts such as Mathis Wackernagel, the co-creator of the Ecological Footprint concept. In smaller focus groups participants discussed how to respond to the urgency of change. Gathering inputs from these focus groups and other meetings, ICLEI will draft a strategic plan for the next six years in the coming months and submit it for review to ICLEI Members.
For further information on Cape Winelands District Municipality’s participation in the Local Action for Biodiversity (LAB) Programme, as well as the ICLEI World Congress, please contact directly:
Contact: Ms Kelcy Le Keur
Email: kelcy@capewinelands.gov.za
Tel: +27 21 888 5156
