grasslands.org.za Forestry

Activities in the forestry sector will be undertaken in 3 streams:

Improved management of existing unplanted forestry owned land. The Programme will work with forestry companies to improve the management of unplanted lands within the forest estates. The Programme will also provide support to further integrate grassland biodiversity management into industry-led certification systems and standards.
The formal conservation tenure of unplanted, high-priority forestry landholdings is secured through conservation stewardship. A number of companies have indicated that they are interested in designating unplanted lands containing natural grassland as nature reserves managed by the enterprise. The Programme will work with them to develop plans and operating procedures, and engineer proclamation.
The expansion of small grower plantation forestry is underpinned by biodiversity considerations and capacity-building to meet industry-led certification standards. The Programme will work with government regulatory authorities for the forestry sector and industry to ensure future forest plantation expansion does not occur within areas designated as high priorities for biodiversity conservation. Specific attention will be given as to how to integrate small growers into the certification system, which is critical as future expansion of plantations is expected to be predominately small grower based.