Socio-Economic Development
The Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI) is exploring ways and means of conserving biodiversity at landscape level on the Agulhas Plain. The focus area stretches from the Klein River in the west to the Breede River in the east and constitutes one of the largest extant storehouses of lowland fynbos and Renosterveld habitats in the world. One of the main outputs of ABI is to demonstrate that harvesting of wild fynbos along sound ecological, social and ethical lines can be a viable land use option within this unmatched diversity of habitat types and ecosystems.
The Flower Valley Conservation Trust acts as the champion for sustainable harvesting and has to show evidence that such operations can indeed be sustainable and are also having a positive impact on the well-being of people participating in this segment of the local economy. For this purpose a model was developed to monitor and evaluate the economic and human development performance and impact of sustainable harvesting. The five primary indicators relate to human development, physical living environment, social development, financial/economic development and natural/environmental development.
The first audit report was completed in April 2008 and was based on the findings of full-scale audits on two pack sheds and four farms participating in the programme. The audit process included 124 workers and six landowners/managers (100% of participants) in one-on-one interviews and was done in collaboration with auditors of the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (WIETA). The outcome, which included some recommendations, was reflected in individual reports for packing sheds and farms and a joint report for the Trust/ABI. These are now being used as working documents to enhance performance. The findings of the audit show some interesting comparisons between the beneficiaries of sustainable harvesting and those engaged in other sectors of the local economy.