[photo taken by Errol Douwes]
The SARChI team attended the Research Inception meeting on the Community Reforestation Research Programme. This programme falls under the recently formalized, Durban Research Action Partnership (D’RAP). D’RAP is a joint research collaboration initiative between UKZN and eThekwini Municipality (EM). During this meeting, the participants embarked on a field visit to Buffelsdraai and Osidisweni areas. These areas are currently involved in a Buffelsdraai Landfill Site Reforestation Community Project (BLSRCP) managed by the Wildlands Conservation Trust (WCT). The project seeking to take currently tracts of sugarcane land and rehabilitate the area with indigenous forest around the landfill’s 800 hectare buffer zone.
The project recruits community members also referred to as “treepreneurs.” These are individuals from all walks of life dedicated in propagating indigenous tree seedlings into 15cm trees, which are then bartered for goods and services at the local retail stores. The SARChI of Applied Poverty Reduction Assessment plans to come into the project by exploring the human development impacts of this project as well as other climate change projects throughout the municipality. At the meeting, the principal investigators shared some of the research projects they intend to complete through the Masters and PhD bursaries provided through specifically the Community Reforestation project. The broader D’RAP platform allows for students, research assistants and senior researchers to share knowledge across disciplines and promote a teaching and learning spirit through various research methodologies.
The key purpose of the February 2015 visit was to participate in the workshop as well as to collect further firsthand information about the project. The D’RAP platform had also established that there remains existing social sciences research gaps and the SARChI chair hopes to contribute to this knowledge production through a new climate change and poverty reduction co-benefits project. This new SARChI project plans to:
- evaluate the relationship of climate change adaptation and poverty reduction policy co-benefits through case study assessment within a KwaZulu-Natal municipality South Africa and
- To develop a measurement instrument which can evaluate climate finance initiatives with poverty co-benefits.
Follow-up visits to the area by all stakeholders continues in which the project is monitored and evaluated against its primary objectives. And continuous engagements amongst the members of the partnership go-on producing beneficial ideas around making this project a success.
by Siyabonga Ntombela