1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Cape Town
Region
Africa
Native title of the NBS intervention
Cape Town Environmental Education Trust
Short description of the intervention
"Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) is a non-profit environmental education organization that seeks to improve both the inclusiveness of urban nature reserves and the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation by connecting nearby disadvantaged and racialized communities with municipally-owned nature reserves." (1 p15) CTEET has 3 flagship projects: providing low-cost environmental education programs to children, offering training and development to Cape Town youth to access jobs in the Green Economy and supporting and driving conservation initiatives in Cape Town through its Nature Care Fund (2).
Address

South Africa

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Protected Area
Website of the intervention
https://cteet.co.za/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2001
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2001
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Ongoing
Goals of the intervention
- "Conducting high quality, low-cost outdoor education programmes designed to challenge and change the lives of youth"
- "Support the City of Cape Town's Biodiversity Network through the provision of expertise for the management of public and private conservation areas." (1 p5)
- Offer training and career development pathways for adults from disadvantaged communities that later on can lead to employment in the nature conservation sector (1)
- Increase the social inclusion of low income and racialised communities in Cape Town's nature reserves (1 p15)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Environmental quality
Waste management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social cohesion
Social justice and equity
Environmental education
Environmental and climate justice
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Economic development: service sectors
Employment/job creation
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
Means for conservation governance
Raise public awareness
Public engagement
Capacity building
Implementation activities
- Offer environmental education programs in municipal nature reserves for children coming from disadvantaged communities (1)
- Offer job skills training to young adults from disadvantaged communities
- Provide financial background and manage "conservation monitors to ensure that the land is set aside from development function as biodiversity protection is looked after and not used for inappropriate purposes" (1)
- Offer access to nature reserves for previously excluded due to financial and accessibility reasons (1)
Type of NBS project
Maintenance and management of urban nature
Protection of natural ecosystems
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Parks and urban forests
Other
Please specify "other parks or (semi)natural urban green area"
Nature reserves, areas set aside from development as biodiversity protection (1)
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Trees
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Spiritual and / or emblematic (symbolic, sacred and / or religious)
Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Young people and children
Marginalized groups
Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) "was originally established by a city employee, a local business person and community member interested in offering children the opportunity to see nature in their own neighbourhood (1 p16). Since its foundation, CTEET collaborates with the City of Cape Town to realise its flagship projects in environmental education, nature conservation program and training and employment of youth from low-income communities (1). CTEET has a memorandum of understanding with the City of Cape Town allowing it to use municipality facilities and resources, including the use of municipality office space and using the nature reserves for their education and training activities. This institutional arrangement with the city is considered to be highly optimal as it provides stability to the organisation while as a non-profit organisation, CTEET is eligible for funding coming from various sources that are not available for the municipality (1). Finally, this partnership is also ideal for public relations reasons as low-income communities are more likely to approach a non-governmental organisation than the municipality with issues and complaints in Cape Town (1).
Key actors - initiating organization
Non-government organisation/civil society
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Please specify other participatory methods
Institutional partnership between the non-governmental organisation and the municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Other
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan
The Integrated Environmental Management Plan
Mayors Portfolio of Urban Sustainability (1)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Biodiversity strategy or plan
Municipal / city level environmental plan or programme
Please specify other vegetation type
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
CTEET is in partnership with the Cape Town's nature reserves. There are 16 nature reserves within Cape Town protecting the area's unique biodiversity (1). In 2020, CTEET supported and facilitated 8 conservation projects and areas (2)
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Yes
Co-governance arrangement
A trust
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€500,000 - €2,000,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
In the financial year of 2019-2020, the total funds and liabilities of CTEET were approximately 480 000 EUR out of which the expenses of the NBS projects were around 500 000 EUR. There is no information found on the source of this funding and how the margin has been covered (2, ed.)
Source(s) of funding
Private Foundation/Trust
Type of fund(s) used
Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Local stewardship model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation)
Type of innovation
Social
Economic innovation
Governance innovation
Please specify social innovation
CTEET applies a Créche-to-Career education model that aims to bring children at a young age closer to nature and also create the platforms and structures for them to pursue a career in the Green Economy later on (2). "This approach offers professional development pathway to children from the first experience they have with nature to employment in conservation. This development is supported through environmental education programs and job skill training (1).
The institutional partnership between CTEET and the City of Cape Town is also an innovative governance approach that "draws on the resources of the municipality and the maneuverability and approachability of a non-profit organisation " (1 p21). This governance arrangement empowers CTEET by providing necessary facilities and resources while fill in the capacity gaps the municipality has in the field of environmental education and conservation monitoring (1).
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved waste management
Green space and habitat
Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
Increased protection of threatened species
Improved prevention or control of invasive alien species
Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
Description of environmental benefits
- In 2019/2020, as part of the NBS program, CTEET organised 38 clean-ups where 1739 kilograms of litter were collected out of which 336 kilograms were recycled. (2)
- As of 2021, the Nature Care Fund one of the flagship projects of the NBS supported and facilitated conservation efforts for 10 conservation areas and projects, amounting to over 420 hectares of wetlands, endangered Cape Flats Sand Fynbos and Cape Dune Strandveld vegetation with over 70 endangered flora and fauna species (3)
Economic impacts
Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
Stimulate development in deprived areas
Description of economic benefits
- Through its training interventions, CTEET supports the development of young adults in the framework of education and internship. In 2019/2020, 8 interns graduated from the program out of which 75% found employment in the Green Economy. While another 13 interns joined the program. Since the beginning of the training and development flagship project, 281 youth participated in the training programme and 86% of graduates got employed or continued their education within 3 months of completing their training (5)
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Improvement in people’s connection to nature
Increased awareness of flora and fauna as culturally and historically meaningful
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
- Within the environmental education flagship project, CTEET reached 98 956 people through various environmental education initiatives (6)
- 52 000 children have attended overnight camps and day programmes (6)
- With the environmental education program, CTEET brings children closer to nature and develop their attachment to nature and encourage their environmental stewardship (1)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Number of participants in the flagship projects of CTEET
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
other
Voluntary work opportunities
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Due to Covid-19, some of the programs have been paused but there is no adequate information which ones.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Link to monitoring/evaluation reports
https://cteet.co.za/about/annual-reports/
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
List of references
1) Tozer, L. (2018). NATURVATION - Case Study Working Paper: Cape Town, South Africa
2) Cape Town Environmental Education Trust. (2020). Integrated Report 2020. CTEET. Accessed on 24th March 2021, https://cteet.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/CTEET-Integrated-Report-2020-961_compressed1.pdf
3) Cape Town Environmental Education Trust. (2021). Nature Care Fund. CTEET. Accessed on 24th March 2021,
4) Cape Town Environmental Education Trust. (2021). Site Management. Accessed on 24th March 2021, https://cteet.co.za/site-management/
5) Cape Town Environmental Education Trust. (2021). Environmental Education Accessed on 24th March 2021, https://cteet.co.za/environmental-education/
Comments and notes
Public Images
Cape Town Environmental Education Trust
Source: https://cteet.co.za/site-management/
Cape Town Environmental Education Trust
Source: https://cteet.co.za/site-management/
Cape Town Environmental Education Trust
Source: https://cteet.co.za/species-conservation/