This is a programme in the early stages of development.

It is self-evident that to improve livelihoods and protect both our water resources and ecosystems we need to conserve and restore our catchments/landscapes. Internationally this practice is well entrenched and, in an African context, there are numerous initiatives. In South Africa there are also several initiatives including, amongst others, the Northern Drakensberg Collaborative, the uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership (uWASP), uMngeni Ecological Infrastructure Partnership (UEIP) (including the uMkhomazi Working Group), uMzimvubu Catchment Partnership (UCP), Keurbooms Ecological Infrastructure Investment Group and the Aghulas Biosphere Initiative (ABI).

The Lewis Foundation intends to explore how it might invest in supporting landscape/catchment conservation coordination and innovation efforts in South Africa. This investment is both in terms of direct funding, using this funding to influence the allocation of additional resources, and providing general strategic support.

In terms of the overall strategy of the Lewis Foundation our process will be:

• Bottom-up and top-down (community meets practice meets policy).
• Strategic and catalytic.
• Collaborative – catalysing partnerships, fostering multiple perspectives and accommodating diverse expertise.
• Innovative and flexible – proactively adapt to future trends and needs.
• Accountable – for transparent good governance.
• To build integrity – open, honest and sincere.
• To foster excellence – the pursuit of best practice and execution to the best of our ability.

In practical terms, we are reaching out first and foremost to our catchment/landscape conservation champions to secure your participation and to jointly define the agenda. Seed funding (markets willing) will be available from about April 2024 and a more comprehensive investment will be made over five years commencing in 2026. Once the agenda has been set, we will engage various state, NGO, private sector and research partners to enlist and leverage additional support.