Farmers keep farming, and a new national park grows around them

In the Eastern Cape highlands between Nqanqarhu and Rhodes, South Africa has declared Grasslands National Park — more than 10,225 hectares across 18 properties. Instead of fencing farmers out, the park uses biodiversity stewardship: landowners, many of them fifth- or sixth-generation, keep ownership and keep farming while committing to protect one of the country's least-protected landscapes — only about 4.6% of South Africa's grassland biome is protected today. The highlands are also a strategic water source, sheltering species such as the mountain reedbuck.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: institutional program