National Biodiversity Assessment 2025 webinar series begins with overview of key findings on 10 April 2026.
The National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) 2025 provides the most comprehensive picture to date of the state of South Africa’s biodiversity. From April –to June, the NBA team will host a webinar series exploring the key findings of the assessment and how they can be used in practice. The webinar series will consist of different themes presented approximately every two weeks. Please download this PDF for the links to diarise for the entire series.
The first webinar, on Friday 10 April, will present an overview of the assessment, including its headline indicators, main trends, key messages and what is new.
A collaborative national assessment
The National Biodiversity Assessment is a large, collaborative effort coordinated by SANBI, involving more than 490 contributors from approximately 110 institutions. The 2025 assessment represents around 23 000 person-days of work, reflecting the scale of data, expertise and coordination required to track biodiversity change across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. South Africa’s approach to national biodiversity assessment is internationally recognised, with guidance and training materials developed from the country’s methodology now being used to support other countries undertaking similar assessments.
What the NBA measures
The NBA provides a comprehensive picture of biodiversity across three key components:
- Ecosystems and their condition
- Species and their conservation status
- Genetic diversity, an emerging focus area aligned with global biodiversity targets
These indicators are used to track trends over time, identify priority areas for conservation, and support evidence-based decision-making.
Key findings from NBA 2025
The NBA 2025 shows that pressures on biodiversity are intensifying. Climate change, land and sea-use change, pollution, invasive species and unsustainable resource use continue to drive ecosystem degradation and species decline.
Rivers, wetlands and estuaries remain among the most threatened and least protected systems in South Africa. Many species that depend on these habitats, particularly freshwater fishes and birds, are showing increasing levels of risk.
At the same time, the assessment highlights the positive impact of protected areas, with a large proportion of species represented within the existing conservation estate. This demonstrates that long-term investment in conservation and recovery planning can yield measurable results.
New insights into genetic diversity
For the first time, the NBA includes national-level indicators for genetic diversity, recognising its importance for species’ long-term survival and adaptability. These early findings provide a foundation for strengthening genetic monitoring and integrating it into conservation planning.
Supporting planning, policy and reporting
The NBA is widely used to support environmental impact assessments, spatial planning, biodiversity sector planning and reporting to international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity. By translating complex biodiversity data into accessible indicators, maps and messages, the NBA enables biodiversity considerations to be integrated into development and land-use decisions.
Join the first webinar in the series
The opening webinar in the NBA series will introduce the structure of the assessment, explain how to access the data and tools, and highlight the seven key messages that emerge from the 2025 findings.
The session is aimed at government officials, environmental practitioners, researchers, NGOs, students and anyone interested in understanding the current state of South Africa’s biodiversity and what it means for the country’s future.
Date: 10 April 2026
Time: 13:00–13:45
Join the webinar: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/31934262420917?p=Qqyog9ptLnn8dkpN5N
Further webinars in the series will explore specific themes in more detail, including freshwater ecosystems, species trends, restoration and biodiversity finance.