The National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) 2025 webinar series continue with its second session, which focuses on South Africa’s terrestrial ecosystems. This session will explore where ecosystems are being lost or degraded, how well they are protected, and the key drivers behind these trends.
Titled “South Africa’s terrestrial ecosystems: Where are we losing ground and why?”, the webinar will highlight which ecosystems are most at risk, track changes in their extent, and examine where conservation efforts are succeeding or falling short.
Understanding Ecosystem Threat Status
The session will unpack the ecosystem threat status indicator, which assesses the risk of ecosystem collapse based on habitat loss, degradation, and other pressures. Aligned with the global Red List of Ecosystems framework, this indicator provides a standardised way to identify ecosystems that are critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable.
Findings from the NBA show that habitat transformation, invasive alien plants, and land degradation continue to drive the decline of many terrestrial ecosystems, especially in lowland areas heavily converted for agriculture, mining, and settlement.
Protection Levels and Conservation Gaps
The webinar will also examine ecosystem protection levels, measuring how well different ecosystem types are represented in South Africa’s protected area network. While over three-quarters of terrestrial ecosystem types now have some statutory protection, coverage varies widely, with many ecosystems still poorly protected—or not protected at all.
By analysing the intersection of threat status and protection level, the session will highlight ecosystems that are both highly threatened and under-protected, identifying priority areas for conservation action and potential protected area expansion.
New Indicators Highlight Emerging Trends
For the first time, the NBA introduces global indicators that enable consistent trend analyses of ecosystem change over time. These indicators reveal which ecosystems are shrinking, degrading, or recovering and help track South Africa’s progress toward national and international biodiversity targets.
Join the second webinar
Date: 17 April 2026
Time: 13:00 –13:45
Link to join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/340246692089696?p=h2qEpmrEjhb72ebYVb
Learn more about South Africa’s terrestrial ecosystems and the NBA 2025 here.