Strategy for sustaining the Northern Drakensberg Collaborative

BACKGROUND:

The Northern Drakensberg Collaborative (NDC) is a multi-stakeholder partnership that broadly

represents the strategic water source area, with a focus on the upper uThukela Catchment. The

platform commits to the principles of inclusivity, equity, respect and diversity.

This process of establishing the partnership was initiated through the Living Catchments Project (LCP)

of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and has been continued through an

initiative championed by WWF. A coordinating team comprising the Institute of Natural Resources

NPC (INR), Mahlathini Development Foundation (MDF) and the Centre for Water Resources Research

(CWRR) at University of KwaZulu-Natal, hasled theprocess of operationalising and sustaining the

partnership.

VISION:

Collaboration among different entities to conserve and sustainably utilize the landscape and its water,

cultural and other natural resources fairly as well as to empower its people, build resilience and

achieve sustainable socio-economic growth.

PARTNERSHIP PRINCIPLES:

There are a number of principles that underpin and guide the NDC, namely

•Inclusivity: The operation of the NDC and its activities will be designed to allow for the

inclusion of all member groups.

•Equity: The structures of the NDC will represent all member groups.

•Respect: Members will respect the views of others.

•Diversity: The NDC recognizes different races, genders, religions and is apolitical.

VALUE PROPOSITION:

As shown in the figure below, the NDC provides a range of benefits for its members while also

requiring certain inputs from them.

The benefits of the partnership for its members can be summarized as follows:

•Networking: Providing a platform for different stakeholders to engage and exchange.

•Monitoring: A vehicle for monitoring the implementation of activities.

•Co-learning: A mechanism for co-learning between stakeholders within and beyond.

•Fundraising: Stakeholders can work collectively to raise funds.

•Sharing: The platform allows for sharing of information through different channels.

•Co-implementation: Members can implement activities collectively.

•Lobbying: The platform provides a voice for its members.

•Supporting research: The platform can support research and share research outcomes.

The inputs required from its members can be summarized as:

•Participate: Members need to participate in meetings, events and discussions.

•Resource: Members need to be willing to provide resources of different types.

•Share: Members need to be open to sharing information and experiences.

•Commit: Members need to commit to the partnership.

•Collaborate: Members need to be willing to collaborate around activities.

Figure 1: Diagram showing key elements of the Northern Drakensberg Collaborative.

The NDC will provide the benefits to its members through the following:

•A stakeholder database.

•Collaborative working groups.

•A website and newsletter.

•Co-opting multiple stakeholders.

PARTNERSHIP PILLARS:

The NDC relies on five partnership pillars:

1.Governance and strategy

2.Networking & communication

3.Learning & sharing

4.Action, implementation & feedback

5.Resourcing

The expected outcomes for each of the pillars, together with activities required to achieve the

outcomes are summarized below in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of outcomes and activities associated with each of the NDC partnership pillars

Pillar

Outcome

Activities

Governance

and strategy

•Internal: Effective governance

of the NDC partnership

•External: Effective governance

within the SWSA; integrated

catchment management

•Establish a secretariat for the NDC

and CoP theme leaders to drive

action.

•Monitor the effectiveness of the

partnership and the impacts on

the ground

•Engage LM about alignment with

IDP

Networking &

communication

•Internal – Enhanced sharing

between partners

•External – Enhanced

communication with partners

beyond the catchment

•Enhance sharing over email and

website

•NDC members to participate in

other forums to network

information

Research,

learningand

sharing

•Sharing of information and

knowledge leads to enhanced

impact

•A shared research agenda for

the catchment

•Make reports and guidelines

available on the website

•Establish a research task team to

drive an agenda

Action,

implementation

& feedback

•Solutions to address challenges

are co-developed, tested and

assessed

•Update map of partner activities

•Develop a joint database for

action

Resourcing

•Partnership resourced for good

governance, to network, learn,

share and implement

•Find ways to resource NDC

activities when no funded

convener team

•Fundraise for partnership

•Fundraise for action

MEMBERSHIP:

Membership of NDC is open to all organisations with a presence in the Northern Drakensberg Strategic

Water Source Area(SWSA) that work/operatein the water-livelihoods-biodiversity space.This

includes community structuresand Traditional Authorities. Signing of the commitment statement is

the first step in the membership process.

MEMBER ACTIVITIES:

Member activities

Communities

Private

sector

Officials

NGOs

Engage in lobbying activities to drive shared agendas.

Co-implement projectsthat meets shared objectives.

Collective raise funds for activities by co-developing

concept notes and proposals.

Implement projects that provide jobs, improve

livelihoods and eradicate poverty.

Promote sustainable land management practices

related to grazing, restoration, clearing of alien

invasive species.

Contribute resources that can support landscape

management activities

Invest in the catchment to contribute to companies’

sustainability targets.

Local businesses can create opportunities for

communities (e.g. tourism)

Utilise onatural resources sustainably.

Collaborate to strengthen governance arrangements

for better natural resource management in

communal areas

Co-develop solutions to address issues that affect

communities.

Share knowledge and create awareness about the

NDC and its members.

Share research findings with other members and

translate research outcomes into action.

STRUCTURE:

During the early stages of establishing and strengthening the NDC, there has been an intermediate

arrangement that has comprised a convening team, guided by a core team that represents the

members of the NDC. There have been efforts towards establishing CoPs or working groups that focus

on different topics.

In time, the structure will adopt a different arrangement, where a secretariat will be guided by a

management committee that comprises a leader from each of the CoPs/working groups. The CoPs will

draw their membership from the NDC members, who would be free to participate in one or more

CoPs/working groops.

Figure 2: Graphical representation of the structure of the NDC and how it changes as it matures.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION:

The monitoring and evaluation process for the partnership is seen as a tool for reflecting on the

performance of the partnership itself as well as the contribution it is making to improving livelihoods

and the state of the natural resources within the Northern Drakensberg SWSA, with a focus on the

upper uThukela Catchment.Given that the vision for the NDC goes beyond the partnership towards

having positive impacts on the natural resources and the people that depend on them, the M&E

system should consider the different levels as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Different elements that require monitoring and evaluation.

Activities of members

Rangeland & livestock management - Invasive alien species clearing -

provision of water & sanitation - Enterprise development - Conservation

Outcomes of activities

Biodiversity, conservation Carbon sequestration, Jobs & livelihoods,

Health & wellbeing, Water security

Overall Impact: Resilience

The partnership (5 principles)

Governance & strategy - Networking & communication -Research, learning &

sharing -Action, implementation & feedback- Resourcing

Table 2: Components of the vision to be monitored and evaluated

Relationship

to the NDC

Components of the

vision

Indicators to track

Within the

partnership

•Collaboration

•Different entities

•Evidence of collaboration

•Number and diversity of entities

Beyond the

partnership

•Conserve and

sustainably utilize

resources fairly

•Empower its people

•Build resilience

•Achieve sustainable

socio-economic

growth.

•Implementation ofprojectstowards these

objectives, tracking, for example:

oAreas cleared of invasive aliens

oAreas under improved management

oAreas restored

oJobs created

•Changes in policies / plans towards these

objectives

•Researchundertakentowards achieving these

objectives

For the overall partnership, the M&E process can focus on the pillars as shown in Table 3. Later,

when gather CoPs/working groups develop their own visions and objectives, the M&E process can

be expanded to incorporate them.As shown in

Table 2, there are already some indicators identified that might be allocated to a particular

CoP/working group, such as tracking areas of land under improved management.

Table 3: Examples of indicators for monitoring anticipated outcomes for the partnership pillars

Pillar

Anticipated outcomes

Indicators to track

Governance &

strategy

Internal: Effective governance of the

NDC partnership

External: Effective governance within

the SWSA; integrated catchment

management(ICM)

•Secretariat functioning well

•Strategy finalised

•Key stakeholders engaging in the

catchment towards achieving ICM

Networking &

communication

Internal – Enhanced sharing between

partners

External – Enhanced communication

with partners beyond the catchment

•Number of email exchanges

between partners

•Participation of NDC members in

activities of other catchments

Research,

learning &

sharing

Sharing of information and knowledge

leads to enhanced impact

A shared research agenda forthe

catchment

•Number of events allowing for

sharing & learning.

•Number of events where research

outcomes shared.

Action,

implementation

& feedback

Solutions to address challenges are

co-developed, tested and assessed

•No. of collaborative projects

implemented.

Resourcing

Partnership resourced for good

governance, to network, learn, share

and implement

•No. of concept notes/proposals

developed collectively.

•Contributions in time and finances

by members to support

partnership activities.