WESSA Phase 1 report to HHCT_28.10.2021

• Several programmes have drifted away from WESSA’s mission in pursuit of income targets which feature prominently in managers’ performance objectives o Examples include programmes focusing just on tourism or edu-tourism; feeding and food production programmes with tenuous links to environmental stewardship; employment programmes focusing just on environmental job creation; youth empowerment programmes with a minor focus on environment; and formal qualification offerings with vague or indirect links to WESSA’s mission 1 • Stakeholders struggle to understand and therefore have not bought into WESSA's vision • Members are not unanimous in their support for a more integrated approach: 40% of those surveyed believed WESSA should be purely nature-centric, compared to 25% of social media followers who believed the same. • Governance and accountability systems and processes, while still leaving considerable room for improvements in implementation, exist • WESSA has a supportive, competent and motivated Board who are willing to contribute and have a lot to offer, e.g. o Connecting Exco to their corporate, political and professional networks o Involving WESSA directly in some of their own projects and endeavors o Using their influencing potential on e.g. social media o Providing expert knowledge and advice o Being brand ambassadors • A motivated and experienced Exco has carried WESSA through a crisis period • Essential organizational infrastructures (digital networks, social media platforms, databases and physical infrastructure) exist and do not have to be developed from the ground up. • Guidelines for members’ conduct and governance processes are inadequate; those that do exist are not being implemented • Financial record keeping and accountability at regional and branch level compromises auditing outcomes and needs to be improved • Decision making processes and minuting thereof at regional and branch level are inconsistent; it is unclear how members’ representatives on the Board obtain their mandates o Difficult to verify whether positions taken by members’ representatives in 2020 Board meetings reflected those of the broader WESSA support base, or whether (as 6.2 Governance systems and processes 6.2.1 Strengths 6.2.2 Weaknesses

1 This should not be construed as a critique of management and staff, who performed their duties and followed instructions to the best of their abilities and kept the organization afloat during difficult times

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