WESSA Strategic Review Report_2022

WESSA

2022-2027

Prepared by the WESSA Strategic Working Group June 2022

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CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE STRATEGIC REVIEW WORKING GROUP CHAIR

4 6 7 8 9

OUR MISSION, VISION AND VALUE PROPOSITION

THE STATE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT

STRATEGIC REVIEW OVERVIEW

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

FOCUS AREAS OF DELIVERY – OUR THEORY OF CHANGE

10 18 20 22 24 27 27 28 29

THEMATIC AREAS

BIODIVERSITY AND HABITAT INTEGRITY

POLLUTION REDUCTION

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND OBJECTIVES

WESSA “SPECIAL PROJECTS”

NEXT STEPS

CONCLUSION

PHOTO CREDITS

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MESSAGE FROM THE STRATEGIC REVIEW WORKING GROUP CHAIR

When WESSA has its centenary celebration in 2026, we will look back on how we have stood the test of time because of our history and the work that has been done over the last 100 years but also because when we needed to, we adapted to the changing world around us and offered environmental solutions that take wildlife, human and broader environmental needs into account. We must proceed with care, self-reflection, an openness to learning and change, as the foundation for contributing. We would like to thank the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust for the funding we received that allowed us to embark on this review. We also thank Prof. Christo Fabricius and Associates for the initial review of WESSA and our current scope of work and for providing a very strong platform on which to develop the strategic plan. Thanks too go to the members of the Strategic Working Group and Dr Andrew Baxter for their contribution to the strategic review process.

We will look to create opportunities for membership volunteer projects that will amplify the voice and impact of our supporter groups on the ground. Being grounded in the Sustainable Development Goals, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services guidelines, to determine shape and extent of projects – will provide focus to full-time staff and volunteers. The benefits of a more focused strategic approach will be attractive to local and international funders and investors. To develop this plan, we used a process spanning 20 months where we determined and analysed the current reality and contexts in which WESSA operates, the scope and focus of its existing operations and the roles of different stakeholders. We defined current and future challenges and opportunities, using the Sustainable Development Goals. We have now completed the last steps in this co-development process that sought to align all WESSA’s stakeholder around a common purpose, vision, mission, themes, work streams and an ambitious, yet practical financial and governance model. We co-produced a new yet practicable model for value creation – “a roadmap to the healthy, sustainably managed planet we want and need; and the WESSA that will get us there”. Finally, we will have practical strategies for operationalizing the model and constantly monitoring and evaluating progress. WESSA will stay steadfast in its convictions about where our focus needs to be. We need to avoid being pushed by funders into simply implementing their agenda. We will have to be innovative around where our funding comes from and realise that a substantial investment to kick-start this will be necessary. We need to chase less and attract more. We will have a renewed focus on an advocacy model of Educate, Advocate and Act. We need to continue working for the planet and the WESSA we want, leveraging those assets unique to WESSA — our history, our people - both staff and volunteers, formal partnerships, the goodwill towards our brand and our excellent project implementation track record. We need to continue working towards contributing to solving the climate crisis, reduce the speed at which we are losing habitat and biodiversity and hold accountable those that pollute our water and terrestrial systems. We are the last generation that can turn it around.

With our centenary celebration coming up, the challenges we faced due to Covid, internal differences and the escalation in the environmental crises, there has been a lot of reflection on the WESSA we currently are and the WESSA we need to become. Over the last 20 months we have taken stock, consulted with stakeholders and strategy experts and crafted a strategy that will take WESSA to our 100-year celebration and beyond and have a significant impact on the climate crisis, biodiversity conservation and pollution of our water and land. It has been a useful exercise as well to look at what makes WESSA unique. It is apparent that it is our history of and current citizen action, our access to a network of young people, being a trusted voice and an excellent project implementer. We want to once again become visible as a critical partner of government, willing to offer support and encouragement but also ready to criticise where necessary. Our driving principle will be advocacy, helping influence high level environmental policy making followed up with close monitoring and compliance work, fitting for the troubled times and environmental crises we are in the midst of. All WESSA programmes, projects and involvements would be guided by this thinking. Programmes will be clearly defined so that mission drift does not distract us from our objectives possible. There will be clear sources of funding to facilitate these. Our core goals include the ability to plan environmental interventions on an impactful scale in conjunction with partners where necessary, overcoming the constraints of short-term project scope and funding. We will have the ability to bid for high-value, long- term global grants based on our experience and good standing. We will build our fundraising competency with a well resourced strategy to unlock funding for key issues as per our focus areas.

Helena Atkinson Strategic Working Group Chair June 2022

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OUR MISSION, VISION AND VALUE PROPOSITION

THE STATE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT

One of the criteria used to compare countries’ overall environmental performance is ecological footprint. This correlates population resource demand against biocapacity (the amount of renewable resources available per person measured in global hectares). In South Africa this is Ecological footprint per person (per capita) 3.16 / biocapacity 1.03 meaning that we are in an overshoot situation putting us, along with the world in general, in a deficit position – adding to our gloomy environmental outlook. A reason for this is bluntly stated in the Environment department’s website as follows: In the public agenda, the environment does not feature as a strong national priority in the country today, relative to other challenges. Only 3% of the adult public mentioned it as the most pressing issue in the country, and 5% mentioned it as the second most important priority. This is almost unchanged relative to 2010. The top five priorities in 2020 were education, health care, poverty, crime, and the economy. This suggests that basic social needs are given precedence over environmental considerations. When asked directly about the level of personal concern about environmental issues, 44% expressed concern about the environment while 20% were unconcerned. The balance was either ambivalent (34%) or uncertain (2%). Environmental concern is 14 percentage points lower than in

2010 (39% in 2010; 20% in 2020), with increases in the share unconcerned (+5 percentage points) and ambivalence (+9 percentage points). The most pressing environmental issues the public was worried about in 2020 were water shortages (33%), air pollution (19%) and water pollution (14%). Climate change was mentioned by 9% of adults as the top national environmental concern. The main changes between 2010 and 2020 was an increase in concern over water shortages (+7 percentage points) and decreases in the share mentioning air pollution (-5 percentage points and water pollution (-4 percentage points). Climate change has remained virtually unchanged (+2 percentage points). It is obvious from the parameter scores referred to and the low priority explanation given by government, that most people in South Africa are not joining the dots between what they regard as important and the root causes of the quality of life deficits they experience. This is an area in which WESSA could help effect positive change through well-planned and carried out advocacy work. WESSA’s Strategic Review was done with the intent of re-focusing the organisation’s work in the environmental and conservation sectors to address issues which are deemed critical and important to the health and well-being of both people and the planet.

Our Mission

Educate. Advocate. Act.

We are people caring for the Earth

We educate, advocate and act for environmental and social justice to drive climate action, protect and restore biodiversity, and reduce pollution through citizen action, sustainability education, conservation programmes, legislative and media engagement, compliance monitoring and strategic partnerships.

Our Vision

Leading citizen action in southern Africa to support climate action, fight biodiversity loss and promote a no pollution tolerance cultureenthusiasm, working for environmental justice in support of a healthy and sustainable planet.

Our Value Pr0position

WESSA’s actions and partnerships lead and enable climate action, protect and enhance habitat and biodiversity integrity, and reduce all pollution.

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STRATEGIC REVIEW OVERVIEW

Following the adoption of the Strategy Review Report by the WESSA board, several engagements took place with working groups consisting of experts in their particular fields to guide the process in shaping the “WESSA we want and need” and the framework for a subsequent operational plan. During the strategic planning process, the Strategic Working Group all agreed how critical it was that WESSA prioritise a diversity and inclusion approach. A critical success factor of diversity is to view transformation beyond compliance. We acknowledged that there was a disproportionate influence on the SRWG, and therefore recommended that the members of the working groups included co-opted representatives that are able to contribute and provide guidance. This emphasised the SWG’s role in governing inclusion and improving diversity, a major responsibility of WESSA and the role this organisation plays in society. The following working groups were constituted and over a 6 week period worked to prepare action plans for the detailed strategic plan: • Thematic work areas • Finance, Governance and HR • Resource mobilisation and fundraising Following the in-depth and inclusive strategic review process undertaken by the Thematic Working Group, including a mandate from the Board, WESSA’s thematic areas of work will focus on these three key environmental issues: the Climate Emergency, Biodiversity and Habitat Loss, and Pollution . Guided by WESSA’s seven pathways to success, our focus will be on projects and programmes aimed at achieving systemic impact, directly linked to the outcome stated in our newly developed Theory of Change. Our Theory of Change centres around an Advocacy Strategy which builds knowledge, enables, creates awareness, and results in actionable outcomes i.e. Educate – Advocate – Act – Change. Our Theory of Change is clearly stated in our mission, vision and purpose statement.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

WESSA’s strategic planning process was an extensive, organisation-wide effort that meaningfully engaged all of our stakeholders and thoughtfully synthesised their feedback. The multi-phase process spanned from December 2020 to July 2022. This dynamic process was grounded in our organisational values which include collaboration, trust, transparency, diversity, equity and inclusion, with a focus on the long term sustainability and impact of WESSA. Due to the challenges of COVID-19, the entire engagement was conducted virtually, bar certain ExCo in situ meetings held in Cape Town, Howick and Mtunzini. During a time of tremendous disruption, more than 100 stakeholders participated, including staff, partners, funders, members, out-of-school youth, in-school youth, teachers and Board members. This was done with the professional support of Professor Christo Fabricius. This process lead us to understand our strengths, things we needed to refocus on and in general what we have to leverage on for future success. The diagram below displays the seven critical factors WESSA considers key to our success. These will make up our guiding light as we navigate this new five-year journey of WESSA.

We will make use of a few guiding principles in the work and methodologies we will be employing. One of the most important ones is that for WESSA environmental justice includes social justice. WESSA’s approach is to explicitly recognize people as part of the environment and it is critical that we continue to do so and make it clear that we are doing so. We also keep the goal of sustainable development and collective stewardship at the forefront of our work. We will adopt a positive and ‘growth mindset’ in our terminology for outward-facing communication i.e. climate action, clean water as opposed to fear based language such as climate crisis and habitat destruction.

A critical success factor of diversity is to view transformation beyond compliance.

01

Governence systems & processes

Clarity of purpose

02

07

7 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

Monitoring and adaptive management

Human Resources

03

06

Financial Sustainability

Support base, alliances and partnerships

04

Identity, brand and culture

05

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Educate Our Education and Training will become more intentional to foreground human rights and civic power, community priorities and participation, and agency and advocacy. We will re-focus WESSA Training to become an empowerment tool for South African citizens to be able to act in terms of the environmental issues they want to address in their own communities.

FOCUS AREAS OF DELIVERY – OUR THEORY OF CHANGE The golden thread of WESSA’s work is based on education and advocacy with the aim to inspire, drive, enable and support citizen action. This is what we believe will ultimately move the needle in addressing the environmental crises we are in - getting citizens to act!

Rethink

In Schools • Work with learners, teachers, leadership

Redevelop

With Youth

• WESSA Youth Alumni Network • The biggest active network of youth

New approach

In Community

• Reactive to Community priorities • Train women

We will be visible and vocal, constructively critical and scientific and objective in our calls to action.

We already do this well and will continue to excel at this with materials and approaches developed to fit the new strategic themes.

We will design, mobilise and implement action projects that deliver outcomes aligned with our thematic areas.

New

Through Policy

• Simplify information • Spaces for participation • Hold leaders accountable • Create ‘Protect your community’ WESSA training

We are already working in the fields of education, training and conservation projects. A renewed focus area for us will be the emphasis on advocacy and its role in addressing persistent problems of biodiversity, pollution and climate threats.

With Corporate SA

New

• Long-term partnering • Create certification/Eco-label

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Advocate

Our approach to advocacy and activism involves clear, visible, audible and accessible messaging based on objective, scientifically derived information that explores the roots of environmental issues not just the symptoms and defines relevant agency. It makes use of media, social networks and the law to amplify its effect and relies on diverse interactions of civil society individuals and groups to create movements when necessary and become as representative of as broad a society as possible. It is sustained, nuanced and strategic, not relying on violence or crowd renting. It does not eschew simple, practical activities like petitions, pickets and clean-ups but keeps the bigger picture of causality and the nature of change required in mind along with a sense of the main actors in such processes. To achieve our Theory of Change we will: • Be a respected and trusted people’s voice for the environment. • Be a source of reliable information. • Develop action projects and support action based on our advocacy work • Provide the tools to empower people to protect themselves • Provide reputable representation of the global South in the drive for social and environmental justice. • To support citizens in their understanding and response to our environmental rights. • To attract members/supporters to be amplifiers and ambassadors. • Seek financial support for advocacy work via our education programmes and from civil society via carefully designed and targeted campaigns. • Develop clear position statements within our priority focus areas, supported by reliable evidence provided by experts we are already familiar with, academic partners and supporters. • Monitoring our activities to demonstrate outcomes or impacts and inform adaptive management.

Advocacy will be an overarching objective and guiding principle in our work. By identifying the audience, we would aim to target and take each of our stakeholders on a journey of change from Educate to Advocate to Action as per our Theory of Change.

Why Advocacy?

• The low gains made by the environmental movement over the last 50 years clearly indicate that to be effective strategy and focus are needed. • Preaching “sustainable living” is not enough. • There is a global leadership crisis. • There is increasing division between different sectors of society and misinformation. • Corporate ‘Greenwashing’ is rampant. • There is a sense of helplessness among public and no really meaningful common understanding of the term “advocacy.” • What will be the role and priorities of environmental NGOs in 2022 and beyond? In South Africa – this is built on the back of our excellent constitution and the right to a healthy environment; Section 24. (though these tenets are not widely appreciated or fully applied) Further to this, we also need to think in global terms, or at least regional (Southern African) when considering that most of our major issues are part of the picture of global grand challenges and will not be resolved through national objectives alone. Another consideration is the increasing divide in global north vs south and the fact that the South (more vulnerable communities) will pay most of the social costs for the climate crisis (warming) and are expected will have to compromise on development as a result. Through our strategic plan, WESSA’s role in this is as follows: Our Advocacy Model The organization wants to grow WESSA’s status as a leading, trusted voice on environmental issues. WESSA needs be a thought leader, champion, expert and a leading voice for a healthy biosphere where human resource-use is sustainably-managed. We want to be involved in critical areas where we can deliver measurable outcomes backed up with a fundraising strategy. Our advocacy work will be firm but restrained and properly aligned to information rather than emotional opinion. Education and awareness raising, development of decision support tools, coordinated collective action, and demonstrating and implementing place-based solutions will achieve this. WESSA offers ways of resolving complex problems, not just critique.

Advocacy will be an overarching thread in our work.

axter

We will be targeting specific audiences and we would like to take them on a journey with us.

Audiences

The Public

Succesful mobilization of citizen voices Public education, leadership development, advocacy building, and community

Influencers

Collaborative action among partners

Influencer education, demonstration programmes, media advocacy and coalition building

Decision Makers

Influencing improved policy

Policymaker education, public forums, champion development and the lobbying of model legislation

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Action Action will flow out of the Education and Advocacy Workstreams, it is the culminative effect of the work done through Education and Advocacy. This includes mitigation, protection and stewardship, rehabilitation and transformation and the key actions we will advocate for. As an example, one of the key concerns we want to address is our failing protected areas system and while there is certainly a requirement for some long-term pressure (advocacy) on government officials (the politicians) – this is where the Friends groups not only provide opportunity for some temporary relief of sorts, but also put WESSA in a strategic position to be an organisation which each of these parks will lean on later, when things improve and new management models are looked at.

Advocate

Target

Take on a journey of change

Identify the audience

from

Action

Will

Awareness

This could start for instance with identification of the “top 10” provincial parks in distress and a strategy be developed to set up volunteer Friends groups near those parks to support them. Very much like the model used by Honorary Rangers too.

This strategy could be led by the sharing of some best practice examples from our Friends Groups that are working including aspects of joint management structures, permissions, skills required, focus areas, funding etc. WESSA can play a supporting role to other conservation entities as well. This could include bringing project funding into existing conservation initiatives experiencing challenges with their funding models. We would need to develop a filter for which projects could be supported here. It is also envisaged that this is a good place for volunteer projects to fit into. We will investigate the setting up of a Conservation Fund from which volunteer projects could request funding. This could be a formalised application process with a committee that will assign funding and that the projects need to report to. This committee could include members with the relevant scientific and conservation background. This would be an appropriate space for smaller wildlife projects that contribute to the goals of reduction of biodiversity and habitat loss. The projects that fall under this workstream will to some extend have to be self-funded, at least initially, and the development of this will need an investment from WESSA to grow this. In time there will be a track-record again of conservation projects that will enable us to attract long-term grant funding. It is recommended that the success of this is monitored over an extended period and not to look for short-term gains other than the volunteer projects that have often been part of a long-term local action project with proof of success.

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Problem based approach In the development of the themes and for our work going forward we used an approach that will allowed to stay focussed and also to be able to measure the success and output of our work. This approach is based on identifying a specific problem and to access what impact we can have on that problem. We would like to address problems and take the process all the way to completion and where it is resolved. The steps in this process are as follows: Step 1: • Identify the problem that you would like to solve. • Next, ask: what is the direct cause of this problem? • Finally, ask: what is the indirect cause of the problem – the cause of the cause? Step 2: Apply our theory of change. This shows how our activities will lead to major changes. We want to show how activities lead to intermediate outcomes, which lead to impact and our ultimate outcomes.

The below figure demonstrates how our Advocacy work and Programmes (action) align.

Responding to harmful activities / events

Identify key PROBLEM for each theme

Better aligned to THEMES and PROBLEMS

Problem A problem that can be seen or experienced. Example: Children cannot read

Develop Theory of Change for each PROBLEM

Environmental Governance Committee (letters / positions etc)

Impact An improvement in the problem Example: More children can read

Supports advocacy Theory of Change

Coordination of PROGRAMMES carried out by dedicated team

Coordination of ADVOCACY plan carried out by dedicated team

Direct Cause The reason for the problem Example: Poor reading instruction

Outcome A change in the direct cause Example: Better reading

Indirect Cause The deeper reason. The cause of the direct cause. Example: Poor teacher training

Outcome A change in the direct cause Example: Better teacher training

Activity How you change beliefs and actions Example: Convince government to invest in teacher training

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THEMATIC AREAS

How

WESSA’s thematic work areas will focus on the key environmental issues of climate action, biodiversity and habitat integrity, and the reduction of pollution. As an organisation committed to supporting the challenges that our planet faces, and the people that live on it, we have made a decision to articulate our thematic areas in a positive way to facilitate climate action, biodiversity and habitat integrity, and pollution reduction. The below section is not an exhaustive list but a work plan that is aimed at leveraging of existing work and the immediate opportunities identified by the Working Group. Climate Action Combatting climate change is in our best interest nationally. Our national circumstances and developmental needs require that we prioritise this. It affects not only our environmental realities but our economy and society as well. We need to join other countries that have shifted toward low-emissions policies that affect how global trade and demand for goods and resources are shaped by such policy change. It is also needs to be a major contributor to the combatting of poverty reduction and the eradication of inequality. major contributor to the combatting of poverty reduction and eradication inequality.

WESSA Education and Training

Reactive advocacy through the WESSA Environmental Governance

WESSA Programmes and Projects

Proactive Advocacy

Opportunities • Development of a toolkit for civil society mobilisation and a civil society receptive to action. • Develop (redevelop) education and training material to approach corporate and public service on the basics of climate change and the climate crisis. • Develop teacher training for climate change to support the school curriculum. • Incubating Youth-led climate action (Activate Change drivers as potential partners). • Reviewing WESSA education programmes to fall under our three key themes and emphasising this with our schools. • Developing a climate change education course for Department of Basic Education (DBE) officials. • Fostering relationships with tertiary institutions, to strengthen our alliance with the DBE. WESSA’s aim is not to single-handedly solve the climate crisis, but we can raise awareness about policies, practices, proposed legislation with climate relevance, and try to get people to ‘come on our side’. We don’t have the expertise currently to solve the climate crisis, but we do have expertise to be a critical observer and to gather public support for policies that need amended or legislation not followed.

WESSA offers solutions, not just critique.

Three sub-themes have been identified under the key theme of climate action:

Mitigation, adaptation and resilience – helping people protect themselves and their livelihoods

Advocacy - legal, accountability, stakeholder engagement, policy reviews and alliances

Fossil Fuels – supporting the transition to renewable

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Terrestrial Pollution opportunities

When we protect biodiversity and habitats, we are also supporting Africa’s development need and protecting the needs of future generations. For this to be truly successful it does require us to rethink the way we consider biodiversity and habitats and in fact to make it a part of the development agenda. We need to work outside the boundaries of the traditional protected spaces and work with people on how this can be done in their everyday lives so that we can add to the formally and informally protected areas. There has been a failure of management of state-owned protected areas. BIODIVERSITY AND HABITAT INTEGRITY

support the processes for certification. • We will leverage on WESSA’s legacy and connection to the Kruger National Park and understand our role and how we can make an impact with the Kruger turnaround plan. • Obtain endorsement from the Minister of the Department of Forestry Fisheries and Environment to lobby international funding, through the IUCN SA committee to provide training and capacity-building for KNP rangers. • Developing our role in how to influence the Wildlife Economy in South Africa.

• Fostering of new African leaders (government and business and civil society) for provincial park development • Partnering with provincial and national conservation agencies • WESSA can provide capacity-building/training of rangers/conservation personnel to support them and thereby improve the management of protected areas. • Development of mini biodiversity hotspots, focusing on the biome and teaching biodiversity through the school curriculum. • Creating a connection between vulnerable protected areas and the children from these areas for long-term stewardship. • Developing partnerships with stakeholders to reduce the threat to protected areas. • We will leverage the IUCN Green List as an opportunity to work with protected areas to

Three sub-themes have been identified under the key theme of biodiversity and habitat loss:

River systems

Ocean systems

Terrestrial systems

Freshwater Systems opportunities • Reviving some previously developed projects • Strengthen partnership with Department of Water and Sanitation through engagement • Align with strategic stakeholders in the sector • We will encourage and support membership activities

(fresh water and estuarine)

(Protected areas, sustainable resource utilisation, wildlife economy)

This includes peri-urban areas, wetlands, rivers, oceans, agro ecosystems. There will be a focus on biomes and areas of endemism and high ecological importance. We will establish a forum with key stakeholders in the sector to form solid partnerships.

Ocean Systems opportunities

How

• Support the Integrated Coastal Management Act implementation • Optimise the Green Coast label on our coastline (e.g. West Coast, St Lucia, Kosi Bay etc) • Leverage the iCAN (Integrated coastal action network) concept by creating a youth community of marine and coastal user groups (e.g. surf, spearfishing, fishing community) revolving identification of local issues, and support in the development of an action plan to address these. • Focus on advocacy around ocean systems and be thought leaders in this space.

WESSA Education and Training

WESSA Programmes and Projects

Partnering with provincial and national conservation agencies

Advocacy through the WESSA Environmental

Citizen science for local environmental issues

Work with membership on local projects

Playing a convening role

Governance Committee

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POLLUTION REDUCTION

Pollution opportunities

• WESSA aims to address the well-being of South Africans and their right to live in healthy environments. Our role will be to reinforce this. • WESSA will focus on the upper, mid, and lower sections and pollutants in our water ways, and the subsequent marine impact. • We will interrogate the causes and seek accountability. • We will focus on advocacy through the mobilisation of political and civic groups. • WESSA recognises that pollution requires a lot of attention, from a human health perspective, and leads to biodiversity loss. • We will foster synergy with Membership under this theme

Develop through leadership and understanding of the critical pollution impacts facing South Africa.

Three sub-themes have been identified under the key theme of Pollution

Aquatic pollution

Terrestrial pollution

Air pollution

(rivers, wetlands, estuaries and marine)

How

Programmes and Projects

Reactive Advocacy through the Environmental

Education and Training

Governance Committee

Think tanks

Clean-ups with membership

Symposiums

Convening role

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STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND OBJECTIVES

Resource Mobilisation, Fundraising and Communications

Targeted marketing and strategic communications are fundamental pre-requisites to successful resource mobilisation and fundraising. The Resource Mobilisation, Fundraising and Communications Working Group provided key guidelines to take WESSA forward on a strategic supporter journey. This include the following: • Appoint a Fundraising Manager and a Marketing and Communications Manager as a matter of urgency • Approval of a Marketing budget • Re-purposing and developing the WESSA brand to garner wide support. • Communicating the achievements of WESSA to different audiences for different purposes. • Identifying the important stakeholder groups and alliances to support the WESSA cause. • Diversifying the income streams of WESSA and building fundraising capacity. • Ensuing the best use of existing resources and assets and, where required, mobilising new resources. • Enabling WESSA to become finically sustainable through annuity income streams. • Making the call to action more accessible and relatable by using storytelling and case studies in our communications and marketing.

Finance Governance and Human Resources • We will develop a ‘fit for purpose’ model for WESSA with business model principles and structure • We will initiate a full cost analysis of the WESSA Group including all properties • A Governance Task Team will look at streamlining the Group structure • We will establish an investment vehicle for WESSA – a WESSA Trust Fund • We will optimise a legacy request strategy • We will ensure WESSA liquidity and sustainable reserves • We will develop a risk matrix as a tool to measure and manage financial health of WESSA • We will determine our transition needs to ensure financial sustainability, with milestones. • We will undertake a skills audit of core critical and scarce skills to identify gaps and capacity (Learning and development needs} • We will optimize the current Volunteer Program with Membership to strengthen capacity of our work (Act) • We will focus on succession planning and develop a 5-year succession plan • We will focus on employee wellness to promote a supportive culture leading to our becoming an employer of choice • We will instil a culture of continuous learning for all our stakeholders • We will determine the skills gaps once the strategy is finalized • We will undertake a high level review of key HR policies to ensure there is alignment with all WESSA stakeholders i.e. WESSA staff, membership regions and branches. • We will determine the transition needs to ensure HR are in place, with milestones. This strategy does depend on two key support systems being put in place. The first is the appointment of a Senior Marketing and Communications Manager and the second is the employment of a Senior Fundraising and Business Development Manager.

Our aim is to develop an effective communication and marketing strategy to amplify the work and the success of WESSA so that, in turn, we can begin to develop a coherent fundraising and resource mobilisation plan. The one needs to follow the other.

Ultimately, we seek to diversify the revenue streams of WESSA on the back of i) great achievements and ii) an urgency and imperative to solve pressing environmental and conservation issues that impact on human wellbeing. Currently WESSA is almost entirely reliant on project funding, grants and income from education centres. There is no active systematic fundraising from individuals nor is there a focus on trusts and foundations to support our work. The key part of our fundraising strategy will be to maximise opportunities that already exist which we can further develop. These include: • Fundraising from individuals at scale – i.e., small amounts at high volumes e.g. face-to-face fundraising. • Targeted Fundraising via specific campaigns (including an endowment fund) • Fundraising from high-net-worth individuals (the donor journey) • Legacy planning (bequests) • Events e.g. auctions and sporting events

• Trusts and Foundations • Corporate partnerships

• Leveraged assets such as our properties • Grant writing for large international grants • Partnerships with other NGOs • Annuity income via MySchool/My Planet

• Cause-related marketing and fundraising opportunities • Investigating new funding models such as blockchains

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NEXT STEPS After the completion of the membership roadshow we consolidated the input received. The Strategic Working Group met on the 18 th of July 2022 to consolidate the final submission to the Board. The final strategy will be presented to the Board on the 30 th of July 2022. Following from this a Membership Working Group will be established to guide the operational structure and format of Membership. The composition of the Working Group will be representative of all regions and include members and staff. We will look at membership structures, organizational support for membership, fundraising and governance and more importantly for opportunities for membership and full-time staff to work together more. Immediately following the approval of the strategy by the Board, the CEO, Exco and senior staff will meet to develop the operational plan that will support this strategy. This will involve evaluating the organisational structure, programmes and projects and priorities a series of actions as well as partnerships to pursue. We will also develop a filter to apply an objective set of criteria to deal with the myriad of environmental and conservation issues confronting the organisation so that WESSA can remain focussed on those issues relevant to the new strategy. Project WESSA 100 In March 2022 WESSA turned 96. In less than four years, this incredible organisation will celebrate its centenary. WESSA’s centennial is an opportunity to (re)tell our origin story and demonstrate our evolution and continued success. WESSA has a unique story to tell, derived from our actions and our people over time. We will establish a fundraising drive for a celebration of WESSA’s successes and raise funds for a substantial endowment fund targeting R100 million. A centennial book, highlighting 100 notable achievements, will be part of the process. WESSA “SPECIAL PROJECTS”

One of the most important steps in fundraising is the development of a plan. Often an organization will see the intended results or impact of the work to be funded as sufficient for successful fundraising. Certainly, a meaningful project (a more generalized term for the work to be done) is the reason an organization wants to raise money in the first place. However, it is the overall viability of the organization which guarantees the long-term success of the goal – and this starts with a coherent fundraising and resource mobilisation plan. WESSA has a 7-step fundraising plan to take us forward: • Employing a fundraising specialist

• Assessing the world outside and the funding landscape • Assessing the organization itself and assuring adaptability • Evaluating our products, services and programs • Making our organization more visible • Starting to raise funds!

The below infographic is a suggested filter for us to use when deciding on the work to focus on.

WANT to do

Passion

DO

CAN do

SHOULD do

Skills/Expertise

Strategic Themes

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CONCLUSION In a world where so many things have limited popularity and instant gratification has become the norm whilst we are facing bigger challenges than ever, there is a real need for an organisation like WESSA to remain focussed on long-term sustained efforts to protect our environment. We have done so for nearly 100 years and more recently we have been able to say we will be able to do it for another 100 years. We took stock, we adapted but we also refocused on what we are good at – working with civil society and creating a wave of action that has significant impact on the challenges we face. This strategic plan will act as the roadmap to guide us, and to lead us to continued success by using our strong suits; the power of education, advocacy and action. This strategic plan brings together our history but also our current strengths. We will make a significant impact on the climate realities we face, protecting biodiversity and associated habitats and by reducing pollution. We are WESSA – people caring for the Earth.

PHOTO CREDITS

Cover: Andrew Baxter

Pages 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 25, 26: Helena Atkinson Pages 4, 8, 14, 18, 20, 24: Andrew Baxter

Back: Andrew Baxter

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www.wessa.org.za

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