phase 1 – final report - capenature - conserve. …€¦ · · 2015-06-19phase 1 – final...

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T · +27 21 702 2884 26 Bell Close, Westlake Business Park F · +27 86 555 0693 Westlake 7945, Cape Town NCC Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd | Reg. No: 2007/023691/07 | VAT No. 4450208915

REAL GROWTH FOR PEOPLE, PLANET AND BUSINESS www.ncc-group.co.za

PHASE 1 – FINAL REPORT

An Investment Business Case of the

Income Generation Potential of Protected

Areas in the Western Cape

PREPARED FOR:

CapeNature, Tourism Development

ATT: Ms M. Jacobs

DATED:

10 April 2015

PREPARED BY:

Andrew Purnell

M · 082 454 3744

E · [email protected]

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NCC Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd CapeNature Sustainable Financing Project – Apr 2015 of 64 Reg. No: 2007/023691/07

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 5

2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 7

2.1 Project Background ............................................................................................................................. 7

3 DRIVERS AND TRENDS IN THE SUSTAINABLE FINANCING OF PROTECTED AREAS ................ 9

3.1 International drivers and trends.......................................................................................................... 9

3.2 South African initiatives ..................................................................................................................... 10

3.2.1 DEA National PA Financing Strategy .......................................................................................... 10

3.2.2 GEF5 ........................................................................................................................................... 10

3.3 Western Cape initiatives.................................................................................................................... 11

3.3.1 Western Cape Green Economy Initiative .................................................................................. 11

3.3.2 The Western Cape Eco-Invest Project ....................................................................................... 11

3.3.3 City of Cape Town - Investing in Natural Assets ........................................................................ 12

3.3.4 DEDAT Programme 6 and 7 ....................................................................................................... 12

4 PROJECT AIMS ................................................................................................................ 13

4.1 Project aims over three phases ......................................................................................................... 13

4.2 Phase I Deliverables ........................................................................................................................... 14

5 PROJECT METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 15

5.1 Project Team and the Project Steering Committee .......................................................................... 15

5.2 Project Timeline ................................................................................................................................. 16

5.3 Phase I ............................................................................................................................................... 17

5.4 Phase II .............................................................................................................................................. 18

5.5 Phase III ............................................................................................................................................. 18

6 PHASE ONE ACTIVITY REPORT ......................................................................................... 19

6.1 Raising staff awareness and assessing expectations ......................................................................... 19

6.2 The compilation of the Income Generation Matrix ........................................................................... 19

6.3 Notes, observations and comments for leadership from internal workshops ................................. 21

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6.3.1 Tourism ...................................................................................................................................... 21

6.3.2 Commercial Activities and Renewable Energy .......................................................................... 24

6.3.3 Organisational Readiness .......................................................................................................... 26

6.3.4 Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and Natural Resource Utilisation ................................ 29

6.3.5 Expectations, risks and concerns ............................................................................................... 31

6.3.6 Funding ...................................................................................................................................... 33

6.4 Notes and comments from interviews with external experts and role players ................................ 35

6.4.1 Tourism Development ............................................................................................................... 35

6.4.2 Tourism Investment ................................................................................................................... 36

6.4.3 Tourism Marketing .................................................................................................................... 36

6.4.4 Customer Service ....................................................................................................................... 36

6.4.5 Tourism and Socio-economic Development.............................................................................. 37

6.4.6 Insights for leadership ............................................................................................................... 37

6.5 Insights from meetings with CapeNature Managers and Executives ................................................ 37

6.5.1 Tourism ...................................................................................................................................... 37

6.5.2 Planning ..................................................................................................................................... 38

6.5.3 Marketing .................................................................................................................................. 38

6.5.4 Systems and tools ...................................................................................................................... 39

6.5.5 Skills development and staff engagement ................................................................................ 39

6.5.6 Managing expenditure .............................................................................................................. 39

6.5.7 Summary of Executive Insights .................................................................................................. 39

6.6 Project Communication Strategy ...................................................................................................... 40

6.7 Development of Terms of Reference for Phase Two Business Development Consultants ............... 40

7 INCOME GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES........................................................................... 41

7.1 The Income Generation Matrix ......................................................................................................... 41

7.2 Identifying the best opportunities - evaluation criteria .................................................................... 41

7.3 Designing ‘Sustainable Financing Projects’ in Phase II ...................................................................... 42

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7.4 Identifying sites and focus areas for the implementation of income generation initiatives in Phase

III 42

8 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 43

9 ENQUIRIES ...................................................................................................................... 45

9.1 Relating to the implementation of Phase I ........................................................................................ 45

9.2 Relating to the ongoing implementation of the project in Phase II and III ....................................... 45

10 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 46

T · +27 21 702 2884 | www.ncc-group.co.za 5

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this executive summary is to provide CapeNature’s executive leadership with a synopsis of

key emerging observations that are forthcoming from Phase I and that have an important bearing on the

success of the project in subsequent phases.

One thing that cannot be overlooked is the general enthusiasm with which CapeNature employees have

engaged the project team through Phase I. It is clear that employees have placed high expectations on this

project to provide solutions to the financial and operational challenges they are experiencing in their

respective roles. With this in mind it is imperative that the CapeNature executive team build constructively

on this positive foundation.

A key challenge that has been identified is the self-assessed lack of knowledge and skills amongst

CapeNature employees in fields such as entrepreneurship, innovation, business planning and management,

business strategy and project financial management. In general, employees don’t see themselves as being

commercially, entrepreneurially or business minded. Whilst this report contains many good ideas for

commercial income generation activities, there is also a clear lack of confidence and a perceived lack of

knowledge on how to take new business ideas forward. More understanding of this skills gap is required and

the prioritisation of an organisations skills audit to identify capacity shortfalls in related fields is advised.

Of equal importance to the skills required to perform sustainable financing functions, is the formation of a

sufficiently resourced unit where these skills can reside within the organisational structure. For this reason it

is strongly advised that during Phase II of the project, a strategic effort is made by leadership to appoint

suitably skilled and experienced personnel into a dedicated ‘Sustainable Financing Unit’ in readiness to

implement the Phase III ‘sustainable financing pilot project/s’. This unit’s mandate should be directly linked

to the organisation’s ‘Sustainable Financing Strategy’, which in turn should form part of an overall alignment

of strategic intent that drives the coordinated planning and activities of the organisation.

The effectiveness of this unit will be largely determined by the organisation’s ability to create a favourable

environment in which the team can operate, unhindered by the constraints of bureaucratic process and

procedural red-tape. That said, there are a number of areas where improvements in supporting tools and

systems are required to manage and monitor performance, particularly when dealing with private sector

investors. A high level of system support is required to deliver outcomes on time and to the expected

quality in the latter instance. Having such systems in place will go a long way to unlocking income

generation opportunities and providing real-time quantitative data to support decision making.


It is clear to all involved that successful income generation initiatives require strong partnerships with a wide

range of stakeholders. CapeNature is not going to achieve its income generation aspirations alone and

needs to be open to new forms of partnership and collaboration in order to unlock shared value.

Developing a more strategic approach to fundraising and tapping into funding sources that seek to achieve

socio-economic development outcomes is an area where the organisation can make a relatively short-term

impact on income generation targets.

The conservation sector in general will be well served to continue raising awareness within the public sector

regarding the equivalent monetary values ascribed to the ecosystem goods and services delivered to the

people of the Western Cape through the organisation’s effective management of the province’s natural

capital. Leveraging political support to apply sustained resistance to further treasury budget cuts should be

a strategic priority. Quantifying potential long-term return on investment from income generation initiatives

may further motivate treasury to invest in the capacity and resources required to unlock these

opportunities.

Finally, with the aim of sustainable financing and income generation in mind, CapeNature’s leadership

should be mindful that they are seeking maximum return with maximum certainty in alignment with their

organisational values.


2 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this report is to provide details that are material to the understanding and use of the key

Phase I deliverables, namely: a) The ‘Income Generation Matrix’ and b) The ‘Terms of Reference’ for the

appointment of the Phase II ‘Business Planning and Investment Strategy Specialist Consultants’.

It is not the intention of this report to present content or concepts that are better suited for inclusion in the

‘Sustainable Financing Strategy’, which falls within the scope of Phase II of this project.

This report therefore focuses on the following:

Summarising the project background;

Describing the process , activities and deliverables of Phase I;

Summarising insights gained through engagements with CapeNature staff and executive leadership;

Summarising insights gained through interviews with external stakeholders and key knowledge

holders;

Clarifying the broadly accepted process, activities and outcomes of Phases II and III as they relate to

the respective Terms of Reference for the Lead Advisor and the Business Planning and Investment

Strategy consultants; and

Identifying emerging considerations for CapeNature leadership that relate to the organisational

structure and the skills and resources required to support the successful implementation of

Sustainable Financing projects and initiatives in future.

2.1 Project Background

The effects of climate change on the natural resources of the Western Cape are expected to have a

significant impact on the vulnerable economic sectors and communities within the province. A key challenge

in overcoming this threat is securing sustainable funding streams for the conservation of the province’s

natural assets. To this end, the Western Cape Government (WCG), through the Department of

Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA-DP), have made funding available to CapeNature to

investigate sustainable financing potential from a range of new and innovative income streams.

This project is aligned to Provincial Strategic Objectives (PSO) 1 – Job Creation and Economic Growth and 7 –

Mainstreaming Sustainability and Optimising Resource Use Efficiency.


This project is further aligned to the Smart Ecosystems goal of the Western Cape Green Economy Strategy

Framework, which aims to achieve ‘enhanced water and biodiversity preservation, and expanded

infrastructure, tourism, livelihood and job opportunities created through better managed ecosystems’.i


3 DRIVERS AND TRENDS IN THE SUSTAINABLE FINANCING OF PROTECTED AREAS

3.1 International drivers and trends

Over the past few decades many global efforts have been made to increase funding for protected areas

(Pas). A range of innovative financing mechanisms have been developed and implemented around the world

to varying degrees of success. However, the extent to which these mechanisms have improved the financial

sustainability of PAs or have made an appreciable contribution to biodiversity conservation remains less

clear.ii

Globally, natural ecosystems and the biodiversity and livelihoods they support are undergoing rapid

degradation and depletion. Public funding for conservation, especially in developing countries, is under

severe threat from other sectors of government that require significant funding to support socio-economic

development and other pressing needs. It is therefore crucial that we understand the interrelationship

between environmental quality and economic profitability. This thinking needs to be integrated into

macroeconomic analysis and included in decision-making processes in the areas of financing and

investment.iii

One area of sustainable financing that has enjoyed

significant awareness in the conservation sector is

‘Payment for Ecosystem Services’ (PES). Whilst

awareness is high, the sector’s understanding of the

practical mechanisms for unlocking the income

generation potential of PES remains low. Most of the

knowledge relating to these mechanisms resides with

specialist consultants and not with the employees of

regional conservation agencies where it can be

applied. This gap needs to be closed and it would be

beneficial for national governments and non-profit

organisations to increase their focus on unlocking the

potential for regional conservation agencies to derive tangible financial benefit through PES.

The ecosystem goods and services provided by the natural capital of the Western Cape are still relatively

poorly understood and largely unquantified. Strategic partnerships between NPO donors, regional

conservation agencies, local academic institutions and potential private sector participants could

DEFENITION

Sustainable financing for Protected Areas

is the capacity to secure diverse, stable

and long-term financial resources, and to

allocate them in a timely manner and in an

appropriate form, to cover the full costs

(both direct and indirect) of PA’s and to

ensure that PA’s are managed effectively

and efficiently with respect to biodiversity

conservation and other objectives.


systematically close this knowledge gap and provide working examples of PES initiatives functioning across

the landscape.

3.2 South African initiatives

There are a number of other initiatives relating to the sustainable financing of PAs that have been concluded

or are currently underway in South Africa. Where relevant, these findings and insights have been

incorporated into this report and will be further incorporated into the Phase II ‘Sustainable Financing

Strategy’. These initiatives include:

1. The Department of Environmental Affairs’ National Protected Area Financing Strategy.

2. Green is Smart – Western Cape Green Economy Strategy Framework.

3. The GEF 5 sustainable financing component.

4. SANBI Offsets Guideline.

3.2.1 DEA National PA Financing Strategy

Consultants are currently engaged by the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to produce

‘Sustainable Financing Models and Strategies for Protected Areas Management Authorities’. The resultant

document, still in draft format, aims to provide a framework to guide Provincial Management Agencies

(MAs) in their efforts to generate income. The strategy focuses on a high level review of the status quo with

regard to sustainable financing in South Africa’s nine Management Authorities (MAs), the South African

National Parks (SANParks) and the Isimangaliso Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site under the direct

management of the DEA.

The strategy goes on to present a number of sustainable financing options for MAs to consider and provides

a basic overview of each. In an attempt to follow this lead and not introduce different or conflicting

nomenclature, we have changed the names of some of the emerging income stream categories in the

‘Income Generation Matrix’ to reflect the terminology adopted through the drafting of the national strategy.

3.2.2 GEF5

A component of the GEF5 project being led by SANParks will be looking into models of how Provincial

Management Agencies can increase their income. This project will be engaging with the lead implementers

of this project in Phase II.


3.3 Western Cape initiatives

Under the umbrella of the Green Economy initiative of the Western Cape Government, there are also a

number of sustainable financing initiatives underway in the Western Cape. Some of these initiatives, like the

current project, are a direct off-shoot of the Green Economy initiative, whilst others are more loosely

related. Further to this, the City of Cape Town has produced a comprehensive ‘Business Case for the

Environment in the City of Cape Town’, which precedes many of the other initiatives and relates strongly to

the topic of sustainable financing.

3.3.1 Western Cape Green Economy Initiative

On World Environment Day 2012, the Western Cape Government launched the 110% Green initiative as a

call to action to all organisations to link Green with the Economy.

110% Green aims to be a catalyst to build a critical

mass of activity that positions the Western Cape as

Africa’s Green Economic Hub – a key economic goal of

the Western Cape Government. Through this

initiative, the Western Cape Government aims to

provide a platform that stimulates people and

organisations to build an innovative and dynamic

Green Economy. The WC Government hopes to

create an enabling environment where organisations

will pick up the flag and invest in ways that support

green economic growth.

3.3.2 The Western Cape Eco-Invest Project

The first phase of this initiative has focussed on a preliminary assessment of Ecosystem Goods and Services

(EGS) in the Western Cape and the degree to which potential exists for developing the Green Economy

through such mechanisms. The private sector has been engaged with a view to a better understanding of

the challenges and opportunities of investing in EGS from their perspective. This initiative has categorised

EGS into three core categories: a) Regulating Services, b) Provisioning Services and c) Cultural Services.

Further refinement of CapeNature’s approach to EGS should mirror this categorisation.

110% Green

The Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille,

stated that it is a call for 110% commitment

– that is what is needed to make the

paradigm shift to connect environmental

preservation and economic growth. It is

also a call for 10% impact – at the very

least.


After providing a thorough description of the various EGS, the report outlines existing initiatives currently

being implemented in the Western Cape and highlights factors that have contributed towards project

success.

In-depth consideration was given to the motivations and requirements for private sector involvement in EGS

and the Phase II Sustainable Financing Strategy should build on these insights to ensure that CapeNature

maximises the potential for successful private sector partnerships.

The initiative also reviewed a number of mechanisms to mobilise funding for private sector investment in

natural capital and these insights will be of value in Phase II, when investment strategies are developed for

the top three sustainable financing projects.

The results of detailed investigations into specific EGS-related projects are provided and this information

should be referred to by the project team in Phase II.

3.3.3 City of Cape Town - Investing in Natural Assets

This detailed document compiled in 2009 presents a ‘business case for the environment in the City of Cape

Town’. The report presents an economic valuation of Ecosystem Goods and Services within the City of Cape

Town and goes on to provide a six-step evaluation methodology to prioritise the natural and environmental

assets within the city.

The report also looks at the economic value of EGS relative to related government expenditure and uses this

to formulate arguments for investing in the city’s natural capital. This document will be a valuable resource

for further reference in Phase II.

3.3.4 DEDAT Programme 6 and 7

The Annual Performance Plan 2015/16 of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT)

offers valuable insights into how the Western Cape Government plans to invest in key areas of the provincial

economy. During Phase II of this project due consideration needs to be given to how CapeNature’s

Sustainable Financing Strategy aligns to DEDAT’s Programme 6 and 7.


4 PROJECT AIMS

4.1 Project aims over three phases

The overarching objective of this project is to enable CapeNature to have more control over the funding it

receives to fulfil its mandate. Engagements with CapeNature employees have highlighted the high

expectations that are being placed on this project to resolve the financial constraints that the organisation is

currently facing. Through this process, it is anticipated that the organisation will become increasingly

financially self-sufficient over time, however the organisation will continue to have a strong reliance on

Provincial Treasury in order to fulfil its public good service to the people of the Western Cape.

It is the intention for subsequent phases of the project to develop business plans and investment strategies

that will be used to implement the most viable sustainable financing project opportunities identified.

The broad scope in the project’s terms of reference referred to the following:

• To determine the scope and level of income generation potential through data collection;

• To focus on private sector investment and employment creation;

• To use the project outcomes as the basis for sound strategic decisions and policy development to

facilitate sustainable income generation in and around PAs in the WC;


• To conduct detailed business planning for a limited number of viable high return on investment

initiatives;

• To unlock investment for initiatives chosen for implementation; and

• To support the initial implementation of a significant new income stream.

4.2 Phase I Deliverables

The expected deliverables for Phase I, as per the project service level agreement, are as follows:

Conduct capacity building workshops;

Conduct local stakeholder engagements;

Internal collation of best practice data;

Engage with stakeholders to develop and populate a matrix prioritising income generation ideas;

Draft a comprehensive terms of reference for Phase II service providers;

Provide monthly updates on project progress; and

Report on stakeholder engagement findings and implications for the project planning going forward.


5 PROJECT METHODOLOGY

5.1 Project Team and the Project Steering Committee

The project team and Project Steering Committee consisted of the following individuals:

Consultant Project Team: NCC Environmental Services Pty (Ltd)

Andrew Purnell – Lead Advisor

Mark Botha – Specialist Support to the Lead Advisor

Donovan Kirkwood - Specialist Support to the Lead Advisor

Farha Domingo – Project Logistics and Administration

Project Steering Committee

CapeNature Project Team

Mahbobah Jacobs – Project Lead

Lee-Xavier Schoonraad – Project Assistant

Internal Advisory Committee

Dr Razeena Omar

Sandy Floris

Wilfred Williams

Morné Magerman

Pierre De Villiers

Meral Hey

Melikhaya Pantsi

Marietjie Engelbrecht

Ben van Staden

Gail Cleaver

Jennifer Gouza (replaced by Ernst Baard)

External Advisory Committee

Marlene Laros (DEADP)

Albert Ackhurst (DEADP)

Helen Davies (CoCT)

Julia Wood (CoCT)

Lauren Hermanus (DEADP)

Karen Shippy (DEADP)

Kobi Brand (DEADP)

Janine Daries (DEDAT)

Charlene Mouton (DEDAT)

Cabral Wicht (DoTP)

Goodwill Dingaan (DEDAT)

Through the course of Phase I, the Project Steering Committee met twice:

1. The Project Inception Meeting was held at Driftsands Nature Reserve on 30 October 2014. This

meeting was attended by the following representatives:


CapeNature: Lucien Swartz , Meral Hay, Lee-Xavier Schoonraad, Morné Magerman, Ben van

Staden, Ernst Baard, Trevor Luthango, Marietjie Engelbrecht, Deon Hignett , Mahbobah

Jacobs, Gail Christie;

Western Cape Government: Lauren Hermanus, Bernard Niemand, Anzel Venter;

City of Cape Town: Helen Davies; and

NCC: Andrew Purnell, Farha Domingo, Donovan Kirkwood.

2. A Project Progress Meeting was held for the Project Steering Committee on 5 February 2015 at

CapeNature’s Bridgetown Head Office. This meeting was attended by:

CapeNature: Mahbobah Jacobs, Lee-Xavier Schoonraad, Gail Cleaver-Christie, Melikhaya

Pantsi, Marietjie Engelbrecht, Sandy Floris;

Western Cape Government: Lauren Hermanus, Marlene Laros; and

City of Cape Town: Julia Woods.

A further meeting was held with the CapeNature executive leadership team to present a project update

and emerging considerations. This meeting was held on 20 January 2014 at CapeNature’s Bridgetown

Head Office. The meeting was attended by the following representatives of the executive team:

Dr Ernst Baard - Executive Director Biodiversity Support;

Mr Sheraaz Ismail – Executive Director Marketing & Eco Tourism;

Ms Gail Cleaver-Christie – Executive Director Conservation Operations;

Mrs Rowena Vaughn – Senior Manager Human Resources;

Ms Mahbobah Jacobs – Senior Manager Green Economy and Public Private Partnerships;

and

Mr Morné Magerman – Senior Manager Strategic Management Support.

5.2 Project Timeline

The project timeline can be illustrated as follows:


OCT 2014 NOV 2014 DEC 2014 JAN 2015 FEB 2015 MAR 2015

Project Inception (30

th October)

Internal Regional Workshops

Internal & External Interviews

Mid Dec – Draft Matrix produced

Mid Jan – Mid Feb: Internal & External Interviews

Mid-end Jan: Final Matrix

End Feb: Final Phase II TORs

Mid-March: Final Phase I Report

5.3 Phase I

The objectives of Phase I were to raise awareness in CapeNature about sustainable financing of PAs and to

have thoroughly engaged with key internal and external stakeholders in order to populate a matrix with data

on all relevant potential income streams. A further process would eliminate non-viable opportunities. The

Lead Advisor was then to draft terms of reference for the appointment of (Business Planning and Investment

Strategy) consultants to conduct further detailed viability studies and business planning in Phase II.

Phase I Activities:

• To raise awareness amongst CapeNature staff about the sustainable financing of PAs through

presentations and the facilitation of discussions at CapeNature meetings.

• To review relevant documentation about sustainable PA financing and translate the insights gained

into the design of an ‘income generation matrix’.

• To engage with key internal and external knowledge holders for the purpose of gathering data for

the income generation matrix.

• To engage the Project Steering Committee through update e-mails and report-back meetings in

order to keep the Project Steering Committee informed of project progress and to collectively agree

on solutions for any challenges that may arise.

• Draft the Phase II Terms of Reference for the Business Planning and Investment Strategists.

• Produce a Phase I Closure Report that provides the details of Phase I project activities and

outcomes.


5.4 Phase II

The aim of Phase II is to appoint Business Planning and Investment Strategy experts to gather more detailed

data for capture in the ‘Income Generation Matrix’. This will be used to apply the selected evaluation

criteria and prioritise the income generating opportunities in the matrix.

The Lead Advisor, along with the Business Planning and Investment Strategists, will then design ten

‘Sustainable Financing Projects’, combining different priority income streams from the matrix with groups of

sites/reserves suitable for implementation. A part of this design phase will be the development of business

models for each of the Sustainable Financing Projects, which will help the consultants and the Project

Steering Committee to identify the top three Sustainable Financing Projects.

The Business Planning and Investment Strategists will then be tasked with producing full business plans and

investment strategies for the top three sustainable financing projects that identify the infrastructure,

capacity and operational requirements of the projects and further identify the criteria and opportunities for

investment that will support the operations of the income generating initiatives through the Phase III pilot

phase and beyond. An associated process of conducting spatial sensitivity mapping and land-use zonation

will be conducted by the team.

5.5 Phase III

The Lead Advisor will facilitate the selection of ‘Sustainable Financing Projects’ for pilot implementation in

Phase III by the CapeNature Executive and the Project Steering Committee.

The Lead Advisor will then provide support to CapeNature through the ‘start-up phase’ of the income

generation initiatives selected for launch in the form of: Organisational change management; monitoring

personnel performance, identifying capacity gaps and recommending capacity building interventions;

monitoring adherence to the business plan; supporting investor relationships and facilitating further

engagement with external specialists.


6 PHASE ONE ACTIVITY REPORT

6.1 Raising staff awareness and assessing expectations

A primary focus of Phase I of this project has been to raise internal awareness about the project and to

engage with CapeNature employees to: a) Gather ideas about potential income streams; b) Gain insights into

the supporting measures that need to be put in place in order to meet income generation targets and c)

Identify challenges and risks relating to the successful implementation of subsequent phases of the project.

Four regional workshops were held at which a project introductory presentation was given and attendees

contributed their insights and ideas through a number of facilitated activities.

In support of the awareness-raising regional workshops, a project blog post was created for use as a

reference tool for CapeNature employees. The blog post provided hyperlinks to definitive publications and

other online resources relating to sustainable financing.

In partnership with CapeNature’s communications department, a short animated video was produced to

explain the purpose and planned activities of the project.

The blog post and video can be found online at: http://www.ncc-group.co.za/blog/2014/12/capenature-

project-income-generation-sustainable-financing-protected-areas .

6.2 The compilation of the Income Generation Matrix

The Income Generation Matrix is a database of all income streams identified through the consultant’s

research and provided by CapeNature employees and external stakeholders. The purpose of the matrix is to

have all potential means of income generation for PAs in an easily accessible document for the subsequent

phases of this project. At this point 131 potential income streams have been identified.

To address initial concerns about the risks of negative impacts on biodiversity from more commercially

oriented income generation, a set of evaluation criteria (Section 7.2) have been proposed for the income

streams captured in the Income Generation Matrix. These criteria will be further refined in Phase II when

they will be applied to identify the most viable and priority income streams for further Sustainable Finance

Project planning.

http://www.ncc-group.co.za/blog/2014/12/capenature-project-income-generation-sustainable-financing-protected-areas

http://www.ncc-group.co.za/blog/2014/12/capenature-project-income-generation-sustainable-financing-protected-areas


Through this process a logical grouping of income generation categories has emerged and this has been

refined to align with, for as far as possible, national sustainable financing terminology.

The categories in the income generation matrix are as follows:

1. Tourism (40 income streams listed).

2. Natural Resource Utilisation (8 income streams listed).

3. Domestic Government Funding (15 income streams listed).

4. Bilateral and Multilateral Donor Funding (6 income streams listed).

5. Payment for Ecosystem Services (10 income streams listed).

6. Grants, Donations and Sponsorships (14 income streams listed).

7. Renewable Energy (7 income streams listed).

8. Investment & Commercial Opportunities (23 income streams listed).

9. Market Priced Services (3 income streams listed).

10. Leveraging Position as Management Authority for Land (5 income streams listed).

It is the intention for the Income Generation Matrix to serve as a ‘living document’ that gets updated and

refined on an ongoing basis so that CapeNature leadership always have the latest and most relevant

information about income generation opportunities and best practice at hand.

An example from the Income Generation Matrix.


6.3 Notes, observations and comments for leadership from internal workshops

Four regional workshops were held to raise awareness about the project amongst CapeNature employees

and to engage with them on their questions, thoughts, ideas and concerns. Sixty-nine employees

participated in the workshops and their comments and input is presented below.

It is worthwhile noting the difference in the level of attention the different areas of discussion enjoyed over

the four workshops. From the breakdown below, it is clear that tourism is top-of-mind when it comes to

conversations about income generation. This is understandable, as tourism is currently the main income

generator for the organisation, but this phenomenon highlights the need for further awareness raising

initiatives about other means of income generation.

6.3.1 Tourism

The figure below provides an indication of the levels of focus that CapeNature staff direct at different

aspects of tourism income generation. The percentages presented reflect the number of times a related

point was raised in the regional workshops relative to the number of participants at the internal workshops.

Looking at this graph, it is evident, for example, that there was a higher incidence of CapeNature employees

raising points relating to new income generating initiatives than there was of employees raising points

relating to access by low-income communities to CapeNature tourism products. This is not to say that

CapeNature employees don’t place a high importance on the latter, but, merely that, through the workshop

discussions, ideas relating to new income generation activities were more forthcoming.

44%

15%

13%

11%

10%

7% TOURISM INCOME STREAMS

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES ANDRENEWABLE ENERGY

ORGANISATIONAL READINESS

PES & NATURAL RESOURCEUTILISATION

EXPECTATIONS, RISKS ANDCONCERNS

FUNDING STREAMS


That said, this could, however flag a concern that internal awareness about the importance of providing

access to all citizens could be enhanced within the organisation.

It also appears that many employees have an opinion on how the organisation can improve the marketing of

its tourism products and a number of ideas were shared in this regard.

The other information presented graphically below should be evaluated within a similar framework.

The following specific points where raised during the internal workshops (these points were either raised

repeatedly or enjoyed widespread support by other participants):

Noteworthy Comments: TOURISM

“We need strategies for the off-peak periods.”

0%

10%

20%

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Tourism Income Streams


“We need to focus on making our current tourism products better and then on making them more diverse.”

“We could develop the Walker Bay to Quinn Point 4x4 fishing trail.”

“We could increase the number of day visitors allowed into reserves (e.g. Tweede Tol) and also allow activities that the market is telling us they want - like braaiing, dog walking and potentially also alcohol consumption in designated areas.”

“We need to capitalise on the Capitalize on The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site at Swartberg.”

“CapeNature needs its own in-house tour operator business unit, not just a bookings call centre.”

“Investigate partnership opportunities with private land owners adjacent to reserves, so as to enable higher impact activities to take place outside of core areas.”

“There is real potential for a large ‘game management area’ in the Karoo and this site could be a focus area for a number of different income generation initiatives. We could draw on the ‘Karoo Biodiversity List’ and give blanket approval for a game species list in this area. This will give the private sector confidence to invest in the area and then over time we focus on only fencing the people and agriculture in and creating a massive game management area which could support historically occurring elephant as well as black rhino.”

Noteworthy Comments: MARKETING

“We need to use all staff as sales people.”

“I think we should train tourism and reserve staff to cross-sell and up-sell.“

“We should focus our marketing message on the benefits and accessibility of a healthy outdoor lifestyle through CapeNature accommodation and activity products.”

“CapeNature needs to become much better at using social media and technology across everything we do and make the organisation relatable on social-media.”

“Develop strategic social media engagements with youth to increase demand for CapeNature reserves and interact with younger demographic by being active on existing social media platforms.”

“We should sell the ‘life on a game reserve’ or ‘life of a reserve manager’ experience to volunteers.”

“We need to link to other strong brands and form marketing partnerships that increase our reach and strengthen our profile.”

“Cape Town is one of the best tourist destinations in the world, we need to leverage off that.”

“Use the ‘string of pearls’ tour package approach to market the collective value of tourism products.”

“A structured volunteer programme and ‘honorary ranger’ type programme could be a good way of engaging our target market and leveraging off the social media they generate.”

“We should have a system that allows us to offer discounts on accommodation when people refer bookings. We should also have a loyalty programme (the longer you stay, the less you pay).”

“We could do tourism/bed-night swop outs with other Government departments to expose our accommodation and activities to new local markets.”

“CapeNature would benefit from redesigning its logo to better reflect the organisation’s conservation mandate and, so doing, gain stronger market impacts through the positive associations with biodiversity conservation.”


“Make use of celebrity appearances and endorsements. Invite prominent radio DJ’s to experience your

products.“

CapeNature leadership could take the following key insights from the information presented above:

Based on the number of points raised relating to tourism and marketing, this is an area of

expertise that staff feel confident to provide direction in.

There is scope to introduce more activities into the existing tourism product mix and, where

possible, to align these activities with off-peak periods.

There is scope to introduce new marketing messages and channels into the tourism marketing

strategy, with a specific focus on social-media.

The organisation should focus on both developing new tourism products and refining existing

products.

The organisation should continue transitioning the tourism booking office towards a proactive

tourism sales unit that can potentially also expand in scope to include a tour operator function.

6.3.2 Commercial Activities and Renewable Energy

The figure below provides an indication of the levels of focus that CapeNature staff direct at commercial

opportunities, including renewable energy. The percentages presented reflect the number of times a

related point was raised in the regional workshops relative to the number of participants at the internal

workshops.

Looking at the graph below, it is evident that employees readily came up with new ideas to generate income

from commercial activities, a scope of operation not typically associated with protected area management.

There appears to be an equal focus on the opportunity to use small-scale renewable energy to reduce the

organisation’s electricity costs, as there is to lease transformed land for the large-scale generation of

electricity by independent power producers.



repeatedly or received widespread support by other participants):

Noteworthy Comments: COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES

“We need a better and more market-related pricing model for high sites and jetties.” “We need more commercial opportunities at reserves, like restaurants, guided activities, vending machines or shops, curios, firewood sales, etc.” “There could be an ongoing harvesting of certain game species like eland and ostrich – for example at De Hoop we could be taking off 150 eland and 300 ostriches and this would be completely organic, free range venison.” “Identify a champion within CapeNature to sell the concept of renewable energy.”

“We should look into Eco-labelling, where producers can pay for a CapeNature stamp of approval.”

Noteworthy Comments: RENEWABLE ENERGY

“We should be investigating how to reduce our overheads using renewable energy.”


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Use renewableenergy to reducecosts on reserves

Lease land forRenewable Energy

Ideas for newcommercial ventures

Leasing land /infrastructure for

commercial activities

Commercial Activities and Renewable Energy


Whilst there is no shortage of commercial ideas for income generation amongst employees, the

organisation is constrained by its self-confessed inability to develop these ideas into viable income

generating initiatives (businesses). This is by no means unexpected mindful of the training and

expertise that the organisation has recruited over the years to fulfil what is primarily a conservation

mandate.

The development and sale of a large-scale renewable energy project on transformed land managed

by CapeNature presents an attractive prospect, however this opportunity needs to be weighed

against the reputational risks of failing to mitigate environmental risks and the precedence this will

establish.

The viability of installing small-scale renewable energy technologies to reduce the electricity

overheads for offices and tourism infrastructure should be explored.

6.3.3 Organisational Readiness

The graph below provides an indication of the levels of focus that CapeNature staff direct at different

aspects of organisational readiness. The percentages presented reflect the number of times a related point

was raised in the regional workshops relative to the number of participants at the internal workshops.

Looking at this graph, it is clear that employees’ greatest concern centres around the internal systems and

processes required to support successful income generation. Second to this is a concern around the internal

knowledge and skills required to make a success of income generation and sustainable financing initiatives.


Noteworthy Comments: GENERAL COMMENTS

“These initiatives seem like public private partnerships (PPPs), but packaged differently.”

“Staff at CapeNature need a mind-set shift to realise the full potential of their PAs.”

“CapeNature needs to have good business ethics to make a success of a project like this.”

“This type of project or process should be implemented for all the existing business plans.”

“Will the income generated go back into the pot or back to the PA?” “CapeNature is registered as a Schedule 3 Public Entity. More clarity is needed on what this means for the organisation in terms of any restrictions and/or limitation that may apply to the functions the organisation performs with respect to income generation.”

Noteworthy Comments: ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND STRATEGY

“There is currently no space for innovation in CapeNature. “

“It feels as if CapeNature has shot themselves in the foot as they’ve just completed 5-year management plans for some of the reserves (including Rocherpan). There was a concern that these management plans were now legally binding and would be too stringent around the zoning and use of various parts of the PAs.”

“Why can’t we have a ‘CapeNature (Pty) Ltd.’ to generate funding for the organisation by selling consulting services or doing business with a green flavour?”

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Organisational Readiness


“CapeNature staff and departments are working in silos.”

“Some strategic decisions don’t make sense, like spending R120k on renovating the manor house in Jonkershoek that brings in R60k per annum and not investing in the upgrading of the picnic site, which brings in R300k per annum.” “We need to seriously look at outsourcing some departments/functions in the organisation. I am sure we could get more value at a reduced cost by doing so.”

Noteworthy Comments: SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES

“We seem to implement many systems, but it’s not clear how they link to strategy.”

“We need better financial systems that track key metrics and provide controls for managers.”

“There should be some kind of incentive scheme that can track individual staff member’s contributions to income generation from ideation to implementation so that staff can be rewarded. This will increase the number and quality of income generation projects.”

“Staff members should be shareholders of the income generation projects implemented at their PAs.”

“CapeNature’s protected areas need better systems and procedures to be managed more effectively and efficiently. This would free up finances and resources.”

“Reduce travel expenses by using technology like Skype.”

“We need to keep up with maintenance – replacement costs a lot more.”

“We need to look carefully at those tourism products that are top performing in terms of guest/visitor numbers and understand exactly how profitable they are as stand-alone businesses. Booking numbers should not be the key performance measure we track.”

Noteworthy Comments: PLANNING

“Ask all reserve managers to map income generation opportunities in their reserves (e.g. Limietberg).”

“We should better align planning and budgeting cycles.”

Noteworthy Comments: SKILLS

“I am concerned that staff in CapeNature don’t possess the business skills to take this strategy to

implementation.”

“Our organisation’s ‘business skills’ are limited to marketing and then only really to tourism marketing.”

“We need to develop and enhance skills within CapeNature in the area of customer services.”

Noteworthy Comments: CAPACITY

“Staff members are concerned that they will be required to take on more responsibility in their jobs without

incentive. “


“Staff members are concerned that once ideas have been approved for implementation, they will be given the

responsibility to implement the project without proper support or background. “

“Improve co-ordination with other Government departments.”


There appears to be a need to budget for improved integration of IT systems to address

concerns relating to the need for improved systems and processes to support income generation

and sustainable financing.

The ‘Sustainable Financing Strategy’ developed in Phase II of this project needs to be integrated

with all other organisational strategies. Clear income generation targets need to be set for each

of the sustainable financing categories.

Scope exists for improving planning procedures and internal communication, with the focus on

improving the alignment of strategic planning across different functional units.

Attention needs to be focussed on clarifying, perhaps by way of simplification, the links between

medium-term strategy, the organisation’s key metrics for organisational success, and systems

and tools required to track these metrics.

A strong emphasis needs to be placed on aligning an HR skills audit and development plan with

the emerging organisational knowledge and skills gaps identified in Phase II of this project. The

skills most notably lacking include business strategy and planning, entrepreneurship, innovation,

proposal writing and financial management.

By the start of Phase III of this project, there needs to be a functional unit within the

organisation that is adequately resourced and capacitated to implement the Phase III

Sustainable Financing Pilot Projects.

The organisation needs to find a way in which to encourage and support innovation and creative

thinking and implement structures, systems and processes that allow innovative ideas to be

developed.

6.3.4 Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and Natural Resource Utilisation

The figure below provides an indication of the levels of focus that CapeNature staff direct at income

generation through PES and Natural Resource Utilisation. The percentages presented reflect the number of

times a related point was raised in the regional workshops relative to the number of participants at the

internal workshops.


Looking at this graph, it is evident that CapeNature employees place more emphasis on the opportunity of

utilising natural resources through active game farming than hunting. The fact that other Provincial

Management Authorities have been using game breeding and hunting concessions as successful income

streams is certainly influencing an awareness of these income streams. Income generation through PES,

whilst it could potentially be one of the biggest income generators for CapeNature, enjoys less focus than

would be expected from the number of employees in the organisation.

The other information presented graphically below should be evaluated within a similar framework.



Noteworthy Comments: PAYMENT FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

“We should forget about everything else and just focus on getting the water pricing strategy finalised so that

CapeNature can get paid for catchment management. This has the biggest potential ‘bang for buck’.”

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HuntingPackages

Wild flowerharvesting

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utilisationincomestreamideas

GameFarming

PES - WaterPricing and

FloodAttenuation

PES - Othertraditional

PESmechanisms

PES -Utilisation

of NRMbiomass

Payment for Ecosystem Services and Natural Resource Utilisation



The low percentage of employees focussing on PES as an income generation tool could indicate a

lack of awareness about the potential of PES to be a significant income generator for the

organisation.

The low percentage of employees focussing on the utilisation of natural resources could stem from

concerns relating to the perceived risks to biodiversity and ecological integrity.

6.3.5 Expectations, risks and concerns

The figure below provides an indication of the levels of focus that CapeNature staff direct at expectations,

risks and concerns. The percentages presented reflect the number of times a related point was raised in the

regional workshops relative to the number of participants at the internal workshops.

The graph below confirms what is to be expected, that the major concern for CapeNature employees is that

income generation initiatives will have a negative impact on biodiversity. There is also a clear expectation to

be able to see how income generated through sustainable financing initiatives will contribute to funding

direct operational expenses of reserve management.

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25%

Expectations, Risks and Concerns




Noteworthy Comments: RISKS TO BIODIVERSITY

“It seems as if there are two views in the organisation: The purists and the realists. Staff need to understand the

reality of our financial situation.”

Important Biodiversity Areas (IBAs)

“We need to treat all IBAs the same, regardless of their legal status.”

“Income generation activities shouldn’t result in significant negative impacts.”

“Activities should not compromise the Protected Area objectives for each reserve.”

“Sensitivity mapping should be completed upfront.”

“Consideration needs to be given to the peripheral development that is associated with infrastructure projects.”

“All activities must uphold the basic ecological principles of persistence and representation.”

“We should focus on developing the edges, even on land that doesn’t yet have Protected Area status.”

Less Important Biodiversity Areas (LIBAs)

“We need to consider decision precedent setting, which may occur if developments are allowed in proclaimed

nature reserves.”

“Proclaimed and non-proclaimed areas will need to be treated differently.”

“Sensitivity mapping needs to be completed upfront to confirm less sensitive areas. “

“CapeNature must provide an example to the public and all stakeholders with regard to appropriate

development and the management thereof.”

Noteworthy Comments: BENEFITS FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES

“CapeNature must ensure that the community benefits as much as possible from these projects.”

“CapeNature needs to partner with SMMEs and not only with large corporates.”

“The long-term success of many of the initiatives we are proposing is dependent on thorough engagement with and involvement of community stakeholders.”

“Having existing successful partnerships with communities could be the key to unlocking funding and/or investment for income generating projects – effort needs to be invested into building strategic relationships with community stakeholder groups.”

“CapeNature needs to ‘spread the love’ and make sure that there is enough money to be made by community partners.”


Whilst concerns relating to the negative impacts that income generation initiatives will have on

biodiversity and ecological functioning are high, those concerned appear confident that the


evaluation criteria applied to income streams listed in the matrix in Phase II will address their

concerns.

The organisation will not be able to achieve the income generation targets without full buy-in from

employees.

6.3.6 Funding

The figure below provides an indication of the levels of focus that CapeNature staff direct at different

aspects of fundraising. The percentages presented reflect the number of times a related point was raised in

the regional workshops relative to the number of participants at the internal workshops.

Looking at this graph, it is evident, for example, that a number of employees feel that the organisation

should be making greater use of the opportunities for domestic government funding by focusing on

accessing funds from a broader range on funding streams.

The following specific fundraising-related points where raised during the internal workshops (these points

were either raised repeatedly or enjoyed widespread support by other participants):

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Createfavourable

environment forfunders

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of funding

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Other fundingideas

Funding Income Streams


Noteworthy Comments: DOMESTIC GOVERNMENT FUNDING

“CapeNature needs to identify all opportunities for domestic government funding from all sectors, understand where objectives overlap and then strategically target key funding opportunities.”

“We need to fill the ‘fundraising and sponsorship’ post and this post needs to be supported by a core team of operational staff.”

“We need to plan according to government funding cycles and plan ahead for fiscal dumping.”

Noteworthy Comments: PRIVATE SECTOR AND NGO FUNDING

“CapeNature should host a project funding fair where the private sector can bid on sustainable financing projects.”

“We should look at the fundraising models of organisations like the NSRI.”

“We should capacitate staff to complete proposals effectively.”

“CapeNature should identify possible projects that align to CapeNature’s values and have a short-term funding planning cycle to make sure we don’t miss out on funding opportunities.”

“We should identify and pursue opportunities for sponsorship (vehicles & equipment).”

“We should be creating an environment that is favourable for attracting unsolicited sponsorships.”

“We should investigate creative new socio-economic funding possibilities, like, for example, developing a nature-based wellness retreat programme for abused women.”

“We could have corporates adopting reserves and then focussing their Corporate Responsibility spending as well as their B-BBEE Socio-Economic and Enterprise Development spend at the reserve and in communities surrounding reserves.”

“Use the Biodiversity Crime Unit as a means of raising awareness and funding. The public is very responsive to the rhino anti-poaching campaigns, leverage this with a focus on the socio-economic benefits linked to ending drug syndicates.”


There is need for increased fundraising capacity in the organisation.

The organisation needs to have a medium- to long-term strategic approach to fundraising.

Provincial conservation agencies need to access funds from non-traditional funding streams by

designing projects that deliver socio-economic and enterprise development outcomes along with

conservation outcomes.

The organisation needs to recruit and/or train a core team of ‘private sector project leaders’ able to

deliver on the private sector’s expectations of service and professionalism in order to develop and

maintain strong relationships with private sector investors and funders.


6.4 Notes and comments from interviews with external experts and role players

Discussions with external stakeholders developed a natural focus, as directed by the interviewees, on

tourism and the potential for CapeNature to grow its tourism base. A number of noteworthy insights were

shared, and these are presented below under headings that emerged through the engagement process.

6.4.1 Tourism Development

“I think CapeNature needs to really focus on building on the lessons learnt from the SANParks and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife concession models. I have stayed in a number of the concession lodges and had a fantastic experience as a guest.“

“Offer the longest possible contract term in exchange for better returns for CapeNature – that is your biggest bargaining chip when it comes to negotiating terms with a private sector partner who has to raise finance for the project.”

“Outsource the tourism management to the private sector tourism experts who have demonstrated their ability to be successful at responsible eco-tourism and socio-economic upliftment.”

“Give private sector partners a five-year period to meet B-BBEE targets - this way they can invest in developing the management and leadership skills of high-performing staff who can grow into a responsible long-term share-holding role and represent the interests of the general staff in the shareholding model.”

“At least 50% of the Investment equity must come from the tourism operator that was awarded the private concession in order to ensure they are sufficiently motivated to make the operational side of the project work.”

“It is important that concession partners are not tied into the government salary structure, as the market is price sensitive and government salary scales don’t accommodate this.”

“Open up reserves for game drives by tourism operators in the area. Having game drives with 8-10 tourists on a game viewing vehicle reduces the number of vehicles in the reserve and enhances the experience.”

“I find it strange that CapeNature has excluded itself from the R80m shark watching and cage diving industry.”

“The Western Cape government has identified the need to focus on drawing international tourists into more rural areas in order to spread the economic benefits throughout the province. This can be achieved by developing tourism packages.”

“Wesgro is currently writing an astrotourism strategy for the Western Cape and revising the Cape to Namibia tourism route.”

“We need to develop our tourism development strategies from the market up: Who are we selling to? What do they want? How can we meet their needs? Currently too many role players are doing this the wrong way around: I have this nice property; I want to offer these activities. What is my target market? How can I sell to them?”

“Wesgro is focussing on four ‘lifestyle focus areas’, namely: Youth and edutourism; adventure and nature; cycling; and astrotourism.”

“CapeNature should be exploring niche markets that focus on nature-based outdoor activities. These could

include hiking, mountain biking trails, trail running trails, paleontological tours and cultural tourism.”


6.4.2 Tourism Investment

“Investment is about the numbers and confidence in market demand – funding from the private sector and financial institutions is always available for the right projects that offer a decent return.”

“We have a particular interest in funding education-related projects.”

“Conservation cannot compete with education in terms of the prioritisation of government funding. The Conservation Sector needs to determine how to align with the national educations curriculum in order to gain access to additional government funding.”

“Funding is normally based on 30% equity and 70% development funding from banks.”

“The private sector needs a 30-year (15 years + first option for renewal) lease hold agreement in order to benefit from Public Private Partnerships.”

“The EIA process may be more complicated and take even longer than the standard 18-month process when developing inside a nature reserve or protected area.”

6.4.3 Tourism Marketing

“Wesgro has a big focus is on understanding how to increase out-of-season tourist numbers.”

“Use other marketing platforms like the new Wesgro Western Cape tourism promotion platform to promote the CapeNature tourism offerings.”

“Invite a media celebrity to participate in a ‘ten awesome nature-based adventure activities in a day’ event and then use the experience as media content.”

“You need to really understand your target market. For example in my ethnographic study at Stony Point, I discovered that the key selling point for tour operators is that the site is the best available toilet stop on route from Cape Town for a Hermanus / Overberg day trip.”

“You must develop strong partnerships with tourism agents. These days online, content and social media marketing is so important to deliver your message about what the experience of being a guest at a particular lodge is like. Don’t underestimate the power of social media; find ways to enable your guests to promote the ‘awesomeness’ of their experience with you.”

“There is a growing local affluent tourist market in South Africa.”

“At Wesgro, we will be able to help CapeNature to promote their tourism products internationally.”

“People are choosing destinations based on ‘passion points’. If they love being in nature then they will look for a tourism package or offering that will provide them with a fulfilling nature experience. CapeNature’s marketing messages need to speak directly to these passion points. Each tourism product needs to have a catchy one-line value proposition.”

“CapeNature should partner with some ‘feature discoverers’ – these are individuals who have big social media followings in specific market segments. Cover the costs of having these ‘feature discoverers’ experience CapeNature accommodation and activities in return for promoting the experience to their audience of followers.”

6.4.4 Customer Service

“Tourism is driven by guest experiences at every ‘touch point’, from enquiry, through reservations, reception, accommodation, housekeeping, guided activities, food and dining… Employees have to understand that their jobs depend on giving world-class service.”


“How does one create an environment for tourism staff to deliver a world-class experience through exceptional customer service in the government employment context? You can’t.“

6.4.5 Tourism and Socio-economic Development

“The tourism market, both local and internationally, love the CSI component of our lodges. The ‘return on investment’ in terms of word of mouth advertising and editorial content in magazines that our CSI projects generate is significant. Apart from being the right thing to do, we have a real sense of pride in the success stories that come from our CSI projects.”

“The Western Cape Government is likely to support new tourism initiatives that have a strong link to enterprise development.”

6.4.6 Insights for leadership


CapeNature will be well advised to seek the best possible advice relating to the parameters within

which investment and Public Private Partnership agreements can be structured so as to favour the

mutual interests of both parties. It is clear that an overly conservative approach to the allowable

parameters will not attracted the required interest from the private sector, whilst at the same time

the CapeNature executive and board must optimally manage financial and reputational risk. If this

expertise is not readily available internally, the organisation should invest in sound legal opinion to

guide decision making in this regard.

An investment in the relationship with Wesgro to enhance the marketing reach of CapeNature’s

tourism offerings is advised. Due to their ability to leverage local and international inbound tour

operators through an extensive promotions network and the existing work they have done in

developing a regional focus on tourism promotions in the Western Cape, Wesgro is well positioned

to add value to CapeNature’s tourism business.

A number of niche tourism markets have been identified for development in the Western Cape.

CapeNature can benefit from aligning new tourism products with such tourism growth strategies.

6.5 Insights from meetings with CapeNature Managers and Executives

6.5.1 Tourism

“CapeNature should develop a trail like the SANParks’ Hoerikwagga Trail, but in a more wilderness setting that can have a focus on some kind of unique attribute that the trail centres around.”

“We need to leverage the growing trend in astrotourism at reserves like Anysberg. We need specialist guides to be trained and ideally some investment into a proper observatory. A risk here is that this activity is weather dependent.”


“I think that we need to seriously consider selecting one suitable reserve for a ‘big five’ tourism offering. The market is definitely ready for this kind of product offering. We will be able to manage this really well from an ecological point of view and so-doing create a benchmark for the other private big five tourism offerings in the province.”

“CapeNature should be organising its own events on its reserves. So often we just charge a facility booking fee to event organisers who make ‘big bucks’ off these events. The customers will love the fact that all the proceeds from an event are going towards conservation.”

6.5.2 Planning

“We are still busy implementing projects from the last five-year strategic plan, but we want to align our tourism projects with the Green Economy initiative going forward in this new five year strategic planning cycle. We are flexible enough to adapt based on the recommendations coming out of the initiative.”

“When working within the public sector framework of systems and processes, it is very hard to get employees to think innovatively and ‘out of the box’.”

“There is a bureaucratic culture within CapeNature that stifles innovative thinking. It seems as if most staff members are happy with the way things have been going for the last 40 years. We need some kind of initiative to revitalise innovative thinking, remove red tape and introduce a positive new attitude towards new and creative thinking.”

“We should be cautions of comparing CapeNature to the likes of SANParks and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife because, with only 680 beds in CapeNature Accommodation, the current scale of operation and potential earning is very different. We should still seek to understand what it is that works well for them in terms of revenue generation.”

“CapeNature can’t be completely focussed on income generation. We need to make these natural assets affordable and accessible for the public at large. Perhaps we should look at ways in which to get some kind of subsidy for local visitors.”

“CapeNature need to embark on this income generation project with strong partnerships as the organisation doesn’t have the skills or capacity to do everything itself.”

6.5.3 Marketing

“Tourists don’t come to a nature reserve for the accommodation, they come because of the activities one can do there. Activities are a big focus area for us going forward.”

“Tourism staff need something like a voucher book with which to offer guests discounts at related or close-by accommodation and activities.”

“There are a number of things we can do differently when it comes to tourism marketing: We should make better use of social media; we could focus on marketing to international and local meeting planners to get access to the mid-week conference or out of office meeting market; and we should be focussing on getting the local Cape Town market to accommodation and activities within a two and a half hours travel time.”

“We need to get the right systems and tools in place to leverage our customer database for new channels of marketing.”

“Our tourism department needs a combined tourism, marketing and sales strategy.”

“Previously there wasn’t a very proactive approach to sales in the call centre, but we are shifting from the call centre just fulfilling a ‘booking agent’ role to function more like a ‘tourism sales team’.”


6.5.4 Systems and tools

“We need to find an alternative booking system, as the current reservation system is costing us a lot every year and I am sure we can get more value for less.”

“We need to find ways in which the Financial Management Accounting unit can provide an effective support for month-to-month monitoring, adjusting and budgeting functions throughout the organisation.”

“The challenges I see for this project are: There is currently no dedicated unit in the organisation to take this initiative forward; our financial systems are not focused on receiving income; we are not good at ring-fencing project funding within departments; project management functions and responsibilities are loosely defined; there is a lack of strategic planning and risk mitigation for projects; and marketing is currently only focussed on tourism.”

6.5.5 Skills development and staff engagement

“Staff on the ground can make or break all of these new ideas when it gets to the implementation stage. We need to have interventions that help staff understand the link between providing top quality service and the ability of CapeNature to pay their salaries. We need to engage staff from the outset of the process of developing new tourism products.”

“As far as possible we need to have a ‘tourism liaison officer’ at reserves with high visitor numbers to take the pressure off reserve managers. This is not to say they reserve managers should not make guest relations an important part of their job scope.”

6.5.6 Managing expenditure

“We should seriously review the feasibility of doing tourism at some reserves. Some reserves are never going to generate income and as a result they bring down the total tourism revenue earnings.”

6.5.7 Summary of Executive Insights

Whilst there is openness amongst CapeNature leadership to implement new income generating initiatives,

there is a shared view that the organisation requires guidance with regard to facilitating innovative planning

in order to develop creative new ideas from inception to implementation. Similarly, innovative approaches

to marketing are required to support any new tourism products and any other income generation initiatives.

An investment in new skills and systems will be required if the organisation is to successfully implement

many of the recommendations that are starting to emerge from this process. It is a shared view that this

process and many other aspects of income generation can only be successful with strong partnerships at all

levels, most notably a partnership with an engaged workforce who will be the driving force behind this

project’s success.

This project has enormous potential to fulfil new levels of service to the people of the Western Cape who

have the right to access and benefit from the province’s natural resources.


6.6 Project Communication Strategy

The Project Communication Strategy is attached hereto as Appendix C.

6.7 Development of Terms of Reference for Phase Two Business Development Consultants

Attached as Appendix B.


7 INCOME GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES

One of the primary activities of Phase I was to identify all possible income streams that could generate

income for CapeNature. These income streams have been identified through the process of desktop

research as well is engagement with both internal and external groups and individuals. The income streams

have been captured in the Income Generation Matrix and logically grouped according to generally accepted

categorisation of sustainable financing mechanisms.

7.1 The Income Generation Matrix

Phase I has identified numerous potential income streams and captured these in the ‘Income Generation

Matrix’ spreadsheet. Through the process of capturing these income streams, the following ‘Sustainable

Financing’ categories have emerged:

Tourism;

Natural Resource Utilisation;

Domestic Government Funding;

Bilateral and Multilateral Donor Funding;

Payment for Ecosystem Services;

Grants, Donations and Sponsorships;

Renewable Energy;

Investment and Commercial Opportunities;

Market Priced Services; and

Leveraging Property Ownership.

7.2 Identifying the best opportunities - evaluation criteria

At this point a number of criteria have been identified with which to prioritise the income streams captured

in the matrix. Whilst it is felt that each of the criteria listed below are important, it is assumed that this list

will be further refined to a more manageable number of criteria before the evaluation is conducted in Phase

II. It is the intention that we score each income stream against the chosen criteria in order to identify the

most suitable and viable income streams for CapeNature.

Initial list of Evaluation Criteria

Potential Return on Investment

CapeNature Values Alignment

Stakeholder Perception

Sustainability of Income Stream


Socio-economic Development Impacts

Employment Creation

Risk of biodiversity loss

Market Demand

Recommended Key Criteria

Financial Return on Investment

Socio-economic Development Impacts

Risk of Biodiversity Loss

Institutional Readiness

Investment Availability

Implementation Complexity

Institutional Readiness

Restrictions on Use of Funds

7.3 Designing ‘Sustainable Financing Projects’ in Phase II

A key stage in the success of this project going forward is the designing of the ten ‘Sustainable Financing

Projects’. These projects need to be developed with a thorough overview of both CapeNature’s short-term

capacity for implementation, as well as each project’s market and investor appeal.

7.4 Identifying sites and focus areas for the implementation of income generation initiatives in

Phase III

It is anticipated that the project development process described above will pair various groupings of income

streams from the matrix with either a) specific sites (nature reserves / properties) where the projects can be

implemented, and/or b) departments within the organisation which will be responsible for implementing the

project.


8 CONCLUSION

The participation of CapeNature staff has been extremely positive throughout Phase I. It is our assessment

that there is a great deal of expectation being placed on this project to resolve the financial pressures the

organisation is currently experiencing. Similarly, stakeholders’ willingness to support CapeNature on its

journey towards increased income generation is encouraging.

It would therefore seem that this project is becoming the centre of a concerted, joint effort to improve the

long-term financial sustainability of the management authority for protected areas in the Western Cape.

The challenge now is to narrow down the scope of opportunity and to focus in on those key sustainable

financing projects that are going to have the greatest positive impact on the organisation’s bottom line. We

feel that the activities and deliverables laid out for Phases II and III are going to provide an effective process

for doing so, however a number of important decisions remain to be made. The ultimate burden of these

decisions is going to rest on the CapeNature Executive and the Project Steering Committee. The individuals

representing these forums are encouraged to invest the necessary time to fully understand the scope of

opportunities and risks associated with the decisions to be made at each of the key milestones of the project

going forward. In order to guide the executive team in their decision making, it is deemed prudent for the

organisation to develop a set of guiding principles to apply to all aspects of sustainable financing within the

organisation.

As a project team, the responsibility to keep the whole organisation informed and engaged must be taken

very seriously as, without this support, the implementation of the Phase III pilot projects are going to be far

more challenging. To this end the consultants have appointed communication experts to design a

communications strategy for the duration of the project, which will be implemented in partnership with

CapeNature’s Communications Department.

It is also imperative that ongoing engagement takes place with members of the executive team to ensure an

ever-increasing alignment between the requirements of the project and the structure, skills and resources

within the organisation that are allocated to sustainable financing and income generation. By so doing, we

hope that, at the start of Phase III, there will be a functioning department or unit within the organisational

structure that is adequately resourced and has the required number of appropriately skilled staff to take

responsibility for the roll-out of the Phase III pilot projects. The potential exists for this unit to revitalise the

organisation as far as innovative new thinking and creative problem solving is concerned.


One important aspect for all CapeNature staff to come to terms with, is that innovation and a degree of

failure go hand-in-hand. Leadership and management need to be particularly comfortable with this as they

are going to be taking responsibility for the decision making, as well as the implementation of these new

income generation initiatives. It would be prudent for managers and leaders in CapeNature to increase their

knowledge of innovation strategy and process, as this project is in effect an Innovation Strategy. By so

doing, they will become familiar and more comfortable with the globally accepted parameters of risk in new

business development and innovation.

In order for this project to be ultimately successful, CapeNature needs to focus its attention on managing

partnership relations with the private sector with an open and inclusive approach. There needs to be a

willingness to explore opportunities that step outside the conservative bounds of public sector bureaucracy

and red tape. This will require strong leadership and good internal communication and consultation within

the executive leadership team. Going by the enthusiasm that each member of the executive team has

shown for this project, we foresee the executive team rising to the challenge and taking bold steps towards

securing the long-term financial health of the organisation.

The executive team and the CapeNature Board are further encouraged to continue resisting any further cuts

in the organisations treasury allocation. A strong argument can be presented for the economic rationale for

investing in and maintaining the natural assets of the Western Cape. The province’s cost of service delivery

is significantly reduced because of the role that conservation agencies play in managing the natural assets

that provide a range of ‘free services’ to the citizens of the province. A concerted effort is required from the

conservation sector to educate and inform public sector role-players of the impact that conserving the

province’s natural assets has on the province’s economic growth and socio-economic development

potential.

Andrew Purnell

NCC Environmental Services (Pty) Ltd.

Conservation Business Unit Leader

M · 082 454 3744

E · [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


9 ENQUIRIES

9.1 Relating to the implementation of Phase I

9.2 Relating to the ongoing implementation of the project in Phase II and III

PROJECT CONSULTANTS

Contact Person: Andrew Purnell Business Unit Leader: Conservation, NCC Environmental Services

Mobile: +27 82 454 3744

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +27 21 702 2884

Fax: +27 21 701 5302

Physical Address 26 Bell Close, Westlake Business Park, Westlake, Cape Town, 8001

CAPENATURE PROJECT LEAD

Contact Person: Ms Mahbobah Jacobs Public Private Partnerships, Marketing and Eco-Tourism, CapeNature

Mobile: +27 72 995 4466

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +27 21 483 0044

Fax: +27 86 528 0033

Physical Address PGWC Shared Services Centre, c/o Bosduif & Volstruis Streets, Bridgetown, 7764

mailto:[email protected]


10 REFERENCES

i Western Cape Government (2013). Western Cape Green Economy Strategy Framework - Green is smart. Retrieved from http://www.westerncape.gov.za/110green/sites/green.westerncape.gov.za/files/documents/Green-Economy-Strategy-Framewok-2MB.pdf ii Emerton, L., Bishop, J. and Thomas, L. (2006). Sustainable Financing of Protected Areas: A global review of challenges

and options. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 97pp.

iii Credit Suisse, WWF and McKinsey (2014). Conservation Finance - Moving beyond donor funding toward an investor-driven

approach. Retrieved from https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/cc/docs/responsibility/conservation-finance-en.pdf

http://www.westerncape.gov.za/110green/sites/green.westerncape.gov.za/files/documents/Green-Economy-Strategy-Framewok-2MB.pdf

http://www.westerncape.gov.za/110green/sites/green.westerncape.gov.za/files/documents/Green-Economy-Strategy-Framewok-2MB.pdf

https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/cc/docs/responsibility/conservation-finance-en.pdf


1 APPENDIX A – LIST OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS INTERVIEWED

External Interviews Internal Interviews

Paul Heinemann – Former CEO Alexander Forbes

Sam Lovett – Biomass Energy Sustainable Technologies

Sven Raggaler – Enthnographic Researcher, Stoney Point

Fred Brown – PM Consult

Marius vd Merwe – PM Consult

Noxolo Ntenetya – WC Gov TAE

Madelain Mitchell – WC Gov TAE

Goodwill Dingaan - DEDAT

Michael Lutzier – Grootbos

Dean Ferreira – NCC

Cristo Marais – DEA NRM

Hugo van Zyl – Environmental Economist

Anthony Mills - C4 Consulting

Judy Lain – WESGRO Marketing

Dr Razeena Omar

Gail Cleaver-Christi

Sheraaz Ismail

Alan Preston

Rowena Vaughn

Morné Magerman

Pierre De Villiers

Lucinda Witten

Marietjie Engelbrecht


2 APPENDIX B – PHASE II BUSINESS PLANNING AND INVESTMENT STRATEGY

CONSULTANTS TERMS OF REFERENCE

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TERMS OF REFERENCE

FOR THE PROJECT: The development of an investment business case of the

income generation potential of protected areas in the Western Cape

PHASE II BUSINESS PLANNING AND INVESTMENT STRATEGISTS

General scope and role of the ‘Business Planning and Investment Strategists’

Work under the oversight of the Project Steering Committee to achieve the outcomes described in

the Project Implementation Plan and to assist the Lead Advisor to achieve the outcomes and

deliverables described in the Terms of Reference for Phase II.

Engage with internal and external stakeholders in order to gather and additional information

required for the business planning process and to understand stakeholder’s needs and expectations

with regards to investment and partnership agreements.

Design ‘Sustainable Financing Projects’ that are compatible with CapeNature’s biodiversity

conservation mandate, contribute to socio-economic upliftment and represent the best income

generation opportunities for CapeNature.

Develop Investment Strategies linked to each of the business plans, based on real and tested

opportunities that will enable the Phase III Pilot Projects to establish a competitive advantage in the

market and achieve the targeted financial returns as per the associated business plan.

Lead negotiations with potential investors and draft of investor agreements.

To develop and monitor key metrics for each business plan in order to track the stage-by-stage

progress of implementing the Phase III Pilot Projects.

Requisite competencies of the ‘Business Planning and Investment Strategists’

1. High level business planning and management experience.

2. High level strategic planning and business modelling experience.


3. Knowledge of Innovation / ‘New Business Development’ strategy and process.

4. Experience in securing private sector investment through a) identifying potential investors, b)

negotiating investment terms and c) drafting investment agreements.

5. Experience in securing donor funding through a) identifying funding opportunities b) project

development and c) successful proposal writing.

6. Experience in Social-entrepreneurship and emerging market economics.

7. Experience in securing funding for socio-economic development and enterprise development

projects.

8. Excellent communication and facilitation skills.

9. Familiarity with SHEQ Systems and processes.

10. Familiarity with Risk Assessment and Risk Management Planning.

11. A good understanding of the Provincial Financial Management Act, the National Environmental

Management: Protected Areas Act, the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act.

Phase II

Purpose

To apply the criterion identified in phase one to the business plans and investment strategies

proposed by specialist in phase two in order to identify the top three income generation opportunities

for implementation in phase three.

To conduct detailed planning and stakeholder engagement to understand how to successfully

implement the Phase III Pilot Projects.

To ensure that the outcomes of phase two ensure a value for money investment case that balances

CapeNature’s conservation mandate with its need to be financially sustainable.

Objectives and activities Outcomes and deliverables 1. Support the lead Advisor in refining the Phase One

Income Generation Matrix.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Participation in a workshop organised by the lead

advisor.

The income generation matrix is further refined so as to: a) capture and prioritise income generation opportunities and b) serve as a ‘Sustainable Finance Project Pipeline’ for functional units within CapeNature.

DELIVERABLES Records of input provided to the Lead Advisor.


2. Engage with internal and external stakeholders in order to gather any additional information required for the business planning process and the process of securing investment.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - An assessment of knowledge gaps. - A period of engaging stakeholders. - Capturing information/data in the matrix

Phase two data captured in the matrix to aid the scoring of the evaluation criteria.

DELIVERABLES Revised Phase II Matrix

3. Apply a set of evaluation criteria to the Income Generation Matrix in order to prioritise income generation opportunities in order of viability for phase three implementation.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Finalise the evaluation criteria in the matrix. - Finalise the weighting of individual criteria - Participate in a workshop to score individual

income generation opportunities

CapeNature and Consultants are able to determine what the best income generation opportunities are in order to design Sustainable Financing Projects.

DELIVERABLES Matrix spreadsheet to indicate overall ranking of income generation opportunities as well as ranking under each category

4. Conduct broad scale spatial sensitivity zonation analysis to identify locations on CapeNature properties where different forms of activity can take place within acceptable parameters of biodiversity and ecological impacts.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Review any existing sensitivity analysis data for

CapeNature properties. - Identify data gaps - Refine ‘activity classes’ and sensitivity zoning

criteria - Co-ordinate collection of spatial data to close

gaps - Analyse data and make recommendations to the

project team.

The Phase III Pilot Projects and any subsequent income generation activities implemented by CapeNature have acceptable biodiversity and ecological impacts and/or strategies to mitigate biodiversity risks. DELIVERABLES - Spatial layers overlaying all CN properties indicating zonation of different activity classes.


5. Design Ten ‘Sustainable Financing Projects’ that are compatible with CapeNature’s biodiversity conservation mandate, contribute to socio-economic upliftment and represent the best income generation opportunities for CapeNature. These Sustainable Financing Projects should be developed using the opportunities captured in the Income Generation Matrix in Phase One or identified through further research and/or engagement in Phase Two. The projects should be conceptualised by combining one or more income generation opportunities at one or more sites/reserves in any complimentary combination that enhances their income generation potential.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Facilitate workshops with internal and external

stakeholders to design the Top Ten Sustainable Financing Projects.

- Present the projects to the Project Steering Committee.

- Redesign or refine the projects as per SteerCom feedback.

- Present the revised Sustainable Financing Projects to SteerCom for final approval.

A list of the ten most viable income generation projects that will enable CapeNature to achieve the organisation’s short-term Sustainable Financing targets through the implementation of Phase III Pilot Projects.

DELIVERABLES - PowerPoint presentation to present details of the final Top Ten Sustainable Financing Projects providing a comparison of key metrics agreed upon as criteria for the selection of the top three SFPs. - Spatial layer indicating the locality of each of the top ten SFP projects as they relate to the sensitivity zonation.

6. Conduct business modelling for the Ten Sustainable Financing Projects so as to assess the potential Return on Investment and thereby identify the Top Three Income Generation Opportunities.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Identify a suitable business modelling tool - Conduct the business modelling. - Present the business models to SteerCom,

ranking each project on: Values alignment; ROI; Breakeven point; Total Investment Required; Investment Availability; Socio-economic benefits; biodiversity risks

- Facilitate the selection of the Top Three Sustainable Financing Projects by the Project Steering Committee.

Ten business models for Sustainable Financing Projects with an associated Five-year Projected Profit and Loss Statement that group income generation opportunities from the Matrix with potential project sites (reserves/properties) in the most logical and practical way.

DELIVERABLES PowerPoint presentation detailing the outcomes of the business modelling process and the ranking scores. A list of the top three Sustainable Financing Projects as measured by potential ROI.


7. Engage with a representative sample group of potential investment partners and secure Letters of Interest from key investors for the Top Three Income Generation Opportunities.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Identify the Investor Target Audience and the

most suitable channels to reach them. - Compile a sample group of potential investors

to engage. - Secure future opportunities to present project

plans to investors. - Engage with investors to understand their

expectations with regards to investment. - Draft Letters of Interest for interested investors

to sign.

The private sector investment community is aware of investment opportunities with CapeNature’s Sustainable Financing projects. Phase III Pilot Projects are fully funded. CapeNature has a plan or policy in place to enhance Private Sector Investment.

DELIVERABLES A suitable number of ‘Business Breakfasts’ and/or ‘Private Investor Presentations’ to promote CapeNature investment opportunities.

8. Conduct a detailed assessment of funding opportunities where the opportunity exists to fund aspects of the Top Three Sustainable Financing Projects.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Compile a list of all possible funding avenues - Review funding criteria - Establish calls for proposals are advertised and

assess which funding cycles align suitably with the project timeline.

CapeNature have an accurate idea of where project funding opportunities lie.

DELIVERABLES A list of funding opportunities against a timeline. As much detail as possible about the funding requirements and application process.

9. Produce detailed business plans for the Top Three Sustainable Financing Projects for potential implementation as Phase III Pilot Projects.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Agree on a business plan format and structure

with the Lead Advisor and the Project Advisory Board.

- Identify any information gaps required for the business planning process and work with the Lead Advisor to gather additional information from internal and external sources.

- Produce Business Plans for each of the Top Three Sustainable Financing Projects.

CapeNature have Business Plans to guide the implementation of each of the Sustainable Financing Projects as pilot projects in phase three.

DELIVERABLES Business Plans to include: - a detailed step-by-step

implementation guideline; - a detailed five-year profit and loss

projections; - Key metrics and key financial

indicators with targets; - Risk matrix with migratory measures


10. Produce detailed Investment, Fundraising and Partnership Strategies for each of the Top Three Sustainable Financing Projects.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES - Lead individual and group engagements with

potential investors, donors and partners to understand their expectations.

- Incorporate these insights into draft investment, fundraising and partnership strategies.

- Engage with CapeNature executive with a view to finding solutions to the challenges of meeting investor and partner expectations within the framework of the PFMA, NEMPA and other organisational constraints.

- Produce final Investment, Fundraising and Partnership Strategies that provide clear direction on how to unlock available investment and /or donations through realistic agreement parameters.

Each of the Top Three Sustainable Financing projects have an Investment, Fundraising and Partnership Strategy that will enable CapeNature to unlock sufficient financial investment, funds and ‘partnership value’ for the successful implementation of the projects as per the associated business plan. DELIVERABLES Investment, Fundraising and Partnership Strategies to include: - A shortlist of potential investors who

have indicated interest in investing in the project;

- a strategic process for unlocking investment and funding opportunities;

- A list of essential terms for agreement with investors;

- A list of relevant donor/funders with funding windows that align with project timelines;

- a breakdown of essential partnership agreements required to unlock necessary value from external stakeholders;


Functionality responsiveness criteria applicable for this quote:

Functionality Criteria: Weighting Factors:

Directly related qualifications and high-level experience in Business strategic planning 30

QUALIFICATIONS: Representatives in the team with knowledge and/or qualifications in one or more of the following: Strategic Planning, Business Management, Financial Management, Business Science, Marketing, Masters of Business Administration, Public Administration.

15

EXPERIENCE: Representatives in the team with experience in one or more of the following: Business Planning, Corporate Strategy, New business development, Project Development, Entrepreneurship, Social-entrepreneurship, Emerging Market Economic Development, Innovation systems and processes, Corporate Strategic Planning, Corporate Financial Management, Performance Management Systems.

25

Knowledge, applicable qualifications and high-level experience relating to securing private sector investment and funding for government projects within the bounds of the Provincial Financial Management Act and with relevance to Schedule 3C Provincial Public Entities.

30

QUALIFICATIONS: Representatives in the team with knowledge and/or qualifications in one or more of the following: Strategic Investment Management, Managing Partnerships and Strategic Alliances, Finance and Investment, Entrepreneurial Financing, Venture Capital Finance, Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment, The Provincial Financial Management Act, Public Private Partnerships.

10

EXPERIENCE: Representatives in the team with experience in one or more of the following: The development of investment strategies, The development of fundraising strategies, Structuring investment agreements for public sector projects, Securing investment for public sector projects, Facilitating Public Private Partnership agreements, Project conceptualisation and development, Securing BBBEE funding for socio-economic development and enterprise development projects, The preparation of successful funding proposals, Managing investor relations.

20


Qualifications, knowledge and experience in the sustainable financing of protected areas as well as biodiversity conservation and environmental management.

30

QUALIFICATIONS: Representatives in the team with knowledge and/or qualifications in one or more of the following: Sustainable financing for Protected Areas, Thorough knowledge of National and Provincial legislation applicable to Protected Areas, GIS spatial planning, Natural resource economics, Payment for ecosystem services, Community development.

15

EXPERIENCE: Representatives in the team with experience in one or more of the following: Spatial sensitivity analysis, experience managing community development projects adjacent to protected areas, experience in eco-tourism businesses, experience in developing and/or managing income generation initiatives for protected areas.

15

Experience in project management and successfully working in multi-stakeholder environments.

10

QUALIFICATIONS: Representatives in the team with qualifications in one or more of the following: Project planning, Project Management, Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Facilitation.

4

EXPERIENCE: Representatives in the team with experience in one or more of the following: Facilitation of meetings and workshops, Running stakeholder engagement processes, project management, project public relations and communication, project report writing.

6

Total score: 100

Minimum functionality score to qualify for further evaluation: Scoring will be based on:

(1) An assessment of the information presented in the proposal; (2) An assessment the qualifications and experience of the team members as

presented in their respective CV’s; (3) The relevance and alignment of prior experience to this project as presented in

summaries of previous projects completed by members of the team; (4) Feedback from contactable references

70%

Please Note: Bidders will be required to score 70 points or more for functionality in order for their bid to be evaluated further according to the 80:20 principles.

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3 APPENDIX C – PROJECT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

PROJECT COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

NCC Protected Areas Income Generation Project

1. Current Situation/Background

CapeNature has contracted NCC Environmental Services to assist them with a three-

phased project that will assist the organisation to participate in green economy projects in

order to develop sustainable financing solutions.

2. Overall Project Objectives

Overarching project objectives

Determine the scope and level of income generation potential through data collection.

Focus on private sector investment and employment creation.

Use the project outcomes as the basis for sound strategic decisions and policy development to facilitate sustainable income generation in and around Protected Areas (PA)s in the Western Cape (WC).

Project Aims

1. To conduct detailed business planning for a limited number of viable, high-ROI initiatives. 2. To unlock investment for initiatives chosen for implementation. 3. To support the initial implementation of a significant, new income stream.

3. Communications Objectives

1. To broaden the understanding of CapeNature employees with regards to the Green Economy initiative of the Western Cape Government as it relates to the objectives and roll-out of this project. (Phase 1)

2. To raise awareness and understanding amongst CapeNature staff about the opportunities that exist for income generation through the sharing of international best practice for the sustainable financing of protected areas. (Phases 1 and 2)

3. To inspire, unearth and develop entrepreneurial thinking that enables conservation and tourism staff to identify economic and commercial opportunities. (Phases 1 and 2)

4. To foster trust and involvement from all CapeNature staff by sharing the envisaged project outcomes and the implications thereof for the financial health of the


organization. (All Phases)

5. To gain the full support of the CapeNature Executive Management team by engaging thoroughly with them in a timely manner that enables their optimal input and participation to contribute towards the overall success of the project and Business Support for the project development in order to create a co-ordinated, enabling environment for project successes. (All Phases)

6. To inform and engage with the project steering committee in order to: report on project progress and get approval for any adjustments in the implementation plan. (All Phases)

7. To develop good relationships and communication with key people in the relevant government departments who could: help CapeNature reduce red tape that could hinder or prevent project implementation; unlock additional funding or investment; and ensure alignment with related initiatives in other spheres of government. (Phases 2 and 3)

8. To engage with the private sector and potential commercial partners in order to: gain access to business expertise and increase awareness of commercial and investment opportunities. (Phases 2 and 3)

9. To clearly communicate the actions required from CapeNature to manage the relevant internal departments to support implementation of the selected pilot income generating initiatives. (Phase 3)

10. To facilitate the effective engagement between stakeholders and investors in order to insure the successful implementation of the pilot income generating initiatives. (All Phases)

4. Target Audiences

Audiences

INTERNAL

1. CapeNature Head Office, Executive Management

2. CapeNature Staff

3. Internal Advisory Panel on the Project Steering Committee


EXTERNAL

4. Relevant Government Departments

5. External Advisory Panel on the Project Steering Committee

6. Private Sector

7. Appointed Business Development Consultants

Communication Objectives - Per Target Audience

Audience: Internal

1. CapeNature Head office, Executive Management (All Phases)

OBJECTIVES

Guide CapeNature Executive and Senior Management to be able to convincingly and authentically communicate to CapeNature staff that there is support for their ideas and projects and that management are creating the necessary internal processes to enable the income generation initiatives to succeed.

Enable Executive to grow trust amongst staff by delivering against expectations and removing barriers to progress within the organization.

HOW

One or two group meetings/workshops per phase with the full executive team.

One-on-one meetings with executive (one or two per phase as required).

Email a list of top-three specific actions that each executive could take to help achieve the above objective after each one-on-one.

Assess staff perceptions relating to how well management have engaged and informed staff about the project and supported them on the ground with regard to requirements for the project.

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

Qualitative assessment of staff trust, motivation and engagement relating to the project.

2. CapeNature Staff (All Phases)

OBJECTIVES

Work with management to established efficient, two-way communication.


HOW

Provide information (project updates) for manager to distribute to staff.

Make recommendations for employees to be nominated for staff awards based on participation in this project.

Provide copy for inclusion in the newsletter profiling staff who have made a significant contribution to the project.

Encourage CEO to talk about the project in her regular communication to staff.

Encourage management to include income generation topic on meeting agendas.

Distribute and ensure accessibility to the animated project video and related content on all internal channels.

Share case studies about income generation success stories from other conservation agencies around the world - on the client intranet, newsletter, emails, blog, etc.

Work with regional managers to appoint “income generation ambassadors” whose role it would be to drive conversations and discussions within the regions and business units in the organisation that relate to income generation. (NCC to provide stimulating questions or statements that can help ambassadors stimulate the conversations)

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

Number of new income generation ideas sent through by staff on annual basis from phase 2.

3. Internal Advisory Panel on the Project Steering Committee (All Phases)

OBJECTIVES

Encourage involvement of the members in the project steering committee.

Identify ways in which members of the project steering committee can provide support for key internal activities of the project.

Ensure that the project steering committee is kept up to date with the progress of the project as per project objectives.

Identify private sector contacts and opportunities.

HOW

To provide informal emailed project update reports.

To provide accurate and timely reports and presentations to the project steering committee. (One in phase 1 and three in phase 2)

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Minutes of support committed as an agenda item of all meetings.

No communication-related complaints raised at Steer Committee meetings.

Records of email updates and reports and presentations.

Minutes of meetings.

Evidence of support and opportunities and contacts unlocked.


External Audiences

4.5. External Advisory Committee and Associated Government Departments (All

Phases)

OBJECTIVES

Identify ways in which members of the advisory committee can provide support for key activities that are dependent on external support.

Ensure that the project steering committee is kept up to date with the progress of the project as per project objectives.

Establish and maintain relationships that allow for effective communication and engagement relating to the project.

Unlock opportunities and remove red tape.

Encourage involvement of the members in the advisory committee.

Identify possible contacts and opportunities.

Identify potential sources of funding.

HOW

Make contacts in Phase 1.

One-on-One meetings (one in Phase 1 and two in Phase 2).

To send informal email updates. To provide accurate and timely reports, share project outputs and conduct presentations to the project steering committee (one in phase 1 and three in phase 2).

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Evidence of how the participation of other government departments has unlocked opportunities or unlocked barriers. (Anecdotal evidence captured in reports)

Minutes of support committed as an agenda item of all meetings Records of email updates and reports and presentations.

Minutes of meetings.

6. Private Sector: Senior representatives (Phases 1 and 2)

OBJECTIVES

Engage representatives of the private sector who are considered experts in their respective fields as they relate to income generation opportunities as identified in the matrix in order to better understand the opportunities, industries and business models that relate to income streams that have been identified.

To facilitate the effective engagement between stakeholders and investors in order to ensure the successful implementation of the pilot income generating initiatives.

Identify sources of investment.


HOW

Identified by Project Steering Committee (PSC) or other Government representatives and Private Sector contacts.

Meetings.

Phone Calls.

Correspondence.

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

Positive assessment by Project Steering Committee of the relevance and effectiveness of the relationships established with the private sector.

7. Appointed Business Development Consultants (Phase 2)

OBJECTIVES

Set up clear terms of reference (TOR) to express the project needs and attract the best candidates.

Interview and appoint the best team.

Facilitate the connections between internal and external stakeholders.

Track and manage progress.

HOW

Write terms of TOR for approval by PSC (sent out end of Feb).

Advertise the TOR – channels, regional and national newspapers adverts, LinkedIn, Western Cape Supplier database. (April)

Interviews completed. (May)

Prepare and Facilitate an Inception workshop. (May)

Establish and Implement Management, Monitoring and Reporting procedures. (May/June)

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

The Business Plan developed by consultants unlocks the required investment

CapeNature generates expected income from the income streams selected for implementation in Phase 3.

1. Key Message per Target Audience

Internal Audiences

Head office, Executive Management

This project is a fantastic opportunity to motivate for and effect the changes we know need to take place within the organization in order to optimize internal efficiencies.

CapeNature Management creates an enabling environment for new green economy projects and opportunities.


This green economy project will be able to deliver sustainable financing solutions to CapeNature but requires organisational buy-in in order to succeed.

CapeNature Staff

I understand this project and how it affects my role and feel empowered to participate.

CapeNature supports our efforts to grow new green economy projects and income streams.

CapeNature will enable and reward our entrepreneurial thinking.

CHANGE IS GOING TO BE WORTHWHILE.

Opportunities to grow and develop new skills and opportunities are available.

Internal Advisory Committee

Working with NCC and other external skills professionals on a consultancy basis can be beneficial to sustainable growth with CapeNature.

The change is going to be worthwhile, and partnerships with private sector specialists are rewarding.

External Audiences

Government Departments (as represented by the External Advisory Committee)

CapeNature is developing an exciting new green economy projects that align with the Government Green Economy strategy, can show significant delivery with the assistance from the department and can provide flagship projects that showcase significant Economic Development and Tourism impacts.

Private Sector

CapeNature is the ideal public sector partner that can unlock access to business opportunities relating to natural resources, ecotourism, bio-diversity conservation and provides socio economic development in rural areas.

CapeNature partnerships offer conservation science expertise and acceptable return on investment.

Partnerships with government can be successful and are not fraught with bureaucracy and red tape and at risk from political interference.

2. Communications Channels

Internal Communications

Workshops Intranet NCC Blog


Presentations Communication Office staff emails Monthly staff newsletter Smaller email groups From the Desk of the CEO email CEO biannual road show CEO column in monthly newsletter Face-to-face meetings Team meetings Employment Equity Committees C.A.R.E Ambassadors C.A.R.A Awards Roadshows SMS campaigns (for future consideration)

External Communications

One-one one meetings Group meetings Email updates Presentations⃰ Communication from the CEO Media Releases at later stage once projects show success⃰ Website (CapeNature and partners)⃰

8. Communication Tools

Content (written and visual for all Phases)⃰ Animation – Thurs 14th of Feb delivery. Reports – Advisory Committees. Presentations – CapeNature staff, Project Steering Committee, Business Consultant

Inception workshop, External stakeholders (adapted versions). Incentive programmes (use internal newsletter, message from CEO and staff intranet

to promote) Phase 2 delivery.⃰ Press Releases – Phase 2 on appointment of consultants (Marietjie or Content writer

to draft).⃰

9. Evaluation and Delivery

Did you reach the right people within the organisation?

Did they understand what the message was – did they do what had to be done?

Did you use the right tools?

Were their results?

Have you achieved your objectives

Did you use the right tools?

Were opportunities created


10. Recommendations

1. Content: Look to getting a content person/company to assist with writing up content for internal channels; for example, case studies, media releases and case studies from local and international established and pilot projects.⃰

2. Media PR: Look to getting a media strategy in place with PR people (internal or external to CapeNature) who can assist with media placement and opinion pieces that would speak to the government and private sector target audiences for Phase 3.

3. Design: Consider getting some design elements created to use for internal channels, for example; email signature, newsletters, presentations, reports and websites.⃰

4. Name: Consider finding a name for the project.⃰ 5. Rewards and incentives: Consider getting external supplier or consultant to advise

and or manage this process.⃰

*Compiled by Roth Communications for NCC Environmental Services.

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