South Africa faces mounting water insecurity due to declining quality and availability, rising demands, and climate change. This crisis threatens freshwater biodiversity and livelihood security. Despite robust policies and targets for water resources protection, implementation support is critically lacking, and staff and stakeholders struggle to interpret the outputs of studies, operationalize targets, and communicate the practical implications of non-compliance. Indeed, non-compliance and lack of regulation remain key challenges for safeguarding freshwater ecosystems.

This project aims to enhance the capacity of the Breede-Overberg Catchment Management Agency, the Departments of Water & Sanitation, and other key partners and authorities. Through the co-development of guidelines, protocols and shared practices for freshwater protection, we seek to enable effective management actions for freshwater protection.

Supporting catchment management agencies (CMAs) and partners in implementing such measures is crucial for protecting aquatic biodiversity, especially as new CMAs take on water resources protection responsibilities. This presents a unique opportunity to shape effective policy through the development of skills, practices and tools for mandated authorities.

The Policy Implementation for Water Resources and Biodiversity Protection through Capacity Building of Water Managers project has 3 immediate objectives:

• Objective 1: To build partnerships and consolidate resources for water resource protection in the Gouritz-Garden Route catchments (Preparation and material development phase)
• Objective 2: To test, refine and instiutionalise processes, practices and protocols for water resource and aquatic biodiversity protection in high priority catchments of the Breede-Olifants WMA
• Objective 3: Upscale capacity and skills competency to all new Catchment Management Agencies

Dr Sharon Pollard has over 30 years’ experience working on and leading collaborative research projects on freshwater aquatic systems and their protection through integrated approaches and collaborative governance in southern Africa. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town and is based at the Freshwater Research Cemtre (FRC). She has a wide range of interests within the field of sustainability, climate change adaptation and development in catchments of southern Africa. She specializes in systemic social learning approaches for Integrated Water Resources Management, water resources protection, co-management and the links to livelihoods, particularly of marginalized communities. She has a long experience of participatory approaches for implementation of policy, collaborative governance approaches to integrating social and biophysical systems.