The BirdLife Partnership’s policy work focuses not only on domestic legislation and policies, but also regional and global laws, programmes and institutional arrangements that impact on birds and biodiversity.

At the national-level, BirdLife South Africa’s Policy and Advocacy Programme monitors relevant legislative and policy developments and provides input on these, where appropriate. We are also involved in the proactive development of strategically-important best practice guidelines aimed at supporting and strengthening the implementation of environmental laws. The Programme additionally engages and supports the South African government in respect of its international conservation commitments – including by participating in the development of national and international implementation plans for various treaties and providing input to assist government’s international reporting on implementation efforts.

Beyond South Africa, we support the policy work of BirdLife Partners in other African countries and participate in BirdLife International’s efforts to influence various international environmental processes.

Our advocacy work focuses on safeguarding priority habitats and species by reactively addressing direct threats. We submit comments on development applications that could negatively impact key habitats and species; challenge associated decisions, where appropriate; respond to instances in which problematic activities occur without the requisite authorisations; and endeavour to better capacitate other stakeholders to contribute to relevant public participation processes. We also support the advocacy work of BirdLife Partners in other African countries – including by participating in BirdLife’s African Site Casework and Emerging Threats Taskforce (ASCET).