About the Partnership
Sappi has been one of the longest standing supporters of WWF and its initiatives. This relationship has gone through a variety of incarnations with the most recent being the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership.
This innovative initiative has taken conservation to the most forgotten rural parts of the country and given communities in these areas hope of a better future. It is a programme that appeals to those involved in it in a way that few others have been able to. The Partnership has achieved a great deal and it is hoped that the innovation and commitment continue for years to come.
The SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership was created to:
• Secure South Africa’s sensitive forests and wetland areas from destructive development.
• Foster a workable synergy between conservation and community development.
• Create a platform for a sustainable long-term eco-tourism industry in which local communities can have a secure stake.
• Develop new, essentially South African eco-tourism destinations that fulfil both environmental and community development needs.
It was conceptualised in response to two pressing issues:
• The increasing encroachment by commercial developers on South Africa’s unique and fragile forests and wetlands.
• The urgent need for empowered and sustainable development in rural communities.
The community-owned and -run tourism projects being developed under the auspices of the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership have therefore been specifically designed to demonstrate tangible conservation benefits, as well as to ensure long-term socio-economic benefits for the communities in which they are situated.
How the Partnership Works
The SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership was created by Sappi in 1999, with a grant of R10 million.
The grant funding was entrusted to WWF SA, which has since been responsible for identifying suitable projects for the Partnership, according to carefully-defined criteria. The on-site development and operational management of each project has then, in turn, been contracted to the Wildlands Conservation Trust.
Most SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership projects are situated on land bordering the indigenous forests and wetlands of KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, broadly in the areas where Sappi has operating units.
These areas have traditionally been occupied by rural communities who rely on forest resources for a living, a practice that had become unsustainable. In recent years, communities like this have also become vulnerable to unscrupulous developers seeking prime land for commercial and environmentally-invasive tourism developments.
The Partnership was constituted to address this situation, to foster conservation of biodiversity in these areas and to empower local communities to earn a sustainable living through the development of eco-tourism.
Community Upliftment and Environmental Preservation
It is a condition of the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership that all projects it supports be community-based and inclusive. They must also be economically sustainable and should be catalysts for further eco-friendly development. All members of the involved communities should benefit in the broadest sense from these projects, through direct and indirect employment, skills acquisition and training, as well as through the benefits of community ownership and infrastructure.
With regard to environmental preservation, Sappi owns large tracts of land in South Africa, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Not all of this property is being utilised for the purposes of commercial forestry and there is still much of it on which indigenous forests and wetlands have been preserved. Sappi recognises its responsibility to preserve these indigenous habitats and the flora and fauna which depend on them.
In most cases, SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership projects are aimed at preserving the forest and wetland habitats that are on or adjacent to Sappi properties. These are home to many unique and engendered species, such as the Karkloof Butterfly, the Blue Swallow and the Oribi. In some instances, the land also encompasses rare habitats, such a the Coastal Dune Forests of Maputuland. Synergistically, the projects all depend on the preservation of these species and habitats for their success.
Sappi has been one of the longest standing supporters of WWF and its initiatives. This relationship has gone through a variety of incarnations with the most recent being the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership.
This innovative initiative has taken conservation to the most forgotten rural parts of the country and given communities in these areas hope of a better future. It is a programme that appeals to those involved in it in a way that few others have been able to. The Partnership has achieved a great deal and it is hoped that the innovation and commitment continue for years to come.
The SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership was created to:
• Secure South Africa’s sensitive forests and wetland areas from destructive development.
• Foster a workable synergy between conservation and community development.
• Create a platform for a sustainable long-term eco-tourism industry in which local communities can have a secure stake.
• Develop new, essentially South African eco-tourism destinations that fulfil both environmental and community development needs.
It was conceptualised in response to two pressing issues:
• The increasing encroachment by commercial developers on South Africa’s unique and fragile forests and wetlands.
• The urgent need for empowered and sustainable development in rural communities.
The community-owned and -run tourism projects being developed under the auspices of the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership have therefore been specifically designed to demonstrate tangible conservation benefits, as well as to ensure long-term socio-economic benefits for the communities in which they are situated.
How the Partnership Works
The SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership was created by Sappi in 1999, with a grant of R10 million.
The grant funding was entrusted to WWF SA, which has since been responsible for identifying suitable projects for the Partnership, according to carefully-defined criteria. The on-site development and operational management of each project has then, in turn, been contracted to the Wildlands Conservation Trust.
Most SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership projects are situated on land bordering the indigenous forests and wetlands of KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, broadly in the areas where Sappi has operating units.
These areas have traditionally been occupied by rural communities who rely on forest resources for a living, a practice that had become unsustainable. In recent years, communities like this have also become vulnerable to unscrupulous developers seeking prime land for commercial and environmentally-invasive tourism developments.
The Partnership was constituted to address this situation, to foster conservation of biodiversity in these areas and to empower local communities to earn a sustainable living through the development of eco-tourism.
Community Upliftment and Environmental Preservation
It is a condition of the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership that all projects it supports be community-based and inclusive. They must also be economically sustainable and should be catalysts for further eco-friendly development. All members of the involved communities should benefit in the broadest sense from these projects, through direct and indirect employment, skills acquisition and training, as well as through the benefits of community ownership and infrastructure.
With regard to environmental preservation, Sappi owns large tracts of land in South Africa, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Not all of this property is being utilised for the purposes of commercial forestry and there is still much of it on which indigenous forests and wetlands have been preserved. Sappi recognises its responsibility to preserve these indigenous habitats and the flora and fauna which depend on them.
In most cases, SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership projects are aimed at preserving the forest and wetland habitats that are on or adjacent to Sappi properties. These are home to many unique and engendered species, such as the Karkloof Butterfly, the Blue Swallow and the Oribi. In some instances, the land also encompasses rare habitats, such a the Coastal Dune Forests of Maputuland. Synergistically, the projects all depend on the preservation of these species and habitats for their success.
The SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership focuses on the creation and development of community-based tourism as an alternative to the non-sustainable use of resources that threaten sensitive indigenous forests and wetlands in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The butterfly logo highlights this focus - on the one hand nature, and on the other, crafts for the tourist market. In the logo design itself, one half is made up of a natural representation of the butterfly, while the other half shows a wire sculpture of it.
The butterfly logo highlights this focus - on the one hand nature, and on the other, crafts for the tourist market. In the logo design itself, one half is made up of a natural representation of the butterfly, while the other half shows a wire sculpture of it.
Most of the communities that live around the forests and wetlands where the Partnership operates create wire sculptures of the animals they see around them for sale to the tourist trade. The use of one of these sculptures as part of the logo represents the mutual respect and daily co-operation between these communities and the natural environment.
The logo therefore brings together the two core aims of the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership: commitment to preserving the natural habitats that support so many vulnerable species, and the parallel commitment to fostering sustainable, co-operative development in the human communities living close to these areas.
The logo therefore brings together the two core aims of the SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership: commitment to preserving the natural habitats that support so many vulnerable species, and the parallel commitment to fostering sustainable, co-operative development in the human communities living close to these areas.
SappiWWF TreeRoutes Partnership Logo
Eco-tourism = Community + Environment
