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Sustainable Growth

Friday, 10 August 2018

Green jobs: Unlocking and retaining jobs in the alien vegetation added value chain through industrial symbiosis - Case study on wood pellets

  • Year: 2018
  • Organisation: WWF South Africa and TIPS
  • Author(s): Nicola Jenkin (Pinpoint Sustainability) and Shakespear Mudombi (TIPS)
  • Countries and Regions: South Africa

UNLOCKING GREEN JOBS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Unlocking Green Jobs: A Catalytic Intervention was a two-year initiative and collaboration between the World Wide Fund for Nature, South Africa (WWF-SA) and Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS). Published reports include a synthesis report, Unlocking green jobs in South Africa: A catalytic intervention, which summarises the findings and three three case studies. The reports were produced with the financial assistance of the WWF Nedbank Green Trust and Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Invasive alien plants are a serious environmental challenge in South Africa, impacting on biodiversity and water supply. A set of national strategies for clearing these and beneficiating the biomass have been implemented over the past decade, with mixed success in job creation, enterprise development and poverty alleviation. This case study explores the reasons for success and failure. In particular, the case study highlights the potential to create jobs in relation to wood-pelleting and eco-matting, and suggests there are wider social arguments that should be taken into consideration when evaluating policy options for the beneficiation of alien biomass.

Main report

Unlocking green jobs in South Africa: A catalytic intervention - synthesis report

Other case studies

Essential Amathole: A case study of unlocking green jobs in the bioprospecting sector

Protecting and unlocking jobs through water stewardship: A case study Linked to the Umbogintwini Industrial Complex, Ethekwini