<\/p>\n
SA Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment David Maynier invited members of the public to comment on the draft National Leopard Conservation Strategy and Action Plan, 2026.<\/p>\n
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The department published the draft strategy in Government Gazette No. 55299, Notice No. 7877, on September 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
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Publication took place under Sections 99 and 100 of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act of 2004.<\/p>\n
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The draft strategy proposes a shared national vision under which leopards thrive in living landscapes and contribute to cultural traditions and local livelihoods through inclusive, community-driven conservation.<\/p>\n
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The proposed plan seeks to align leopard conservation with the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of SA\u2019s Biodiversity, 2023.<\/p>\n
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According to the department, the strategy also takes account of public values and expectations concerning leopards, including potential benefits for society and the environment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leopards are recognised as an important part of SA\u2019s natural heritage, with ecological, cultural and symbolic importance across different communities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The draft strategy proposes protecting leopard habitats and wider biodiversity while using conservation to support sustainable development and transformation.<\/p>\n
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Conservation efforts under the proposed framework would focus on three main areas: the ecological role of leopards, social and cultural values linked to the species, and the effect of leopards on livelihoods.<\/p>\n
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The plan also seeks to identify opportunities for communities to benefit from leopard conservation while addressing challenges associated with human-wildlife interaction.<\/p>\n
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Community participation forms a central part of the proposed approach, with the draft vision calling for conservation measures shaped by local knowledge, cultural practices and livelihood needs.<\/p>\n
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The public consultation process gives individuals, communities, conservation organisations, researchers and other interested parties an opportunity to provide input before finalisation of the strategy.<\/p>\n
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Written comments must be submitted within 30 days of the publication of the notice in the Government Gazette or a newspaper, depending on which publication date falls later.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The consultation period will allow the department to consider public submissions before adopting a final national framework for leopard conservation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44636,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-44635","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa (SA) has published a draft national leopard conservation strategy aimed at protecting leopard populations while supporting cultural traditions, local livelihoods and community-led conservation.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Africa (SA) has published a draft national leopard conservation strategy aimed at protecting leopard populations while supporting cultural traditions, local livelihoods and community-led conservation.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44637,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44635\/revisions\/44637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}