On 11 – 13 December 2024, the Future Ecosystems for Africa (FEFA) programme co-hosted a meeting with Conservation International (CI). The meeting included leading African research and policy experts who came together to conceptualize the development of an African NCS roadmap. The meeting was held in Melville, Johannesburg and organized in collaboration with the Oppenheimer Generations Research (OGRC). The meeting brought together representatives from OGRC, FEFA, its network of associated researchers, CI, and policymakers. Among FEFA representatives were Prof Sally Archibald (co-PI) and Laura Pereira (c0-PI), supported by collaborators and researchers Armani Mohammed (Funded Collaborator), Tatenda Gotore (Research Associate), and Batlhalifi Nkgothoe (PhD student).

Some of the main outcomes of the meeting were:

• Defining Africa’s NCS strengths and identifying barriers to realizing its full potential.
• Brainstorming core impacts of the roadmap to achieve by 2025.
• Reviewing a draft theory of change, defining high-level roadmap outputs, structuring the report, and assigning participants to key working groups.
• The development of the African NCS roadmap timeline (Figure 2) outlining the milestones to be achieved in six (6) months, 18 months, and ultimately 60 months.

For more information on the meeting, please take a look at the summary report here.