Africa accounts for nearly 30% of the discovered world’s mineral reserves, with half of the world’s platinum group metals deposits, 36% of gold, and 20% of cobalt being in Southern Africa (SA). The intensification of heavy-metal production in the SA region has exacerbated negative human and environmental health impacts. In recent years, mining waste generated from industrial and artisanal mining has significantly affected the ecological integrity of SA aquatic ecosystems due to the accelerated introduction and deposition of heavy metals. However, the extent to which heavy-metal pollution associated with mining has impacted the aquatic ecosystems has not been adequately documented, particularly during bioassessments. This review explores the current aquatic ecological impacts on the heavily mined river basins of SA. It also discusses the approaches to assessing the ecological risks, inherent challenges, and potential for developing an integrated ecological risk assessment protocol for aquatic systems in the region. Progress has been made in developing rapid bioassessment schemes (RBS) for SA aquatic ecosystems. Nevertheless, method integration, which also involves heavy-metal pollution monitoring and molecular technology, is necessary to overcome the current challenges of the standardisation of RBS protocols. Citizenry science will also encourage community and stakeholder involvement in sustainable environmental management in SA.

Partnership working is necessary to allow nations to harness the evolving opportunities presented by climate finance and to progress towards climate compatible development (CCD). However, the new multi-stakeholder partnerships being formed and the factors affecting their outcomes remain poorly understood. This paper aims to identify the characteristics of partnership models that can lead to successful delivery of CCD projects by analyzing case study data from two projects in Zambia. The projects are primarily funded under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility and support activities such as conservation farming which can have carbon storage (mitigation), adaptation and rural development benefits. In each of the case study projects, multiple partnerships have been established between private sector companies, government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), traditional authorities and community stakeholders to achieve project aims. A new partnership evaluation model is developed and applied to analyze the partnerships formed. Findings show that the rationale behind the partnership, partner-related factors, and process-related factors can all affect achievement of the project’s aims. Good practices are identified which can inform future partnerships and projects. For example, when establishing a project, the initiating partner must identify gaps that can be addressed by establishing one or more partnership(s). Careful consideration of which partners can best address these gaps allows for synergies in contributions across the partnership required for successful project implementation. Transparency, openness and communication over roles and responsibilities are key to successful partnerships, and power imbalances between partners will reduce the utilization of each partner’s strengths. When working with communities, extra care must be taken to ensure projects are appropriate and relevant to local needs, as well as allowing goals to be met, by engaging communities from the beginning of the project.

Background: Increasingly, forests are on the international climate change agenda as land use and cover changes drive forest and carbon loss. The ability of forests to store carbon has created programs such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus (REDD+), in order to provide incentives for particular land uses and forest management practices. A critical element to REDD+ is the ability to know the carbon-storage potential of an ecosystem, and the factors likely to affect the rate of carbon accumulation or the maximum amount stored. Most REDD+ initiatives have focused on humid tropical forests because of their large stocks per unit area. Less attention has been paid to the carbon-storage potential of tropical dry forests, woodlands and savannas. Although these ecosystems support a lower biomass per unit area, they are more widespread than humid forests. This proposed systematic review examines miombo woodlands, which are the most extensive vegetation formation in Africa and support over 100 million people. We ask: To what extent have changes in land use and land cover influenced above- and below-ground carbon stocks of miombo woodlands since the 1950s?Methods: We will search systematically for studies that document the influence of land use and cover change on above and below ground carbon in miombo woodlands since the 1950s. We will consult bibliographic databases and an extensive grey literature network, including government reports and forestry offices. Relevant studies will examine the impacts of human activities, fire and other land use or cover changes that affect wood biomass or soil carbon in the miombo region. All included studies will be assessed for the soundness and scientific validity of their study design. A quantitative synthesis will tabulate estimates of various parameters necessary to assess carbon stocks and changes across climate and geological factors; and a qualitative analysis will describe the governing land and forest policies. Understanding the impact that land uses and the associated changes have on carbon storage in the miombo woodlands will contribute to more informed forest management policies and better guided strategies for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Miombo woodland is important for both wood and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The most commonly harvested products are timber, firewood, charcoal, fencing materials and materials for making farm tools and household items. The non-timber forest products harvested include mushrooms, fruits, medicines etc. A range of user groups such as timber producers, farmers and charcoal producers are involved in the exploitation of different types of woodland resources. Differences in priority of wood products and poor understanding of the Miombo ecosystem often result in each group attributing the negative impacts on the woodland to the other groups. In particular, timber producers accuse the charcoal producers of causing the depletion/decline of the timber species population which are cut as a by-product of charcoal production. However, there is clear evidence suggesting that timber species tend to do better in charcoal production and areas opened up due to slash and burn. This suggests that charcoal production, slash and burn agriculture and timber production may be integrated in forest management. As a result, there is need to formulate policies that provide for the integration of these different land use types into forest management.