Eight communities in South Africa's Eastern Cape province now own and manage their own forests—a shift that transforms both the landscape and the lives of the people who tend it. In the 2025/26 financial year, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment transferred management of plantations in Hamburg, Manina Block H&J, Manina Block K, Mthintloni, Ngcobo, Nkobongo, Xhorana and Zikhova to local control, marking a significant step toward dismantling the exclusion that has long defined South Africa's forestry sector.
The initiative matters because forests have historically been managed in ways that benefit outsiders while leaving local communities on the margins. By handing over the keys—literally through Community Forestry Agreements—the department is betting that ownership creates jobs, strengthens rural economies, and gives women and young people pathways into an industry where they've been largely absent. Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Bernice Swarts laid out the ambition plainly: these community-owned plantations will "create jobs, stimulate small businesses and strengthen rural livelihoods, especially for women and youth."
What makes this momentum real is the scale ahead. Eight plantations transferred in this financial year is substantial; eight more will follow in 2026/27. The department is also mobilising private sector partners to provide financial support, signalling that this is not a one-off gesture but a structural shift with teeth. Through outreach programmes, the government is raising awareness among women and promoting forestry careers in schools, planting seeds for the next generation of workers who see themselves in the sector.
The transfer of land and resources into community hands acknowledges something that South Africa's environmental work often misses: you cannot protect forests from a distance. Real stewardship comes when people have a stake in the outcome. By creating "a sense of ownership among community members while providing opportunities to participate meaningfully in the forestry value chain," the department is building conservation and economic development from the ground up.
Beyond the plantations, South Africa is also tackling what happens to electrical and electronic waste—a growing hazard that most countries still treat as an afterthought. Over the past two financial years, Producer Responsibility Organisations working with the department collected more than 86 tons of e-waste and paid communities more than R267 700 in incentives for their participation. This is not charity; it is recognition that communities can be part of the solution, and that the solution has value worth sharing.
The work reflects a broader pivot in how the department approaches environmental protection. Through municipal greening campaigns and waste separation initiatives, it is shifting focus from top-down mandates to local action. Strengthening the Local Government Support Programme in partnership with the South African Local Government Association aims to address pollution at its source: communities that manage their own spaces, make decisions about their own resources, and see tangible returns for their effort.
South Africa's forestry transformation is still unfolding, but the direction is clear. When communities own the land, tend the trees, and keep the rewards, everyone benefits—today and for generations ahead.