Evaluating the resilience and implementation challenges of South Africa’s biodiversity policies and programmes the in the face of climate change threats

South Africa is highly recognised globally for its well-informed policies on biodiversity management. However, these rich resources have become increasingly vulnerable to multifaceted threats of climate change. Over the past three decades’ numerous policies and strategies, notably the South Africa’s National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), and National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) were enacted mainly to address climate-related threats to ecosystems and species. While acknowledging some levels of successes particularly in drafting policies and raising awareness among the population, translating this awareness into robust, coordinated, and investments in mitigation and adaptation in biodiversity remained nonetheless extremely limited. Using the conventional data collection tools of qualitative and quantitative as well as extensive secondary materials, this study explored the robustness and proactiveness of the country’s biodiversity strategies to the threats of climate change. The findings established that while significant progress has been made in integrating climate adaptation measures into biodiversity planning frameworks, particularly the mainstreaming ecosystem-based approaches and protected area expansion, significant gaps persist in the implementation capacity, funding mechanisms, and intersectoral coordination required to guarantee long-term ecological resilience to climate change. This study underscores the urgency of reinforcing biodiversity governance with robust climate-resilient policy instruments and active participation of communities in the biodiversity governance in the county. Additionally, it is proposed that the country moves beyond policy intent and awareness to land-scale, equity-centred, ecosystem-based adaptation to withstand the intensifying pressures of climate change.