The evolution of open space planning within a developing, biodiverse city (Durban, South Africa)

Conserving and restoring biodiversity is central to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The need to curb biodiversity loss through the mainstreaming of biodiversity considerations within land-use planning is consistently highlighted in global biodiversity assessments intended for policymakers and practitioners. We present a Global South local government-led examination of the mainstreaming of biodiversity issues within a biodiversity hotspot area. Here, we evaluated the four-decade-long evolution in open space planning in Durban, South Africa, in response to shifting urbanisation, governance and policy/legislative contexts. We assessed the role of science in responding to contextual changes, the need for champions, and key institutional interventions undertaken to embed a biodiversity function within local government. In addition, we investigated how biodiversity concerns have been incorporated into land-use planning applications via the city’s environmental planning function. We provide evidence of the advancement of mainstreaming biodiversity concerns within local government processes, institutional functions, and land-use decision-making. This has been achieved through effective and sustained leadership; the use of science and scientific information in advancing the policy and legislative environment and building political support by responding to shifting governance contexts; investment in institutional scientific capacity and generating scale-appropriate biodiversity information. Learnings from this paper may be useful for other local governments addressing biodiversity loss through land-use planning processes, by identifying critical investment areas that may shorten the time required for effective mainstreaming.