US technology giant Amazon has backed a R1.5bn environmental restoration project in the Eastern Cape expected to create more than 11,000 sustainable long-term jobs over the next decade while helping revive one of SA’s most threatened ecosystems.
This investment has already created about 1,600 jobs and will restore 50,000 hectares of degraded indigenous vegetation by planting 180-million spekboom shrubs across the province.
Amazon’s commitment to purchase 1.95-million tonnes of carbon removal credits has unlocked the R1.5bn investment through a partnership involving the World Bank and private capital investors.
Implemented by Imperative in partnership with NatCarbon Africa, the project aims to restore the Albany thicket, a unique biome found almost exclusively in the Eastern Cape.
Once widespread, decades of overgrazing and land degradation have severely damaged large parts of the landscape, reducing biodiversity, damaging soils and limiting agricultural productivity.
Spekboom, an indigenous succulent commonly known as elephant bush, has become central to restoration efforts because of its remarkable ability to absorb carbon dioxide while improving soil quality and creating favourable conditions for other indigenous plants and wildlife to recover.
The project is being rolled out in three phases, beginning around Jansenville in the Sarah Baartman district, before expanding across the province.
Once completed, it will rank among the world’s largest nature-based carbon removal initiatives.
Amazon’s involvement forms part of its commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 through The Climate Pledge.
Under the agreement, the company will purchase carbon removal credits generated as the growing spekboom absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Those long-term purchase commitments provide the financial certainty needed to attract large-scale investment into restoration projects.
Speaking at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony in Jansenville, premier Oscar Mabuyane said the investment demonstrated that environmental restoration could become a powerful driver of economic growth.
“This project is about much more than the opening of a nursery or the planting of spekboom.
“It is about jobs. It is about investment. It is about creating opportunities for our people, particularly in rural communities where those opportunities are often scarce.”
He said the project highlighted the province’s growing role in the global green economy.
“This landmark investment not only restores our natural landscapes but also creates sustainable employment, strengthens rural economies and positions the Eastern Cape as a destination for global climate finance and green investment.”
Mabuyane said the success of the project could pave the way for similar restoration initiatives in other parts of the province, including Joe Gqabi and Chris Hani, creating additional opportunities for employment, skills development and rural economic growth.
Amazon spokesperson Kirsten Hewett said the project would restore 50,000ha of degraded land in the Eastern Cape — an area roughly twice the size of the Table Mountain National Park — through the planting of 180-million spekboom shrubs.
“It is expected to remove 1.95-million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, create 11,000 jobs, and generate more than R8bn ($500m) in economic value for surrounding communities through wages, procurement and community investment.”
She said the benefits would extend well beyond employment creation.
“More than R8bn in economic value will flow into surrounding communities through wages, procurement and land lease payments, strengthening rural economies that have long been affected by land degradation.”
Hewett said restoring the Albany thicket would also improve soil quality, increase water retention and make farmland more resilient to drought and extreme weather while supporting the recovery of indigenous plant and animal species.
Agri Eastern Cape president Peter Cloete described the investment as a major boost for agriculture and rural communities.
“I think it will be a huge cash injection to the community,” Cloete said.
He said healthier grazing land, improved vegetation and increased agricultural productivity would benefit both landowners and surrounding communities.
“Agriculture is probably the greatest contributor to the economy of the Eastern Cape. If there’s no agriculture, there’s generally no town.”
Cloete said creating jobs in rural communities would also help address one of the province’s biggest social challenges.
“Our biggest problem in the country at the moment is unemployment.
“So, if we can get people employed and into work, it’s brilliant, because if there’s no work, criminality just goes through the roof.”
Eastern Cape agriculture department spokesperson Athule Joka said the department also welcomed the initiative, particularly because of its potential to reverse widespread land degradation.
He said research showed that more than 60% of communal rangelands in the Eastern Cape exhibited some degree of degradation, with soil erosion among the most visible consequences.
“We are hoping more investment will be directed towards this project to look into restoring land protecting other existing species,” Joka said.
He said the project would not only rehabilitate degraded land but also improve climate resilience, strengthen biodiversity and create employment while equipping communities with valuable environmental restoration skills.
Provincial officials believe the financing model — combining Amazon’s long-term carbon credit purchase agreement with support from the World Bank and private investors including GenZero, Rubicon Carbon, Mirova and Bregal Sphere Nature — could become a blueprint for attracting further international investment into large-scale environmental restoration projects in SA. - MPUMZI MSHWESHWE and ONELA RUNGQU
Daily Dispatch
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