Building on 30 years of partnership: Mondi and WWF South Africa extend partnership agreement for another three years

Mondi South Africa has announced a significant commitment of over €680,000 (R13 million) towards water stewardship, prolonging its partnership with WWF South Africa for another three years to 2027. This marks the fourth phase of the WWF-Mondi Partnership, which has been in place for over 30 years and is one of the longest-running corporate partnerships of WWF South Africa.

The partnership has historically focused on wetland conservation and water stewardship in priority catchments, and it will continue to address the pressing need for water security in South Africa. Mondi South Africa aims to work within its operations to reduce its water footprint, and support water security initiatives beyond our operational boundaries. The partnership brings together multiple stakeholder groups such as government representatives, local communities, NGOs and other private sector organisations.

A milestone was the development of a near real-time water flow monitoring tool to aid strategic decision-making in the uMhlathuze catchment area. The ‘Flow Tracker’ tool was launched in 2022 to support a climate and drought resilient landscape, and it is currently being further developed. Read more on how we enhance climate change resilience through water flow tracking. 

It's been an incredible journey with WWF, and we have learnt so much. Long-lasting and meaningful partnerships need to be backed by insightful leadership, strong scientific input, consistent corporate funding to develop a core team of experts, and most importantly - passion.

Candice Webb, Head of Environment at Mondi South Africa  

Introducing a new partnership focus

While continuing its focus on water, the next phase of the WWF-Mondi Partnership in South Africa will also explore other work areas around circular economy, land and biodiversity stewardship, and climate resilience. Some of the key projects for the next phase include:

• Creating a Richards Bay Eco-Industrial community promoting a circular economy, integrating Mondi’s Richards Bay mill.
• Expanding existing and new initiatives for improving water stewardship in the uMhlathuze catchment, which supplies Mondi’s Richards Bay mill with water.

Workshop on circular economy opportunities

In October, Mondi Richards Bay mill and WWF hosted a workshop to explore circular economy opportunities through collaboration with other private sector organisations. Various ideas were discussed, such as wastewater reuse and solid waste to landfill diversion between different industry operations.

Expanding the partnership’s focus to include elements of a circular economy and biodiversity stewardship, allows Mondi to tap into a broader suite of WWF’s expertise strengthening sustainability of its operations. Working with Mondi provides WWF with a perfect opportunity to put into practice some innovative environmental projects with a corporate partner WWF trusts. Rolling out these projects over the next 3 years, is hugely exciting for WWF, and will contribute towards achieving our strategic environmental goals.

David Lindley, WWF South Africa

Longstanding partners

The journey of the WWF-Mondi Water Partnership started over 30 years ago, when the establishment of plantations in South Africa caused conflicts between the forestry sector and environmental communities due to the impacts on water resources.

Mondi South Africa strives for open dialogue and collaboration, and we set out to find a solution. WWF South Africa was committed to working on this with us, and soon, a partnership was born.

In 2016, WWF and Mondi celebrated 25 years of the WWF-Mondi Wetlands Programme.

The partnership’s achievements show how different local stakeholder groups can work together effectively; how the inclusion of water stewardship requirements into national legislation and certification schemes can catalyse change enhancing climate resilience at a water catchment level.

Read more about the 30 years WWF-Mondi Water Stewardship Partnership.