The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) welcomes the opportunity to engage with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) on finding resources to support biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in South Africa. We support the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity in its vision to realign the relationships between humans and the environment in which we live. We also support the transformative approach, which says that individuals and populations marginalised by capitalism, racism, and patriarchy should be placed at the centre if we are to realise any just and sustainable solutions. We recognise the immense damage the capitalist system has wrought on the environment and people, driven by profit-seeking and endless accumulation at all costs. South Africa is the third most biodiverse country globally, but about half of the assessed ecosystems are threatened, with inland wetlands and estuaries most at risk, posing a threat to multiple sectors including agriculture, forestry, and fishing (UNDP SA, 2022:14). We believe that a comprehensive, systemic response is essential to stem the frightening loss of biodiversity, the consequent loss of ecosystem resilience, and the threats to the survival and welfare of the majority of the population