South Africa has launched ReLISA, or Restoring Landscapes in South Africa, a 5-year, €15-million programme aimed at restoring degraded grassland, savanna and thicket ecosystems while expanding protected areas and strengthening climate and water resilience. The initiative is funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment through its International Climate Initiative and was jointly launched on October 16, 2025, on the sidelines of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group Ministerial Meeting in Cape Town. The launch brought together South Africa's Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George; Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Carsten Schneider; UNEP Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Maruma Mrema; and UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa Nelson Muffuh. The programme is designed to connect ecological restoration with protected-area expansion, community partnerships and new approaches to financing conservation at landscape scale. This ambitious initiative demonstrates how international cooperation and innovative financing models can effectively address complex environmental challenges, offering a promising blueprint for large-scale landscape restoration worldwide.
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