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The workshop was led by Vhembe Biosphere Reserve staff, with support from the University of Venda, the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, the South African Youth Biodiversity Network (SAYBN) and UNESCO with the support of Italy.

This workshop's objective was to provide young people from the biosphere reserve and areas nearby the opportunity to find local solutions to the global challenges they are currently facing and to design viable activities for the biosphere reserve. It also gave young people the opportunity to participate in one of the key thematic areas of the implementation of the Kunming - Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, ecosystem restoration, and during the workshop they were able to discuss and create an action plan on how Youth can contribute to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

In addition, there was an in-depth discussion on the Lima Action Plan, which will be renewed in 2025 during the 5^th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves to be held in Hangzhou, China. Hence the importance of discussing and taking stock of how it has been implemented and to look forward to the next plan.

The Director of the Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences of UNESCO and Secretary of the Man and the Biosphere Programme, Antonio De Sousa Abreu, highlighted in his opening remarks how South African biosphere reserves actively contribute to raising awareness on biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use, as well as to education and research activities. He also mentioned the importance of involving young people in the management of the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve and maintaining a strong engagement plan for more young people to join the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve Youth Network (VBRYN), which in turn would allow establishing connections with youth networks in neighbouring countries.

For Antonio De Sousa Abreu, youth should be actively involved in the implementation and follow-up of the Kumning-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Lima Action Plan, which would allow young people to start looking to the future and raise the voice of youth on important issues through the new MAB Action Plan. 91Â鶹¹ú²ú¾«Æ·×ÔÅÄ made youth one of its priority groups, and is fully committed to supporting young people to better understand and apply these global frameworks, bridging the gap between international commitments and local actions.

The South African MAB Focal Point, Mr Vongani Maringa from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), also intervened. He stressed the important role of Youth in contributing to the MAB Programme, where Youth should have an awareness plan and marketing strategy that could be useful for the MAB Programme, which would contribute to the marketing of the biosphere reserve. Furthermore, he expressed the need to document Indigenous knowledge within the biosphere reserve, including the cultural heritage aspect, as the integration of Indigenous knowledge in biodiversity conservation work highlights the valuable role of local knowledge in conservation.

He also acknowledged the richness of tourism in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve and shared his belief that young people should be involved in creating meaningful projects to develop this sector, as there is currently little tourism activity. He therefore stressed the importance of focusing on tourism and the Indigenous knowledge system, as these opportunities would contribute to the creation of youth employment and sustainable conservation, thus addressing the challenges of youth employment.

A discussion on the Lima Action Plan and the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration was also held together with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE), representing a platform for active participation and new perspectives on thinking.

The participants came from different locations within the biosphere reserve, from different fields and from different levels of studies and experience, which, by having different backgrounds and experiences, allowed for the identification of a large number of potential challenges in the biosphere reserve, as well as for proposing concrete and actionable solutions regarding ecosystem restoration. It was also an opportunity to identify stakeholders they would like to work with to solve these challenges.

The young participants expressed the challenges they face in their respective localities in terms of biodiversity loss, being the most common challenge the infestation by invasive alien plants, which are a huge loss to native biodiversity and to the groundwater on which the community depends.

During the young people's participation in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration debate, and after identifying the challenges they face, they proposed practical activities to address them. These activities could be implemented and contribute to improving the Global Biodiversity Framework, demonstrating the hard work of young people to improve biodiversity and ecosystem conservation in their biosphere reserves.

Overall, the young people were able to identify some activities that could be paired with the strategies of the Lima Action Plan, for example: raising community awareness to engage stakeholders, collecting research topics and conducting relevant research in the biosphere reserve, or identifying hiking trails in the biosphere reserve to promote biodiversity and tourism, among others. As a result, following the three-day workshop, a team of young people was appointed and agreed to volunteer their time to develop the activities and concept notes.

The South African chapter of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (SAYBN) facilitated a dialogue on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the newly developed Kumning-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, focusing on three main themes: conserving biodiversity, ensuring sustainable use of biodiversity, and promoting fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources.

Among the highlights of the dialogue was an in-depth analysis of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which covers maintaining ecosystems and their restoration, promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity, securing the benefits of genetic resources and addressing the funding gap. As a result, emphasis was placed on the inclusion and recognition of young people to participate in these commitments.

In addition, consensus was reached on the goal related to the protection/conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems, where it was concluded that, as this is a key goal, it needs to be shared and addressed with youth, indigenous communities and local communities, as there is a great need for awareness raising and integration of indigenous knowledge in nature conservation.

There is a critical need for issues such as capacity and resource mobilisation, which should be taken into account in the agreement established for the effective management and conservation of protected areas and also that of the restoration of degraded ecosystems. In the South African context, youth need to be involved in the development of the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and national meetings that contribute to South Africa's position and implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The young participants stressed that South Africa should emphasise effective management of already declared protected areas and increase the resources and management capacity allocated to these areas, as increasing the number of protected areas without effectively managing the existing ones would result in an ineffective and over-ambitious plan. They therefore consider it necessary to be realistic about the scope of what can be achieved and the country's position in the Global Biodiversity Framework. For them, it is vital to be well informed about the availability of financial resources, human capital and responsiveness, as they feel that youth networks and youth-led organizations and initiatives receive limited support, when what they need are grassroots projects.

Finally, the young people identified several projects for the biosphere reserve, but feel that it is crucial to focus on those that are viable within the 2024 exercise, as this will help motivate other members of the youth network to be part of the other projects and attract other stakeholders to make the projects viable.

Tshilidzi Mudau was elected as the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve Youth Network Champion. Tshilidzi is a subsistence farmer and a graduate in Environmental Science from the University of Venda after successfully designing a biogas digester to produce energy using pig and cow dung together with biodegradable waste from human excreta and food scraps. The biogas system not only harnesses the methane from the digester, but also provides several advantages, such as cooking, heating, reducing electricity bills, producing liquid manure and minimising odours from animal farms.

Despite his interest in renewable energy and acknowledging a gap in waste management, Tshilidzi has not yet commercialised his innovation, choosing to focus on domestic purposes for the time being.

As a demonstration project, his biogas system shows the potential of sustainable energy solutions. As such, the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve committed to helping Tshilidzi grow its business, as this project aligns with the youth network's objectives to create centres and incubators that provide support and resources to these initiatives.