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Building climate resilience in the real estate development sector globally and in South Africa means doing away with ‘Business as Usual’ approach to development and investing in low-carbon development strategies. Dube TradePort Corporation is therefore hard at work succinctly building upon this foundation by acquiring and rehabilitating a massive 200 hectares of wetlands within the Dube TradePort precinct.

In addition, in line with the National Development Plan, which advocates for co-befit goals in terms of sustainable development, Dube TradePort Corporation and its key partners eThekwini Municipality and Tongaat Hullet are well into Phase 2 implementation of their Climate Resilience Framework Memorandum of Agreement. As part of this MoA, the parties have committed to development approach (for their respective landholding within the Northern Development Area) that builds resilience into their spatial planning and infrastructure development.  

In line with the framework, Dube TradePort Corporation is now prioritising the acquisition of land parcels that possess critical biodiversity assets such as grasslands and wetlands. This is particularly premised by the understanding that grasslands and wetlands accounts for approximately 65% of the terrestrial and aquatics carbon stocks. “For instance, of the total 800 hectares of land purchased from private landowners between 2014 and 2018, approximately 200 hectares is being used as wetland mitigation offset, thereby contributing to the climate change resilience of the Northern Development Area,” said Dube TradePort Corporation Chief Executive Hamish Erskine.

“What’s unique in the Climate Resilient Framework Plan is that it identifies critical wetland areas which cannot be disturbed and can only be managed and enhanced for their ecological and functional value.  It also provides an overarching approach to environmental management across the area, so we are no longer working on a piecemeal  project-by-project basis, but on a large scale,” he said.

One of the critical aspects to come out of the climate resilience strategy is the type of approach Dube TradePort Corporation is adopting when developing the various precincts.

“For instance, we are ensuring that we have sustainable urban drainage. In our case wetland enhanced infrastructure mimics wetlands and their natural flow, ensuring that stormwater is naturally managed as opposed to having hard infrastructure such as canals.

‘By using wetlands, we are able to slow the speed of run-off and the consequent damage; and improve the quality of the water going into the rivers because the wetlands act as a natural filter.”  Noted  Mr Erskine

Issued by Dube TradePort Corporation