Final NBA 2025 webinar to reflect on key insights and look to the future

After ten informative sessions exploring South Africa’s flagship biodiversity assessment, the National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) 2025 Webinar Series concludes with a final webinar that reflects on the journey so far and looks ahead to the future of biodiversity assessment in South Africa. The tenth and final webinar in the series, “Recaps and Looking to the Future”, will provide participants with an opportunity to revisit key messages from the webinar series, learn more about the innovative tools and resources that underpin NBA 2025, and explore how stakeholders can contribute to future biodiversity assessments. Since its launch, NBA 2025 has showcased the collective efforts of more than 490 contributors from approximately 110 institutions who worked together over six years to produce South Africa’s most comprehensive assessment of biodiversity and ecosystems. The assessment covers terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, marine and coastal ecosystems, species assessments across multiple taxonomic groups, and, for the first time, emerging indicators of genetic diversity. Wetlands-assessment. Pic: Tsamaelo Malebu The webinar will provide a brief overview of the National Biodiversity Assessment and recap some of the major themes covered throughout the series. Participants will also be guided through the NBA 2025 website, learning how to access key information, navigate assessment results, locate headline indicators, and make use of the growing collection of biodiversity resources available online. In addition, the session will highlight several innovations introduced in NBA 2025, including the use of modern data science tools and web-based platforms that improve transparency, repeatability and accessibility. Attendees will also learn how to access underlying biodiversity datasets through SANBI’s Biodiversity GIS (BGIS) platform and how these resources can support research, planning and decision-making. As the NBA 2025 webinar series draws to a close, the webinar will also look ahead to the next assessment cycle. Although the scope and timing of future assessments are still being determined, work has already begun on gathering new data, strengthening biodiversity monitoring systems and identifying research priorities that will contribute to future assessments and national reporting processes. The final webinar offers an opportunity for researchers, conservation practitioners, policymakers, students and members of the public to reflect on the achievements of NBA 2025 and learn how they can continue contributing to biodiversity knowledge and conservation in South Africa. Webinar Details Title: Recaps and Looking to the Future Date: Friday, 19 June 2026 Time: 13:00 – 13:45 Platform: Microsoft Teams Join the webinar here As we conclude the NBA 2025 Webinar Series, we invite you to join us for this final session as we reflect on the insights gained throughout the series and explore the next chapter in South Africa’s biodiversity assessment journey.