Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts, floods and wildfires in South Africa, threatening the ecosystems that underpin rural livelihoods and the South African economy. Well managed ecosystems have the potential to reduce the severity and risk of these extreme events, especially for vulnerable rural communities. The proposed project will enable scale-up of ecosystem-based approaches, buffering the impacts of climate-intensified extreme events, and enhancing the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities. This will be achieved by: i) rehabilitation of vulnerable catchments; ii) integration of ecosystem-based approaches into settlement planning and disaster risk reduction; and iii) upscaling ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco- DRR) approaches across South Africa. The project will be executed by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF, formerly known as Department of Environmental Affairs) with support from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The project will be overseen by the South African National Biodiversity Institute.