18/02/2005: THE PUBLICATION
OF DRAFT LIST OF THREATENED AND PROTECTED
SPECIES IN TERMS OF SECTION 56(1) OF THE
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: BIODIVERSITY
ACT (NO. 10 OF 2004)
The Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk today,
18 February 2005, published a draft list
of threatened and protected species in the
Government Gazette.
The Biodiversity Act makes provision for
the listing of species in need of protection
to ensure their survival in the wild while
regulating “restricted activities”, as defined
in the Act, which may involve such a threatened
or protected species, as well as activities
which may have a potential impact on their
long-term survival. These provisions however,
will only become enforceable when appropriate
species lists have been published in regulations
under the Act, a process intended to be
completed by 1 April 2005, by which date
the relevant sections of the Act are set
to enter into force.
Activities such as keeping, moving, having
in possession, importing and exporting and
selling listed species will be regulated
by means of permits, i.e. the activities
will be regulated rather than the species
themselves. This means that when a person
wants to sell a listed species a permit
will be required. Carrying out any “restricted
activity” with a listed threatened or protected
species, whether nationally or internationally
is equally regulated by means of a permit.
In view of the fact that activities involving
species listed as either threatened or protected
in terms of section 56(1) may constitute
a criminal offence carrying a heavy penalty,
the implications to user and interest groups
are considerable. To ensure that all stakeholders
are afforded the opportunity to comment
on the draft list of threatened and protected
species, it was published in the Government
Gazette.
The closing date for public comment is
22 March 2005.
