Speech
By The Deputy Minister Of Environmental Affairs
And Tourism Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi At The Official
Opening Of The Mmaphake Land Care Center
Mmaphaake Land Care Project - Mmametlhake Village
Mpumalanga, 15 August 2006
Programme Director
Honourable MEC Madala Masuku
The Honorable Mayor Masombuka
Kgosi Mokgoko
Members of the community
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is always a wonderful experience
for me to be part of an event to celebrate communities’
efforts to take care of the land and its natural
resources. This event is of no exception as the
Mmaphake Landcare Forum is a community-based program
that seeks to protect the environment for the
benefit of the current and future generations.
The launch and official opening
of this Land Care Center fits in well with the
celebration of 2006 as the International Year
for Deserts and Desertification.
The United Nations General Assembly,
at its fifty-eight ordinary session, adopted a
resolution which declared 2006 the International
Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD), in
so doing, it underlined its deep concern for the
increased levels of desertification, particularly
in African communities.
Celebrated under the theme “Desertification
a threat to humanity”, the General Assembly invited
all countries, international and civil societies
to celebrate the Year 2006 and to support public
awareness activities related to desertification
and land degradation. The main objective of the
IYDD is to get the message across that desertification
is a major threat to humanity and launch the fight
against it as a global sustainable development
challenge.
Programme Director, South Africa
has ratified the United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification and Effects of Drought
in September 1997 and has since committed itself
to the development and implementation of a long
term strategy to address issues relating to desertification.
I am aware that your community
has been celebrating the 23rd of June as the World
Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. I am
also aware that, prior to the establishment of
your forum, you have conducted several awareness
raising campaigns on environmental and land care
issues.
I think that you are one of
the very few communities that have been proactive
and committed in dealing with matters on land
and environment. I would like to commend and encourage
you to continue with your good interventions.
It usually said that “Rome was not built in one
day”. No matter how small or big, our efforts
today will yield good results tomorrow.
Desertification is more of a
challenge to us than ever before. It poses huge
threat to rural communities who depend on natural
resources for their livelihoods. Unfortunately
the poorest of the poor, mostly women bare the
brunt as they are the ones who depend on these
natural resources for survival, in a form of wood,
water and agricultural produce for subsistence
and commercial.
Land degradation is obviously
not only about land, it is about the people. Millions
of people are directly affected by natural resource
degradation and many of them live below the poverty
line. They depend on natural resources for survival.
Yet the capacity of our country’s land, water
and biological resources to sustain its people
is eroding.
Tons of productive land are now lost and many
once pristine conservation areas are denuded.
As government we have put in
place legislation to ensure sustainable land,
water, forest and biodiversity management. The
Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, 1993,
the National Forest Act, the National Water Act,
1998 and the Biodiversity Act of 2004 are examples
of legislation put in place to ensure conservation
and sustainable use of natural resources.
We have has over the past years
also initiated programmes that seeks to address
land degradation and desertification.
The National Action Programme
(NAP) on combating of land degradation to alleviate
poverty is one of the key interventions the department
has adopted. Its first principle is to be the
prime contributor to sustainable rural development.
The Community Based Natural
Resource Management (CBNRM) is another strategy
in which government in partnership with communities,
the private sector as well as donor agencies,
seeks to address land degradation at the same
time alleviating poverty.
CBNRM is about local people
coming together to protect their land, water animals
and plants, so that they can use these natural
resources to improve their lives sustainably for
the benefit of their children and grand children.
It is a tool to enable every member of the community
to play a part in improving the quality of people’s
lives, economically, culturally and spiritually.
Initiatives like the National
Land-Care programmes, Working for Water, and Working
for Fire are some of the national initiatives
where government is investing money in the rural
infrastructure, to ensure sustainable land management,
rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and addressing
poverty through job creation.
Therefore this project falls under the National
Land care programmes and must be given the necessary
support by government.
I was very impressed to learn
that your forum deals with a variety of issues
in order to prevent loss of biodiversity such
as bush clearing, weed control, removal of alien
species and control of veld fires. This shows
that you understand that environmental issues
are cross-cutting and therefore require a holistic
approach.
As we celebrate the IYDD, we
need to collectively raise awareness of the links
between land degradation and poverty and give
priority or support to conservation and wise use
of natural resources including water and wetlands
in national poverty eradication strategies.
It is imperative that we ensure
gender equity in sustainable natural resource
management strategies. We must encourage the role
of local communities and indigenous knowledge
in addressing economic and ecological challenges
of dry-land management ecosystems.
As we have been commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the women's march to the
Union Building under the theme “Women: Builders
of Communities & Dreams” for 2006, it is imperative
that we ensure gender equity in sustainable natural
resource management strategies.
In conclusion allow to take
opportunity to officially launch this center which
will serve as community resource center on all
matters relating sustainable utilisation of our
natural resource and a demonstration center for
natural resource utilisation and management.
Let us ensure a broader participation
by all members of the community in this project.
Together we shall succeed.
Thank you and good luck.
