28 August 2007 - Media
Statement - Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism - TUESDAY, 29 AUGUST
2007: Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, is
proud to announce the establishment of South
Africa’s ninth national botanical garden
on the outskirts of Nieuwoudtville in the
Northern Cape, South Africa. The new garden,
to be established on the farm Glenlyon,
comprises over 6,300 ha of land on the Bokkeveld
Plateau, and is world renowned for its incredible
diversity of bulbous plants. Some 40% of
the flora comprises bulbs that create spectacular
displays in autumn and spring each year.
The Garden also comprises large natural
patches of renosterveld fynbos and succulent
karoo vegetation. Some 1,350 plant species
have so far been recorded on the Bokkeveld
Plateau, including 80 range-restricted or
endemic species (6% of the flora). Almost
a third of the species endemic to the Bokkeveld
Plateau are threatened with extinction.
Due to the incredible diversity and density
of bulbs, Nieuwoudtville’s biodiversity
is of international significance and it
is often referred to as ‘the bulb capital
of the world’. “The new national botanical
garden in Nieuwoudtville in the Northern
Cape will provide an important conservation
area which will be used by SANBI to promote
nature-based tourism, the conservation of
the area’s unique biodiversity, environmental
education opportunities and long term ecological
research in this botanical hotspot of global
significance.” the Minister said.
The purchase of the farm Glenlyon was made
possible through generous funding provided
by the national Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Conservation
International (CI) through the Global Conservation
Fund (GCF), and the Leslie Hill Succulent
Karoo Trust through the World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF, South Africa).
The new Nieuwoudtville National Botanical
Garden plans to be open to the public in
January 2008 and will serve as a centre
for biodiversity research in the Succulent
Karoo region and Bokkeveld Plateau. Focus
will be on promoting long-term ecological
research, conservation, nature-based tourism
and education relating to the region’s biodiversity,
working closely with local and regional
stakeholders, bioregional programmes, conservation
agencies, universities and museums. The
official launch of the new national botanical
garden took place on the farm Glenlyon outside
Nieuwoudtville on Tuesday 28 August 2007.
SANBI was established under the National
Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act,
No. 10 of 2004. SANBI’s mission is to promote
the sustainable use, conservation, appreciation
and enjoyment of the exceptionally rich
biodiversity of South Africa, for the benefit
of all people. The first national botanical
garden of the country, Kirstenbosch, was
established in 1913 and today SANBI manages
South Africa’s network of eight national
botanical gardens, located across five provinces.
The last national botanical garden established
was the Walter Sisulu NBG in Roodepoort/Mogale
City, Gauteng, in 1982, 25 years ago. Part
of SANBI’s Corporate Strategic Plan is to
have at least one national botanical garden
located in all nine South African provinces.
National botanical gardens have been defined
internationally as institutions holding
documented collections of living plants
for the purposes of scientific research,
conservation, display and education.
Christopher Willis (Chief Director: Gardens,
SANBI)
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Green Scorpions Inspect Vanchem Plant
30 August 2007 - Media Statement - Multi-day
environmental compliance inspection at Highveld
Steel’s Vanadium plant
THURSDAY, 30 AUGUST 2007: On Thursday,
30 August 2007, Environmental Management
Inspectors (EMIs - Green Scorpions) from
the Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism and the Mpumalanga Department
of Agriculture and Land Affairs entered
the second day of a comprehensive environmental
compliance inspection at Highveld Steel’s
Vanchem plant. The multi-day inspection
commenced on 29 August.
The EMIs are joined by officials from the
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
and Emalahleni Local Municipality.
The Highveld area is currently under consideration
for declaration as a priority air pollution
area in terms of the new air quality act.
This was recently gazetted for public comment.
The purpose of the compliance inspection
is to determine the Vanchem plant’s compliance
with environmental legislation and all permits
issued to the plant in respect of air, waste
and water. The inspection is expected to
take several days to complete, and results
of the inspection will be available a few
weeks after the inspection.
The inspection at Vanchem is part of the
national environmental compliance campaign
in the iron and steel and ferroalloy industry,
known as Operation Ferro. Approximately
40 sites in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northwest,
KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape will be inspected
during the course of this multi-year project.
Mittal Steel’s Vereeniging plant was the
first plant to undergo a multi-day environmental
compliance inspection from 29 to 31 May,
2007, as part of Operation Ferro.
The iron and steel and ferroalloy industries
have been prioritized in this environmental
compliance campaign as their industrial
processes may contribute significantly to
pollution if not mitigated and managed properly.
The same industries are also currently undergoing
a review of all their air pollution permits
by the Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism.
Roopa Singh
