06
March 2009 - Media Statement - Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism - FRIDAY,
06 MARCH 2009: “The 2009 Climate Summit
was a seminal event. As a milestone on the
road to building a national consensus on
the country’s long term climate policy,
the Summit far exceeded our expectations.
There could not have been a stronger expression
of political will by government and other
stakeholders, a deeper understanding of
the compelling scientific evidence that
will inform policy-making, or a greater
commitment to moving forward with implementation
than what we have witnessed over the past
four days,” said Marthinus van Schalkwyk,
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
today.
After intensive deliberations
by 700 delegates from government, business,
labour and civil society, the 2009 Climate
Summit concluded with strong guidance on
the strategic direction for an effective
climate policy as well as an ambitious work
programme for policy development.
The Summit laid the
foundations for a participatory process
that will culminate in a Policy White Paper
on climate change by 2010, and the translation
of this policy into a legislative, regulatory
and fiscal package by 2012. In line with
the Summit theme of “Climate Action Now!”,
and in order to meet the challenge of implementation,
the policy development process will proceed
with a sense of great urgency.
The Summit was designed
to be forward-looking, translating political
will and the best available scientific evidence
into policy and action. The Summit was also
a celebration of what we have achieved over
the past four years. “Since the first climate
summit in 2005, we have made major strides
by integrating climate change issues with
the daily work of government, business and
civil society. We have much to be proud
of,” said van Schalkwyk.
Yet, important challenges
and tough decisions lie ahead said the Minister.
“I am encouraged by the strong resolve to
meet the dual challenges of adaptation and
mitigation by placing sustainable development
and poverty eradication at the forefront.
The strong consensus on making the transition
to a climate resilient and low carbon economy
and society will underpin our future work.
Parallel to the policy development process,
we will actively continue to implement our
priority actions. Early gains can be achieved
by massively up-scaling our efforts in respect
of energy efficiency and renewable energies.”
The Minister indicated
that at the same time we will continue to
grapple and engage on areas where consensus
still eludes us, most importantly on the
optimal energy mix for the country. This
is the single most important area of work.
In addition, various gaps were identified
as priorities for future policy development.
All stakeholders – from national, provincial
and local government to business, the scientific
community and civil society – have a clear
understanding of these priorities and their
respective contributions.
To access the outcome
documents and for further information on
the Climate Change Summit visit www.ccsummit2009.co.za
Roopa Singh
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Itsoseng community in
Lichtenburg make contribuition to war against
climate change
11 March 2009 - Media
Alert - Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism - WEDNESDAY, 11 MARCH 2009:
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, will
join the Itsoseng community in Lichtenburg
in North West province in a clean-up campaign.
“Having a clean environment
is good for our health and creates a friendly
and welcoming atmosphere for tourists and
visitors. The additional incentive is that
communities should now change their attitude
towards waste and regard it as a job creation
resource which they can collect and sell
to Buy-Back Centres. This can substantially
reduce waste dumped at landfill sites which
generate methane gas that fuels global warming
from decaying waste. Landfill sites are
also expensive to set up and maintain and
also reduce the land to ensure food security,”
said Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi.
The mayor of Ditsobotla
Local Municipality, Acting CEO of Buyisa
e Bag and representatives from Indalo Yethu
are expected to attend.
The highly popular Arthur
Mafokate of 999 Record Label and his members,
which include Chomee among others, will
provide entertainment to the 500 volunteers
from the Itsoseng Township.
The aim of the campaign
is to make public places such as shopping
centres, taxi ranks, bottle stores, streets
in town and cities, to look clean and tidy
at all times. It further aims to inculcate
responsibility in the minds of the citizens
to look after and keep their environments
clean.
For further information and interviews with
the Deputy Minister, please contact:
Moses Rannditsheni
Carol Moses
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Consultation Process
on Draft Medium-Term Subsistence Fishing
Rights Policy Extended
10 March 2009 - Media
Statement - Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism - TUESDAY, 10 MARCH
2009: The Department of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism has extended the public consultation
and comment process on the Draft Policy
for the Allocation and Management of Medium-Term
Subsistence Fishing Rights until 31 March
2009 and will embark on targeted workshops
with interested and affected persons to
help receive comments. The policy was gazetted
on 12 December 2008. The workshops will
start on Monday 16 March 2009 with the last
workshop being held on 31 March 2009. The
primary objective of the workshops is to
assist those that could not adequately articulate
their views in writing.
The Department will
hold workshops in four coastal Provinces
starting from Port Nolloth on the Northern
Cape Coast to Kosi Bay on the Northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Fisher groups are invited to the venues
specified on the attached schedule.
Comments on the draft
policy can be send in the following ways,
clearly indicating as subject "Comment
on Draft policy for the allocation and management
of medium-term subsistence fishing rights":
By mail: Customer Services
Centre, Private Bag X2 Roggebaai, 8012
By hand: Customer Services Centre, Ground
Floor, Foretrust Building, Martin Hammerschlag
Way, Foreshore, Cape Town
By e-mail: subsistence@deat.gov.za
By fax: 021 402 3344
Sandile Sibiya
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New Garden Route National
Park Established
06 March 2009 - Media
Statement - Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism - FRIDAY, 06 MARCH 2009:
The Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, declared
the establishment of the new Garden Route
National Park at an event in Knysna which
coincides with the gazetting of the Park
today.
The Minister said the
establishment of the new Garden Route National
Park (GRNP) is part of a long term strategy
to expand the protected areas in South Africa
under formal protection from 6% to 8% of
the total area of the country. “As our Parks
are some of our most important conservation
and tourism assets, we have been steadily
increasing spending on Parks. We have invested
R411 million in infrastructure development
for the period 2006/07 to 2008/09 and a
further R245 million is being earmarked
for the next MTEF period. Other financial
assistance has increased from R85.6 million
in 2004/05 to R205 million in 2009/10,”
the Minister said.
“The Garden Route is
one of the most important conservation areas
in South Africa and one of our crown jewels
in terms of biodiversity and its attraction
of both foreign and local tourists,” Van
Schalkwyk said. The diverse biomes in the
Garden Route include indigenous forests,
the Knysna estuary, the Wilderness lake
areas, marine protected areas, lowland fynbos
and mountain catchment areas of national
importance. SANParks is the second largest
employer in the region and its total economic
contribution to the region is estimated
to be almost R95 million per annum.
According to the Minister,
the formation of the GRNP will have a number
of beneficial results. These include that
it will allow for the sharing of resources
and management experience and the integration
of current management units in order for
greater economies of scale to be achieved.
“Furthermore, the formation
of the GRNP will facilitate the regional
implementation of important programmes like
fire management and alien clearing and enable
land consolidation. The Park management
will be able to take advantage of the potential
of integrated landscape management, which
will improve the protection of important
ecosystems”, Van Schalkwyk said.
The size of the GRNP
will be a total of approximately 121 000
hectares. It will consist of about 52 500
hectares of newly proclaimed land, as well
as 68 500 hectares of the Wilderness and
Tsitsikamma National Parks. The individual
Parks will retain their identity and become
camps in the greater GRNP, known as Tsitsikamma
and Wilderness.
The GRNP will straddle
two provinces, namely the Eastern and Western
Cape, two district municipalities, namely
Eden and Cacadu, and four local municipalities,
namely George, Knysna, Bitou and Koukamma.
The tourist facilities in the GRNP will
include camping decks, chalets, mountain
biking trails, hiking trails, canoeing,
diving and history and adventure activities.
Minister van Schalkwyk
said co-operative governance will be essential
for the success management of the GRNP.
“The new National Park is unique, as its
administrative and ecological boundaries
vary considerably. In this context, multi-stakeholder
partnerships will be instrumental to successful
conservation management.”
At the event, SANParks
Chief Operating Officer, Sydney Soundy,
said that the Garden Route is one of the
critical focus areas in South Africa. “The
area plays host to the largest continuous
complex of indigenous forest in the country,
spanning approximately 60 500 hectares.
Its aquatic systems, the Knysna estuary
and the Wilderness lake areas, are rated
number one and number six respectively in
the country. The fynbos falls within the
Cape Floristic region, which is a designated
global diversity hotspot.”
“To manage this unique
combination of diverse biomes with strong
tourism and developmental interest will
be one of our biggest challenges as SANParks.
Here the term ‘conservation without boundaries’
needs to become a way of life, not just
for major stakeholders, but also for all
residents in the areas surrounding the park,”
Soundy said.
“The Garden Route is
fortunate to be part of this process and
I believe we will be coining a new conservation
model for South Africa. The Park is unique
and will require unique management, which
we will have to drive. We are looking forward
to this challenge,” Soundy said.
Ronel Bester
