13 September 2012 -
The Director-General of Environmental Affairs,
Ms Nosipho Ngcaba officially opened the
Environmental Learning Research Centre at
Rhodes University on Thursday, 13 September
2012.
The Department, through
its Environmental Protection and Infrastructure
Programme or EPIP, has spent 19.1 million
rands through our EPWP funds towards the
implementation of the Botanical Gardens-
Makana Expansion Project.
The funding was focused
on the construction of this Environmental
Education Centre within the Grahamstown
Botanical Garden, upgrading of Ornee Cottage
and erection of new ablution facility; upgrading
of Garden infrastructure. The project was
implemented in partnership with the South
African National Biodiversity Institute
(SANBI), Rhodes University and Makana communities.
Environmental Learning
and Research Centre
Speaking at the opening
ceremony, the Director-General said, "We
recognise that biodiversity plays a crucial
role in sustainable development and poverty
eradication. South Africa as a biodiversity
rich country is committed to the conservation
and sustainable management of biological
resources. Developing biodiversity policies,
plans and programmes alone cannot be sufficient.
There is a need to go beyond this. Establishment
of centres that undertake and promote research
into biodiversity science and run environmental
education programmes can make a meaningful
contribution in conservation of living resources
and sustainable human well-being."
A key feature of this
building is its partnership between the
university and the community. There are
few structures on university campuses today
that involve partnerships where research,
teaching and community engagement come together,
in one place. This relationship between
university and community started early on,
during the construction phase, when university
staff in the Environmental Learning Research
Centre actively involved themselves in providing
environmental training to the workers who
were constructing the building they would
occupy.
In addition the centre
is also involved in developing new qualifications
for local government workers. The Centre
also educates, at post-graduate level, leaders
who can provide for environmental education
and training in South Africa, and more widely
on the African continent.
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Minister of Water and
Environmental Affairs and the Director-General
of the Department of Environmental Affairs
oppose court application from SATRP and
Bridgestone South Africa
04 September 2012 -
Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs,
Ms Edna Molewa and Environmental Affairs
Director-General, Ms Nosipho Ngcaba will
oppose an application by the South African
Tyre Recycling Process Company NPC (SATRP)
and Bridgestone South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
The Minister, Director-General
and the Recycling and Economic Development
Initiative of South Africa NPC (REDISA)
were served with a notice of motion on the
afternoon of Thursday, 30 August by the
South African Tyre Recycling Process Company
NPC (SATRP) and Bridgestone South Africa
(Pty) Ltd.
The applicants have
served an urgent application on the Minister
and the DG in which they seek an urgent
interdict and a declaratory order to the
effect that they should not be compelled
to subscribe to the Recycling and Economic
Development Initiative of South Africa’s
(REDISA) Integrated Industry Waste Tyre
Management Plan (IIWTMP) pending the Minister’s
approval or otherwise of the IIWTMP submitted
by SATRP.
The REDISA plan was
recently approved by the Minister in terms
of Regulation 11(4) of the Waste Tyre Regulations,
2009 published in Gazette No 35534 of 23
July 2012 for immediate implementation.
The matter will be heard
in the North Gauteng High Court on Tuesday,
11 September 2012.
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South Africa to sign
MoU with Vietnam to address ongoing scourge
in poaching and other environment crimes
03 September 2012 -
South Africa’s efforts to address the ongoing
poaching of rhino for its horns will be
taken to a new level when South Africa signs
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Vietnam at the 11th meeting of the Conference
of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD).
COP 11 will be held
in Hyderabad, India, from 8 to 19 October
2012.
This comes as the latest
rhino poaching statistics indicate that
a total of 373 rhinos have been killed since
the beginning of this year. The total number
of arrests stands at 199.
Thus far, the Kruger
National Park has lost 229 rhinos to poaching.
Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the North West
provinces continue to be the hardest hit
by poachers- collectively accounting for
the loss of 117 rhinos.
The Memorandum of Understanding
on Cooperation in the field of Biodiversity
Conservation and Protection will coverco-operation
between South Africa and Vietnam in the
field of biodiversity management, law enforcement,
compliance with the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)and other
relevant legislation
