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QUICK NAVIGATION: Contents | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3: A B C D | Chapter 4 | Appendix 1 | Appendix 2

GENERAL NOTICE

NOTICE 1095 OF 1997

WHITE PAPER ON THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF SOUTH AFRICA'S BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

May 1997

Draft for Discussion

Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

Director-General
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Private Bag X447
PRETORIA 0001

Table of Contents

What is biodiversity?

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. International Policy Context
1.2. South Africa's Biodiversity: A Living Heritage
1.3. The History of Biodiversity Conservation in South Africa
1.4. The Scope of Biodiversity Policy in South Africa
1.5. Major Concerns Expressed
1.6. Reader's Guide to the Policy

CHAPTER 2: THE VISION, MISSION AND PRINCIPLES GUIDING A BIODIVERSITY POLICY AND STRATEGY FOR SOUTH AFRICA

2.1. The Constitution
2.2. A Vision for South Africa
2.3. The Mission of Government
2.4. Guiding Principles

CHAPTER 3: A BIODIVERSITY POLICY AND STRATEGY FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Chapter 3 (A)

GOAL 1: CONSERVE THE DIVERSITY OF LANDSCAPES, ECOSYSTEMS, HABITATS, COMMUNITIES, POPULATIONS, SPECKS, AND GENES IN SOUTH AFRICA

1.1. Identification
1.2. Biodiversity Conservation
1.3. Protected Areas
1.4. Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development Adjacent to Protected Areas
1.5. Rehabilitation
1.6. Alien Organisms
1.7. Genetically Modified Organisims
1.8. Ex-situ Conservation

Chapter 3 (B)

GOAL 2: USE BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES SUSTAINABLY AND MINIMISE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

2.1. Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Approaches
2.2. Using Biological Resources Sustainably and Avoiding or Minimising Adverse Impacts on Biological Diversity
2.3. Land-Use Planning and Environmental Assessment
2.4. Adopting Sustainble Lifestyles

Chapter 3 (C)

GOAL 3: ENSURE THAT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA'S GENETIC RESOURCES SERVE NATIONAL INTERESTS

3.1. Access to Indigenous Genetic Resources
3.2. Access to Genetic Resources for Food, Agriculture and Forestry

GOAL 4: EXPAND THE HUMAN CAPACITY TO CONSERVE BIODIVERSITY, TO MANAGE ITS USE, AND TO ADDRESS FACTORS THREATENING IT

4.1. Public Education and Awareness
4.2. Improving Understanding About Biodiversity
4.3. Developing Management Capacity

Chapter 3 (D)

GOAL 5: CREATE CONDITIONS AND INCENTIVES THAT SUPPORT THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY

5.1. Beneficiating Biodiversity
5.2. Incentives

GOAL 6: PROMOTE THE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIODIVERSITY AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

CHAPTER 4: IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY

4.1. Introduction
4.2. Roles of the Key Players
4.3. Legislation
4.4. Institutional Changes Required
4.5. Funding
4.6. Priority action

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Reader's Guide to Terms Used in this Document
Appendix 2: The Convention on Biological Diversity

STEPS IN THE POLICY FORMULATION PROCESS

• In April 1995 a meeting was called by Senator Stefanus Grove, who chairs the Senate Portfolio Committee for Environment, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, to discuss civil society involvement in the development of a biodiversity policy. This was largely in response to South Africa's signing and imminent ratification of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Up until this point, issues pertaining to the Convention had been considered by a sub-committee of the Committee for Environmental Coordination, constituted under the Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989, but there was concern that this structure did not provide for non-governmental representation.
• Shortly after this meeting, a separate steering committee was constituted, to reflect the current constitutional ethos, and to manage the policy process. The steering committee comprises the chairman of the Senate Portfolio Committee for Environment, as well as representatives of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre (LAPC) and the Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED). One of the tasks of the Steering Committee is to ensure the preparation of necessary policy documents and to enable this, an editorial committee was established and an editorial consultant contracted to draft such documents. A Secretariat was also established to facilitate communication between different role-players.
• A reference group was also constituted, comprising representatives of a range of central and provincial government departments, statutory boards, and non-governmental organisations. The tasks of the reference group were to guide the Steering Committee in the management and implementation of the policy process; to accept responsibility for the consultation process; and to ensure that the content of the policy adequately reflects the various concerns and interests of different constituencies.
• In March 1996 a discussion document was released for public comment, as the start of a process to solicit the views of all organisations or individuals interested in, or affected by, issues concerning the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in South Africa. Seven hundred copies of the document were distributed to a wide range of groupings. In addition, an educational leaflet was prepared about the document, to assist those unfamiliar with the concepts of biodiversity. This was translated into English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu and Pedi. Two thousand three hundred copies of the educational leaflet were distributed throughout the country. A summary of the discussion document was also compiled, of which 600 copies were made available.
• To encourage broad participation in the process, stakeholder briefings were held throughout the country, at which people were informed of the process, and key issues were raised. In total, ten such briefings were held in seven provinces. In addition, an invitation to participate in the process was widely distributed to some 3000 organisations.
• A national consultative conference was held in Pretoria in May 1996, to discuss the issues raised in the discussion document, and to explore the range of policy options available to achieve certain goals. One hundred and sixty representatives attended the conference and their input at the conference, together with 46 sets of comments from a variety of individuals, organisations and organised groupings, comprised the basis from which a Green Paper was drafted. The Green Paper was released for public comment by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the 28 October 1996. The closing date for comments was 13 December 1996. Comments received up until 13 January 1997 were, however, incorporated.
• As of 13 January 1997, written comments on the Green Paper had been received from 57 groupings, organisations and individuals, totalling more than 180 pages of text. Each submission was considered by the Editorial Committee, who then made recommendations concerning language changes and the inclusion or exclusion of text.
• A draft White Paper was submitted to the Reference Group in February 1997, who recommended that the policy document, with minor modifications, be submitted to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and to MinMEC, as a matter of urgency. The Reference Group concluded at this meeting that its work was complete, and expressed general satisfaction with the outcome of the policy process. The Steering Committee and Editorial Committee were mandated to see the policy process through to the adoption of the White Paper by Parliament as formal policy.
• An immediate step that will follow this policy will be the development of a detailed implementation strategy and action plan, including a full costing for implementation. This will be undertaken through the establishment of working groups, and will also form part of the National Environmental Strategic Action Plan (NESAP) that will follow the establishment of general national environmental policy.

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?

Biological diversity - or "biodiversity" - is the number and variety of living organisms on earth, the millions of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the genes they contain, the evolutionary history and potential they encompass, and the ecosystems, ecological processes, and landscapes of which they are integral parts. Biodiversity thus refers to the life-support systems and natural resources upon which we depend.

There are three main components of biodiversity:

Genetic diversity

Genes are the biochemical packages that are passed on by parents to their offspring, and which determine the physical and biochemical characteristics of offspring. Genetic diversity refers to the variation of genes within species, making it possible to develop new breeds of crop plants and domestic animals, and allowing species in the wild to adapt to changing conditions.

Species diversity

A species is a group of plants, animals, microorganisms, or other living organisms that are morphologically similar; that share inheritance from common ancestry; or whose genes are so similar that they can breed together and produce fertile offspring. Usually different species look different.

Species diversity refers to the variety and abundance of species within a geographic area. Often the term "species richness" is used as a measure of species diversity, but this refers only to the number of species within a region, and thus technically only one component of diversity.

Ecosystem diversity

An ecosystem consists of communities of plants, animals and microorganisms, and the soil, water, and air on which they depend. These all interact in a complex way, contributing to processes on which all life depends such as the water cycle, energy flow, the provision of oxygen, soil formation and nutrient cycling. Ecosystem diversity can refer to the variety of ecosystems found within a certain political or geographical boundary, or to the variety of species within different ecosystems.