Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, has requested feedback on the recently published Draft White Paper on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity.
In accordance with the National Environment Management: Biodiversity Act, on July 8, 2022, the Minister issued the White Paper in the Government Gazette 46687 (Notice No. 2252).
The historical, socioeconomic, and environmental background of South Africa as well as the ambitions and demands of the populace, according to Creecy, will make the White Paper pertinent.
“It is a new deal to ensure people will not only be living in harmony with nature, but that both people and nature will thrive,” she said on Monday.
Cabinet approved the paper in June 2022 for public comment, emphasising that “South Africa’s biodiversity provides an important basis for economic growth and development, and is critical to people’s livelihoods”.
The High-Level Panel of Experts (HLP) was created in 2019 to evaluate the policies, laws, and practises relating to elephant, lion, leopard, and rhinoceros management, breeding, hunting, trading, and handling. The suggestions given by the HLP are implemented in the draught White Paper.
The HLP suggestions offer a very clear path ahead for addressing important sectoral problems.
Various levels of government, stakeholders in the wildlife industry, conservation and animal welfare non-government organisations (NGOs), traditional leaders, traditional healers, and communities near the “big five” protected areas in North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape were all consulted by the HLP.
“The HLP highlighted the importance of transformation of the sector, with empowerment and capacitation of communities living with wildlife, and recognition of their traditions and culture, as practiced through the traditional leaders and traditional healers.
“The HLP recommended the development of a White Paper for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity and indicted the need for a shift to an Africanised conservation approach that embraces the diverse cultures, traditions, and knowledge systems in South Africa, and values such as Ubuntu,” the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said.
The HLP also emphasised the need for a more holistic approach to sustainable use, which ensures responsible and humane use of South Africa’s biodiversity, and the ending of poor and harmful practices, such as those associated with the captive lion industry.
“Importantly, a White Paper should also ensure transformation, with access and beneficiation by communities adjacent to protected areas, as well as for previously disadvantaged individuals.
“There is a need for us to do things differently. Through the White Paper, South Africa will adopt an enabling definition and understanding of biodiversity conservation that releases South Africa from the shackles of the past, and which emphasises the constitutional imperatives within the environmental right, but also which will improve the wellbeing of people consistent with Ubuntu,” the department said.
The White Paper will also restructure how components of biodiversity are used in a way that is ecologically sustainable and puts the onus of responsibility on users, including maintaining species persistence and the ecological integrity of ecosystems.
“Social responsibilities are also emphasised, by ensuring that continued benefits to people are fair, equitable and meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations. Furthermore, in the case of animals, use must be humane and not compromise their well-being.
“In addition, the White Paper proposes to adopt a philosophical framing of Ubuntu for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, emphasising an African approach that is consistent with the traditions, culture, knowledge and aspirations of African people in terms of defining their wellbeing.
In the biodiversity sector, the White Paper places a strong focus on partnerships and the adoption of participatory and consensual techniques, which will encourage meaningful involvement and influence from all stakeholders and result in collective rather than individual solutions.
To access the Government Gazette go to https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/gazetted_notices/wha_g46687gon2252.pdf.