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Date: 30/10/2006
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: Mubudafhasi: Second people and parks workshop


Speech delivered by Honorouble Rejoice Mabudafhasi, MP, Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, at the Second People and Parks workshop, Beaufort West

Honourable MEC for Environmental Affairs, Development Planning and Economic Development, Ms Tasneem Essop
Honourable MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Gabriel Ndabandaba
Honourable MEC for Tourism, Environment and Conservation in the Northern Cape, Mr Pieter Saaiman
Honourable MEC for Tourism, Environment, Economic Affairs in the Free State, Mr Neo Masithela
Honourable Mayors and councillors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

A major controversy surrounding the establishment of protected areas throughout the world is that communities who have been entirely dependent on natural resources have been systematically alienated from ownership, participation and control over these resources. This resulted in communities being denied sufficient access to resources such as fuel, fodder, medicinal plants, thatch, honey, grass and other basic resources for their livelihoods and cultural needs.

The management of protected areas has effectively been centralised in the hands of the minority at the expense of the majority of our people especially the rural communities. This approach has been based on the very wrong assumption that local people are only helpful as labourers and viewed as destructive communities which should be removed from protected areas as soon as possible.

There were also fears that local people do not know the value of biodiversity and thus cannot conserve it. These fears were not only unfounded but wrong considering that our people have been using their indigenous knowledge to conserve natural resources for a very long time.

This is where conservation policies of the past went wrong. Such policies curtailed not only the unreasonable and destructive use of resources but also justifiable and sustainable ones. In this way, the conservation practices of the past converted legitimate owners and users of natural resources into criminals. People were left with no option but to poach these resources and undermine conservation efforts.

Policy and law reform

The most important international treaty that makes provision for the sustainable use of biodiversity through fair and equitable sharing of resources is the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) which was adopted in Rio in 1992. This convention recognises that the conservation of biodiversity is a "common concern for humankind" and links conservation efforts to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The objectives of the CBD were also reaffirmed by the resolutions of the World Parks Congress, which took place in Durban in 2003.

Most countries which are signatory to the CBD are already shifting their policies and laws from a narrow focus on the protection of only natural resources towards a more holistic conservation approach which takes into consideration socio-economic development issues for rural communities. In order to provide an enabling and legal environment for the implementation of the CBD's objectives, our department through its reform process introduced two pieces of legislation, namely, the Biodiversity Act and Protected Areas Act.

These pieces of legislation are aimed at promoting local people's access to natural resources and active participation in the management of protected areas. In addition, we also have provincial policies, legislation and regulations which are aimed at giving effect to national legislation.

Practical implementation of policies and legislation

Programme director, we have so far achieved commendable progress on reforming policy and legislation governing the use of natural resources in South Africa. However, there are major challenges facing us in terms of the practical implementation of our policies and legislation. To respond to this challenge and facilitate transformation in protected areas, we established a People and Parks Forum which met for the first time in 2004.

An important outcome of the 2004 workshop was the development of a comprehensive and ambitious action plan to address issues such as access and benefit sharing, co-management and establishment of partnerships. During my budget speech in June this year, I made an announcement in parliament that our second People and Parks workshop will take place in Beaufort West on 29 to 31 October 2006. I am therefore very satisfied that this workshop is taking place as scheduled.

Allow me to highlight some of the achievements we have made since our first workshop in 2004. Our department has been funding community-based projects aimed at enhancing local people's access to natural resources in a sustainable manner. For example we have recently funded a medicinal plant project in Umhlaba'yalingana to the tune of R5 million. This project will be implemented in partnership with members of the community under the leadership of traditional healers.

On Friday last week, I was in Limpopo launching a partnership for a medicinal plant project between the Vhembe Traditional Healers and Indigenous Knowledge Systems of South Africa (iIKSSA) which is geared at job creation and economic development for local people while conserving our indigenous plants.

The conservation of indigenous plants is not only about the protection of medicinal plants but also contributes to land rehabilitation which in turn ensures food security for communities.

Some provinces have also started to provide communities with access to natural and cultural resources including licences and permits for the collection of medicinal plants, firewood and other resources for subsistence and commercial purposes. Our future challenge is the massification of the implementation of these programmes to benefit all communities.

Our public entities such as SANParks, the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife are piloting various models of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in the conservation and tourism sectors with an ultimate goal of establishing Public Private Partnerships for which communities will be the ultimate beneficiaries. In most provinces, communities have benefited from skills development and job creation opportunities through our second economy interventions such as projects for working for wetlands, working for water and other social responsibility programmes.

There are national and provincial youth programmes aimed raising awareness and educating learners about the importance of conservation. We achieved a record of 5000 learners who accessed parks in the year 2005/06. Our target for this year is to provide park access to 7 500 learners.

For consultation purposes, provincial authorities and public entities have set up forums and joint management initiatives where active participation of community representatives is of primary importance. Such forums and structures are very important for us to achieve democracy and public participation in the management of protected areas.

Without doubt, there are many other case studies of excellent conservation programmes that benefit local communities that will be presented to you during the next two days. It is therefore important that you learn from each other and exchange valuable information.

Lessons learned, challenges and the way forward

What is very encouraging from the implementation of the action plan is that all our stakeholders including the national department, provincial departments, public entities, non-governmental organisations (NGO), the private sector and community-based organisations (CBO) are working hard to ensure better lives for local people.

However, it is also very unfortunate that most of our conservation agencies work in silos. There are also instances where some of the role players work against each other instead of working together to share resources and maximise benefits to the community. I am therefore appealing to you to work in unison because you all have a common objective of conserving biodiversity whilst ensuring the sustainable utilisation of natural resources by local people.

We have also observed that whilst most initiatives are targeted at benefiting local people, most conservation agencies do not involve local government in decision-making processes. This often means that programmes are planned and implemented in a centralised, top-down manner. It is very essential that local government is involved from the onset in order to generate a genuine sense of ownership of projects by local people.

It is critically important that conservation agencies adhere to proper land use planning to avoid conflict between wildlife and communities. A very serious problem for conservation authorities in our country is that wild animals cause considerable loss of human life, livestock and crops among communities. What compounds this problem is that there are currently no standard procedures or established processes for the compensation of communities affected by problem animals. I am therefore expecting this workshop to provide us with recommendations on how to deal with this issue in a manner that would satisfy communities.

The national government's policy and legal framework requires that women are empowered to make decisions at all levels of the society in all of our sectors. The conservation sector is of no exception in this regard.

The majority of our women still lack access to and control of natural resources whereas they are the ones who interact with environment much more than men. Together with their daughters, women are responsible for collecting wood, medicinal plants and other natural resources required for the survival of their families. We need to actively involve them in the management of protected areas as they have developed an in-depth knowledge of biodiversity conservation over generations.

In this respect, I am urging this workshop to make solid recommendations for the transformation of conservation agencies including the employment of women as CEOs and Directors because the majority of these agencies are predominantly managed by men.

In conclusion, I wish you a very successful and productive workshop. I am also certain that you will inspire each other to implement the resolutions of this workshop upon your return to your communities.

Good luck!

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
30 October 2006
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.deat.gov.za)

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