Table of Contents

FOREWORD by Pallo Jordan

FOREWORD by Peter Mokaba

STEPS IN THE POLICY FORMULATION PROCESS

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

CHAPTER 3. A BIODIVERSITY POLICY AND STRATEGY FOR SOUTH AFRICA

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

1.1. IDENTIFICATION
1.2. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
1.3. PROTECTED AREAS
1.4. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ADJACENT TO PROTECTED AREAS
1.5. REHABILITATION
1.6. HARMFUL ALIEN ORGANISMS AND GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS
1.7. EX-SITU CONSERVATION

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 SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES

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

3.1 ACCESS TO GENETIC RESOURCES

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

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. Institutional Changes Required
4.4. Priority actions

APPENDICES

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

TABLES

Table I. Species Richness of South African Taxa
Table II. Schedule Classification of Terrestrial and Marine Protected Areas
Table III. The Management of Protected Areas in South Africa
Table IV. Conservation of South African Biomes
Table V. The Species Richness of South Africa's Terrestrial Areas
Table VI. Impacts of Sectoral Activities on Biological Diversity in South Africa

FIGURES

Figure 1. Structure of the Biodiversity Policy and Strategy

FOREWORD

by Dr Z. Pallo Jordan
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

Biodiversity is not merely about saving threatened species and creating protected areas. It is about life, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and the planet we share with our fellow inhabitants. Biodiversity is the very fabric of our existence.

This Green Paper represents the phenomenal achievements we have made as a country. It is a victory for all those who have held on to their respect for the earth and their sometimes faltering belief in the goodness of humankind, in the face of trying and soul-destroying conditions. We have managed to let reason prevail and reason dictates that all people are equal, all forms of life deserve respect, and the earth is our provider and protector.

Even though we are only slowly waking up to the realities of the global environmental disasters caused by humankind, there is a growing world-wide commitment to taking urgent steps to address our environmental problems, to create a better life for all, and to preserve our natural heritage for future generations. The 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity reflects the global concern at the rate at which biodiversity is being lost, and represents the commitment to urgent action to address this threatening global crisis. South Africa has ratified this Convention and has shown innovation in its commitment to fulfilling the obligations of the agreement. We can be proud of the fact that we have made substantial progress in this regard. Considering the fact that we have only recently shed our pariah status and emerged as a young democracy into the international community, we can be especially proud.

Apartheid has left our country with many horrors that did not disappear with the dawn of our fledgling democracy. We are faced with enormous social, political, economic and environmental problems. Integral to this situation has been a narrowly-focussed attitude towards the environment, which regarded nature conservation as something separate from people, and failed to consider human living environments as a vital component of the broader environment. A paternalistic and technocratic approach to managing the environment alienated communities from natural resources, and apartheid planning resulted in wide-spread poverty and environmental degradation. Rural women were often and still are the worst affected by this situation. We are now faced with the challenge of transformation, to mend our social fabric by meeting the basic needs of people who still suffer under conditions of poverty, through the sustainable reconstruction and development of South Africa.

An informed policy on biodiversity is critical to processes of reconstruction and development. We are dependent on our biological resources for every facet of life. Meeting basic needs is dependent on the sustainable use of our biodiversity. We have to ensure that present requirements for food, water, housing, energy and other basic needs are met in a manner which provides for the needs of future generations. Programmes that we implement to restore and develop our biodiversity can contribute to strengthening our economy, while increasing our biological wealth.

There are many economic benefits to be derived from, not just caring for our biodiversity, but investing in it as well. Jobs can be created in programmes aimed at reviving over-used land and restoring degraded resources. The knowledge and skills of local people can, and must, be drawn into programmes to conserve, manage and monitor biodiversity. It is a known fact that many tourists come to South Africa primarily to visit our protected areas and to see our spectacular wildlife. By investing in the conservation and development of our biological resources we will be able to develop our tourism industry and enhance our capacity to tap into many export markets we have not yet exploited. As a country which ranks as the third richest in the world in terms of its biodiversity, there are many opportunities here.

At the same time, we need to ensure that mechanisms are put in place to manage access to our biological resources and to prevent wide-scale abuse. Biodiversity prospecting has led to situations where South African genetic resources and traditional knowledge are exploited by other countries, with little or no benefit to our economy or to the people from whom this knowledge is gleaned. The Convention on Biological Diversity has recognised national sovereignty of biological resources. It is now up to us to ensure that necessary conditions are created which allow for equitable benefit-sharing arrangements to be developed.

The formulation of this Green Paper is also reflective of an important mind-shift we have made as a country. We have learnt that people's participation is a prerequisite for any policy to be sustainable and representative. The development of this Green Paper has taken place in the context of a broader consultative process, the Consultative National Environmental Policy Process (CONNEPP), to develop environmental policy in a participatory way. There has also been a separate consultative process, specifically to formulate a national biodiversity policy and strategy for South Africa. As part of this process, a discussion document was circulated to many organisations and individuals and a national conference was held in May 1996. This document is the product of feedback from at the conference as well as numerous written submissions received. This Green Paper will again be distributed widely for comment. Democratic consultation costs time and money, but this is a small price to pay for the collective wealth of individual knowledge and wisdom that is contained in this document.

Special thanks are due to the Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development (DANCED) who have funded both the consultation process leading up the production of this document, as well as the development of the policy. They have shown, and continue to show, a sincere commitment to the conservation and sustainable use of South Africa's biodiversity.

I would also like to thank the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre who, in collaboration with my Department, have played an invaluable role in managing the process. Senator Stephanus Grové has skilfully chaired the Steering Committee and Reference Group, and for this he is warmly thanked. Members of the Reference Group are also thanked for their active participation in the policy process, and for the guidance they have given. Greyling Liaison has provided a Secretariat for the process and logistical support, for which they are gratefully acknowledged.

The Editorial Committee has spent many long hours considering submissions and ensuring that the resulting policy is in keeping with the needs and concerns expressed. In particular, thanks are due to Rachel Wynberg, for drafting the policy documents, and to Herman Grové, Gert Willemse, Saliem Fakir, and Christian Prip, for providing ongoing guidance and support.

Most of all, I would like to thank all those who have participated in developing this policy, through their participation at the Conference, through the submissions they have forwarded, and through the active debate they have stimulated in the country. From a topic on which public debate has thus far been "expert" dominated, we have moved considerably towards a policy discussion which embraces biodiversity as an asset to be conserved and sustainably used by all South Africans, and for all South Africans.

Dr Z Pallo Jordan
Minister

FOREWORD

by P. Mokaba
Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this Green Paper on Biodiversity, which has been developed over many months of consultation with different roleplayers.

The policy approaches you will read in this document break significantly with the past. They spell out a vision for South Africa which reconciles the country's sometimes conflicting goals of development and conservation, and which requires all people and organisations to take responsibility for ensuring that the country's natural heritage is maintained for our children and for our children's children.

An essential part of this will require a commitment from each government department to develop a biodiversity plan, and for sectors outside of government to take up the challenge of making the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity a core element of their policies, programmes, and actions. No longer is conservation something which is separate from people, and which does not concern and affect each and every one of us.

I have every confidence that this Green Paper, and the White Paper to follow, will put South Africa on a firm course to enable this vision to be met.

P. Mokaba
Deputy Minister

STEPS IN THE POLICY FORMULATION PROCESS

• In April 1994 a meeting was called by Senator Stephanus Grové, 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 roleplayers.
• 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 are 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 3,000 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 this Green Paper has been drafted.
• In addition to the comments received, the Green Paper has drawn from the relevant policies of other government departments, from ongoing policy processes underway in the country, as well as from the scientific literature and from international experience in both industrialised and developing countries.
• The next steps in the process are to incorporate comments received on the Green Paper into the White Paper, which will be submitted to Parliament for approval in early 1997.