INSIGHTS: South Africa Must Become a Living Ark

By Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

{Editor's Note: Marthinus Van Schalkwyk delivered these remarks today to launch the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for South Africa at the International Biodiversity Day Conference at the Africanos Inn in the Eastern Cape.}

ADDO, Eastern Cape, South Africa, May 22, 2006 (ENS) - The vast web connecting all life on Earth is starting to show signs of unravelling. From melting polar ice caps to the aggressive advance of deserts, from oceans with ever decreasing fish stocks, to skies travelled by fewer and fewer species of birds, on all continents, in all oceans, and across all habitats, natural warning flares are starting to flicker.

Humanity cannot afford to ignore the growing proof of the frequently irreversible erosion of our living environment.

The destruction of forests that have stood for millennia - home to more than half of all land species; the shrinking of natural ranges as populations grow and city sprawl expands; the sharp drop in the numbers of our great wild mammals; and countless other warning signs all indicate the urgency of acting now to meet our biodiversity responsibilities.

We share a duty that affects the fate of all life. Our generation is undoubtedly the last with the ability to stop this destruction of our own design, and to do so before we cross the threshold of no-return.

South Africa's Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus Van Schalkwyk (Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin)

Indeed, South Africa has one of the world’s richest troves of plants and animals. Our country occupies only about two percent of the world’s land area, but is home to nearly 10 percent of the world’s plants and seven percent of the reptiles, birds and mammals on Earth.

Three globally recognized biodiversity hotspots occur in our country; in the south we have the Cape Floristic Region, which falls entirely within our boundaries; the Succulent Karoo, which we share with our neighbor Namibia, occurs in the dry interior and along the western coast; and in the east, we have the Maputoland-Pondoland hotspot, which also extends into Mozambique and Swaziland.

Our seas straddle three oceans: the Atlantic, the Indian and the Southern Oceans. These include an exceptional range of habitats, from cool-water kelp forests to tropical coral reefs. Our southern African coast is home to almost 15 percent of all known coastal marine species.

One of the most important recent achievements in addressing South African biodiversity concerns was the publication last year of the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment, a partnership between our Department and the South African National Biodiversity Institute.

An elephant in South Africa's Addo Elephant Park (Photo courtesy SA Parks)

Given the geographic spread and extraordinary diversity of our plant and animal species, it is impossible to conserve the majority of species and ecosystems through a traditional protected areas approach alone. Up to 80 percent of our significant biodiversity lies outside of the current protected area framework.

So, to conserve this rich diversity, it is necessary to integrate biodiversity priorities into the policies, plans and programs of all South Africans.

We have the dual responsibility to respond to the challenges of safeguarding biological resources, whilst at the same time meeting our country’s many developmental needs. We recognize that sustained economic and social development depends on wise management and protection of the environment.

But we also know that we will not be able to safeguard the environment if people remain hungry and without jobs. Biodiversity has an economic value that is often underestimated. Intelligently mobilized it can serve the cause of development and poverty alleviation.

Mainstreaming provides us with an approach through which conservation and biodiversity can be used as a driver for development, and to leverage economic and social gains. We recognize that biodiversity is not the primary concern of many communities, but all day-to-day activities impact significantly on it. It is therefore essential for biodiversity and biodiversity protection to be popularized throughout society.

The blue crane, also called the Stanley, or paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. With fewer than 20,000 birds remaining in the wild, it is classed as endangered. (Photo courtesy Mzuke Falls Private Game Reserve)

The NBSAP highlights five primary strategic objectives like the need for a network of protected areas that conserves a representative sample of all South African biodiversity; and the need for human development to be enhanced through sustainable use of biodiversity.

It then specifies a range of activities to realize each these objectives, and sets five and 15 year targets for each.

It also provides for the entrenching of biodiversity considerations in our production sectors, for example the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. These objectives focus on two aspects: firstly, the inclusion of biodiversity priorities into guidelines and best-practice codes to reduce negative impacts on biodiversity, and, secondly, measures to encourage sustainable production practices.

The NBSAP will now inform the creation, in law, of a National Biodiversity Framework to ensure an integrated, co-ordinated and consistent approach to biodiversity management by organs of state in all spheres of government, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, local communities, other stakeholders and the public.

The publishing of this framework will mark the first time that an ecosystem approach to biodiversity management will be introduced and secured in South African law.

Turning paper strategies into action on the ground requires a supportive legal environment and associated institutional capacity, but ultimately it is the commitment and partnership of all South Africans that will determine our success in these endeavors.

We have the responsibility to ensure that our country becomes and remains a living ark. Our communities must stand as the custodians of conservation and the guarantors of biological diversity.