Law 'gives teeth' to conservation
Zibonele Ntuli
4 June 2004
Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk says the new Biodiversity Act, signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki on Monday, will benefit communities.
Van Schalkwyk said the Act will give communities legal powers to benefit from their indigenous knowledge of biodiversity.
The legislation allows for the setting up of a system to control the use of the country's rare and endangered species, and requires private landowners and government to take steps to control the spread of alien invasive vegetation.
The Act also gives legal powers for the planning and protection of different bio-regions in the country.
"This is big news for conservation in South Africa", Van Schalkwyk said. "It sets the stage for another decade of environmental leadership, and adds real teeth to our natural resource management strategies."
He said South Africa was now set to take a leading role on the global stage by meeting its
international biodiversity and conservation obligations.
The Biodiversity Act, Van Schalkwyk said, "underscores our commitment to the effective and sustainable management of natural resources, the strict protection of species and ecosystems, and to ensuring that the benefits that flow from these resources are spread widely and fairly among different communities."
Referring to the creation of the new South African Biodiversity Institute in terms of the Act, Van Schalkwyk said the establishment of the institute was to promote scientific research and the biodiversity economy.
"Yesterday we announced the transformation of our National Botanical Institute into the new National Biodiversity Institute with a much-expanded mandate to coordinate our bio-regional efforts", the minister said.
Source: BuaNews
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