Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, encourages the youth to work to limit Biodiversity loss at the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, Muldersdrift, South Africa
Honourable delegates to this Global Youth in Biodiversity Network Capacity Building Workshop for Africa,
Ladies and gentlemen,
What a pleasure it is to be amongst the future leaders in the field of biodiversity conservation!
You have assumed the mantle of responsibility to be active players in this field, thereby ensuring that our natural environment is conserved for future generations.
As the World Economic Forum (WEF) has noted, the world’s ten youngest populations are right here in Africa. Having a young population is an advantage for any country as it can play a role in economic growth. This is not even to speak of the opportunities it presents for countries to position themselves as incubators of innovation.
With the Fourth Industrial Revolution well upon us, South Africa is perfectly positioned, with its young population, to harness this demographic dividend for the benefit of our country, our economy and our people.
Rapid advances in science coupled with technological development have necessitated that we as a nation start laying the groundwork for our people to be equipped with the latest, cutting edge tools of conservation and biodiversity management. This ranges from utilizing Big Data, to harnessing the potential of robotics and nanotech, to name but a few.
It is you who will be our future experts, and it is you who will be at the cutting edge of biodiversity research and development (R&D). It is you who will be finding solutions and bringing innovative ideas to bear to solve some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
I am confident that following this workshop, you will be sufficiently empowered to become agents of change in support of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and the mainstreaming of biodiversity.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Aichi Targets set five national goals for member states in which they are required to:
- Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society;
- Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use;
- To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity;
- Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services; and
- Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building.
The Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) was established as the youth voice of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2010 with the aim of raising awareness amongst youth people of the values of biodiversity, whilst simultaneously connecting individuals and youth organisations in order to build a global coalition to halt the loss of biodiversity.
As the official youth voice in the negotiations under the CBD, the GYBN is committed to bringing the opinions and positions of young people into the political process and to empowering young people to take action.
It is heartening to note that as of 2016, the GYBN has 115 member organizations, representing a total of 342 000 members from 107 countries worldwide.
This is an impressive feat, for we know that we live in an interconnected world where physical boundaries are not a limitation to forging business, scientific, academic and research relationships across borders. This substantial network will enable you to ‘plug in’ to international best practice in the field of biodiversity, to share experiences and to make advances back home.
As part of “Youth Voices”, the Global Youth Biodiversity Network has been organising a series of regional workshops that aim to build the capacity of young leaders to learn about and catalyse concrete actions in support of the objectives of the Convention, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
It is encouraging to learn that during the past week you have had the opportunity to share your biodiversity-related experiences and build your capacity to implement joint projects that will strengthen youth biodiversity initiatives in the Southern African region, as well as the rest of the continent.
Africa is amongst the continents worst affected by both climate change and biodiversity loss, and this workshop couldn’t have come at a more critical and timely juncture.
This workshop has been significant in a number of ways.
Not only have you, as young people been educated about biodiversity conservation and sustainable use principles, but you have also learned more about what South Africa is doing to develop our young people as future leaders in environmental conservation.
You have also been introduced to our programmes such as the Aloe Ferox and Rooibos tea projects that are national priorities to enhance sustainable use and improve the quality of lives of the people – all the while conserving our natural heritage and combating biodiversity loss.
South Africa is committed to a low-carbon, inclusive, climate change resilient and sustainable developmental path. This is premised on addressing the interdependence between economic growth, social protection and the holistic management of our natural world.
Our approach is to ensure that all green economy programmes are supported by practical and implementable actions.
As we transition along cleaner and greener pathways, the role of our young people in the economies of our countries is becoming more and more important. This as we respond to critical and intertwined development challenges such as rising unemployment, poverty and inequality – as well as food and energy security and climate change.
We must ensure as Africa that as we transition our economies, that we take our people along with us, especially in the space of technology development and renewable energy, where our young people could easily be skilled, or where necessary reskilled and involved.
In South Africa, a National Framework for Sustainable Development has been developed which focuses on socio-economic benefits derived from greening industries without compromising the integrity of the environment.
South Africa was among the international pioneers in adopting green economy strategies. The hallmark was the signing of the Green Economy Accord in 2011 and the adoption in 2012 of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, which committed our country to an “environmentally sustainable and equitable transition to a low carbon economy.”
As such, we have put in place many programmes and policy frameworks in the recent past, to translate the NDP Vision 2030 into action. The country is already implementing programmes to promote energy efficiency, green transport, sustainable housing and climate resilient agriculture.
The potential of the country’s rich biodiversity to unlock the economic potential of this sector of the economy is encapsulated in the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy, a 14-year plan adopted in 2015 to optimize the economic potential of the bio-prospecting and wildlife sectors.
In 2016, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Department of Tourism co-hosted the Biodiversity Delivery Lab that culminated in the development of an implementation plan for the bio-prospecting and wildlife sectors.
Besides developing a programme to deliver big, fast results, the Lab managed to delineate high-level strategic plans that will facilitate transformation and economic growth whilst fostering the sustainability of biological resources through conservation and sustainable use.
Among the Biodiversity Economy Lab Initiatives prioritised for the 2017/18 financial year is the identification and mapping of 800 000 hectares of land for wildlife transformation in the provinces.
Another initiative is to establish eleven National Biodiversity Economy Nodes and to implement priority projects within some of these - to amongst other things promote new generation partnerships between Protected Areas, the private sector and communities in the wildlife sector.
Ladies and gentlemen,
African countries, like most developing countries, are custodians to most of the world’s biological resources.
That is why we have within the Convention on Biological Diversity as group of countries called the Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries (LMMC).
Ironically, the countries with the richest biological resources are the poorest of the poor. This implies a need for more capacity building to enhance sustainable use of these resources for the well-being of people, as well as the conservation of our natural heritage for the use and appreciation by the current and future generations.
As we move towards the future there is a need to search for solutions to environmental challenges; learn more about how to utilize available resources to combat poverty without threatening the future of the species; and identifying gaps within existing conservation strategies in order to address these issues through creative solutions.
As we deal with the onslaught by unscrupulous international crime syndicates on our rich variety of plant and animal life, the role of young people, such as yourselves, in combating wildlife crime becomes more necessary.
In South Africa, we have young women ‘walking the talk’ – in 2015 the 26-member all-women Black Mambas Anti-poaching Unit was awarded the United Nations’ top accolade – the Champions of the Earth Award – for the work they do to combat wildlife crime.
These young women are a shining example of the promise of government, the private sector and communities to eradicating rhino poaching in South Africa.
The Black Mambas comprises young women who come from communities close to the Balule Game Reserve and the Kruger National Park. The unit not only focuses on conducting anti-poaching operations, but also educates communities in the area on the benefits of conservation and rhino protection.
The importance of youth in conservation is also evident from the launch of the Youth Environment programme by South Africa as a legacy project of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17), held in Johannesburg last year. This Programme will mobilise youth participation in conservation.
CoP17 also marked the adoption of the first ever resolution by CITES on youth. This resolution calls for the engagement and empowerment of youth in conservation.
In March this year, the theme of World Wildlife Day 2017 was ‘Listen to the Young Voices’ – a theme aimed at encouraging young people to safeguard wildlife for future generations. It was an opportunity to incentivise youth to be inspired and have the ability to work towards demand reduction strategies and thus curb the illicit trade in wildlife. It was also an opportunity to encourage debate around issues of ecological sustainability in the use of, and benefits derived from, wildlife.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The youth are our future. Without proper education, skills development or guidance, you will not be able to lead us capably into the future.
It is within this context that I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the Global Youth in Biodiversity Network for organizing these regional capacity building workshops to ensure that the youth are empowered at local and global levels on how to take action and contribute to combating biodiversity loss.
I salute the champions and founders of this network, such as Christian Schwarzer and his colleagues, who are also here today.
I encourage all members of the network, and those yet to join, to work hard in your respective neighbourhoods to influence communities to be the environmental change leaders.
In carrying out these duties it is worth remembering that in order to enhance maximum environmental protection, you must think globally, but act locally – the little you do in your neighbourhood contributes to global actions to halt biodiversity loss.
In closing, I encourage you to carry on with your endeavors, go home and put into practice what you have learnt during this workshop to bring change to your respective neighborhoods as you spread the word on conservation.
Biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable sharing of benefits should be word uppermost in your minds in everything you do as of today.
I thank you.
