M Mthimkhulu on behalf of L Hendricks: Arbor Week KwaZulu-Natal
event

2 November 2007

MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs
Honourable District Mayor
Honourable Municipal Mayor
Councillors
Amakhosi
Programme director
Ladies and gentlemen

1. Introduction

It is an honour for me to be here on this occasion and to join you in
planting trees in your community. This event was supposed to take place on the
forth of September during our national Arbor Week and was rescheduled because
of the tragic accident where some of your leadership lost their lives. Trees
are often planted in memory of people and I would like to dedicate the trees we
plant today to their memory. Trees can grow and survive for hundreds of years
and once fully grown they bring so many benefits to us, to our children and to
their children; so while we plant trees to grow and support the future we
remember those that have come before us.

This area already has a number of trees and you have the forestry
plantations nearby, why then do we want to plant even more trees and what are
these benefits of trees? Trees make an area look more beautiful, they provide
shade, protection from the wind, protect the soil and some trees give us fruit.
Often industry and factories create smoke and pollution, which the trees help
us to remove. The more trees we plant the better it is for our environment. We
also know that the wood from the trees is also very useful and that the forests
can be used for bee keeping or growing mushrooms and for medicine.

Because of the importance of trees the United Nations want to plant one
billion trees across the world and during Arbor Week, which was launched by our
President on 1 September in Ga-Rankuwa, Tshwane, we said that over the next
year and for the coming few years we would be planting at least one million
trees per year in South Africa. These million trees would mainly be fruit trees
so that while we are planting trees and making our country more beautiful and
protecting the environment, we are also helping our people with food.

When I grew up we had fruit trees everywhere and when we were hungry we just
needed to take some from the tree. But in many part of our country,
particularly in our townships and many rural areas there are not enough trees
and there are few fruit trees leaving these areas unattractive, dry and
dusty.

For all these reasons and more my department is committed to planting trees
and to ensuring that communities are empowered to both contribute to nature by
planting trees, and to share in the benefits from trees and the environment.
The trees that we are planting will be in homesteads, schools, streets and
parks.

2. Forestry industry

Ladies and gentlemen, in addition to the million trees campaign we are also
working with the forestry industry and communities to expand the number of
forests that we have because of the many benefits of forests for communities,
and for industry through the use of the timber and wood for furniture, pulp and
paper. The growth of the forestry industry is therefore very important to the
government. We have made a commitment to increase the amount of forestry land
under cultivation in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, which will open the way
for small-scale forestry growers. There are a few things holding back the
growth of the industry such as land claims and licensing for afforestation and
we are working to address these issues.

Communities such as yours would be able to benefit from new forests through
more than just the possibility of being able to get a job working in the
forest. Through our Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policies and
the Forestry BEE Charter we will be seeing a lot more opportunities for
community participation in the forestry industry and already some rural
communities have had greater participation in the forestry and the forestry
products industry. The use of forests by rural communities also provides
opportunities for economic advancement and prosperity, and can contribute to
creating a better life for our people.

This Forestry BEE Charter will see increased ownership of forestry companies
by black people, as well as, more black people and women involved in the
management and operations of these companies. The Charter will increase the
support that forestry companies give to small businesses and to enterprise
development. Through the Forestry BEE Charter we will also see an increase in
the support that the forestry companies give to skills development. While they
will be giving this support because of the requirements of the BEE Charter,
they also know that there is a shortage of skills in the forestry sector and
will help grow the number of skilled personnel.

There are real opportunities for young people in the forestry industry and I
would encourage them to pursue careers in science and in forestry. My
department also gives bursaries to students who study forestry. South Africa is
a country in great need of a new generation of experts and I hope that some of
them will come from this community. A few years ago the government decided that
the ownership and management of commercial forests should not be the
responsibility of the state and since then the Department of Water Affairs and
Forestry has embarked on a process of selling or transferring the state owned
and managed forestry plantations. It is with great pleasure that I inform you
today that I have approved the transfer of Mbazwana and Manzengwenya
Plantations to the local communities. There are, however still a number of
steps and process that we still need to go through before the transfer takes
place.

Once the transfer happens it will be of critical importance that the
operations continue to be profitable. I believe that the transfer of this asset
will contribute to the development of the communities involved and we would
like to see that the forest is used sustainably for environmental, economic,
educational, recreational, cultural, health and spiritual purposes.

The provincial Department of Economic Development, Department of Land
Affairs, Land Claims Commission and the Municipalities concerned, including
Amakhosi, are very important in realising our objectives. And we need to work
with them to support the community in preserving the forest; promoting
sustainable and efficient management; as well as the development of forests.
All of us must ensure that the forests are for the benefit of the local
community.

The restructuring of State forests has also resulted in innovative
partnerships between rural communities and the private sector. These
partnerships have led to rural communities holding shares in the ownership and
control of the forest companies. This access to commercial forestry and
exposure to large scale commercial forest management has contributed to poverty
reduction through jobs, business opportunities and income generation. Through
the small business support services of government we will need to increase our
support to communities involved in the forestry industry as well as to the
small-scale growers. It will be important for us to provide training in
enterprise-management as well as training in the technical skills required to
grow trees.

3. Fire awareness

Programme director, one of the big threats to the sustainability of our
forests are wild fires. The prevention of veld and forest fires is crucial if
forestry is to continue contributing to the creation of a better life. Veld
fires hinder economic growth and thereby exacerbate poverty. They destroy the
livelihoods of poor communities and lead to loss of life. This year our country
has experienced the worst forest fires ever, with close to 100 000 ha of
forests burnt. Areas such as Winterton, Bergville, Escort, Melmoth, Nkandla and
Paulpietersburg were affected.

My department administers the legislation (the National Veld and Forest Fire
Act of 1998), which provides a variety of mechanisms, institutions, methods and
practices for the prevention, combating and management of veld, forests and
mountain fires throughout the country. These include the formation of Fire
Protection Associations for the prevention, suppression and management of veld
fires. At present there are 91 registered Fire Protection Associations. We are
also supporting the Working on Fire Programme which has played an important
role in helping to combat the recent fires. This programme provides employment
and training to the youth particularly from poorer communities. Working on Fire
provides employment and training opportunities to over 1 500 people, of whom
28% are women and 95% are youth.

To support our efforts in fighting fires we have established a Fire Danger
Rating System so that we are more aware of where fires can happen. In
partnership with the Weather Service we alert people through the daily weather
news if there is a danger of veld fires in their area. We need the support of
our people to prevent veld fires by being careful especially when the fire
danger rating is high or extreme, which is usually when the weather is hot and
there has been little rain.

Landowners have responsibilities to help prevent the spread of fires by
preparing and maintaining a firebreak around their property; being part of the
Fire Protection Association or having trained and fully equipped fire-fighting
personnel on their properties during the fire season and having adequate fire
fighting equipment in the case of a veld fire.

For the rest of us we must be sure not to throw away cigarettes that are
still alight; not to light open fires when we cannot control them and these
fires should not be left unattended as the strong winds can cause these fires
to spread. They should be carefully extinguished, when finished and the ashes
carefully disposed of. We must also be particularly careful during the fire
season about using fire to smoke out hives, to get honey. Let us avoid
uncontrolled and unwanted fires.

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, I am encouraged that so many of you have come here today to
support our efforts to plant trees and to green our country. I would like to
extend my sincere gratitude to all partners who participated in the
organisation of this event, may it be the beginning of a long-lasting working
relationship aimed at greening our country.

Let us all carry these messages back home with us:

"Plant a Tree - Grow our Future"
"Veld and Forest Fires destroy life, so let us prevent them"

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
2 November 2007