Agreement
25 August 2006
On Tuesday, 29 August 2006, at a ceremony to be held at the Two Oceans
Aquarium in Cape Town, the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism,
Marthinus van Schalkwyk, and his ministerial colleagues from Angola and Namibia
will sign an agreement to officially establish the Benguela Current
Commission.
The Benguela Current Commission is a formal institutional structure that
will facilitate the understanding, protection, conservation and sustainable use
of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME).
The establishment of the Benguela Current Commission represents an important
step in a decade-long process of building trust and co-operation between the
three countries of the BCLME. Marine scientists from Angola, Namibia and South
Africa have been working together since 1995 when they began to share knowledge
and understanding of the Benguela Current ecosystem through the regional
fisheries science programme Benguela Environment Fisheries Training
Interactions Programme (BENEFIT). More recently, scientists and fisheries
managers have been working together through the BCLME Programme, a
collaborative initiative that is supported by the Global Environment Facility
(GEF) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The ceremony will be jointly hosted by:
* the Honourable Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs
and Tourism, South Africa
* the Honourable Salomão José Luheto Xirimbimbi, Minister of Fisheries,
Angola
* the Honourable Abraham Iyambo, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources,
Namibia
* Mr Ad Melkert, Associate Administrator, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
Members of the media are invited to attend the signing ceremony.
Venue: Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Date: Tuesday, 29 August
Time: 19h30
RSVP:
Maryke Brand
Tel: (021) 402 4555
Cell: 082 650 4283
Programme enquiries:
Carol Moses
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Cell: 082 829 3917
Tel: (021) 402 3556
Claire Attwood
Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme
Cell: 083 290 7995
Tel: (021) 788 5453
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
25 August 2006
