R Mubudafhasi: Second people and parks workshop

30 October 2006

Honourable MEC for Environmental Affairs, Development Planning and Economic
Development, Ms Tasneem Essop
Honourable MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal,
Professor Gabriel Ndabandaba
Honourable MEC for Tourism, Environment and Conservation in the Northern Cape,
Mr Pieter Saaiman
Honourable MEC for Tourism, Environment, Economic Affairs in the Free State, Mr
Neo Masithela
Honourable Mayors and councillors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

A major controversy surrounding the establishment of protected areas
throughout the world is that communities who have been entirely dependent on
natural resources have been systematically alienated from ownership,
participation and control over these resources. This resulted in communities
being denied sufficient access to resources such as fuel, fodder, medicinal
plants, thatch, honey, grass and other basic resources for their livelihoods
and cultural needs.

The management of protected areas has effectively been centralised in the
hands of the minority at the expense of the majority of our people especially
the rural communities. This approach has been based on the very wrong
assumption that local people are only helpful as labourers and viewed as
destructive communities which should be removed from protected areas as soon as
possible.

There were also fears that local people do not know the value of
biodiversity and thus cannot conserve it. These fears were not only unfounded
but wrong considering that our people have been using their indigenous
knowledge to conserve natural resources for a very long time.

This is where conservation policies of the past went wrong. Such policies
curtailed not only the unreasonable and destructive use of resources but also
justifiable and sustainable ones. In this way, the conservation practices of
the past converted legitimate owners and users of natural resources into
criminals. People were left with no option but to poach these resources and
undermine conservation efforts.

Policy and law reform

The most important international treaty that makes provision for the
sustainable use of biodiversity through fair and equitable sharing of resources
is the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) which was adopted in Rio in 1992. This
convention recognises that the conservation of biodiversity is a "common
concern for humankind" and links conservation efforts to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG). The objectives of the CBD were also reaffirmed by the
resolutions of the World Parks Congress, which took place in Durban in
2003.

Most countries which are signatory to the CBD are already shifting their
policies and laws from a narrow focus on the protection of only natural
resources towards a more holistic conservation approach which takes into
consideration socio-economic development issues for rural communities. In order
to provide an enabling and legal environment for the implementation of the
CBD's objectives, our department through its reform process introduced two
pieces of legislation, namely, the Biodiversity Act and Protected Areas
Act.

These pieces of legislation are aimed at promoting local people's access to
natural resources and active participation in the management of protected
areas. In addition, we also have provincial policies, legislation and
regulations which are aimed at giving effect to national legislation.

Practical implementation of policies and legislation

Programme director, we have so far achieved commendable progress on
reforming policy and legislation governing the use of natural resources in
South Africa. However, there are major challenges facing us in terms of the
practical implementation of our policies and legislation. To respond to this
challenge and facilitate transformation in protected areas, we established a
People and Parks Forum which met for the first time in 2004.

An important outcome of the 2004 workshop was the development of a
comprehensive and ambitious action plan to address issues such as access and
benefit sharing, co-management and establishment of partnerships. During my
budget speech in June this year, I made an announcement in parliament that our
second People and Parks workshop will take place in Beaufort West on 29 to 31
October 2006. I am therefore very satisfied that this workshop is taking place
as scheduled.

Allow me to highlight some of the achievements we have made since our first
workshop in 2004. Our department has been funding community-based projects
aimed at enhancing local people's access to natural resources in a sustainable
manner. For example we have recently funded a medicinal plant project in
Umhlaba'yalingana to the tune of R5 million. This project will be implemented
in partnership with members of the community under the leadership of
traditional healers.

On Friday last week, I was in Limpopo launching a partnership for a
medicinal plant project between the Vhembe Traditional Healers and Indigenous
Knowledge Systems of South Africa (iIKSSA) which is geared at job creation and
economic development for local people while conserving our indigenous
plants.

The conservation of indigenous plants is not only about the protection of
medicinal plants but also contributes to land rehabilitation which in turn
ensures food security for communities.

Some provinces have also started to provide communities with access to
natural and cultural resources including licences and permits for the
collection of medicinal plants, firewood and other resources for subsistence
and commercial purposes. Our future challenge is the massification of the
implementation of these programmes to benefit all communities.

Our public entities such as SANParks, the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park and
Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife are piloting various models of Black Economic
Empowerment (BEE) in the conservation and tourism sectors with an ultimate goal
of establishing Public Private Partnerships for which communities will be the
ultimate beneficiaries. In most provinces, communities have benefited from
skills development and job creation opportunities through our second economy
interventions such as projects for working for wetlands, working for water and
other social responsibility programmes.

There are national and provincial youth programmes aimed raising awareness
and educating learners about the importance of conservation. We achieved a
record of 5000 learners who accessed parks in the year 2005/06. Our target for
this year is to provide park access to 7 500 learners.

For consultation purposes, provincial authorities and public entities have
set up forums and joint management initiatives where active participation of
community representatives is of primary importance. Such forums and structures
are very important for us to achieve democracy and public participation in the
management of protected areas.

Without doubt, there are many other case studies of excellent conservation
programmes that benefit local communities that will be presented to you during
the next two days. It is therefore important that you learn from each other and
exchange valuable information.

Lessons learned, challenges and the way forward

What is very encouraging from the implementation of the action plan is that
all our stakeholders including the national department, provincial departments,
public entities, non-governmental organisations (NGO), the private sector and
community-based organisations (CBO) are working hard to ensure better lives for
local people.

However, it is also very unfortunate that most of our conservation agencies
work in silos. There are also instances where some of the role players work
against each other instead of working together to share resources and maximise
benefits to the community. I am therefore appealing to you to work in unison
because you all have a common objective of conserving biodiversity whilst
ensuring the sustainable utilisation of natural resources by local people.

We have also observed that whilst most initiatives are targeted at
benefiting local people, most conservation agencies do not involve local
government in decision-making processes. This often means that programmes are
planned and implemented in a centralised, top-down manner. It is very essential
that local government is involved from the onset in order to generate a genuine
sense of ownership of projects by local people.

It is critically important that conservation agencies adhere to proper land
use planning to avoid conflict between wildlife and communities. A very serious
problem for conservation authorities in our country is that wild animals cause
considerable loss of human life, livestock and crops among communities. What
compounds this problem is that there are currently no standard procedures or
established processes for the compensation of communities affected by problem
animals. I am therefore expecting this workshop to provide us with
recommendations on how to deal with this issue in a manner that would satisfy
communities.

The national government's policy and legal framework requires that women are
empowered to make decisions at all levels of the society in all of our sectors.
The conservation sector is of no exception in this regard.

The majority of our women still lack access to and control of natural
resources whereas they are the ones who interact with environment much more
than men. Together with their daughters, women are responsible for collecting
wood, medicinal plants and other natural resources required for the survival of
their families. We need to actively involve them in the management of protected
areas as they have developed an in-depth knowledge of biodiversity conservation
over generations.

In this respect, I am urging this workshop to make solid recommendations for
the transformation of conservation agencies including the employment of women
as CEOs and Directors because the majority of these agencies are predominantly
managed by men.

In conclusion, I wish you a very successful and productive workshop. I am
also certain that you will inspire each other to implement the resolutions of
this workshop upon your return to your communities.

Good luck!

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
30 October 2006
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.deat.gov.za)