International Waters Conference in Cape Town
31 July 2007
"The success of International Waters Programmes and projects must lie in the
ability of the implementers to work across state boundaries with various
configurations of government agencies and portfolios. The value of such
gatherings is that they allow the lessons learned across continents to be
crystallised into basic universal good practice. We note that the Global
Environmental Facility's (GEF's) has made efforts to engage in waters
programmes across the globe including the developing world. We in the
developing world, although having slightly more pristine habitats and
ecosystems, acknowledge that the environment must be managed at the appropriate
scales if we are going to have a measure of success that stands the test of
time," said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism during his welcome address at the GEF Fourth Biennial International
Waters Conference which commenced today.
The conference sees over 350 international delegates from 135 countries
converge at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 31 July to 3
August 2007 to discuss projects, share experiences and highlight challenges
around the pertinent issue of international waters.
GEF is the main financial mechanism for several global environmental
conventions. International waters is one of the GEF focal areas and is a
mechanism for catalyzing action by gathering information and conducting
analysis of trans-boundary water concerns. Through its international waters
projects it provides support to countries to strengthen trans-boundary
collaboration in addressing key trans-boundary concerns such as water
pollution, protection of fisheries habitats and unsustainable exploitation of
fisheries.
The Minister highlighted that South Africa like other countries that are
adjacent to large ocean spaces was aware that we should be doing more to
understand the impacts of large scale processes on our local habitats, marine
industries and communities. He added that large scale and international waters
programmes can focus on regional and global issues and will provide a basis to
understand risk and vulnerability to large ecosystem shifts, such as climate
change impacts.
Van Schalkwyk noted that the understanding of socio-economic impacts in
managing ecosystems is an aspect that has been gaining importance. "The
traditional uses of the oceans only to harvest marine living resources must
further be diversified to include a wider range of activities. In South Africa,
marine ecotourism is a growing industry especially with regard to viewing our
top marine predators such as sharks, whales, seals and birds," he said.
Van Schalkwyk emphasised that with each coastal state exercising its right
to use the ocean services at its disposal, we needed to acknowledge that there
are threshold limits that exist at the ecosystem scale. "The true value of
International Waters Programmes like those facilitated through the GEF is that
they engage management agencies on these large scale limits. These programmes
encourage states to look at environmental impacts and influences outside their
jurisdictional boundaries and across ecosystem scales," said van Schalkwyk.
Commenting on the conference agenda he welcomed the revised structure of
conference proceedings geared towards interaction and focused interactive
dialogue sessions. Van Schalkwyk described the agenda as bold and commendable
designed with the intention to maximise opportunities to exchange experiences
and lessons from around the world and to move away from the less interactive
traditional format of plenary sessions and presentations.
"I note with particular interest that you have sessions devoted to issues on
ground water, pollution, marine fisheries which are very close to South
Africans in general and to Cape Town in particular and finally assessing and
valuing ecosystems. This is an area where most of us can develop expertise.
Such valuations provide a sound basis from which to make our management
interventions and facilitate the motivation for resources to undertake such
large scale work," commented van Schalkwyk.
For queries contact:
Carol Moses
Cell: 082 829 3917
Roopa Singh
Cell: 082 225 3076
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
31 July 2007