"Our Oceans: Opportunities and Challenges"
Deputy Mayor: Nancy Sihlwayi
Vice Chancellor: Professor Derrick Swartz
Business leaders
Distinguished guests
Learners
Members of the media
Ladies and gentleman
It is indeed a great a pleasure to be here in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, in this province that is so unique in bridging the east and west coasts of our country.
The Department of Environmental Affairs celebrates World Oceans Day 2010 in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela University. This year's theme is: "Our Oceans: Opportunities and Challenges".
Vice chancellor, I am also pleased that you have invited our young learners to join your campus for this World Oceans Day celebration and I thank you for co-hosting our event at your campus.
The month of June is recognised as both Youth and Environmental months. It is against this background that I would like to express our profound welcome to the grade 11 and 12 science learners from Sakhisizwe High School.
These learners will be taken to various sites across the city where they will be exposed to careers in the sector, to goods and services that oceans and coasts contribute to the country's economy and the impact that oceans have on our climate and its link to climate change.
The observance of World Oceans Day in South Africa provides us with an opportunity to raise awareness about the opportunities, in terms of services and goods that our oceans present to us as a nation.
The day provides an opportunity to highlight the considerable challenges the country faces in maintaining the oceans capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe recreation.
We neither need research nor science to tell us that the Eastern Cape is a special place and to appreciate the beauty of this coastline. The terrestrial, coastal and marine biodiversity begins to really diverge and grow as we move away from the west coast to the east. The estuaries around our city contribute significantly to the wealth of animals and plants that our country boasts to the world about.
Today on this World Oceans Day, we join the rest of the world to draw attention to the oceans that surround our country. On this day, we take cognisance that the oceans are important to the planet and to the humans who live on this planet, because the oceans make up more than 70 percent of the surface of our planet.
Recently I attended a meeting held by the Global Oceans Forum in Paris.
The forum works across the planet to raise awareness of the oceans. This meeting reminded the world leaders that, the planet's environment is changing.
The planet's environment, climate and weather are changing at a faster pace because of how we, as people of the earth live. People must work and grow our crops, build our houses, heat our homes and drive our cars. All these must be done in a responsible way, taking environment into consideration.
The oceans take up much of the earth's surface; it is a big player in regulating the temperature around the whole earth. Understanding that fact is necessary on how our earth works. South Africa is a coastal state and our coastline is about 3 000 kilometres long.
Additionally, learners, it is important to realise that each country that lies next to the ocean, also owns about 350 kilometres of the ocean that is next to the land. So a large part of our country then actually lies under the ocean.
With 3 000 kilometres of coastline and so much of the country's biodiversity and natural assets lying under the ocean, all of us must play a role in understanding and protecting our oceans and coasts.
Here, there is a special responsibility for coastal municipalities like this one, which occur on the coast. This responsibility must also be shared with our coastal universities and schools.
At the Paris meeting there was a special documentary of a great oceans explorer called Cousteau, who swam and dived in many strange and beautiful parts of the ocean.
The lesson from this documentary is that people protect what they love. This, I think is the important role that local government structures, schools and universities must take.
By making our oceans and coasts accessible, by bringing in the young learners and communities into these beautiful ecosystems, we build oceans and environment champions and we excite young minds into exploring these relatively unknown secrets of our oceans, through informal and formal advanced studies.
Other countries in the world are already discussing and researching new ways to explore and use the oceans to benefit people in general and specifically in generating income and jobs for local coastal people.
These new services include harvesting food from unusual sources like algae and plankton, making medicines from animals and plants yet to be discovered in the deep areas of the ocean and new ways to make electricity from strong winds that blow over the ocean or currents of water that race past cities like yours. Of course existing uses such as tourism and growing tourism around our coast must continue.
As provinces, coastal cities and universities we must work together in stimulating each other in thinking about new ways to use and conserve the oceans and coasts.
South Africa has large ocean areas around it and our position on the earth's surface is unique. This special geographic location lies between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and close to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. We can become world leaders in understanding how oceans work and how to work in oceans.
Working together as three government spheres, education institutions and the private sector we can do more.
Our country's special position with all these large oceans around us does make us vulnerable to unfortunate events like very harsh storms and waves.
While we are exploring our oceans, we must understand how our oceans, climate and weather are working now and how it will work in the future. We must be prepared as a coastal nation and as coastal provinces and cities for these harsh events that can endanger the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities.
Our planning must include both the opportunities that we can explore by being so close to the coast and the dangers, and we must not unnecessarily place people at risk. We are horrified by what is happening along the east coast of the United States of America.
In encouraging our learners and communities to explore and take ownership of the oceans and coasts, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and this university are very fortunate to be situated in this picturesque province.
I am sure that there is no shortage of finding stimulating excursions, teaching and research material in your coastal and ocean habitats.
Finally I also want to express my support for the planned cooperation between the Department of Environmental Affairs and this university.
Vice chancellor I am pleased to say that I have with me the draft memorandum of understanding between the two organisations for your assessment and comment.
I look forward to reading on the joint research projects, that I am sure will be of immediate relevance to the Municipality and Province in their planning.
Learners, I want to especially thank you for your patience today. I understand that your exciting excursion continues from here. Please remember to read the newspaper supplement on oceans that we have prepared and I hope that many of you will find interesting careers in the various ocean sectors. I also want to thank Eyethu Fishing Company for providing your lunch today.
In conclusion, I call upon all of you to support Bafana-Bafana during the 2010 FIFA World Cup spectacle.
Feel it, It is Here!
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs
8 June 2010
