B Sonjica: National Forestry Advisory Committee Meeting

3 March 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome all of you. I am delighted to
have you as members of the Council. I want to assure you that the Council is
very important to me as it guides and informs me of issues that I need to
attend to. I have been informed that there are varied skills among the Council
members. I believe that you will be the kind of Council that will offer me
advice for the benefit of the South African citizens, especially the rural
poor. I am very passionate about this because I come from a background of
struggle and I hope that the deliberations that you will have for the next
three years will ensure that you give me advice which will address the many
challenges in the forestry sector.

In August 2004, I requested the previous Council to advise me on some
specific issues. They have endorsed the forestry vision of the Department and
the Secretariat must give you copies of this vision for information and
guidance and for you to check whether as a Department we are creating the
enabling environment that we mention in the vision. The other important issue
that the previous Council was involved in is the Forestry Charter. The Council
representative in the Charter Steering Committee, Ms Mngomezulu, is a member of
this Council. For continuity, she will continue participating in the Charter
process and will inform the Council of the progress.

The previous Council also advised me on how to deal with timber shortages
and new afforestation. This assisted the Strategic Environment Assessment study
in the Eastern Cape. This study identifies suitable areas for forestry and
needs commitment from the forestry companies and local communities to ensure
that trees are planted in those areas. I am also pleased to note that my office
in KwaZulu-Natal has produced afforestation maps. These maps identify areas
suitable for forestry in each municipality. As a Department we are in a process
of negotiating and encouraging municipalities in these provinces to consider
forestry in the areas that have been identified. I would like the Council to
assist in coming up with other creative ways the Department could engage in to
encourage participation by the municipalities.

In terms of sustainable forest management, the previous Council approved the
criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in State Forests. The
next step is gazetting of these, which my Department will ensure that it
happens. This is a tool that will tell us whether there is sustainability in
management of our forests and will also assist in compiling the State of the
Forest report.

Through the charter process, I have learnt that in the forestry business
there is little broad-based participation by blacks in the processing side of
the value chain. I also know that a large amount of our raw material is
exported while there is a shortage of the resource in the country. I would like
you as my advisors to look into these and come up with strategies that could be
used to ensure that there is local processing of our forest resources and that
there is broader participation in the sector.

In addition to the above, I would like to request your assistance in the
following:

* Ways of ensuring that there is skills development within the sector. The
Charter process suggests that in 10 years after the Charter has been gazetted,
there must be black representation at all levels of an enterprise including the
board level. This suggests that blacks must be skilled to take up these
positions. The skills development environment in forestry presents a challenge.
There are progressively fewer graduates in forestry and this needs to be looked
at. I am also informed that access to the training facilities offered by the
Sector Education and Training Authority (SETAs) is a challenge. I want to ask
you to look into this matter and give me advice.

* Emerging small growers and contractors: These sub-sectors have said to me
that they feel marginalised and need to be empowered and organised so that they
can add real value and receive benefits in the sector. I need you to advise me
on how best to achieve their objectives and intentions.

* I need you to assist me to explore some funding mechanisms for small
businesses. Funding will become more crucial for support in the establishment
and skills development for the management of businesses as the companies comply
with the Charter.

Another issue that is of importance to me is the lack of participation by
women in the forestry sector. I am aware that equity allocations for women in
all aspects of the sector are too low. Women also experience deprivation in
skills developments and have no or little access to finance. Culturally and
historically, women were not allowed access to land and since forestry requires
a fair amount of land, they are marginalised as they still struggle to access
land.

The women participating in the contracting sub-sector in particular have
requested my intervention in ensuring that there is levelling of the playing
field to ensure participation in the sub-sector. These are the issues that I
would like you to assist me with to ensure empowerment of women already in the
sector and to create an enabling environment for those who have the potential
to participate.

As you start this journey I wish you all the best and I hope that you have a
good working relationship. I have requested that the Secretariat give you the
Codes of Good Conduct. These will give you specific rules as laid out in the
National Forests Act on how you should conduct yourselves. The previous Council
had requested that the Chairperson, Vice-chairperson and the Chairpersons of
the two permanent Committees meet with me after each Council meeting. I think
this has worked well in the past and I would like to continue with this
arrangement.

I will now leave you in the capable hands of Mr Mncube, your Chairperson
whose term will end next year September. He will guide the proceedings since he
has institutional memory and knowledge of the discussions that the previous
Council has had.

Once again, welcome to the Council and may you have fruitful
deliberations.

Thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Water Affairs and Forestry
3 March 2006
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (http://www.dwaf.gov.za)