FINDING NEMBA: THE QUEST FOR COMMUNITY CONSERVATION

– Rea Borcherds

 It was always going to be a challenge ¨C taking a topic as unappealing and dense as an unwieldy Act of Parliament (in this case NEMBA, the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act,) and trying to make it palatable and intelligible to your listeners.  Tim Attwell rose to the occasion splendidly on Saturday 15th July, as evidenced by the appreciative tributes he received from his audience, who had defied a bitterly chilly night to attend the talk on this daunting subject.

Tim sugared the pill by deftly framing his topic into a quest, akin to the search for the fabled movie character, the little fish called Nemo.  In Tim’s case his quarry was NEMBA, and he explored its origins and subsequent developmental process as it grew over many years from embryonic form to the final product.

He traced its ancestry directly back to the 1994 South African Constitution, and its provision for the rights of citizens:

  1. to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and
  2. to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that ¡ª
  3. to prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
  4. to promote conservation; and
  5. to secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development

These objectives were crystallized in the form of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) of 1998. It was a forerunner of NEMBA, but the process was a lengthy one.  The first chapters of NEMBA came out in 2004, while Chapter 5 was only completed in 2014.

Tim pointed out that the original Act viewed the environment in very broad terms, embracing the interrelationships, combinations, properties and conditions of all organisms in the environment we inhabit.  However, when NEMBA arrived it brought significant changes, with wide repercussions. It changed the title ‘National Botanical Institute’ into the ‘South African National Biodiversity Institute’.  This change, from ‘Botanical’ to ‘Biodiversity’ meant that suddenly our beloved plants and flowers and National Botanical Gardens were viewed as part of a wider set of interrelationships – those of all organisms no less.

An interesting debate has always taken place in conservation,  namely whether to protect ecosystems and let the species take care of themselves, or to identify species that are in need of protection first.  However, NEMBA requires both, at the same time!

Chapter 4 of NEMBA begins with a National List of threatened ecosystems in need of protection. There are four categories of listed ecosystems: 1. Critically Endangered. 2. Endangered. 3. Vulnerable and 4. Protected (because they have high conservation value due to their national or provincial importance.

It was sobering to hear from Tim that our area, the Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos (aka ‘mountain fynbos’) is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’!  In this area 99 Red Data List species and 176 endemic species occur, many of them outside protected areas such as the Kogelberg Nature Reserve.

In addition, Hangklip Sand Fynbos, the ecosystem most of us live in, is listed as ‘Endangered’ because more than 40% of the area has already been significantly impacted by development.  NEMBA chapter 4 protects these ecosystems from ‘threatening processes’, namely those activities that would harm the integrity of the ecosystem concerned.

Tim pointed out that we are rightly alarmed by threats to elephants, rhinos and cycads, but a cursory scroll through the list shows an alarmingly number of our own flora ¨C many of which are more endangered than the more famous endangered icons. The chances are we have floral fynbos equivalents of elephants, rhinos and cycads popping up in our gardens right here in the Kogelberg!

NEMBA Chapter 4 Part 2 shifts to the protection of threatened or protected species, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and plants, and including invertebrates  – insects among them. (Tim warned his listeners to be discerning about how they use that can of poison spray!)

NEMBA Chapter 5, finally arrived in 2014,  titled ‘Species and Organisms Posing Potential Threats to Biodiversity’. Alien and Invasive species are listed under four categories:

1 (a): Species which have to be eradicated immediately
(b): Species which have to be controlled with a view to eradication
2: Species for which a permit has to be obtained
3: Species which you may possess, but which you may not propagate, sell, give as gifts or permit to increase.

The penalties for contravening the provisions of NEMBA are scary, and they include:

  1. a) a fine not exceeding five million rand, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten million rand or
  2. b) imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten years; or
  3. c) both such fine and imprisonment

Clearly this Act is a creature with teeth!

Tim drew attention to the significant impact on property owners of  the new NEMBA regulations. It will be the responsibility of the owner to take steps to control and eradicate the listed invasive species, and prevent them from spreading. In addition, the relevant competent authority must be advised in writing of any listed invasive species occurring on the property.

Notifications of the presence of alien and invasive species on properties have to be in the form of a document called a Declaration of Invasive Species.  It is especially important to get this done if you are buying or selling property.  Failure to do so could lead to the buyer having a claim against the seller of the property, because when a property is sold, the liability for the alien and invasive species present on the property is transferred to the buyer.

This Declaration of Invasive Species form must be approved by an Invasive Species Consultant (ISC), thousands of whom have been trained and certified across the country by the South African Green Industries Council (SAGIC), on behalf of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

Timothy Jack is responsible for our area, and he can be contacted directly, at the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Loop Street, Cape Town.

His email address is: T.Jack@environment.gov.zaTimothy Jack has regular meetings with Tarron Dry and others, including Liesl De Villiers, of the Overstrand  Environmental Management Services.

Alternatively, an email can be sent to AIScompliance@environment.gov.za. The Senior person in the DEA Biosecurity Directorate is Stiaan Kotze, who can be reached at SKotze@environment.gov.za. There is also a ‘hotline’ to report invasive species, impressively called the ‘National Environmental Crimes and Incident Hotline’, phone: 0800 205005.

At the close of the evening, Allan Heydorn thanked Tim for the clarity with which he had unpacked the contents of this very important Act for his listeners. Allan also reported on his own recent experience of obtaining the necessary clearance certificate when selling a vacant plot. He found it a quite straightforward process, and endorsed what Tim had said about the wisdom of following this new procedure.