World’s plant, animal species in the spotlight

SA shares two globally recognised biodiversity hot spots with three of its neighbours

SOUTH AFRICA joined the world yesterday – on International Day for Biological Diversity – in celebrating the efforts made over 25 years to maintain biodiversity across the planet.

The day is celebrated annually to highlight the importance of biodiversity while raising awareness of the need to conserve natural resources and use them in a sustainable way.

“As one of the most biologically diverse countries, South Africa strives to conserve its biological diversity, promote the sustainable use of its (resources), and ensure fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the commercial utilisation of genetic resources,” said Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa.

Mega-diverse countries are those that contain the majority of the Earth’s species of flora and fauna and high numbers of endemic species.

This group of countries represents less than 10% of the Earth’s surface, but supports more than 70% of its biological diversity. South Africa covers only 2% of the world’s surface, but is home to 10% of the world’s plants, 7% of reptiles, birds and mammals, and 15% of known coastal marine species.

There are only six floral kingdoms in the world, of which fynbos is the smallest and the only one found entirely within South Africa.

The fynbos biosphere, known as the Cape Floral Kingdom, is the smallest, richest and most threatened of the floral kingdoms.

The country’s natural heritage, which encompasses six Transfrontier Conservation Areas, nine World Heritage Sites, 21 national parks, two special nature reserves, 51 forest nature reserves, 12 forest wilderness areas, 25 marine protected areas and 1 258 nature reserves, has made South Africa a tourist destination of choice, underpinning a thriving and vibrant tourism industry.

South Africa also shares two globally recognised biodiversity hot spots with its neighbours.

These are the Succulent Karoo, which is shared with Namibia, and the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hot spot, shared with Mozambique and Swaziland.

The department said the past 25 years had seen a shift from the preservationist and segregationist approach to biodiversity under apartheid to a focus on sound environmental management, integrating human rights with access to resources, equity and sustainability.

This had resulted in biodiversity and conservation policy being successfully repositioned within the new democratic dispensation.

During the recent tabling of the department’s budget vote policy statement in Parliament, Molewa emphasised that the Operation Phakisa: Biodiversity Economy project was an important multi-faceted approach to managing the country’s rich natural heritage.

“It is an approach that focuses on an inclusive value-chain approach to the development of the biodiversity economy,” Molewa said.

South Africa participates in various international initiatives aimed at enhancing policies and strategies that promote biodiversity conservation.

These include the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.