Cyril: protect environment

Future generations and humanity’s survival depends on the sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the environment, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.

Speaking at the launch of the Biodiversity Economy Operation Phakisa at the Kalahari Waterfront in Thohoyandou, Limpopo, Ramaphosa said the constitution recognised and celebrated the diversity of the people.

This human diversity was reflected and multiplied many times over, in the diversity of South Africa’s plant and animal life.

“In the area bounded by the Indian and Atlantic oceans, by the Limpopo and Orange rivers, lives a multitude of species that makes South Africa the third-most biodiverse country in the world,” he said. “For millennia, this bountiful natural heritage has sustained our people. It has fed them, healed them, sheltered them and provided the means and the inspiration for cultural expression.

“Now, we again seek to harness this biodiversity to enable our people to prosper and to flourish. We seek to harness our ancient inheritance and indigenous knowledge to open up new opportunities for commerce, trade and entrepreneurship.

“The destruction of our biodiversity – the loss of plant and animal species – has grave implications for our own survival and wellbeing. It affects livelihoods, health, and food and water security,” Ramaphosa added.

Through the development of the biodiversity economy, it was anticipated that 162 000 jobs could be created and R47 billion generated by 2030.

“We aim to increase business and land ownership by previously disadvantaged individuals, boosting participation by communities, expanding cultivation of key indigenous plants by 500 hectares a year, and having 100 Blue Flag beaches designated across South Africa by 2030,” he said.

The wildlife sector of South Africa had experienced noticeable growth over the years and employed about 100 000 people across the value chain. This sector had been growing consistently faster than the general economy, contributing R3 billion to the gross domestic product in 2014, which was almost double the contribution it made in 2008.

Over the next five years, government would spend about R1.18 billion on supplying the underlying infrastructure required to grow the biodiversity economy and ensure that it contributed meaningfully to the South African economy, he said. – ANA

The destruction of our biodiversity has grave implications for our own survival and wellbeing.

Cyril Ramaphosa President of South Africa