Environment Southern Africa

The pollution gap

By Andy McSmith published: 25 March 2006 in The Independent (UK)

Report reveals how the world's poorer countries are forced to pay for the CO2 emissions of the developed nations.

Over 70 million Africans and an even greater number of farmers in the Indian sub-continent will suffer catastrophic floods, disease and famine if the rich countries of the world fail to change their habits and radically cut their carbon emissions.

The stark warning, contained in a private Government document commissioned by Gordon Brown, comes days ahead of an announcement that will show Tony Blair backing away from his promise to "lead internationally" on climate change. The Government has decided to delay setting targets for industry to cut carbon emissions until other EU governments set theirs. Previously, Mr Blair has made a virtue out of leading the way in Europe.

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SA territory may double under UN law

Article originally published in the Cape Times, 21 March 2006

South Africa could greatly extend its territory in an extraordinary marine land distribution exercise under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

"It's the biggest single distribution of territory ever... This magnitude of territory is usually only gained by nations through the process of war," said Ian McLachlan, working group chairperson of the South African Shelf Claim project.

Taking an optimistic view, the country could gain an additional 65 percent of its existing 1,5-million square kilometres of marine territory within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), including the area around Marion and Prince Edward Islands.

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SA winning the battle to save wetlands – WWF

Article originally from IOL, 23 March 2006

South Africa appears to be winning the battle to restore its spoiled wetlands, with more hectares being rehabilitated each year than are lost to urban development and poor land management, says the environmental organisation WWF.

"We're making very slow progress towards recovering the wetlands that have been lost since the beginning of the last century," WWF-South Africa wetlands expert David Lindley told reporters at the Fourth World Water Forum under way in Mexico City.

He said the Working for Wetlands programme - established five years ago and funded by government to the tune of R65-million a year - was rehabilitating about 7 000 hectares of wetlands each year.

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Faecal pollution threat to SA

Original Article in News 24, 20/03/2006 08:07  - (SA)

Mexico City - Faecal pollution from human settlements is a big threat to groundwater reserves in South Africa, says the department of water affairs.

Some schemes utilising groundwater had been shut down, and others were being closely monitored as a result of this pollution, the department's manager for information programmes, Eberhard Braune, told Sapa.

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Soil Conservation Project Receives R5 million for Land Rehabilitation Desertification: A Threat to Humanity

Article sourced from www.environment.gov.za

The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Rejoice Mabudafhasi launched the International Year of Deserts and Desertification in Madibaneng, Sekhunkhune in Limpopo on 16 March 2006.

The UN General Assembly, at its 58th ordinary meeting, declared 2006 the International year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). The main objective of the IYDD is to convey the message that desertification is a major threat to humanity and launch the fight against it as a global sustainable development challenge.

Speaking during the launch the Deputy Minister said that the year seeks to celebrate the unique ecosystem and cultural diversity of deserts worldwide, therefore establishing a clear difference between the need to protect deserts as unique natural habitats and fight against desertification as a global sustainable development challenge.

One of the highlights of the event was the handing over of a R5 million cheque to the community of Madibaneng for a soil rehabilitation project. The project activities are designed to be sustainable by means of training the community in land management, business management as well as techniques on how to monitor and follow up the land improvements. Other key objectives of the project include:

• Improving livestock management and create a livestock market in the area
• Reversing the process of land degradation through erosion and water run-off,      re-vegetation as well as limited grazing
• Limiting further erosion in the area
• Improving the agricultural production systems of at least 110 households through irrigation systems
• Creating 3 SMME's in the sector of nursery, fencing and land rehabilitation.

Land degradation affects one third of the planet's land surface and around one billion people in over one hundred countries. Land degradation and desertification projects and programmes do not happen in isolation but are integrated with other programmes, the implementation of the NAP is dependant upon initiatives and programmes like Working for Fire (WfW), Working on Fire (WonFire), Landcare, Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), People and Parks and other trans-boundary initiatives.

Land degradation is obviously not only about land, it is about the people said Mabudafhasi. Millions of people are directly affected by natural resource degradation and many of them live below the poverty line. She went on to say that rural communities depend on these natural resources for survival yet the capacity of our country’s land, water and biological resources to sustain its people is eroding.

The IYDD launch will culminate into a roll out of an annual campaign on desertification throughout the country.

Red light for lodge development at Hangklip

(This article was originally in the Cape Times on 16 March 2006)

The property developer who started to build a five-star lodge on Cape Hangklip has been ordered to stop work and conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

This comes after the Overstrand municipality had given the go-ahead for construction of the building on what has been described as "one of the scenic icons" of the Western Cape.

But local residents and conservation bodies objected to the development, especially after they discovered that the building was to be a luxury five-star lodge, and took the matter up with the provincial Department of Environment Affairs and Development Planning.

They also objected to the siting of the development, which they said was too high up on the scenic slopes. 

The Overstrand Conservation Foundation wrote to the department to point out that the building did not comply with the Western Cape Spatial Development Framework.

Also, the land fell within a sensitive area and the construction of a road to the property was a "listed activity", which meant there was a legal requirement to do an EIA.

The purpose of an EIA is to examine the impact a proposed development would have on the environment.

Rob Fryer, manager of the Overstrand Conservation Foundation, said in his letter to Theo Tolmay, head of the provincial environment department, that the Overstrand Municipality had treated the developers' building application as if it were "of little consequence", and had failed to refer the plans to the local ward committee or to civil society representatives.

Now Tolmay has written to advise the developer, Ezulwini Investments, that the upgrading of the existing road on the Hangklip property and the construction of 150 metres of new road requires an EIA.

Tolmay added: "Due to the sensitive nature of the area, in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve and within a natural corridor, this department requires that (Ezulwini Investments cc) undertakes an EIA to allay concern regarding the scale and appropriateness of the development, as well as to determine the impact of the development on the natural systems of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve."

Residents have welcomed the move, but say this is another example of the public having to step in to do the job of officials.

Ian Cushny, of Pringle Bay Ratepayers' Association, said on Wednesday: "The Overstrand Municipality must be rapped over the knuckles for granting authority for this when they had no right... If municipal officials don't know the correct planning procedures, and grant approvals that go against the spacial development planning policy, where will it end? "With a Tuscan village on top of Table Mountain?"

See you in court, say Pearls opposers

 

(This article was originally published in The Mercury on 17 March 2006)

Umhlanga Rocks residents opposed to the development of the Pearls of Umhlanga flats have found the courage to fight the eThekwini Municipality after a victory over the city by Abahlali Base Mjondolo (Shack Dwellers' Movement).

The Umhlanga Ratepayers' Action Group, which has been appealing against the development, has had several appeals blocked by the city council.

The Pearls, which is expected to consist of high-rise blocks of flats, a commercial boulevard and a spa health centre, is being developed on prime beachfront land in Lagoon Drive.

The group is concerned that the development will increase the Umhlanga population by 100 percent, cast shadows over the beachfront, devalue properties and set a dangerous precedent for development in the area.

At a meeting this week residents decided their best option to stop the development would be to seek a court interdict. The group's attorney, Jack Hawkey, told them such an application was their only hope of success.

"No litigation is certain and all litigation is costly, but there are examples of the court intervening where the municipality has adopted a bully-boy and arrogant approach," he said.

Hawkey gave three examples in which the court had intervened against the municipality.

One of these was the victory by Abahlali Base Mjondolo, which had obtained an interdict preventing police officers from stopping a march to the city hall, he said.

The movement defeated the municipality after acquiring the voluntary services of academics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and attorneys from the Freedom of Expression Institute, and took to the streets with placards and T-shirts proclaiming their need for housing.

In contrast, the much wealthier residents of Umhlanga are planning to throw money at their attempt stop the municipality from passing the plans for the Pearls development. Hawkey said it would cost R100 000 to take on the municipality legally.

Residents at the meeting pledged financial support and circulated forms appealing for assistance. The group is also considering staging a march on the offices of the developers.

Hawkey said they would seek a court order ordering the review of plans previously approved and compelling the developers to obtain an environmental impact assessment.

Ethekwini Municipal Manager Michael Sutcliffe said the city was taking into consideration the matter of the shadows, sanitation, bridges and the overall development.

He said people had the right to build and people could also protest, but he did not think an attempt to stop the Pearls development would succeed in court.

He said the city had dealt with the environmental issues and development in Umhlanga was proceeding well.

On the Pearls' website, the developers claim to have site development plan approval for some of the blocks of flats.

In a statement released on Thursday, the developers said they were building within the stipulated rights of the property and no further studies had been required.

Green report paints dark picture of our land

By Tony Carnie. This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on March 02, 2006

Scientists are putting the finishing touches to the most comprehensive report to date on the state of the environment in South Africa.

The report, due for publication in May, will include a variety of educated predictions on what the country might look like 20 years from now.

The last national state-of-the-environment report was published on the Internet in 1999, and the latest report is unlikely to paint a rosier picture.

Early indications from some of the authors suggest it will highlight air pollution, degraded rivers, water shortages and desertification as particular areas of concern.

According to a recent newsletter published by the department of environmental affairs, the report will say that air pollution levels often exceed recommended health limits; that most of the rivers close to the biggest cities are in a poor state; and that South Africa's Earth-warming carbon emissions at 9.8 tons a person a year are higher than the global average of seven tons.

Although there are still substantial areas of unmodified natural landscapes, the report will also voice concern about the state of many inland water bodies, although coastal and marine ecosystems are said to be "in a relatively good condition".

Making money out of Joburg's trash

This article was originally published on page 16 of The Star on February 28, 2006 (by Anna Cox)

The city of Johannesburg is investigating a new strategy on reducing waste at landfill sites: methane gas harvesting.

Methane - a major contributor to global warming - is a flammable gas that can be used for beneficial purposes, such as electricity generation and industrial heating.

Methane harvested from landfills will be sold to local gas networks, which will then generate foreign income through the sale of "carbon credits" - commodities that can be purchased by developed nations to help them achieve their Kyoto Protocol targets of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Each ton of carbon dioxide - or equivalent emissions - saved generates one "carbon credit".

Prem Govender, the City ofJohannesburg's director of the Contract Management Unit said: "We have 36 closed landfill sites and eight of these have gas, but we want to team up with the national government on this project."

The city, in partnership with the British Council of South Africa and Wits University, recently hosted a Zero Carbon Cities Awareness Campaign at the Metro Centre in Braamfontein.

Councillor Mally Mokoena, member of the mayoral committee responsible for development planning, transportation and environment, said: "This campaign should also be seen as the start for the city to produce a local action plan in response to climate change impacts affecting Johannesburg.

"Climate change is considered to be the biggest threat to sustainable development."