Biopolicy Journal Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso ISSN: 1363-2450 Vol. 2, Num. 1, 1997

Biodiversity policy in South Africa: finding new values and shifting paradigms

Saliem Fakir^1

Natural Resource Management Programme Land and Agriculture Policy Centre for Alternatives PO Box 243, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa

Received: June 6th 1997
Revision accepted: July 1997
Published: August 31st 1997

Code Number: PY97008
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INTRODUCTION

The ushering in of the new democracy in South Africa has provided a window of opportunity for democratic policy-making based on meaningful consultation and public participation. Policy formulation underway is increasingly engaging complex and rigorous public participation. This evolving process is providing an invaluable space and meeting ground for the sharing of values between the different peoples of South Africa.

This paper discusses some of the innovative environmental policy developments in South Africa that have evolved as a result of the unfolding Biological Diversity policy process. The impact of the Convention on Biological Diversity on policy making procedures may well form a trend-setting example for the future.

THE RECENT HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Environmental issues are perceived by many South Africans, as pertaining to nature conservation within clearly demarcated or protected areas. Protected areas in South Africa have been closely associated with colonial hunting and more recently, with restricted access by a small section of the population, often involving the relocation of black communities. By the early 1980s, a broader range of environmental issues began to be addressed by the government culminating in the formation of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT).

This department operated in a centralised manner with limited interactions with civil society. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a trend within civil society emerged which articulated an environmental view, taking into account the concerns of the wider community. Environmental policy-making in the aftermath of the April 1994 elections continued to be regarded with some suspicion. Civil society, and in particular, NGOs and Community Based Organisations (CBOs) criticised the lack of inclusiveness and pressurised the DEAT into addressing the concerns of multiple stakeholders and embarking on a participatory policy process resulting in the Consultative National Environmental Policy Process (CONNEPP).

However, environmental policy is fragmented in that jurisdiction over diverse environmental functions are spread over several state departments at central government level. Compounding the problem, South Africa's interim and latest draft of the "new" constitution, devolves several environmental functions to provincial governments.^2 Even if an attempt is made by the government to consolidate a clear policy position and strategy at national government level and, in so doing, establish sorely needed political direction, attempts have to be made to address a complicated set of institutions inherited from the past as well as those created as a result of the recent political dispensation. It will be some time yet before institutional arrangements are streamlined and the functions between the different tiers of government are brought in line with emerging environmental policy imperatives.

THE ORIGINS OF THE BIODIVERSITY POLICY PROCESS

During early 1995, the DEAT was lobbied to ratify the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD). NGOs sought to use the opportunity as leverage to ensure that government policy reflected the social and economic development objectives outlined in the government's Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).^3 Such parties argued moreover, that funding opportunities should be channelled into projects designed to benefit the majority of South Africans.

These principle concerns were submitted to Parliament with a caveat that South Africa only be allowed to ratify the Convention on condition that a national policy process be put in place. In April 1995, after a meeting of multiple stakeholders, such a process was negotiated. The agreement on a process led to the establishment of a 3 person Steering Committee representing the government, the NGOs sector, and parliament. The steering committee was given the task of overseeing and management functions; its mandate having being defined by a multi-stakeholder Reference Group representing line-function national Ministries, provincial governments, NGOs, traditional healers, and the business sector. It was also agreed that the design of the policy process and development of technical inputs for the policy content be co-managed between the DEAT and one NGO. The Land and Agriculture Policy Centre (LAPC) was nominated by the Reference Group to perform this function. The involvement of an NGO as a co-manager of a process of this importance and magnitude was indeed a significant historical achievement.^4

Secured donor funding was channelled through the LAPC and several components of the process were managed and funded by the LAPC on behalf of the DEAT. The channelling of funding in this way reinforced the partnership element of the relationship, but more importantly, it provided greater flexibility and speed for the sub-contracting of expert inputs as government bureaucracies tend to be tedious and require complex tendering procedures before work can be commissioned.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE POLICY PROCESS

The process had several support structures. A secretariat was responsible for the provision of logistical support and an editorial committee was convened to support the work of an editorial consultant, hired specifically to compile the policy document by ensuring that various comments and diverse and often conflicting interests were adequately reflected. These structures operated in a simplistic, flexible and cost effective manner.

The policy process consisted of 4 phases:

* Phases 1-3 involved the development of a discussion document which provided the context within which a wide range of policy issues would reside. This proved to be a useful strategy as it was able to solicit a high degree of public and interest-group debate and comment. This led to the conversion of the discussion document into a Green Paper, which in turn is presently subject to widespread public scrutiny. The comments which arise from this participatory process will be incorporated in a White Paper for submission to parliament for final adoption as government policy.^5 These important phases captured priority biodiversity issues in South Africa which will in turn drive implementation strategies.

* The 4th phase involves the development of an appropriate implementation strategy. This is conceived as the formulation of a National Action Plan premised on the involvement of various institutions both within and outside of the government.

The biodiversity policy process was composed of two principle elements, namely:^6

a. Political; and
b. Technical.

a. The Political Process

The success of the policy formulation process depended on gaining substantial political support or 'buy in'. It became patently clear that unfolding ostensible technical conflicts were underscored by deeper political disparity. This often crystallised in turf battles, institutional conflicts and conflicts over limited resources. These conflicts were made manifest at various levels: within government, between government departments and organs of civil society and within civil society itself. Often, these political tensions which reflected competing interests proved to be invaluable in giving form to the matrix upon which the technical component of the biodiversity policy could be built.

Building support for the process and developing an understanding of the political undercurrents became indispensable. Two mechanisms were identified to achieve these objectives. First, the holding of stakeholder briefs and second, the organization of a national consultative conference (see discussion below). Stakeholder briefs were held across the country and various constituencies were invited to participate in these meetings. These briefs went a long way towards staving off suspicion and mistrust from both the DEAT and the policy process. Crucially, they provided an opportunity for inter-personal communication between the personalities responsible for the management of the process and members of the public. This exercise also yielded unexpected benefits. Many sectors on their own accord, consolidated coherent positions on biodiversity issues reflective of their interests by organizing workshops among their members. For example, national museums voiced concern about declining taxonomy as a result of depleting resources and inadequate state interest and on the other scale of the spectrum, traditional healers lamented their ostracism by the scientific community and the theft of indigenous knowledge. Indeed, the policy process began to take on a life of its own.

b. Technical Inputs

Far from being a homogenous country, South African population is comprised of several cultures, 11 languages, differing levels of literacy and technical capacities amongst its people. This diversity posed a number of challenges to the policy design because it always presented the risk of excluding almost 70% of the biodiversity community from participation as a result of language barriers. Of principle concern were the communities engaged in traditional or subsistence farming, communities living adjacent to protected areas and traditional healers. In an attempt to overcome these constraints, the discussion document was divided into 3 levels of literal competency. The central document which contained technical information and which was written in corresponding technical jargon was accessible to those sectors most literate and familiar with the subject matter. A summary of the document as well as a user friendly popular pamphlet representing the most simplified version of the discussion document were produced and widely disseminated. The pamphlet drew on essential concepts from the Convention which are directly relevant to people's immediate experience and usage of biodiversity.

A pamphlet announcing the policy process and a media campaign was launched to stimulate public interest and awareness. Once the discussion document was sufficiently known, a national conference involving more than 160 participants was organized in order to reflect on the discussion document. A key component of the conference design was the holding of a pre-conference with traditional healers and communities who principally represented members from the rural areas of the 9 provinces and who were the same people who bore the brunt of the protected area system when they were forcefully removed from their ancestral land in earlier times. The pre-conference session was both a briefing about the main conference and an opportunity for the free expression of expectations, fears and concerns. This invaluable input was duly recorded and considered in group discussions at the main conference.

The debate on policy content was facilitated by the discussion document.^7 The principle objective was not to achieve content perfection, but to place enough content and issues on the table in order to provoke debate. Recognition was given to the danger of both the editorial committee and editorial consultant influencing the content by their respective interpretation of biodiversity. In order to avoid this scenario, the content itself and policy options were debated with a multi-stakeholder group before being finalised. This often involved a process of negotiation about interpretation, policy content and the choice of appropriate policy instruments. The document became a vehicle for the mobilisation of views, the centring of the debate and functioned as an indicator for the various interpretative exercises which emerged from the divergent interest groups. Specialist technical input was engaged to fill unfolding gaps as the policy process itself evolved. Technical inputs were therefore not predetermined. Appropriate legislative reform is also being canvassed in order to develop options for the most appropriate entry route for effective implementation. The final policy document in its legislative recommendations will draw out a core set of principles by which new legislation should be formed rather than being too specific. These principles will arise from current experience with the implementation of legislation and the policy objectives laid out in the Green paper.

A SIGNIFICANT PARADIGM SHIFT IN BIODIVERSITY POLICY

The Biodiversity policy process therefore fundamentally changed the development of national policy. However, a further significant paradigm shift also took place, namely, the removal of biodiversity from its previous restrictive and narrow focus on protected areas towards a policy orientation that is people centred and developmentalist ^8 in its approach.^9 The following are good illustrations:

1. Integrated Land-Use

The management of land and coastal resources in South Africa can be considered as 'fiefdoms' over which there are separate administrative and jurisdictional supervision by various authorities. It is now widely recognised that in order for biodiversity strategies to succeed, they have to be included into the broader environmental policies and strategies. An important element of the biodiversity strategy is the recognition that terrestrial, aquatic and marine systems are inter-linked and that management systems have to be designed accordingly. This approach is described as an ecosystems approach and will pose many institutional challenges and create potential conflicts. There is also recognition that the real challenge is the integration of biodiversity protection measures into other land-use activities such as agriculture and forestry, as well as by the incorporation of protected, non-protected areas and private reserves as an integral component. Experiments along these lines (such as the creation of Biosphere reserves, for example the Tugela Biosphere Reserve) are being carried out in South Africa. The use of incentive measures will be an important feature of such integrated strategies.

The eco-systems approach in South Africa also gives due cognisance to the fact that the various biotic systems are subject to multiple uses and therefore a management practise does not have as its ultimate objective the integrity of the resource base only. Such integrity is an outcome of managing human interactions and uses of environmental resources as being part, but essential components of an eco-systems approach.

2. The Creation of People's Parks

The historical establishment of protected areas in South Africa involved large-scale dispossession of land which consequentially cut off access to the traditional natural resource base and seriously threatened the means of livelihood. With the initiation of a land reform programme in South Africa, several protected areas are facing historical land claims. In addition, protected areas in regions where the natural resource base has been depleted are increasingly having to meet demands from poor rural communities living adjacent to these areas for the provision of wood, medicinal plants, grazing land and other resources. In general, parks in the past were created in the absence of a national rural development policy, whereas one exists today. Managers of protected areas are now taking steps to ensure that joint resource management programmes are initiated. In areas where communities have successfully prosecuted land-claims, they appear to be in stronger positions to define the best joint-management or co-management options. A good example of an attempt at joint-resource management is the Richtersveld Nature Reserve located in the Northern Cape province.

A second pressure facing protected areas is declining funding from central government which has forced conservation officials to consider diverse income-generating activity. Some of these options are wildlife utilisation, trophy hunting and eco-tourism ventures. It is clear that protected areas are becoming more than just preserves of biological diversity. The changing political and economic circumstances have forced both the government and managers of protected areas to find innovative and sustainable use-options and use-values for resources under their control.

3. Genetic Resource Conservation and Use^10

South Africa has the 10th richest biodiversity range in the world, with most species being endemic. In terms of article 15 in the Convention for Biological Diversity, 11 countries are able to exercise sovereign rights over their genetic resource base. However, as a result of South Africa being a late comer to this debate, legal protection is consequently afforded only to endangered and rare species. Genetic material such as plants, animals, micro-organisms and marine organisms not on a "protected species list" have been exploited by foreign companies undertaking collection expeditions in South Africa with the result that many horticultural, cosmetic and medicinal products developed overseas have obtained their genetic resources from South Africa.

This free access scenario has created contention amongst nursery growers, researchers and traditional healers alike. They are gravely concerned by the government's apparent inability or lack of political will to regulate access to indigenous genetic material and extract beneficial arrangements between South Africans and foreign bio-prospectors. The focus of policy now is to identify the most appropriate mechanism for regulating access to genetic resources. While legislation is an option, it is not an end in itself. The aim of regulation should ideally be the creation of an enabling framework which will allow for the establishment of partnerships between local and international counterparts underpinned by mutually acceptable benefit-sharing arrangements.

However, it is recognised that the scientific and commercial sectors in South Africa are comparatively under-developed and that the government has also not sufficiently invested in the development of indigenous genetic resources for industrial and commercial purposes. Huge potential does exist for the creation of alternative crops from indigenous plants for such purposes, the Rooibos tea industry, which is based on an indigenous and endemic plant, being a good example. The focus of the policy is therefore on the creation of viable alternative economic options for the use of indigenous biological resources.^12

CONCLUDING REMARKS: THE WAY FORWARD

The challenge now is to translate the biodiversity policy into an implementation strategy. Implementation involves a process of negotiation especially if reform or institutional changes are central to the policy, as is the case. Since these changes are always political in nature, it involves the mediation of conflicts, the rationalisation of inefficient functions and changes to management style.

An implementation strategy will have to rely first, on the principle that the government is unable to accomplish everything and will have to foster partnerships within and outside itself. The second is the recognition that the role of the national government is one of facilitation and that implementation strategies work best if they are, as far as possible, decentralised.

Not all the policy objectives can be achieved at once as some are short and others long term. The implementation strategy is likely to consist of 3-4 politically driven lead projects. The aim is to create a framework and anchoring points by which linkages can be built between government and other stakeholders. In the past, no such framework existed and biodiversity activity was dispersed and independent. By creating lead projects, it is hoped that momentum and a suitable climate is created which is strategic and gives direction to all other activities outside of government. The aim is to build synergy, minimise duplication and use financial and human resources efficiently.

NOTES AND REFERENCES:

1. Saliem Fakir is at the Natural Resources Management Programme at the LAPC.

2. There are nine provinces in South Africa, which have their own parliaments and legislative and executives bodies. Previously, environmental functions existed as nature conservation departments. With the interim constitution the conception of environment was broadened. Provincial governments have either chosen to combine nature conservation with environment, or create independent departments. Nature conservation departments generally concerned themselves with biodiversity and the management of protected areas.

3.This is a guiding vision that was developed by the African National Congress just before the April 1994 elections. The RDP laid out the goals and objectives of the new government in addressing social and economic concerns that the country faces.

4. Such are being reinforced by NGOs participating as part of government delegations at meetings concerning International Conventions such as the Biodiversity Convention.

5. The total policy process cost R600 000 or $130 000 US dollars.

6. Green papers are official government documents that are still open for public consideration. A White paper is an official and final government position and also specifics budgetary implications. White papers are placed through a parliamentary process of debate and refinement. Interest groups therefore still have an opportunity to make submissions to parliament if they feel that their interest are not sufficiently protected in the final version of the White paper. At the end, White papers make policy recommendations where final decisions are left for politicians to make.

7. The content of the discussion document, in terms of its various themes was separated into the following format: synopsis, which gave a brief overview of the subject matter, key issues, and suggested policy options to identify possible ways in which the key issues could be resolved.

8. In the Southern African perspective a developmentalist approach is necessary given the fact that there is widespread poverty. Thus focus was given to how conservation areas could be more economically viable and benefits generated for a wider grouping of people in society. Biodiversity also offers the potential to create other viable economic options, such as eco-tourism ventures and the commercial use of genetic resources in the bioprospecting industry. The policy therefore places more emphasis on sustainable use and support of livelihoods out of which a conservation strategy can be implemented.

9. See Green Paper on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa's Biological Diversity, Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism, October 1996.

10. See also Laird, S and Wynberg, RP Biodiversity Prospecting In South Africa, Towards the Development of Equitable Partnerships, LAPC, July 1996.

11.Article 15 of the Convention provides ...Each Contracting Party shall endeavour to create conditions to facilitate access to genetic resources for environmentally sound uses by other Contracting Parties and not to impose restrictions that run counter to the objectives of this Convention.

12. See Fakir, S Genetic Resource Conservation and Economic Use in South Africa: A review of the Current Policy Situation, LAPC Working Paper No. 50, August 1996.

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