10. Improving awareness about the impacts of alien species;
11. Improving education and awareness about the risks posed by the planting or
illegal importation of alien species, and identifying actions which can be taken
to avoid these risks;
12. Improving capacity amongst the implementing agencies to implement the policy
measures; and
13. Negotiating with neighbouring countries to harmonise legislation and practice.
It is noted that despite the policy being published as a White Paper (the usual final
formal form of government policy), the White Paper was labelled a “Draft for
Discussion” and called for comments to be submitted to the department’s
Director-General. The document also included a detailed summary of the policy’s
development process and specifically noted that the only outstanding step in the
formalisation of the policy was “the adoption of the White Paper by Parliament as
formal policy”. Although it is Cabinet, not Parliament, who would usually have
approved the White Paper’s publication in the Gazette as government policy, the
reason why this policy was again published for comment and then apparently
abandoned is unclear. There is some speculation that, as this policy was developed
through a process that was separate to the highly regarded CONNEPP process, it was
abandoned for fear of it being branded as being an illegitimate product of a process
that did not fully reflect the democratic ethos and commitment to broad-based
participatory policy development espoused by the new democratically elected government at the time. Nevertheless, the White Paper still appears to have provided the
policy direction for some aspects of law reform, including the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) which is discussed below.
18.7.3 The Biodiversity Act
The approach of developing both an overarching environmental policy as well as a
series of sectorally-focused policies was mirrored in the law reform process that
followed. The subsequent promulgation of the National Environmental Management
Act (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA) provided a general framework for managing
environmental matters and contained several provisions which may, and in some
cases must, be considered when working with other sectorally-focused legislation,
including the regulation of invasive alien species. These provisions included a set of
environmental principles and definitions as well as an extensive range of compliance
and enforcement powers. Whilst NEMA provides an important framework piece of
legislation, because of its overarching nature it does not deal with invasive alien
species specifically.
The main Act which was passed to supplement NEMA’s overarching approach in
respect of biodiversity in general is the National Environmental Management:
Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) (Biodiversity Act). Chapter 5 of the Act is
dedicated to the regulation of species and organisms that pose potential threats to
18 Biological Invasion Policy and Legislation Development
537
11. Improving education and awareness about the risks posed by the planting or
illegal importation of alien species, and identifying actions which can be taken
to avoid these risks;
12. Improving capacity amongst the implementing agencies to implement the policy
measures; and
13. Negotiating with neighbouring countries to harmonise legislation and practice.
It is noted that despite the policy being published as a White Paper (the usual final
formal form of government policy), the White Paper was labelled a “Draft for
Discussion” and called for comments to be submitted to the department’s
Director-General. The document also included a detailed summary of the policy’s
development process and specifically noted that the only outstanding step in the
formalisation of the policy was “the adoption of the White Paper by Parliament as
formal policy”. Although it is Cabinet, not Parliament, who would usually have
approved the White Paper’s publication in the Gazette as government policy, the
reason why this policy was again published for comment and then apparently
abandoned is unclear. There is some speculation that, as this policy was developed
through a process that was separate to the highly regarded CONNEPP process, it was
abandoned for fear of it being branded as being an illegitimate product of a process
that did not fully reflect the democratic ethos and commitment to broad-based
participatory policy development espoused by the new democratically elected government at the time. Nevertheless, the White Paper still appears to have provided the
policy direction for some aspects of law reform, including the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) which is discussed below.
18.7.3 The Biodiversity Act
The approach of developing both an overarching environmental policy as well as a
series of sectorally-focused policies was mirrored in the law reform process that
followed. The subsequent promulgation of the National Environmental Management
Act (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA) provided a general framework for managing
environmental matters and contained several provisions which may, and in some
cases must, be considered when working with other sectorally-focused legislation,
including the regulation of invasive alien species. These provisions included a set of
environmental principles and definitions as well as an extensive range of compliance
and enforcement powers. Whilst NEMA provides an important framework piece of
legislation, because of its overarching nature it does not deal with invasive alien
species specifically.
The main Act which was passed to supplement NEMA’s overarching approach in
respect of biodiversity in general is the National Environmental Management:
Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) (Biodiversity Act). Chapter 5 of the Act is
dedicated to the regulation of species and organisms that pose potential threats to
18 Biological Invasion Policy and Legislation Development
537