Balance nature by protecting Emalahleni’s wetlands
The Mpumalanga Wetland Forum’S next meeting is scheduled to take place on August 16 in the Lowveld Botanical Gardens.
The Mpumalanga Wetland Forum held a meeting recently to discuss compliance monitoring and enforcement regarding wetlands.
This informative session was held on May 17 at the Nkangala District Municipality.
In his presentation, Dr Piet Louis Grundling from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment shared the different mandates of the role-players all interconnected with the environment.
He said all the mandates of the National water Act, National Environmental Management Act, Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, and others must be respected.
“The environment is not protected by the constitution. However, we have the right to a clean environment,” he said.
In Section 24 of the constitution it is stated that it is not the environment itself that gains any rights, the right is vested in the individual.
“Therefore it is a human right to have the environment protected,” Grundling said.
He said measures must be taken to prevent pollution and ecological degradation.
From the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs
compliance and enforcement unit (DARDLEA), Mr Nkululeko Makam highlighted the role DARDLEA plays and elaborated more on the National Diversity Act 10 of 2004.
#RamsarTechnicalReport | Healthy wetlands mitigate climate change, filter pollutants from waters and provide food and nourishment. Prioritising wetlands in national plans can therefore deliver multiple targets of the #BiodiversityPlan.
➡️ https://t.co/ekY0sRmJXd pic.twitter.com/BFSqJOpFWE
— Convention on Wetlands (@RamsarConv) May 27, 2024
Mr Elijah Motshoeni from the Department of Water Affairs explained that a wetland is defined in the National Water Act as the land that is transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface.
Or the land is periodically covered with shallow water, and which land in normal circumstances supports or would support vegetation typically adapted to life in saturated soil?
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