A LEGAL SOLUTION?
- The Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act explained by Karoline Hanks
As you read this, there are plants advancing across
the South African countryside and transforming our
urban environment. They creep and slither over our
walls, assault our indigenous heritage, choke our
rivers, and smother everything in their path.
“The problem starts slowly, and then accelerates,"
says Mbongeni Mondlane, Implementation Manager
for the Working for Water programme. "We're in the
accelerated phase, and the problem is growing
exponentially." An area the size of Kwazulu-Natal
(some 10 million hectares) is already being over-run
by invading alien plants in South Africa.
People worldwide are like the proverbial frog
immersed in water on the stove. It is very close to
boiling point, and the frog is comfortably numb and
blissfully unaware.
The extent and insidious nature of the evil is
breathtaking. Water-sapping Black Wattles have
invaded well over 2.5 million hectares, and consume
close to 600 million m3 a year. The fatally attractive
Queen of the Night and many of her thorny sisters,
render agricultural land useless. The pungent and
deadly Triffid Weed, which favours our subtropical
regions, is all-consuming and relentless. Like a
recurring nightmare, no sooner have many of these
been removed, they return, more virulent than before.
Towering gums are creating huge fire risks to
domestic dwellings.
When the financial costs are worked out, they are
astronomical. One study in the United States
estimates that costs associated with alien species
amounted to some US$136 billion per year. Costs to
South Africa have yet to be calculated. The only
certainty is that they are unaffordable, and will
become crippling without urgent and effective action.
Some of local nurseries have been doing brisk
business in the more ruthless plants and many
people still plant them as ornamentals or hedging
plants.
This is, however, all due to change.
In 1984, regulations were passed in terms of the
Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (CARA)
regulations declaring about 50 species “weeds” or
“invader plants”. On 30 March 2001 the Minister of
Agriculture promulgated an amendment to these
regulations.
The amendment now boasts a far more
comprehensive list of species that are declared
weeds and invader plants and has also divided the
species into three categories.
“The revised regulations should not be viewed
as threatening to the many stakeholders who
have considerable interests in these species”,
said Minister of Agriculture Thoko Didiza at a
Best Management Practices workshop on
invasive species. “On the contrary, the
regulations represent an honest attempt to find
an equitable sustainable solution to an
environmental problem of catastrophic
proportions”.
Category 1 species (e.g. Triffid Weed, Lantana) are
generally the worst offenders – the death row of the
plant world. As declared weeds, they may not occur
on any land or on any inland water surface
throughout RSA. No person may sell, advertise,
exhibit, transmit, send, deliver for sale, exchange or
dispose of any weed. It is also illegal to cause or
permit the dispersal of any weed from one place to
another.
Category 2 species (such as pine and gum) are also
problematic but are more commonly grown for
commercial purposes or any viable and beneficial
function, such as woodlots, fire belts, building
material, animal fodder and soil stabilization.
“The government is fully supportive of the
commercial ventures based on these species,
recognizing as it does the important contribution that
they make to the South African economy and the
welfare of its people,” noted Didiza. “However, this
welfare is under threat from the significant impacts of
alien invasive plants, and we must face up to, and
deal with this problem”.
These invader plants can only be grown in areas
demarcated as sites where such plants may be
established and retained. Such areas are
determined by the “Executive Officer”. - the person
appointed by the Minister of Agriculture to administer
the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act,
In terms of demarcation, any area where a water use
license for stream flow reduction activities has been
issued (in terms of section 36 of the National Water
Act, 36 of 1998) is deemed to be demarcated in the
terms of CARA. An example is a registered timber
plantation.
No area can be demarcated for the growing of
Category 2 plants unless the land user is able to
establish that the invader plants shall be confined to
the area, and that the cultivation of the invader plants
shall be strictly controlled.
The land user also has to ensure that steps are taken
to curb the spread of propagating material of the
invader plants to land and inland water surfaces
outside the demarcated areas.
The species are regarded as weeds outside of these
demarcated areas, and landowners are required to
take steps to control the species where they occur on
their properties.
Category 3 plants (such as Syringas and Morning
Glory) are generally ornamental plants, which may be
retained, but no new planting or trade or propagating
of these plants is permitted.
If weeds or invader plants occur contrary to the
provisions of these regulations, the land user must
control them by means of any of the control methods
that are appropriate for the species concerned.
Any action taken to control weeds or invader plants
must be executed with caution and in a manner that
will have minimal environmental impact.
Although the State has the responsibility to enforce
these regulations certain of these powers can be
delegated to local authorities and other groups.
As the regulations are binding on the State, the State
has the dual responsibility of itself complying with
them. The provisions of the regulations will need to
be taken into account by various government
departments and agencies in the preparation of
Environmental Management Plans.
So what does all of this really mean for Mrs Johnson
in Constantia? Simple really. If she discovers that
she (or her neighbour) has been harboring the yellow
cestum, Cestrum aurantiacum (Category 1) in her
garden, she must remove it immediately.
If she fails to comply with the regulations, a criminal
case may then be brought against her and the
National Department of Agriculture (NDA) may issue
a directive setting a date by when the property must
be cleared. The directive is binding on a successorin-title.
If the directive is ignored the NDA can clear the land
or engage someone (such as Working for Water or
an implementing agent or an emergent contractor) to
do so.
The costs of this clearing can then be recovered from
the land user and can also be registered against the
title deeds of the property in terms of the Agricultural
Credit Control Act. This is then like a mortgage
bond. The property can’t be sold until the money has
been repaid.
At this stage, the implementation has yet to be rolled
out by the NDA.Although directives will be issued and
criminal proceedings instituted against offending land
owners it is anticipated that, as a result of increased
public awareness of the hazards created by invasive
alien plants, there will be a considerable amount of
self-policing.
However, although the revised regulations are
regarded to be a massive breakthrough for the
control and management of invading alien plants
other initiatives are likely to follow.
“There is no room for complacency in South Africa,
and we must not manage things in isolation. The
issue of trade and continued introductions has to be
taken more seriously, for real success”, says
Mondlane.
A 1995 study of European laws revealed
considerable differences between countries in their
legal and institutional approaches to alien species.
Where legislation exists, it rarely addresses
intentional or accidental introductions and offences
are generally considered minor despite the damage
which invasive alien species can inflict. Proactive
approaches targeted at preventing introductions are
rare – this is especially true in South Africa.
The problem is compounded where legal and
institutional approaches to environment, nature
protection and natural resource production systems
tend to be largely sector-oriented, making complete
legal coverage and normalisation on invasive alien
species difficult.
Implementation of border control and exchange of
information between states are some of the many
ways through which international synergy can be
reached. We need to isolate those areas that may
need international protocols in order to hold those
states that do not perform accountable for their
actions.
Invading alien species have infiltrated the South
African landscape, yet it is only recently that the
general public have started to take notice of this
ecological disease.
Heightened public awareness is essential to winning
the battle against exotic species. If used in
conjunction with the punitive measures created by
the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act we
should be able to reverse the tide of faunal and floral
opportunists, who threatens to transform the country
into an organic wasteland.
For more information on invading alien plants and the regulations, contact the
WeedBuster toll-free line: 0800 005 376 or visit our website: http://wwwdwaf.pwv.gov.za/Projects/wfw/