Commencement of the Western Cape Biodiversity Act, 2021 (Act 6 of 2021)

by Petro van Rhyn, CapeNature

TThe Western Cape Biodiversity Act (WCBA), which was signed into law in November 2022, will come into effect in a phased manner. Certain sections of the WCBA have come into effect on 15 November 2022, which is an important step towards having a modern environmental management framework that is in step with current realities in the Western Cape, South Africa and globally.

“The Western Cape Biodiversity Act allows us to modernise our thinking on biodiversity, driven through partnerships with key sectors and communities to promote the conservation of our biodiversity while also allowing for development, economic growth and job creation,” Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, said.

Proactive approaches are being driven to enable the identification, prioritisation and conservation of key species, habitats and ecosystems, and to identify and implement special management measures to ensure ecological resilience and future-proof our economy and basic needs provided through natural resources.

The WCBA and its implementation through regulations will enable a transformed biodiversity economy focusing on enabling access to critical resources in an equitable and sustainable manner.

This Act will further enable CapeNature’s successes and ability to pursue the multiple objectives of protection and management of our world-renowned biodiversity and ensure that protected areas enable economic opportunities in local rural economies.

The proactive protection of and investment in ecosystem and ecological infrastructure restoration is a low- to no-risk climate change adaptation strategy ensuring the resilience of landscapes, people and the economy. Key to this is the optimisation of investment in ecological infrastructure restoration, which reduces fire, water and climate risk while offering a range of job and economic opportunities.

CapeNature and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning will now commence a public participation process whereby interested parties will be consulted to formulate and co-create several regulations within the Act.

existing platforms, such as email and social media. Registration will be facilitated via online and existing stakeholder engagement forums.

This initial process incorporates the development and roll out of a stakeholder engagement plan aimed at identifying existing stakeholders within communities impacted by the Regulations and establishing mechanisms for participation by the broader Western Cape conservation community.

The opportunity to register for participation will be communicated to identified stakeholders and advertised widely via

Learn more!

On conclusion of the registration process, registered stakeholders will be invited to participate in workshops to discuss and participate in the compilation of draft Regulations, after which the draft Regulations will be advertised and gazetted for comment, as part of the legislated consultative process in terms of the WCBA, for a period of not less than 30 days from the date of publication. It is anticipated that this consultation process will commence in September 2023.

Please be reminded that the Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1974 and the Ordinance’s Regulations remain in effect during this process. AP

Scan the QR code or visit www.capenature.co.za for more information.

For more information, contact Petro