Urgent NoticePlease familiarise yourselves with these proposed ToPS regulation amendments: Download these two PDF documents and use the references in the table below to peruse the regulations with respect to cycads. NEMBA - Part 1/2 (573Kb) NEMBA - Part 2/2 (1Mb)
|
|||||||||||
|
May 2012 Notices receivedNotice 382 of 2012 1 - National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (10/2004): Prohibition of trade in certain Encephalartos (Cycad) species Notice 382 of 2012 2 - National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (10/2004): Prohibition of trade in certain Encephalartos (cycad) species |
|||||||||||
|
March 2011 Interview on Talk Radio 702 - 28 March, 2011Talk Radio 702 @ 14:00: Interview by Jenny Crwys-Williams from 702 with Mark Crooks, Spokesperson of the CSSA. Podcast available at http://www.pod702.co.za/podcast/bestofjenny/20110328JCWBEST.mp3
|
|||||||||||
|
March 2011 Comment from the Cycad Society of South Africa regarding the proposed ban in the trading of certain Encephalartos speciesThe Cycad Society of South Africa is very pleased indeed to be afforded the opportunity of providing input on this matter. Our information fully corroborates that of SANBI and the ICUN with regard to the threatened extinction in habitat of many of our cycad species. The decimation of the wild Cycad populations is no less than a national tragedy. You and your department are to be congratulated on the novel approach you have adopted in bringing the public into the legislating process in the concept stage and, in keeping with our recent history of constructive dialogue with your department, we hope that the information that we provide will be useful to you in making the necessary decisions as to what legislation needs to be enacted to effectively protect the remaining wild cycad populations... The complete submission can be downloaded in PDF format here. |
|||||||||||
|
February 2011 Statement presented by the South African Cycad Society at the Workshop for the Amendment of the ToPS RegulationsThe Cycad regulations were included in the ToPS Regulations as a poorly conceived afterthought. One was left with no illusions about the viability of these regulations when they were rejected by the provincial nature conservation authorities. The Cycad Society has spent three years in talks with the Department explaining the complexities of the Cycad situation in this country. It was agreed in 2009 that a process would be initiated whereby meaningful Cycad regulations would be jointly compiled and the ToPS Regulations amended accordingly by June 2010. The urgency of the matter was appreciated by all concerned. It has now become quite clear that Cycads enjoy a relatively low priority in the overall picture of conservation matters in the Department. It has also become apparent that the well being of the wild South African Cycads is the concern of a very small portion of the general population and that these concerns are represented by only two organizations; SANBI and the South African Cycad Society. At this point in time there is only one current and valid regulation in ToPS that is relevant to the protection of wild Cycads (This being Regulation 25a) and this regulation has been largely ignored by the public of late and, historically, poorly enforced by the authorities. The other remaining regulations are administrative in nature and these administrative measures, namely the permit system, are an absolute failure as a conservation measure. We are alarmed to learn that once again it has been proposed to impose restrictions on the legal Cycad trade as a measure for protecting the remaining wild Cycad populations. This notion is very obviously a paradoxical absurdity! The shortcoming of ToPS, with regard to Cycad protection, has now reached emergency status. If meaningful and enforceable regulations cannot be enacted in the very near future it will no longer be necessary to do so; there will be no wild Cycads left to protect! New and innovative perspectives need to be considered with regard to Cycad protection. We consider it the responsibility of the Department and the convenors of this meeting to formally instruct the Cycad Society and SANBI to jointly produce recommendations for inclusion in the amended ToPS regulations. The proposal for restrictions in Cycad trade must be seen to be part of the amendment process as it has been described today by the Department. Under the circumstances we, the Cycad Society of South Africa formally list ourselves as a stakeholder in this matter but reserve the right to provide our detailed recommendations at the time of our input during the defined phase 3 of the amendment process END .
END |
|||||||||||
|
February 2011 National Environmental Management Act: Biodiversity Act(10/2004)Proposed prohibited activities involving specimens of certain Encephalartos species: Submission of representations or objections)Notice 92 of 2011 is available for download from the DEAT's website - Input due by 15 March, 2011The government is playing strictly by the rules on this one. They have been advised by their scientific consultants, (SANBI), that a partial ban in Cycad trade will stop the removal of wild Cycads. The Government has published the proposal in the Gazette for public comment, thus giving us (the Cycad Society) the opportunity of reiterating our grave misgivings as to all the obvious deficiencies in this simplistic approach to a very complex problem. We have been dealing with the people from the Dept of Environmental Affairs for more than 3 years now and you can be sure that we will be given a fair hearing before any legislation is enacted, provided that we work through the system by submitting our comments as required. Folks, before starting wild rumors and half baked speculation please feel free to contact me to get an accurate report on developments. I am sure that De Wet will answer any of your questions from SANBI's perspective if you will be polite enough to ask him. This is the start to a process that we sincerely hope will result in legislation that will effectively protect the wild cycads while at the same time producing a framework from which you can honestly and legally conduct your Cycad activities.
Best regards |
|||||||||||
|
August 2010 Albany Cycad (Encephalartos Latifrons)
The Minister of Environmental Affairs publish the Albany Cycad (Encephalartos
Latifrons)
Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) for public comments in terms of section 100
on the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) in the gazette
(No
33456
- PDF File)
on Friday the 13th of August.
The department would like to request interested and
affected stakeholders to submit written comments to the Director General:
Environmental Affairs.
By fax: 012 320 2844 or by email to:
or
The due date to submit comments is Friday, 17 September
2010. |
|||||||||||
|
3/27 August 2010 Motion for the reimbursement of expenditure by members to legal fees - TOPS regulations Motion submitted by the Central Branch and the contributors to the Paul Roelofse Fund to the Council. - Motion document (PDF) - Letter from the Society Council to all individuals that made donations to the Paul Roelofse Fund. |
|||||||||||
|
15 December 2009 DRAFT CSSA CONSITUTION - FOR COMMENTS The proposed constitution for the Society is available for comments by members. Please send your comments to the President, Dr Xander de Kock at xanvet@netactive.co.za by no later than 18 January, 2010. Please note that this is a DRAFT copy and will only be finalised once all comments have been received and considered. DRAFT CONSTITUTION (PDF document) |
|||||||||||
|
25 March, 2009 Updated TOPS flow diagram to guide you through the permit application process.
|
|||||||||||
|
27 February, 2009 Report on the Negotiations on the TOPS Regulations Brief History of Significant Events in the Negotiation Process for a Biodiversity Management Plan: Artificially Propagated Critically Endangered and Endangered Encephalartos Species As a result of a letter, directed to the minister by Francois van Zyl SC dated 13 August 2007, the minister subsequently instructed senior members of his department to meet with the president and members of the Cycad Society (CS) of South Africa, and their legal representative, to address the issues raised in this letter. This meeting took place on 14 November 2007 at the offices of the Department in Pretoria. At this meeting Mr Fundisile Mketeni (Deputy Director General DEAT-DDG) appointed Mrs Leseho Sello to coordinate the joint effort by the DEAT and the Cycad Society to produce the Biodiversity Management Plan required by regulation 25(b) to be the alleviating condition for the prohibited activity defined in that regulation. A Biodiversity Management Plan, once produced and approved by the minister in terms of the NEMBA Act, would facilitate trade of artificially propagated listed Critically Endangered and Endangered Encephalartos species thereby providing a solution to all the concerns raised in the letter addressed to the minister by Adv van Zyl. Mr Mketeni issued instructions for the amendment of the regulations to include a one year period of grace during which the amended regulation 25(b) would not be enforced and during which time the required Biodiversity Management Plan was to be produced, with the proviso that a draft must be submitted within three months prior to the expiry date of the grace period. The expiry date of the grace period, as defined in the amended regulation 71(3) of the regulations, is 31 January 2009. The deadline for submission of the draft was thus 31October 2008. It soon became clear that the onus of producing the Biodiversity Management Plan within the stipulated time period would fall wholly on the Cycad Society. None of the other identified stakeholders had any real motivation or necessity to create and implement such a plan. For the South African cycad community, however, the result of failure to produce the Plan would mean the enforcement of the prohibition of trade stipulated in the amended regulation 25(b). During the first half of 2008 several emails were sent to Mrs Sello in an effort to set up a first meeting to initiate the work that needed to be done, all without success in that she cited a busy workload of other urgent matters (mail on record). Finally, in April 2008, it was established that Mrs Sello was no longer with the Department and that Mrs Wilma Lutsch had been appointed in her place as coordinating officer for the project. Communication was established with Mrs Lutsch and a first meeting to define the issues at hand was held on 23 April 2008. A second meeting was held on 18 August 2008. The purpose of this meeting was to bring Mrs Lutsch up to date on the issues that had already been defined in the past and issues which needed to be defined in preparation for a planned stakeholder meeting. As a result of the initial two meetings a meeting of all stakeholders was convened on 28 August 2008. The purpose of this meeting, facilitated by Dr Gert Willemse, was to establish the guidelines from which the required Biodiversity Management Plan was to be produced. (By this time six months of the allocated grace period had elapsed without any significant progress toward defining the special guidelines required for the Biodiversity Management Plan) Special guidelines were required for the following reasons:
At the meeting a very broad standard was used to produce a very arbitrary set of guidelines for the required BMP. These were noted in the minutes and distributed as “ELEMENTS OF A DRAFT FRAMEWORK” and were verified as the official framework from which the BMP was to be produced. Using “ELEMENTS OF A DRAFT FRAMEWORK” as a guideline, the Cycad Society committee produced a draft entitled “Biodiversity Management Plan: - Indigenous South African Encephalartos Species (Concept Draft)”. This draft was presented to Mrs Lutsch at the end of October 2008 and this was within the required time frame of three months prior to the expiry of the extension period. The document was titled “Concept Draft” because it had become clear that, even though the onus of producing the required BMP within the stipulated period had fallen wholly on the Cycad Society committee, the implementation and execution of such a plan, if ever approved, would be the responsibility of all the stakeholders. The draft was thus presented as a concept from which the stakeholders would be able to determine their individual responsibilities and their ability and or commitment to fulfill these responsibilities. A final meeting was convened on 11 December 2008. The purpose of this meeting was to give the stakeholders the opportunity to make their input to the “concept draft”. The conclusions reached at the meeting, however, resulted in the necessity of re-evaluating the concept of a Biodiversity Management Plan as the correct tool for facilitating the legal trade of Critically Endangered and Endangered Cycads. After all arguments had been presented it was the unanimous conclusion that the BMP prescribed in regulation 25(b) was entirely unsuited to the task. The Cycad Society Committee was categorically absolved from producing a Biodiversity Management Plan and the DEAT authorities present took responsibility for evaluating “Norms and Standards” as a more suitable legislative tool for the administration of the Cycad trade. With these conclusions established the meeting was adjourned. Subsequently, in a series of communications regarding the implementation date of regulation 25(b), the DEAT has indicated that “Norms and Standards” too have been found less suited to the task than appropriate amendments to the ToPS regulations itself. This opinion is wholeheartedly endorsed by the Cycad Society committee. Where we stand today? In January, while a cycad sale was being negotiated with a seller in Natal, it emerged that KZN Nature was not going to issue permits on the grounds that a Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) was not in place. It had not occurred to the negotiating committee that the DEAT would enforce the ban after we had been categorically absolved from producing a BMP. However, this is indeed the case. The bureaucracy has no way, or says they have no way, of instantaneously adjusting the legislation to reflect the results of the negotiations, even though it is clearly their fault that the BMP is not in place. Furthermore, the Cycad Society had met all the obligations set by Mr Mketeni in that the required draft was forwarded to the DEAT within the prescribed 3 month limit. The subsequent complete disinterest of SANBI and the provinces was noted by the negotiation facilitators and were part of the reason that the BMP concept was scrapped. At the time of writing this letter a ban exists on the trade of all cycads with the exception of listed Vulnerable and Protected species. This ban will be in force until the DEAT has caught up with the administration that will put the results of the 11 December 2008 meeting into law. The situation is little more than farcical. The negotiating team has lost faith in the DEAT negotiators and all attempts to resolve this impasse by negotiation have failed. The Cycad Society can honestly say that the road of negotiation embarked on with a mandate from the members has now reached a dead end and legal advice and action was again the only way forward. To this end the Society has obtained unanimous approval from the board members to appoint Ms Melissa Grobbelaar of the firm Cameron Cross Inc to represent us in this matter. Senior Advocate Chris Joubert has agreed to act for the Society should the matter ever need to reach the courts. He will be briefed by Ms Grobbelaar. Costs are now being borne by the CS. An official letter, by the Society, was sent to the Minister’s office for his urgent attention to resolve the status quo. The Minister’s office acknowledged the letter and Mr. Mketeni (DDG) was once again appointed as the official to meet with us and resolve the issue. Melissa had a discussion with Mr. Mketeni and although he was more than willing to assist us at that stage, his diary was less accommodating. He understood the problem and according to him the CS should not be concerned with the prohibition on trading with the cycads as provided for in the Regulations and that we should continue with trading. She informed him that his Department disagrees with his opinion in that the officials have been enforcing the regulations ruthlessly since the 1st of February 2009. He indicated that he will take this up with his Department and with the relevant officials. Mr. Mketeni proposed that we set up a meeting in order to discuss the way forward. Melissa send a letter on behalf of the Society and requested Mr. Mketeni to respond to the Societies request for an extension of the 12 month period as a matter of urgency and not later than12h00 on Friday, 27 February 2009. Should he fail and/or neglect to respond to our request, she will in all probability receive instructions to approach the High Court for finality. The good news is that this would not be necessary since the following amendments have been published in the Gazettes of 27 February 2009:
We as a Society still have a very important role to play, but the immediate responsibility is off our shoulders to produce a Biodiversity Management Plan. We believe that with our input, we would be able have the necessary changes made to the Regulations to move away from a management plan for plants in private possession and will keep you informed. |
|||||||||||
|
29 September, 2008 Amendments to the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) (NEMBA) |
|||||||||||
|
25 July, 2008 Guidelines for the implementation and interpretation of threatened or protected species (TOPS). Regulations, and the Issuance of tops permits in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) (NEMBA) |
|||||||||||
|
31 January, 2008 TOPS Amendments The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has announced amendments to the TOPS regulations, gazetted in February 2007. These amended regulations have been gazetted today in the Government Gazette (Gazette number 30568). The implementation of these regulations was delayed due to the implementation concerns that were raised by the provincial authorities.
|
|||||||||||
|
16 November, 2007 TOPS feedback During middle September the Minister’s office informed Advocate (senior legal representative) Francois van Zyl that senior officials of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) will be appointed to meet with him. This meeting took place on 14.11.2007. Ian Bassingthwaighte, Mark Crooks, Martin Bruwer and I joined Francois. Mr. Fundisile Mketeni of DEAT summarized the meeting as follows. That they will engage with the Society for Guidelines for the Norms and Standard for ex situ cycads. To explore transitional guidelines, with a clear sunset clause of 12 months. The establishment of a consultation process between DEAT and the Cycad Society Finalizing TOPS regulations in regard with section 25 and a transition period clause. Although the Threatened and Protected Species Regulations (TOPS) will still be implemented on 1.2.2008, point 25 will only be implemented once we have completed the Biodiversity Management Plan for ex situ cycads. This should be done within 12 months. The important matter is that they are going to differentiate between wild and ex situ cycads. DEAT also requested us to ask all members to apply for the necessary permit, as required by TOPS as soon as possible and not to leave it till end of January 2007. We still have a lot of work to do and I would like to thank all the persons actively involved in this process. Greetings |
16 November, 2007 TOPS terugvoering Die vergadering met verskeie senior amptenare van DEAT het op 14.11.2007 plaasgevind . EK, Ian, Mark en Martin Bruwer het saam met Francois die vergadering bygewoon. Die volgende ondernemings is deur DEAT gemaak: Dat hulle met die Vereniging sal onderhandel vir ‘n riglyn dokument vir die Norme en Standaarde van ex situ broodbome. Ondersoek oorgangs riglyne met ‘n verval datum van 1jaar. Om met die Vereniging te konsulteer. Om BOBS te finaliseer, veral t.o.v. punt 25 met ‘n oorgangsklousule. Die implikasies hiervan is dat alhoewel BOBS nog steeds op 1.2.2008 geïmplementeer gaan word, punt 25 se implementering uit gestel word totdat ons die Biodiversiteitsplan vir ex situ broodbome gefinaliseer het en ons moet dit binne ‘n jaar regkry. Daar gaan dus onderskeid getref word tussen wilde broodbome en wettige plante in tuine(ex situ broodbome). Punt 25 gaan dus heeltemal anders lyk. DOT het ons verder versoek om al ons lede te vra om vroegtydig aansoek te doen vir die nodige permitte soos deur BOBS regulasies bepaal en dit nie te los tot einde Januarie 2008 nie. Groete |
||||||||||
|
1 October, 2007 TOPS feedback The mini conference of the Gauteng regional branch took place over the long week end and was a success. I encourage the other Regions to do the same. At the end of the conference and at the request of Mark Crooks, a TOPS (Threatened or Protected Species) regulations committee was formed. John Kloppers proposed that Mark and I form the committee. The four members will consist of the two of us, Ian Bassingthwaighte and Vaughn Botha (chairman of the Cycad Growers Association). All are members of the Cycad Society. Mark represents the non-members interests and Vaughn the grower's interests. The meeting with DEAT (Dept of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) on 28.09.07 took place in a good spirit and I think a lot was achieved. The most important was that we indicated to them that the BMP-S (Biodiversity Management Plans for Species) which they, until now, put forward to us as a solution, will not work until such time as the N&S (Norms and Standards) document is finalised. The problem is that both the NEMBA (National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act) and the N&S documents focus mainly on plants in the wild. The N&S document is presently open for comment and we have already indicated that we wish to be considered as role-players and that we hope to formulate a N&S document which covers legally held cycads in private possession. There must be a clear distinction between plants found in nature and in gardens. Amendments to TOPS will be limited to four additions under section 25 (c) viz. BMP-S will be added, DEAT will either remove E umbeluziensis or add it to the schedule, remove E cerinus and must also exclude critically endangered species. It does not seem as if DEAT are going to advertise the amendments due to them being trifling and the date of implementation remains at 01.02.08. The growers permit books will now consist of 50 sets (not 25 as previously indicated) and the permit forms will have space for more than one plant to be entered. The tenders have been finalised and DEAT expect to be ready by the end of October for applications. The final implementation document will only be available once the N&S document has been finalised. The Minister has finally advised that a senior official will be delegated to meet with Adv van Zyl. I will also attend this meeting. Mark consulted with Adv van Zyl on 26.09.07 and the final decision over the interdict date will be done after the meeting with the appointed official. Remember if we can prove that we did everything in our power to reach an amicable solution, despite the mistakes and or omissions in their advert, it will be to our advantage when applying for an urgent interdict. Greetings |
1 Oktober, 2007 TOPS terugvoering Mini-konferensie van die Transvaalse streekstak oor die lang naweek was 'n sukses en ek moedig ander streke aan om dit ook te doen. Aan die einde van die konferensie en op Mark Crooks se versoek word 'n TOPS regulasies kommitee gestig. John Kloppers stel voor dat ek en Mark die kommitee saamstel. Die 4 man kommitee bestaan uit ons 2, Ian Bassingthwaighte en Vaughn Botha (Voorsitter van die Cycad Growers Association). Almal is ook lede van die vereniging, Mark verteenwoordig die nie lede belang en Vaughn die kwekers belang. Die vergadering met DEAT (Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism) op 28.9.2007 het regtig in 'n goeie gees plaas gevind en ek dink ons het heelwat bereik. Die belangrikste is dat ons vir hulle uitgewys het dat die BMP-S (Biodiversity Management Plans for species) wat hulle vir ons tot op hede as oplossing gebied het, nie kan werk sonder dat die N&S (Norms and Standard) dokument gefinaliseer is nie. Die probleem is egter dat beide die NEMBA(National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act) en die N&S dokument primêr fokus op plante in die natuur. Die N&S dokument is huidiglik oop vir kommentaar en ons het reeds aangedui dat ons van die rolspelers wil wees en dat ons hoop om 'n N&S dokument te kan opstel vir die wettige broodbome in privaat besit. Daar moet onderskeid getref kan word tussen plante in die natuur en in tuine! Wysigings aan TOPS (Threatened or Protected Species Regulations) vir ons van belang gaan beperk word tot 4 byvoegings onder 25(c); nl. BMP-S gaan bygevoeg word, hulle gaan of E. umbeluziensis afhaal of by die skedule plaas, gaan E.cerinus hier uithaal en moet krities bedreigde plante hier uitsluit. Klink nie of hulle dit gaan adverteer nie, omdat dit geringe wysigings volgens hulle is en die implementeringsdatum bly 1/2/2008. Die kwekerspermitboeke gaan uit 50(nie meer uit 25 enkeles nie) bestaan en dit gaan oop wees, m.a.w. verskeie plante per permit. Die tenders is reeds gefinaliseer en hulle hoop om einde 10/2007 reg te wees vir aansoeke. Die finale implementeringsdokument sal eers reg op die einde beskikbaar wees nadat die N&S dokument gefinaliseer is. Die minister het uiteindelik laat weet dat 'n senior amptenaar aan gewys sal word om met Advokaat Francois van Zyl te vergader. Ek sal defnitief dit bywoon en dit pas goed in na ons afgelope vergadering. Mark het op 26.9.2007 met Francois vergader en die finale besluit oor die interdik datum sal gedoen word na afloop van die vergadering met die aangewese amptenaar van die Minister. Onthou dat as ons kan bewys dat ons alles(onderhandel, onderhandel en nogmaals onderhandel) binne ons vermoëns gedoen het tot 'n vreedsame oplossing, ongeag die foute in hul advertensie, dit tot ons voordeel strek om 'n dringende interdik te bekom. Groete |
||||||||||
© Copyright 2001-2012 Cycad Society of South Africa
Legal Notices and Copyright Information
Webmaster : Pieter van der Walt