Issue 165: November 2000: DEA&T Initiatives
Background
On the 6th June 2000, the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mohammed Valli Moosa, launched the White Paper for Sustainable Coastal Development in South Africa. Minister Moosa stressed his Department’s commitment to quickly establishing an implementation programme that placed poverty alleviation at its core. The principal mechanism for achieving this and other key social, economic and environmental goals presented in the coastal policy is a series of national and local coastal development projects supporting equitable, optimal and sustainable use of coastal resources.
The DEA&T has recently confirmed its support for a series of national and community-based coastal development projects with a combined value of R30 million over the coming 12 months. These include:
THE COASTCARE PROGRAMME
| CoastCare is managed by the Coastal Management Office of Marine and Coastal Management. It aims to provide jobs for unemployed people in coastal communities through coastal clean-up and safety patrol programmes. CoastCare will also provide training for the participants based on a curriculum structured around a business skills development course tailored to individual needs. This will build the skills base for future employment or business start-ups which will become increasingly essential for our coastal communities in the future. |
CoastCare aims to employ 1000 currently unemployed people from coastal communities by March 2001. A target of 60% of these employees will be women. |
BUFFELJAGS COASTAL COMMUNITY PROJECT
This project aims to alleviate coastal poverty through proactive coastal development initiatives that generate sustainable livelihood options.
Buffeljags is situated roughly 230km from Cape Town, 35km from the nearest town, Gansbaai and is literally a stone's throw from the sea. Like so many other little coastal communities, Buffeljags has no infrastructure, no school, no clinic, no shops, no running water and only one public telephone. There is one communal tap and a mobile clinic which calls once a month. Up to now, fishing has been the only means of generating a livelihood. However due to overfishing and subsequent restrictions put in place to protect the resource, there is little employment. This initiative aims to diversify its economy through the development of multiple alternative businesses.
Some of the projects to be undertaken immediately are:
An eco-tourism project which will market Buffeljags as a unique destination via the internet and other media tool
A weaving project partnered by SANEL (South African Epilepsy League)
A kelp project through which the community will eventually gain ownership of an already existing plant
Other projects planned for the medium/longer term include:
Vegetable growing to supply the community with its own healthy greens
Chicken farming - producing both chickens and eggs for the community
Perlemoen (abalone) hatchery (to be developed in close co-operation with the DEA&T)
Herbs for both culinary and medicinal purposes - for sale
Improved roads and transport
To realise the above projects, specialised training staff will actively assist in all aspects of the development of the project. They will also be involved in comprehensive training in life skills and small business development programme. In addition, specialised training required for the activities themselves, will take place with selected community members.
This pilot project will guide the way for other such initiatives and in this way a better, sustainable lifestyle can become a reality for Buffeljags. This example will hopefully be followed by countless other coastal communities along the South African coastline!
These above-mentioned initiatives will deliver livelihood benefits to coastal communities through direct employment offered during the projects’ duration and through businesses developed as part of the projects’ implementation. The projects cover sectors as diverse as tourism development, pollution, estuary resource management, cultivation of subsistence food sources, agriculture and small enterprise development aimed at diversifying coastal economies with few livelihood alternatives. The Department is committed to supporting future initiatives, using its own resources to leverage private sector and donor investments.
Supporting these coastal development projects are a series of training, education, awareness, institutional development, legal development, decision support and information sharing programmes. These initiatives underpin a sustained drive towards raising general awareness of the significant value of South Africa’s coastal resources and providing key stakeholders with increased capacity to effectively manage these resources. The institutional and legal reform process will provide a governance structure that will support an on-going roll out of shared responsibility for coastal resources between government and civil society, a process that has begun with the coastal development projects referred to above.
Cobie Brand and Chris Davis, Marine and Coastal Management
The marine day posters and booklets are issued free of charge by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in the interest of a responsible management of our marine and coastal resources.
Copies may be obtained from:
The Communications Officer, Marine and Coastal Management, Private Bag X2, Roggebaai, 8012
Tel: (021) 402-3025 / 402-3043
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