National Environmental Management
Act (NEMBA) regulations on Threatened and Protected Species
The National Environmental
Management: Biodiversity Act (No. 10 of 2004), (NEMBA) was signed into
law in mid-2004 and entered into effect on 1 September, 2004. The Act provides for
the consolidation of biodiversity legislation through establishing national norms
and standards for the management of biodiversity across all sectors and by different
management authorities. To download a copy of the Act click on the link below:
National Environmental
Management: Biodiversity Act (No. 10 of 2004), (NEMBA)
Chapter 4, Part 2 of the Biodiversity Act provides for listing of species as threatened
or protected. If a species is listed as threatened, it must be further classified
as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. The Act defines these classes
as follows:
-
Critically endangered species: any indigenous
species facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate
future.
-
Endangered species: any indigenous species facing
a high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future, although it is not a critically
endangered species.
-
Vulnerable species: any indigenous species facing an extremely
high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future; although it is not
a critically endangered species or an endangered species.
-
Protected species: any species which is of such high conservation value
or national importance that it requires national protection”. Species listed in this category will include, among
others, species listed in terms of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Certain activities, known as
Restricted Activities,
are regulated on listed species using permits by a special set of regulations published
under the Act. Restricted activities regulated under the act are keeping, moving,
having in possession, importing and exporting,
and selling. The first list of threatened
and protected species published under NEMBA was published in the government gazette
on the 23rd of February 2007 along with the Regulations on Threatened or Protected
Species. These regulations and the list of species come into operation as of 1 February
2008. To download a copy of the regulations or list of species click on the links below:
Regulations
Amendments to legulations
List of species
How the
lists are drawn up
The initial process of listing species was led by the Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). No specific criteria were developed
for the listing of species and the lists were based on expert opinion. Ad hoc expert
groups, which assisted in the compilation of species lists, were constituted from
the roster of experts on the stakeholder database developed by DEAT. The ad hoc
expert groups drafted lists on:
- Mammals;
- Birds;
- Plants;
- Reptiles and Amphibians;
- Fishes; and
- Invertebrates.
More information relating to the species
listing process can be sourced from the Species Listing Newsletters below:
It is a provision of the Act that this list must be reviewed by the Minister at
least every five years.