Biodiversity maps could make the Western Cape greener, 29 May 2010
Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning says that CapeNature has recently made major inroads, to guide pro-active conservation action and land-use planning in local, provincial and national spheres of government, in the form of a series of maps called Critical Area Biodiversity (CBA) Maps, that pinpoints biodiversity hotspots in the province, but warned that more needs to be done to end biodiversity loss.
The Minister was speaking during an Open day event hosted by CapeNature on Saturday, 22 May, 2010, to co-incide with the International Day of Biodiversity, in a bid to raise awareness of the state of biodiversity (the variety of life on our planet) and its importance to all living beings on our planet. He said that the time has come for all spheres of government, the private sector as well as communities to take pro-active action to balance development and the preservation of our biodiversity. Currently 13 local municipalities and 4 district municipalities have access to the CBA maps, associated information and guideline documents. The CBA maps have been introduced to several local authorities and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning is in the process of training municipal planners in the use thereof. Take-up of the maps into local authority planning and decision-making is progressing very well. The CBA maps are very important informants of the Western Cape Provincial Protected Area Expansion Strategy. This is work in progress by CapeNature. Stakeholders involved in the production of the series of maps, pinpointing biodiversity in the province include: « Go Back |