TUESDAY,
22 AUGUST 2006: “The commitment to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger by 2015 and to ensure environmental
sustainability needs to be the priority not only
at United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) level but by all governments”, said the
Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Rejoice Mabudafhasi, during the commemoration
of the World Day to Combat Desertification held
in the village of Hlabisa in Kwa Zulu Natal.
Celebrated under the theme “Beauty
of Deserts - The Challenge of Desertification”.
The Deputy Minister said “the theme serves two
distinct purposes: to celebrate the richness and
cultural diversity of our deserts, which deserve
protection, while highlighting the need to combat
desertification as a global sustainable development
challenge”.
The celebration also served
as a launch of a Land degradation project funded
by the department to the tune of R5 million. The
main focus of the project is to address the problem
of land degradation through land and catchments
area rehabilitation, using both conventional and
indigenous technologies. The project also focuses
on eradicating invasive alien species and bush
clearing with the ultimate goal of establishing
a game reserve.
Use of these funds has already
resulted in the creation of sixty-eight (68) temporary
jobs and 20 community members have participated
in learnership training in Conservation Guardianship.
The long-term objective of the project is to increase
the number of employment to 168.
“This project is one of the
shining examples of how communities can take charge
of their immediate environment and make sure that
they derive sustainable benefits from it”, said
Mabudafhasi.
The celebration is a series
of events planned to celebrate 2006 as the International
Year for Desert and Desertification, declared
by the United Nations General Assembly.
Speech delivered by the
Deputy Minister at the event is hereby attached
Molefe Molamu (Medial Liaison Officer - Deputy
Ministry)
