The second phase of SWCLU (1988-91) deliberately fo-cused
on sustained and increased production, popular par-ticipation,
water resources management, legal aspects of
conservation, monitoring activities and research. Joint re-gional
programmes were also initiated during this phase in-cluding
the assessment of the impact of soil erosion on crop
yields, the hydrological assessment project, the Zambezi
Basin Action Plan (ZACPLAN) and the Action Plan for the
Kalahari-Namib region.
The first decade involved the evolution of the sector under
the previous SADCC mandate and structure and it gradual-ly
expanded without a comprehensive policy or integrated
strategic framework.
Despite significant strides in the creation of awareness on
environmental issues through information exchange during
the 1980s, unsustainable development accelerated through-out
the region as neither the national environment agencies
nor the regional environment sector programmes had the
financial or human resources to cope with the accumulated
backlog and escalating pace and scale of environmental deg-radation.
The lack of a participatory approach to research,
planning, decision-making and implementation in the man-agement
of natural resources was also evident.
The agenda changed at the end of the 1980s as the 1987
Brundtland Commission and the 1992 Earth Summit signif-icantly
shifted the focus and priorities for action to environ-ment
and development.
In 1990, the sector’s mandate was broadened to
encompass the overall responsibility of environ-mental
co-ordination. The third phase, of the sec-tor
programme, which was carried out between
1992-97 was approved in 1991. This phase ex-panded
the sector’s domain to include environmental monitoring, assessment and reporting. A
greater focus was placed on capacity-building and
institution-strengthening while old concepts in
conservation were replaced with a new focus on
sustainable land management and production.
These developments led to the re-naming of the
sector as the Environment and Land Management
Sector (ELMS).
Sustaining our common future
At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), SADC candidly admitted to
the world in the document Sustaining Our Common Future
that the region had inadequate environmental monitoring,
research and planning capabilities.
The report also said that the region had “inadequate institu-tional
arrangements, legal framework and enforcement meas-ures
for environmental protection and improvement.” Other
constraints impeding development were “limited financial
resources for environmental protection and conservation
measures, lack of local expertise and training facilities and
insufficient public information, education and participation
on environment.”
In 1992 SADC issued a new regional policy and
strategy for food, agriculture and natural resourc-es
for increased agricultural production and sus-tainable
use of the environment and natural re-source
base. SADC members also agreed to a fun-damental
shift from regional co-ordination to eco-nomic
integration in the same year, with the dec-laration
of the SADC Treaty and Protocol in Au-gust.
Member states predicted major changes in
SADC’s goals and functions, as well as the ex-pected
membership of South Africa.
It was during this period that a new policy and strategy for
environmental and natural resource management for equita-ble
and sustainable development was both necessary and
timely. This decision marked an exciting turning point in
the region’s quest for sustainable development and environ-mental
sustainability.
Policy and strategy for environment and sustainable
development
The policy and strategy was formulated between 1993-
95. It provides the basis for implementing Agenda 21 –
the global action plan for environment and development
adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit – in southern Africa.
Recognizing poverty as the main cause and consequence of
environmental degradation, the document identifies equity
as a crucial element to be added to environment and
development in order to make Agenda 21 more applicable
and operational.
Although environmental sustainability was the main focus
for a new regional environmental policy, the equally impor-tant
economic and social sustainability concerns were also
taken into account. SADC realized that economic, social and
environmental sustainability are the three crucial components of a single integrated agenda for sustainable development.
SADC-ELMS noted that a new policy for environment and
natural resource management was not, and could not, be
separated. The SADC policy had to be developed and implemented
as an integral part of a larger agenda and strategy
for equity-led growth and sustainable development within
the region.
The policy and strategy developed
by ELMS was the product of wide,
protracted consultations in all
SADC countries. Interviews were
held and information gathered on
national environmental policies,
strategies and priorities. A review
workshop of the draft policy and
strategy was held at Harare in October
1994. More than 80 representatives
from government,
NGOs, donor agencies and related
sectors attended the workshop.
The consultative process ensured
the final outcome would be a regional
product and strategy rather
than simply from SADC-ELMS.
Other constraints
impeding development were “limited
financial resources
for environmental
protection and
conservation
measures, lack of
local expertise and
training facilities
and insufficient
public information,
education and
participation on
environment.
The document calls for an end to the fragmented sectoral
approaches of environmental management and outlines
SADC environment and sustainable development pro-gramme,
to be implemented by relevant sectors, individual-ly
or through collaborative initiatives, and co-ordinated by
SADC-ELMS.
The “SADC Policy and Strategy for Environment and Sus-tainable
Development – Towards Equity-led Growth and
Sustainable Development in Southern Africa” was approved
by the council of ministers at Maseru in August 1996. Other
important decisions at the meeting established SADC-ELMS
as a separate sector (from FANR), reporting to the council
through a committee of ministers of environment. Respon-sibility
for co-ordinating water resources management and
development, which previously was in SADC-ELMS man-date,
was entrusted to a new SADC Water Resources Sec-tor,
also co-ordinated by Lesotho.
The policy and strategy document has been widely distrib-uted
and is recognized as the appropriate means of bringing
about, and guaranteeing, sustainable development in south-ern
Africa.
Institutional framework
The strategy provided for an institutional structure, which
elevated SADC-ELMS to a full sector with its own com-mittee
of ministers of environment.
The sector’s expanded mandate include developing and
implementing issue-specific harmonized policies and strat-egies,
regional guidelines, standards and protocols and build-ing
regional capacity to negotiate and implement interna-tional
conventions, and inter-sectoral co-ordination. In oth-er
words, the sector was to serve as an environmental watch-dog
to ensure that economic growth strategies are in tune with SADC’s environmental
protection objective and prin-ciples
of equity and priority to
the poor.
The sector also ensures the
participation of a wide spec-trum
of stakeholders in its pro-gramme,
and actively partici-pates
in the formation of re-gional
networks, which incor-porate
all environmental com-municators.
The economies of
most SADC Member
States are heavily
dependent on natural
resources, making
environmental man-
agement instrumen-
tal in achieving
sustainable develop-
ment. It is also a
crucial ingredient in
the socio-economic
integration process.In order to achieve sustaina-ble
development, SADC-ELMS formed new partnerships
with regional institutions, NGOs and international organi-zations,
and has become one of the most successful SADC
sectors.
For example, the Communicating the Environment Pro-gramme
(CEP) is a partnership of SADC-ELMS, the World
Conservation Union-Regional Office for Southern Africa
(IUCN-ROSA), and the Southern African Research and
Documentation Centre (SARDC). This partnership has tak-en
the lead in state of the environment (SOE) reporting.
SADC-ELMS is also managing the approval process of a
regional programme to identify clean energy technologies
to meet sustainable development while reducing greenhouse
gas emissions through accelerated private investment. The
sector directs this project in collaboration with teams of gov-ernment
officials, energy business representatives, and ex-perts
from each of the 14 countries.
This initiative is in response to requests for a regional needs
assessment by ministers and senior SADC officials who
attended the Clean Technology Initiatives (CTI)/Industry
Joint Seminar on Technology Diffusion in March 1999, at
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
ELMS programme of action
Initially the programme of action was divided into three
distinct sub-programmes of land, environment and water
resources management. Each undertook a number of activ-ities,
grouped together under sub-programmes and SADC
projects, as well as study or research projects. Seven areas
of concern were initially identified:
-
securing sustainable water supply and quality;
-
preventing and reversing desertification;
-
combating coastal erosion and pollution;
-
ensuring sustainable industrial development;
-
making efficient use of energy resources;
-
maintaining forests and wildlife resources; and
-
managing demographic change and pressures.
All these priority areas, except water supply and quality,
are the same as those adopted at a meeting of African min-isters
of economic planning and development in May 1993,
as part of the continent’s strategy to implement Agenda 21.
The elevation of the SADC Water Resources Management
Programme to a full sector with its own co-ordination unit
and technical committee left SADC-ELMS with a manage-able
programme and a clear focus on key areas in environ-ment
and land management, including environmental mon-itoring
and reporting, formulation of environmental poli-cies
and strategies, information exchange activities, and sus-tainable
land management programmes.
Environment management programme
SADC-ELMS monitors, assesses and reports on environ-mental
conditions and changes in the region through its
environmental management programmes. It builds regional
capacity to undertake these functions, raises environmental
awareness, and facilitates environmental education.
The economies of most SADC member states are heavily
dependent on natural re-sources,
making environ-mental
management instru-mental
in achieving sus-tainable
development. It is
also a crucial ingredient in
the socio-economic integration
process.
SADC-ELMS has publicized
its core programme,
including information exchange,
through the news-letter
Splash and occasional
press releases.
Over the years, SADC-ELMS
through the CEP
partnership, has worked to fulfil its responsibility in environmental monitoring, assess-ment
and reporting by publishing many SOE products, in-cluding
factsheets, policy briefs, posters, newsletters and
comprehensive reports. These SOE reports have been pub-lished
by CEP and launched at SADC Council of Ministers
meetings:
-
State of the Environment in Southern Africa (1994);
-
Water in Southern Africa (1996);
-
Biodiversity of Indigenous Forests and Woodlands
(2000); and
-
State of the Environment Zambezi Basin 2000 (2000)
(with SADC Water Sector Co-ordinating Unit and
Zambezi River Authority) in English and Portuguese.
Other information products developed and distributed
throughout the region include guidelines on Environmental
Monitoring of Vegetation, and Environmental Monitoring
of Land Degradation and Soil Erosion.
SADC-ELMS, has also established a fully func-tional
regional environmental education centre
which seeks to highlight issues affecting the
disadvantaged sectors of society. The centre
operates through satellite environmental educa-tion
centres in member countries.
As part of its efforts to improve access to environmental
information, the SADC Environmental Information Systems
(EIS) programme was established in 1997 to co-ordinate
environmental information, as well as harmonize environmental
data coming from different sources.
Land management programme
The programm falls under the umbrella of the
Sub-Regional Action Programme (SRAP) to combat de-sertification
in southern Africa. Through SRAP it is hoped
that the provisions of the United Nations Convention to Com-bat
Desertification (CCD) will translate into concrete and
implementable programmes.
In 1997, SADC-ELMS published and distributed widely the
Sub-regional Action Programme to Combat Desertification
in Southern Africa, which contains the priority programme
areas for implementing the CCD at the regional level.
The council of ministers approved the document in August
1997. Combating Desertification in Southern Africa: The
NAP Process was also published in 1997 and provides
guidelines for SADC member states for the elaboration and
implementation of their national action programmes for com-bating
desertification. SADC-ELMS has continued to co-ordinate
member states efforts at partnership building and
capacity development for resource mobilization for imple-menting
the CCD.
In addition to SRAP, various training courses and regional
workshops have also been held to promote sustainable de-velopment
and regional integration under the land manage-ment
programme.
These include:
-
integration of gender issues into the NAP process;
-
development of a gender strategy, training modules
and guidelines for integrating gender issues and con-cerns
into all activities of the sector; and
-
strengthening sub-regional early warning systems.
SADC ELMS also participates in various national, region-al,
and global meetings on environmental management.
