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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Tuesday, 13 September 2011 13:30 |
 A dedicated committee of experts has been appointed to advise, over the next year, on how to effect and implement “a radical improvement” in the Department of Water Affairs (DWA).
Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa made the announcement in Cape Town on Tuesday.
For the past few years, she said the department had gone through a rough time as it received qualified reports from the Auditor General.
“The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has received several concerns regarding deficiencies in financial and operational management of the DWA.
“I have also personally observed deficiencies in the configuration of the DWA and the sector which hampers the agility of the DWA to deliver services,” she said.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Tuesday, 13 September 2011 13:21 |
 Cabinet has approved the publication of the Plant Breeders Rights Amendment Bill, 2011 for public comment.
The Bill aims to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights related to new varieties of plants, said Cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi.
"Such protection contributes to economic growth, as it has a positive impact on the competitiveness of South Africa's agriculture sector."
Manyi said Cabinet also approved the submission of the Fertilisers and Feed Bill to Parliament.
The Bill seeks to modernise the regulation and regulatory framework of fertilisers, animal feeds (farm feeds) and sterilising plants in order to support the animal welfare, food safety, food security and environmental management objectives.
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Sunday, 11 September 2011 13:30 |
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President Jacob Zuma has received a 'champion of the environment' certificate.
read full article
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Tuesday, 06 September 2011 17:18 |
School children got their hands dirty and planted 25 indigenous trees as part of the Kruger National Park's Arbor Week celebrations.
Pupils at Mjejane Primary School, near Komatipoort, were encouraged to become part of the nationwide Arbor Week campaign that runs from 1 - 7 September to green communities.
“I have learned a lot today and I am glad that our school will no longer look the same. I will also encourage my community to plant trees instead of [just] grass and flowers,” said Ayanda Nkosi, 9, who helped plant trees.
Kruger managing executive Abe Sibiya said the world famous park had adopted the primary school in 2007.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Thursday, 01 September 2011 01:00 |
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 It's Spring day today, although it's still 20 days to the Spring equinox. Today also marks the beginning of National Arbor Week throughout South Africa. The national tree of 2011 is Pappea capensis Common names: jacket plum, Indaba tree, bushveld cherry (Eng.); doppruim (Afr.); umQhokwane, umVuna, iNdaba (Zulu); iliTye, umGqalutye (Xhosa); mongatane, Mopsinyugane (Northern Sotho); liLetsa (Swati); Xikwakwaxu, Gulaswimbi (Tsonga).
Why not celebrate the beginning of Spring by heading off to your nearest garden centre to get a Jacket-Plum tree to plant in your garden or any tree for that matter. Why not buy a few fruit trees to take your local school or community centre? Let's help Green South Africa even more starting this week and what better place to be than outside in the garden.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:18 |
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 A total of 92.9% South African households had access to a safe water supply in 2010, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said.
According to the Water and Sanitation 2002 - 2010 analysis of the General Household Survey released by stats SA on Tuesday, approximately four in 10 households have access to piped water inside their dwelling units.
"General access to piped water on site rose steadily, from 27.5% in 2002 to 29.1% in 2010," said Stats SA.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Tuesday, 30 August 2011 16:04 |
Government has announced that over 3 000 job opportunities have been created for poor and vulnerable communities through its Food for Waste Programme.
The programme is aimed at assisting municipalities to provide waste collection services where municipalities are unable to provide such a service, while at the same time create job opportunities, fight hunger and poverty, promote a clean environment and promote recycling, waste reduction and reuse.
The programme is currently being rolled out in nine provinces in 30 municipalities and has so far managed to create over 3 000 job opportunities.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Saturday, 13 August 2011 14:04 |
By Pieter de Haas
A few days ago my parents asked me the question of what area of the environment my interest is, and after I elaborated for close to half an hour about what the environment is all about they stopped me and repeated the question. I had to choose where my focus was. I felt that was unfair in a technical sense, it can be compared of asking the same question, say to a fish and to tell them they should be more specific in what attributes of water they wanted to be part of.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Saturday, 13 August 2011 13:41 |
Cape Town, 12th August, 2011 – Many product manufacturers are guilty of ‘greenwashing’ with their claims of green, eco-friendly or organic; misleading consumers into believing they are purchasing green products, when in fact they are buying into marketing claims.
This is according to Rory Murray, Marketing Director of Tuffy Brands, who says that the direct dictionary definition of Green·wash (grēn'wŏsh', -wôsh') is the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.
According to TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, in 2009, 98% of all ‘green’ claims made by companies and brands were guilty of one or more of the ‘seven sins of green washing’. Murray explains that the seven sins of greenwashing include; hidden trade-offs, no proof, vagueness, false labels, irrelevance, lesser of two evils, and fibbing.
“Greenwashing is not a new concept, as consumers have been mislead about the environmental benefits of products and services for years, there is an ever increasing list of dubious marketing practices,” he says. “Green is no longer just a colour but has become a movement to make money.”
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Saturday, 13 August 2011 13:39 |
By Chris Bathembu
Maseru - A multibillion rand water project, unveiled in Maseru this week by the South African and Lesotho governments, could be the answer to the water challenges facing South Africa, authorities said.
Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa and her Lesotho counterpart, Natural Resources Minister Monyane Moleleki, launched Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project on Thursday, exactly a year ago after President Jacob Zuma urged the Lesotho government to speed up the process.
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The 1st of September heralded the start of spring and the start of Arbor week, an annual celebration that dates back to Nebraska (USA) 1872. In South Africa, Arbor Day was first celebrated in 1983, and in 1999 the National Government extended the celebration of Arbor Day to Arbor Week. Every year a new Tree of the Year is celebrated and 2011’s tree is Pappea capensis, the Jacket plum. This year, hundreds of thousands of trees will be planted. However, most of these will not be planted because of their natural beauty or because of our need to restore our forests. Rather, they will be planted as part of our collective and ongoing efforts to counter the impacts of climate change.
