Wild Coast Abalone - Department of Agriculture

DAFF
February 2015
Official newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Mr Richard Clark, Managing Director of Wild Coast Abalone, Mr Senzeni Zokwana, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries and Mlibo Qoboshiyane, MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform enjoying and exchanging the feel of
abalone.
Departmental
Wild Coast Abalone
Currently, WCA produces in excess of 160 tons of
premium quality abalone for the Far Eastern Markets
each year. The farm has a standing stock of 5 million
abalones and keeps approximately 13, 500 baskets in
their production system.
DAFFnews is the newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries. Private Bag X250, PRETORIA 0001.
It is published by the Directorate Communication Services, Private Bag
X144, PRETORIA 0001.
Opinions expressed in DAFFnews are not necessarily those of the
editorial team. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior
permission from the editor.
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February 2015 DAFFnews No. 2
Editor
Piwe Mbiko
Reporters Thuli Lehong
Samuel Kgatla
Musa Khumalo
Innocent Mhlanga Rony Moremi
Jamela Nkanyane
Mercia Smith
Interns
Hellen Phushela
Dineo Makgato
Subeditor
Lerato Mofokeng
Distribution Pam Sutherland
Website: www.daff.gov.za
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Departmental
Tour by the Minister to
Wild Coast Abalone
By Samuel Kgatla
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries, Mr. Senzeni Zokwana,
undertook crucial visits to Wild Coast
Abalone (WCA) and met with provincial
government leaders in the Eastern
Cape Province. Prior to the visits on
Thursday, the Minister also attended
the provincial Female Entrepreneur
Awards to witness women being
crowned winners for their hard work
in farming.
The purpose of the visit to WCA was to
take the Minister on an abalone tour so
that he can see how aquaculture works.
There was a walk through the premises
of the third largest abalone farm in the
country to show all the visitors, including
the media, what the WCA farm entailed.
WCA is the only abalone farm in the
Eastern Cape and has been in existence
since 1998. It has 140 permanent and
66 seasonal employees. Currently, WCA
produces in excess of 160 tons of premium
quality abalone for the Far Eastern Markets each year. The farm has a standing
stock of 5 million abalones and keeps
approximately 13, 500 baskets in their
production system.
Richard Clark, Managing Director of
WCA mentioned that gravel roads to
the farm, access to the lighthouse and
abalone anti-poaching are some of the
challenges they face. “Abalone poaching is
a social problem. We have the remaining
abalone in the area as others have failed.
South Africa has quality abalone. We are
supplying Hong Kong with our abalone.
In July 2011, we produced 10 million
abalone spat,” he said.
The Minister said that issues that rose, or
happening at the WCA farm are the ones
the department is looking at. “We must
deal with the cancer of poaching in aquaculture. We believe that the Eastern Cape
has potential for farming and we must work
with farms like the WCA to move forward.
Hunger is still one of the challenges faced
in the country, but I have seen that aquaculture is doing well,” he said.
In the meeting with the provincial government, which included Premier Phumulo
Masualle, MEC for Rural Development
and Agrarian Reform, Mlibo Qoboshiyane, MEC for Economic Development
and Sakhumzi Somyo, MEC for Environmental Affairs and Tourism and officials.
A number of issues were raised on the
matter of developing the economy of the
province through aquaculture and other
things. DAFF officials outlined their plans
through the Comprehensive Agricultural
Support Programme (CASP) and Veterinary
Services, Fisheries and Forestry to take the
province to another level. The discussions
were informative and results-oriented, with
emphasis on how to improve the levels of
delivery. What was also apparent was that
a lot of work through DAFF programmes
continues.
During the meeting, the
Minister mentioned that he
was happy to see commitment
from all the spheres of government in the province. He
added that the task is unique
and people must forget about
boundaries. “People are ready
and it should be only us at
national level to help them
achieve that. We must have
control on the coordination
of funds. I am proud to be
here and have decided to
start with the Eastern Cape
because I know the province
has challenges in terms of
aquaculture,” concluded the
Minister.
The Premier promised to
work together with DAFF and
other spheres of government
to improve things in the province. Furthermore, he said
that the coordination of skills
is necessary and the province
is looking forward to work with
everyone.
↑ The meat (foot muscle) of abalone is
used for food, and the shells of abalone
are used as decorative items and as a
source of mother of pearl for jewelry,
buttons, buckles, and inlay.
↓Workers scaling abalones.
No. 2 DAFFnews February 2015
3
Departmental
Crop vegetables
pesticides registration
By Rony Moremi
The bill of rights states that everyone
has the right to an environment that
is not harmful to their health and
wellbeing. It’s in line with this right as
enshrined in the Constitution that the
Department of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries (DAFF) called a meeting
with vegetable
producers to
inform them
about the process of registering and safe
handling of
pesticides.
The meeting
was called in response to a need
identified during
a meeting with
minor crop producers, mainly
fruit growers in
Western Cape
organised by
DAFF in collaboration with
HORTGRO
with the aim
of starting engagements with
the vegetable
industry to get
organised in the
form of proposed
CODEX crop groupings.
A meeting with various stakeholders
such as retailers, researchers, chemical
manufactures and biological/biopesticides manufactures as well growers and
other government departments was then
organised by the DAFF Agricultural Inputs
Control (AIC) Directorate at the ARC VOPI
Institute in Roodeplaat. Thilivali Nepfumbada, Management Advisor of the Agricultural Remedies presented on the process of
registering agricultural remedies.
He mentioned the lack of interest by
companies to invest in research for de-
4
February 2015 DAFFnews No. 2
veloping pesticides for minor crops such
as carrot, beetroot and cucumber etc as
a challenge to minor crop producers. He
said this lack of interest was a result of
high research costs associated with the
development of new molecules. He also
informed minor crop producers that importing seeds treated with pesticides that
are not registered in South Africa is illegal
and companies must apply for import
permits prior to the importations of such
consignments.
Professor Mary Gulliman from the National Institute for Occupational Health
informed producers about the process of
risk assessment of pesticides. She said it
is very important to set standards before
doing risk assessment. “A dose response
relationship and the tolerable daily intake
(TDI) process has to be completed before
setting standards and registering a pesti-
cide.” Thilivhali quoted Paracelsus saying
“that all is poison, nothing is without poison, only the dose determines what is not
poison. He further emphasised the DAFF’s
responsibility to ensure that pesticides are
safe and properly labelled and doesn’t
negatively affect
trade.
Registering
pesticides is
done to ensure
compliance
with prescribed
requirements
and to pro tect the public’s right to a
safe environment that is not
harmful to their
health.
Crop producers were
also informed
about vegetable food safety
and the risks
associated with
microbial contaminants by
Professor Lise
Korsten from
the University of
Pretoria’s Department of Microbiology
and Plant Pathology. She gave insight
into research projects being carried out
by University of Pretoria, sponsored by
the Water Research Commission (WRC)
on microbial pest contaminants of food
commodities.
“The meeting is a good start in the right
direction”, said Les Hillowitz, area coordinator of CropLife Africa Middle East. He
said he was impressed about the interactions with other producers and insightful
presentations made at the meeting. Other
meetings with producers will be held during the course of the year.
Departmental
Minister Senzeni Zokwana:
Back to School Campaign
By Rony Moremi
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries, Senzeni Zokwana visited two schools, Mphezulu and Skhosana Secondary schools in Monsterlus,
Sekhukhune District on the first day of
school. His visit was part of the Back to
School Campaign held every year on
the first day of school. The aim of the
visit was to talk to learners and listen
to any challenges they encounter and
to offer assistance.
The school principal, Ms Bertha Phatudi
told the minister that the school is very old
and infrastructure is not good. She also
said that the school has no proper science
laboratory. The science laboratory, according to one of the teachers, Mabudi Sibiya,
has been the same since 1983 when he
was still at school there. Lindile Lerutla, a
matric 2014 learner said it gets very cold
in winter and this affected their learning.
However, despite school conditions, Lindile
was one of the best learners at Mphezulu
Secondary; she has applied at the University of Limpopo to study BCom Accounting.
The school was one of the best schools in
the Hlogotlou circuit in Sekhukhune. The
minister took a walk around the school to
inspect the condition of the school and
how it can be assisted.
In his message of encouragement to
learners at Mphezulu Secondary School,
the minister said that studying starts on the
first day of school and learners should not
allow conditions to affect their future. “Your
conditions should not determine where you
are going,” he said. He advised learners
to be disciplined because without discipline
they can’t go anywhere. He went on to
advise learners to choose friends wisely, to
choose friends who share the same vision.
He continued to inspire learners to choose
agriculture because he said it’s about feeding the nation.
At another school, Skhosana Secondary
School, the minister told learners that those
who win are disciplined. He also encouraged teachers to teach learners and ensure
that they are shaped to become better
future leaders. He told learners that they
Minister Senzeni Zokwana addresses teachers and learners of Phezulu Secondary
School in Monsterlus.
Minister Senzeni Zokwana and Ms Onica Moloi from Limpopo Legislature giving
one of the best performing learners of Mphezulu Secondary School a bag with
stationary.
are better off now that technology is more
advanced and they can use search engines
such as Google to look for information.
The minster handed out backpacks to
the best learners at both schools; Mphezulu Secondary and Skhosana Secondary
Schools.
Skhosana Secondary produced the best
learner in the Sekhukhune District, Walter
Sibiya. Walter received 92% in mathematics, and distinctions in all his subjects. He
said that he passed well because he was
focused and studied hard. He said conditions for learning at his school were good
and added that learners just need to be
motivated to do well in school. Walter
was awarded a bursary by the Department
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to
study genetics at the University of the Free
State. The choice for his field of study was
inspired by the TV documentary Medical
Detectives.
No. 2 DAFFnews February 2015
5
Departmental
A look into the fisheries
branch
By Jamela Nkanyane
Celebrating 20 years of democracy
in South Africa means acknowledging the achievements and changes
brought about by the freedom the
country obtained in 1994. Therefore,
the successes of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)
since its inception in 2009, is definitely
a good story to tell.
In the two previous articles on the agriculture and the forestry branches, we have
seen the many programmes established for
farmer assistance and the advancement of
farm production and operations. Regarding the previously stated, jobs have been
created, communities educated about
natural resources management and the
importance of planting trees. For the last
part of the series of the good stories to tell
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February 2015 DAFFnews No. 2
about the DAFF, we take a look at how
the fisheries ship has been sailing since
its inception in 2009. A small contributor
to the country’s economy, the fisheries
sector constitutes about 0,3% to the South
African gross domestic product (GDP).
However, it is said that the ocean has the
potential to contribute up to R177 billion
to the GDP and create between 800 000
to one million direct jobs. The commercial
fishing industry provides direct employment to more than 20 000 people, while
aquaculture provides about 1 850 direct
to p 7
Departmental
from p 6
employment opportunities.
Apart from fisheries attracting much
negative publicity through the years, significant achievements have been realised.
The fisheries research division of the department continues to play its role in ensuring
competitiveness on research, surveys and
stock assessments carried on important
fish stocks. In December 2014, the department released a statement announcing the
abalone Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for
the 2014/15 fishing season setting it the
same as the 2013/14 season between 0
and 18 tons across Zones A-G. This was
due to extensive consultations that took
place with key players in the abalone sector and after careful consideration of the
scientific stock assessment reports. One of
the department’s objectives for the fisheries
sector is to prevent the abalone spawning
biomass in each zone to drop below 20%
of its pre-exploitation level and to ensure
that it recovers to 40% of that level within
15 years.
While the illegal harvesting of abalone
poses the greatest threat to the management objectives, DAFF will continue to work
with all stakeholders in the abalone sector
and continue to strengthen our partnerships
with other lawenforcement agencies and
communities to ensure growth and protection of the country’s resources. South Africa
currently has two vessels. The relatively new
FRS Ellen Kuzwayo, a R45 million inshore
research vessel built in 2007 to study rock
lobster, linefish, tuna and other sectors,
and the much older FRS Africana, an R78
million deep-sea multipurpose research
vessel built in 1982 to study deep-sea fish
and other marine resources in regional and
Antarctic waters.
In November 2014, the department welcomed the first direct prison sentence under
the Marine Living Resources Act, 1997,
handed down by the Port Elizabeth Regional
Court to Huang Zhanyang and Pow Kekun.
The two were found guilty and sentenced
to 36 months behind bars for operating an
illegal fish processing establishment and the
unlawful possession of abalone.
In 2012, the Aquaculture Development
and Enhancement Programme (ADEP)
was developed and in less than a year, 20
fish farms received technical and financial
support from the programme. Beneficiaries
received a total incentive of R87 million, attracting private investment of R384 million.
With this, there is hope for direct employment opportunities.
Operation Phakisa, launched by the
President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma,
includes in its key areas marine transport,
manufacturing, marine protection services
and ocean governance. The president
said at the opening event of the operation
in KwaZulu-Natal in October 2014 that,
“For the effectiveness of this set initiative
and turning our good plans into action,
teams from government, labour, business
and academia were tasked to work on
Operation Phakisa.” He further called
upon all stakeholders, including the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
Mr Senzeni Zokwana, to sign a pledge of
committing themselves to the cause by
availing resources to ensure the successful
implementation of the operation.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries remains aligned to its mandate to fight hunger, protect forests and
natural resources, and achieve ocean
economy.
A small contributor to
the country’s economy,
the fisheries sector
constitutes about 0,3% to
the South African gross
domestic product (GDP).
No. 2 DAFFnews February 2015
7
Departmental
Invader Fruit Fly early warning
and awareness campaign
By Innocent Mhlanga
The Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), together
with the Mpumalanga Department of
Agriculture, Rural Development, Land
and Environmental Affairs in conjunction with the chiefs, visited communities at Mbombela, in Ehlandzeni South
District. They visited villages such as
Mzinti, Mbuzini, Schoemansdal and
Malekutu at the end of last year to
inform community members of measures to control the invader fruit fly.
In making sure that the task is attended
to thoroughly, the DAFF assembled a
team of well- knowledgeable officials
from different directorates to achieve
maximum results in combating the fruit fly.
Directorates that took part included Food
Import and Export Standards, Inspection
Service and Plant Production, comprising
the National Plant Protection Organisation of South Africa, which is responsible
for handling plant health matters in South
Africa.
Mr Godfrey Radzilani, from the Directorate: Food Import and Export Standards
said these events are a follow-up on the
door-to-door initiative of placing MAT
blocks and M3 bait stations, which is
not easy to attain, owing to limited human resources. “The entire eradication
process started in the Mopani District in
September 2013,” he concluded.
What is the invader fruit fly? It is an
exotic fruit fly pest originating from Asia,
which is currently invading Africa, causing
major damage to commercial fruit types
in the form of fruit rot of host fruit such
as mangoes, guavas, citrus, papayas,
bananas, watermelons, marula, wild
figs and tomatoes and vegetables such
as peppers and pumpkins. It also has a
negative impact on both national and
international markets and it may lead to
negative socio-economic consequences
for our country and the entire continent.
The life cycle of the invader fruit fly
begins when a female fly lays eggs just
beneath the peel of the fruit of host plants
such as mango and citrus, etc. The eggs
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February 2015 DAFFnews No. 2
M3 bait station hanged.
hatch into larvae which feed on the fruit
pulp, causing premature ripening and rotting of the fruit. As the fruit ripens and rots,
it falls to the ground and the larvae crawl
out to pupate in the soil. Adult fruit flies
emerge from the soil, mate and start the
life cycle again. The level of infestation
varies with location, ranging from 3,0 to
97,2 flies per kg of fruit. There was a significant inverse relationship between numbers of flies per kg of fruit and elevation at
which fruit was collected, suggesting that
B. invadens is a predominantly lowland
pest. On an artificial diet, development
of B. invadens immatures lasted 25 days;
egg incubation required 1,2 days, larval
development 11,1 days and pupariaadult development 12,4 days. About 55%
of eggs developed to the adult stage. Life
expectancy at pupal eclosion was 75,1
days in females and 86,4 days in males.
Average net fecundity and net fertility
were 794,6 and 608,1 eggs, respectively,
while average daily oviposition was 18,2
eggs. Daily population increase was 11%
and mean generation time was 31 days.
Therefore, when fruit is left on the ground
without proper sanitation it provides an
ideal opportunity for the fruit fly population to increase.
Breaking the reproduction cycle of the
fruit fly is essential to lower pest populations in the infested areas. Orchard and
field sanitation is an effective cultural
method to lower the number of fruit flies
in the immediate vicinity of host production areas. Good sanitation practices also
prevent the build-up of a number of other
pests and diseases and can therefore lead
to much higher yields. Orchard and field
sanitation entails collecting all fruit and
vegetable host crops from the ground and
burying these into a pit or trench, which
is then covered with half a metre of soil.
to p 10
Departmental
MAT-block hanged.
from p 9
Alternatively, fruit can also be placed in
black refuse bags, which are then tightly
closed and exposed to the heat from the
sun for a few days until all the larvae in
the bags are dead.
The Bait Application Technique (BAT)
is specifically aimed at killing adult fruit
flies but mostly female fruit flies. It consists
of the use of protein-based bait sprays
or bait stations mixed with a pesticide.
The Male Annihilation Technique (MAT)
specifically targets male flies and is very
effective for use in combination with
BAT. MAT consists of fibre-board blocks
impregnated with a parapheromone lure
and a pesticide.
It has been officially reported that the
fruit fly is present in the Ehlanzeni South
District in Mpumalanga. The official status
of the fruit fly in these areas is reported as
temporary occurrence, under eradication.
All these areas have been placed under
quarantine. The fruit fly has also been
reported to be occurring in parts of South
Africa’s neighbouring countries such
as Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland,
Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The most important aspect of limiting
the spread of the fruit fly to other parts of
the country is to ensure that travellers do
not move host fruit or vegetables from
quarantine areas to non-quarantine areas
without a removal permit. Inefficient man-
agement of the fruit fly may, in the long
term, have negative implications for food
security, export markets and crop yield. It
may also result in job losses for people
who are directly and indirectly employed
in the fresh produce industry.
The South African fruit industry produces approximately 4 646 217 tons of
fruit annually (with a gross value of approximately R19 billion). Approximately
R16 billions’ worth of produce is exported
to foreign markets annually. Production
losses of only 10%, as a result of this fruit
fly, can amount to a loss of 418 155 tons
of fruit or approximately R1,9 billion. This
could lead to a shortage of certain products and consequently impact negatively
on the economy of the country, which is
a net exporter of fruit. It is estimated that
each 10% decrease in export value for
deciduous fruit will result in a loss of 75
000 jobs, considering the value chain.
Finally, the department would like to
encourage farmers and members of the
public to clear up (bag or bury) unwanted
fruit in home gardens and on farms,
apply chemical control methods and
avoid movement of fruit from quarantine
areas to non-quarantine areas. In addition, the people need to note that illegal
importation of agricultural commodities
into South Africa is banned as this may
lead to the introduction of new pests,
which are often expensive and difficult to
control. The department would also like
to plead with the public not to remove
fruit-fly trapping buckets hung alongside
roads, in production areas and other
public areas.
Invader fruit fly,
Bactrocera invadens
No. 2 DAFFnews February 2015
9
Sector
Framework for GMO risk
assessment in place
Delegates at the 13th ISBGMO (International Symposium on the Biosafety
of Genetically Modified Organisms)
held in Cape Town concluded that the
framework for environmental risk assessments (ERA) for GMOs as outlined
in Annex lll of the Cartagena Protocol
on Biosafety, are in place.
However, despite the universal application of these methods, differences still
remain in data requirements and degrees
of analysis applied to risk evaluation of
GMOs, claimed Dr. Paul Keese, from the
Australian Department of Health.
“More expensive risk assessments do
not result in better decisions. Regulation
of GMOs relies on scientifically sound risk
assessments for decision making. However there is a wide disparity in resources
and skills between regulatory agencies
throughout the world,” said Keese.
The theme of the symposium, the first to
be held in Africa, was “advancing Environment Risk Assessment (ERA) of GMOs to
Address Biosafety in a Global Society”.
“The symposium was a great success as
far as bringing the needs and the objectives of risk assessment in Africa to the
fore. Of the 270 international delegates,
110 were from Africa,” said Dr. Hennie
Groenewald, chairman of the local organising committee and executive manager of
Biosafety South Africa.
“This gave African regulators, scientists
and institutions involved with GMOs an
opportunity to network and debate issues
of mutual concern to move forward. The
feedback from African delegates was
very favourable and positive. It also gave
South Africa the opportunity to expose
its research to Africa. The main message
that came across was that the framework
for the environmental risk assessment
and how to manage risk was in place,
with room for continued research,” said
Groenewald.
The EU-funded research project GRACE
(GMO Risk Assessment and Communication of Evidence) identifies the need
to impartially compile existing evidence
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February 2015 DAFFnews No. 2
of potential impacts, including risks and
benefits caused by the deliberate release
of GMOs on human and animal health,
the environment and socioeconomy.
Part of the mission of the GRACE consortium of scientists is to revisit previous safety
assessments conducted and, if needed,
redo such assessments. The first outcome
of such reassessment – on MON810 Bt
insect resistant maize, approved in South
Africa in 1998 – was globally released
on 26 November 2014 by the convenor
of GRACE, Prof. Joachim Schiemann.
The results clearly showed that “no
indication of any toxicologically relevant
effects were found after a 90-day feeding
study on rats.” This puts the final nail in
the coffin of misinformation that had also
been distributed in South Africa.
A lot of time was spent on IRM, Insect
Resistance Management. Graham Head,
global manager insect resistance, Monsanto, said that IRM for Bt crops has been
a unique and broadly successful effort but
that instances of resistance have occurred.
Although products have been used for
15 years on millions of hectares with no
resistance, there have also been instances
where resistance has been observed within
three years.
Studies have revealed that in most cases
insect resistance can be attributed to poor
refuge compliance. Initially, few farmers
complied with the refuge planting require-
ments. (In South Africa resistance to stalk
borer occurred 7- 8 years after adoption,
where it was observed in a few irrigated
areas mainly due to poor refuge compliance. Since the introduction of YieldGard
ll in 2011/12 and stricter refuge compliance, no occurrence of resistance has
been observed.)
One of the major concerns raised for
the slow adoption of GMOs and the controversies raised was the lack of credible
scientific information. Dr Wynand van
der Walt, a well-known South African
agribiotech scientist, raised the question of government public awareness
communication on GMO technologies.
He followed this up privately with other
foreign scientists. The general response
was that their governments do very little
communication.
“South Africa should not fall into this
trap, as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety clearly dictates that governments
need to convey elements of the Protocol
to the public,” he emphasised.
Several speakers expanded on the issue of ERA that must be “fit-for-use,” i.e.
tailor-made for the specific GMO, the
type of risk to be assessed, the design,
and the specific environment in which a
GM crop is to be tested or commercially
grown. Poorly designed risk assessments
will give faulty or irrelevant results.
Prof. Kwabena Bosompem, Noguchi
Memorial Institute for Medical Research,
Ghana, said African governments have
identified GMOs as important for achieving food security. However there is still
a lack of confidence in ERA due to the
need for accurate, credible scientific information,
Martin Lema, Secretariat of Agriculture,
Livestock and Fisheries, Argentina, emphasised, “There is an enormous amount of
misinformation regarding GMOs. There
lies a huge task ahead to disseminate
information about these technologies, but
who is going to do it”?
Sector
Conservation friendly farming
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT)
has developed an exciting new approach to the custodianship programme and is proud to announce
a new process to acknowledge the
conservation contributions of members of the farming sector in South
Africa. Custodianship was introduced
in the country in the early 1990s as a
tool to recognise and acknowledge
landowner contributions to conservation, and the process has recently
undergone an overhaul to address
emerging biodiversity challenges and
facilitate long lasting collaboration
between landowners and conservation officials. Many of our most threatened biodiversity
exists within our production landscape
(community and privately owned farmland)
and as such it is imperative that we develop
ways of securing these assets.
South Africa has a deep heritage in
commercial farming, cultural resource use
and living off the land and it is this heritage
that has resulted in our farming community
having a general respect and pride for the
biodiversity assets that occur within their
respective properties. “Many of these landowners go to great
lengths to voluntarily take care of the environmental assets that they govern and it’s
these voluntary activities that contribute
significantly to what we as conservationists
are trying to achieve and hence we would
like to acknowledge and encourage further
contributions of this kind,” says Dr Ian Little, EWT’s Threatened Grassland Species
Programme Manager.
Dr Ian Little explains, “The key changes
from the old custodianship process are the
expansion from a two tiered award system
to a three tiered system where landowners
can aspire to be acknowledged as Conservation Champions, the ultimate prize.”
Custodians are recognised for their efforts
in conserving a threatened species in its
wild habitat; this could be for a landowner,
farm manager or even someone who
doesn’t own or manage a property but
contributes of their own accord to species
South Africa has a deep heritage in commercial farming, cultural resource use and
living on the land.
conservation. A Conservation Champion
on the other hand not only contributes to
the conservation of a particular species but
rather, conserves a variety of species and
their habitat. He continued “This third tier
acknowledges landowners who implement
exemplary conservation focused management (based on sound ethics) and are recognised as leaders and act as role-models
in their communities in terms of their overall
commitment to conservation on their land,
over and above taking care of key species.”
Custodians are identified by the issuing authority or can be nominated by their peers
within the community. There are currently a
handful of species custodian programmes
running in South Africa including those for
Oribi, Riverine Rabbits, Blue Swallows,
Cranes, and two new programmes will be
the Sungazer and midlands chameleon
custodian programmes. All of these except
the latter are run by the EWT, which will be
coordinated by the KZN Midlands Conservancies Forum. While there is no direct
financial reward associated with this programme, the recipients will receive general
management support and will enjoy wide
recognition for their efforts. This is a matter
of pride for the land and species of which
farmers are the ultimate stewards.
New custodianship boards will be dated
and issued for a five year period. This
ensures that the recognition and communication between the issuing authority and awardees are maintained, and
also ensures that the boards are not left
to deteriorate through weather damage
over many years. The intention is that the
actions of these dedicated landowners
will positively influence their neighbours
and communities at large for the overall
conservation of biological diversity and its
associated resources. The EWT would like to encourage
partner conservation agencies to initiate
custodianship programmes and to thank
all the landowners out there who are contributing to the greater conservation effort
and making our jobs easier.
For more information and to see board
designs and eligibility criteria visit www.
ewt.org.za No. 2 DAFFnews February 2015
11
Sector
Michaelangelo trophy for
Van Loveren workers
Van Loveren’s Five’s Reserve Pinotage
2013 was recently honoured with the
Trophy for the Best Fairtrade Red Wine
during the 2014 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards – one
of only 15 trophies on which the more
than 1 500 entries had their sights
this year.
According to Arianna Baldo, Executive
Director of Fairtrade SA, this prestigious
accolade is annually awarded to the
best red wine entry that is also Fairtrade
registered and adheres to their strict
requirements. “This trophy confirms that
Fairtrade wines such as Five’s Reserve
Pinotage can be true to ethical and sustainable principles and still be of worldclass quality.”
Van Loveren CEO, Philip Retief, says
the trophy celebrates the success of their
employee empowerment project, the De
Goree Boerdery. “All the grapes used
for Five’s Reserve are bought from De
Goree and as quality grapes are a prerequisite for the creation of a quality wine,
this award is a pat on the back for the
shareholders.” Van Loveren’s Fairtrade
certification affirms its commitment to
the improvement of the production and
economic circumstances of its workers.
De Goree also owns a share in the
Five’s Reserve brand which gives them
access to the complete value chain. “The
Five’s Reserve brand pays a Fairtrade
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February 2015 DAFFnews No. 2
premium to De Goree – an amount that
is utilised according to their prioritised
needs,” says Retief. “This year the available fundswill be contributed towards a
bursary fund for the children of the workers, for school and transport fees, school
clothing, training courses and Christmas
vouchers for the community.”
All permanent staff, including those
who do not form part of the shareholder
project, benefit from a Five’s Reserve profit pool. “This year the brand performed
exceptionally well and the pool was four
times larger than previous years,” Retief
says. “Profit sharing took place for the
ninth time and a total amount of R1,05
million has been paid to staff, – while
R450 000 was used towards bursaries
and the raising of education levels.”
Nine years of empowerment
success
Van Loveren and 116 of its staff members and pensioners (including 52 women)
bought a 138 hectare grape farm in the
Robertson wine valley early in 2006. The
52% majority of this enterprise, called De
Goree Boerdery, is owned by the workers
trust and the balance by the Retief family.
De Goree Boerdery has a long-term contract to provide Van Loveren with grapes
for its famous wines – an agreement that
put the farm on a sustainable footing right
from the start. Van Loveren launched the
Five’s Reserve wine range, including a
white wine, a rosé and two red wines, to
coincide with the start of this project.
“Our project is by no means stagnant,”
says Chrisjan Williams, assistant manager
and trustee of the De Goree worker trust.
“We are making good progress with continuous extensions in line with our vision.
For example, we recently obtained 30 ha
of water and in 2015 and 2016 we plan
to augment the current 53 ha of vineyards
with another 18 ha per year.”
Success rewarded
The De Goree Boerdery is widely viewed
as a model empowerment project. In
2008 the project won the National AGRIBEE Project of the Year award and in 2009
it was rewarded with a National LandCare
award for its efforts to eradicate alien
vegetation and to farm sustainably. Jonas
Cupido, shareholder and winemaker of
the Five’s Reserve wine range, was also
named the SA Cellar Worker of the Year
in 2009. During the same year, the farm
became the first farm in the Robertson
wine valley to receive its Fairtrade accreditation.
The De Goree partnership is indeed
exceptionally successful and Van Loveren
is using this concept as model for future
empowerment projects.