Policies and White Papers
Public participation in policy-making is a global standard for democracy. It implies an open, inclusive,
transparent form of planning and policy-making. However, in most democracies meaningful public input in
practice and provisions is discretionary.
The process to bring about changes in legislation is never simple. This is more so in the conservation sector in South Africa, where both national departments and provincial authorities have dual responsibility as management authority, while state and private individuals can own wildlife. In this complex social environment, it is an achievement for South Africa to have relatively comprehensive conservation and environmental management legislation, with a high degree of buy-in from the public.
More recently, SANParks scientists took part in national conservation policy review processes emanating from the report from the High Level Panel (HLP) of experts appointed by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment. The HLP reviewed the conservation and sustainable use practices of five iconic species of wildlife (elephant, black rhino, white rhino, leopard and lion). The report has led to the development of two policy instruments: i) a policy position document on conservation of these five iconic species and ii) a draft white paper on conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, more generally.
The policy position focused on (1) improving governance of trade in the five species, (2) finding ways to dispose of legal stockpiles of rhino horn and elephant ivory, (3) preventing intensive captive breeding of these species, and (4) embarking on large-scale rewilding initiatives. Although the goal of the policy position is to expand and establish extensive wildlife systems that benefit these and other co-occurring species of wild animals, while improving the lives of people, many stakeholders have highlighted possible negative and unintended conservation consequences of some proposed actions. Stakeholders have also highlighted that the HLP expert opinion should not negate the need for participative and inclusive policy-making processes, especially with primary affected and interested parties.
SANParks takes lessons from this process to guide the planning and development of the National Elephant Heritage Strategy. One key lesson is early buy-in and participation from all affected stakeholders. Meaningful participation in the process should lead to co-development of policy and co-management of elephants with principally affected stakeholders. Several engagements with multiple stakeholder groups in South Africa, including people living next to parks, highlighted that elephants do not affect all people equally. Thus, people directly affected by new laws and rules should have meaningful opportunities to fully participate in decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods.
Public participation in policy-making is a global standard for democracy. It implies an open, inclusive, transparent form of planning and policy-making. However, often meaningful public input is difficult as processes do not stipulate the level and stage at which the public gets involved. Some scholars suggest that involvement early on in the strategic and normative levels of planning is important to create policy that is enabling.
South Africa’s conservation success resulted from conservation on both state and non-state land. Non-state actors play a major role in species and land conservation. Most non-state actors have chosen wildlife as an economically-competitive land use option displacing less ecologically-desirable land use options. Therefore, changes to legislation that may reduce the viability of non-state wildlife ownership may result in private disinvestment in conservation, and longer-term impact on land under conservation, jobs and livelihoods. These decisions need meaningful and engaged consultation processes, without which stakeholders are likely to contest policy in the courts.
This article was originally published in the 2021/2022 Research Report.
