Biodiversity Law Centre comments on draft Biodiversity Bill

On 24 May 2024, a Bill to overhaul South Africa’s National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act was published for comment. Comments are due on 25 July 2024.

With biodiversity loss occurring at higher rates than ever, and South Africa being one of only a handful of megadiverse countries, it is crucial that we play a role in how our biodiversity is protected.

In our comments, the Biodiversity Law Centre highlights that the Bill contains some positive legislative developments. These include mainstreaming consideration of animal well-being throughout biodiversity planning and decision-making as well as aligning the regulation of access to indigenous knowledge and indigenous biological resources with the Nagoya Protocol.

We are, however, concerned that in its attempt to simplify biodiversity regulation, particularly in relation to species and ecosystems of concern, priority species and ecosystems, and alien and invasive species, the Bill has created an even more complex, and potentially unconstitutional, scheme. Much of the detail in relation to what can and can’t be done with which species and ecosystems has been left to regulation, and at the Minister’s discretion. This potential executive overreach is concerning and the provisions seem problematic in terms of how, practically, listing and regulation of activities is to occur. It is also concerning that the provisions regarding consultation and public participation have been significantly watered down, given that regulation of biodiversity is already criticised for being untransparent.

In order to assist civil society in making sense of the Bill, the Biodiversity Law Centre hosted a webinar on 22 July 2024, the recording of which appears below.

Our comments are also available below.