Marine areas high on minister's list

MINISTER of environmental affairs and tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, is visiting the designated Cape Peninsula Marine Protected Area today where he is expected to officially proclaim the designated MPAs. The designated MPAs are Aliwal Shoal, Pondoland, the Cape Peninsula, Namaqualand and Bird Island. Van Schalkwyk opened National Environment Week on May 31 at Bird Island in the Eastern Cape. During the opening, he called on all South Africans to contribute to preserving and sustaining the country's natural resources. Van Schalkwyk added that SA is now ensuring greater access for all South Africans to natural resources and is moving to the forefront of international environmental management. "This is evident not only through our leadership role in major global events like the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), but also in our ground-breaking community-based natural resource management - linking conservation, entrepreneurship, and poverty relief," he said. (Lucy Siebert)