|
National Arbor Week (01-07 September 2010)
|
01/09/2010
|
 Did you know that the Spekboom Portulacaria Afra is a South African tree, which has enormous carbon storing capabilities? Forests form an important part of South Africa's natural resource base and make a significant contribution to the county's economy. Let us all partcipate in preserving this important resource. "Plant for the Planet - Grow Green".
|
|
The Southern Africa Environment Outlook
|
24/03/2010
|
 The Southern Africa Environment Outlook is an integrated assessment of the state and trends of key environmental resources, including land, freshwater, marine and coastal resources, forests and woodlands, and wildlife. The report showcases some of SADC’s work and achievements over the past 10 years. Download report (PDF)
|
|
State of the Climate in 2008
|
14/10/2009
|
 According to State of the Climate in 2008, a special supplement to the August, 2009, issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the global mean temperature in 2008 was slightly cooler than that in 2007; however, it still ranks within the 10 warmest years on record.
|
|
Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Launches State of Air Report
|
13/10/2009
|
 2005 is significant in terms of air quality in South Africa. It is the year in which the new air quality governance regime was introduced through the entry into effect of important elements of the new National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act. Thus, 2005 is the baseline against which the efficacy of the AQA will be measured.
|
|
SoER Toolkit
|
09/06/2008
|
The State of the Environment Reporting (SoER) Toolkit is designed to provide guidance for those responsible for SoER at any level.
To download the set of documents, please visit the document library.
|
|
International Biodiversity Day 2008
|
22/05/2008
|
May 22 has been proclaimed The International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) by the United Nations. The reason is to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year’s theme is Biodiversity and Agriculture and seeks to show the importance of putting into practice sustainable agriculture. Agriculture is a key example of how human activities impact on ecosystems. Not only is sustainable agriculture important for biodiversity, but is important to feeding the world’s populations, ensuring that agricultural livelihoods are maintained, as well as improving human well-being in the future. For more news visit http://www.cbd.int/ibd/2008.
|
|
World Wetland Day - 2 February 2008
|
16/01/2008
|
On the 2nd of February we will once again be celebrating world wetlands day. The 2nd of February marks the day on which the RAMSAR convention was signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. This convention is a treaty that provides a framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation of wetlands and their associated resources.
Currently there are 157 contracting parties to this convention including 1708 individual wetland sites covering a total of about 153 million hectares. South Africa became the 5 contracting party when it signed up in 1975.
South Africa can generally be classified as a water scarce country. It only receives an average of about 500mm of rain per annum compared to the global average of about 860mm per annum. Irrespective of this fact there are an estimated total of 740 wetlands identified in South Africa.
|
|