(1) Whether his department has (a) achieved a clampdown on all harvesting of the country’s national tree, the yellowwood tree, (b) created a register to list and protect all indigenous trees older than 150 years as part of our national heritage, (c) funded, subsidised or in any way supported the planting of yellowwood and other indigenous trees on a substantial scale to repopulate such trees in the regions of the country where they existed in large numbers a century ago and (d) encouraged public-private partnerships to restore important forests that are conducive to growing yellowwood trees, stinkwood trees and other such trees; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what steps has his department taken in this regard since 1 January 2009; (2) whether he will make a statement on the restoration of forests with indigenous trees?
Whether he intends to collaborate with the Minister of Water and Sanitation to mount a joint programme to relieve the dire situation in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, where a severe drought has caused agriculture to collapse and rivers to dry up leading to great hardships for the persons residing in the specified area; if not, why not; if so, what joint actions was his department and the Department of Water and Sanitation going to embark upon to support the drought stricken communities in the specified area and elsewhere in the country where similar conditions prevail? NW4523E
(1) Whether the Government is taking proactive steps to deal with water shortages in all of the provinces afflicted by drought so that farmers can continue their operations by using the limited supplies in the best manner possible;
(2) whether water recycling was occurring optimally in the specified and other province allow for food production to take place with the greatest availability of water that technology can make possible; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether he will make a statement on how the extraction of water from aquifers is managed scientifically and through regulatory means? NW4439E
With regard to the announcement by his department that the 24 Aquaculture projects under the Operation Phakisa have to be implemented by 2019, (a) how many of these projects will be implemented in 2015 and (b) what are the relevant details of the specified projects?
Whether he intends to collaborate with the Minister of Water and Sanitation to mount a joint programme to relieve the dire situation in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, where a severe drought has caused agriculture to collapse and rivers to dry up leading to great hardships for the persons residing in the specified area; if not, why not; if so, what joint actions was his department and the Department of Water and Sanitation going to embark upon to support the drought stricken communities in the specified area and elsewhere in the country where similar conditions prevail?
The management of drought requires integrated and multi-disciplinary approaches flowing from mandates of various sector departments and other role players. It is on this basis that the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries collaborates with all relevant Ministers including the Minister of Water and Sanitation in dealing with the Northern KwaZulu-Natal drought situation under the support of the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional ...
(1) What support has his department given to persons living on state-owned land in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality, in the Eastern Cape, since 2009;
(2) how many persons are the beneficiaries of such support;
(3) what has been the total cost of this support?
Whether, with reference to the reply by the Minister of Environmental Affairs to question 2808 on 24 August 2015 and given the large-scale exploitation of the Blacktip Shark, Bronze Whaler Shark and Dusky Shark in South Africa's fishing waters and the lack of scientific research available on the sustainability of the specified species, he will consider granting protection in the interim through regulation that the specified species may not be caught or landed within all marine protected areas along the South African coastline?
(1) What assistance is his department offering emerging farmers who have been hit hard by drought particularly in the North West Province
What plans does his department have in place to assist livestock farmers who are affected by severe drought especially in KwaZulu-Natal?
The KZN Department of Agriculture & Rural Development and Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) conducted a joint assessment with relevant stakeholders in order to establish the extent of the disaster and to establish the number farming communities affected. The provincial assessment reports were then submitted for declaration processes to the Provincial Disaster Management Center (PDMC) and further to the National Disaster Management ...
Whether in view of the wide-scale destruction of bee colonies in the Western Cape through Foul Brood Disease, the Government has taken steps to scale up and accelerate plans in support of year round foraging for bees by encouraging all sectors of society to use gardens, parks, road verges and farm strips to grow plants that will support foraging by bees in order that pollination of key economic crops is guaranteed, farmworkers and owners have their livelihoods protected, prices of food remain highly affordable through plentiful supply, importation of honey from Argentina and elsewhere can be eliminated and South African beekeepers have a guaranteed livelihood; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) continues to work closely with the various South African national honeybee commodity organisations aimed at supporting honeybee health in South Africa. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has been conducting research on South Africa’s honeybees, as an indigenous part of this country’s biodiversity. It has investigated the relevant resources underpinning the managed honey bee industry. ...
