The Committee; and the Chairperson in particular, attended a number of workshops and seminars on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Intellectual Property Rights. Given the approximate 3000 species of plants in South Africa with known medicinal value, the need for the development of strategies to nurture, protect and preserve South Africa's biodiversity cannot be overemphasized. Continuous oversight of the Department's role in the implementation of South Africa's IKS policy would therefore be on going. For example, monitoring the progress of the National Intellectual Property Rights Office (NIPRO) and TIA, as important interventions to regulate and stimulate innovation in IK and African Traditional Medicines (ATM) to improve economic growth, would be important. Furthermore, the Department has played a pivotal role in establishing the National Recordal System (NRS), an important tool in protecting, collecting and preserving IK as well as the development of the four-year Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge Systems degree.