1. DEPARTMENT: AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & FISHERIES
Portfolio Committee on
Water and Environmental Affairs
Briefings on the Budget & Strategic Priorities:
2009/10
10 June 2009
Forestry Branch

2. REALIGNMENT OF DEPARTMENTS & IMPLICATIONS
Interdepartmental Task Teams established (DEAT, DWAF, NDA)
Work stream Teams established:
Organizational Scoping
HR Staff Audit
Infrastructure & assets
Finance & budgets
ICT systems
Organizational design
Legal & policy matters
Labour relations
Change management & communications
Draft work plan in place
Draft MoU re: Working relations and accountability prepared

3. FUNCTIONS TO BE TRANSFERRED (DWAF TO AGRICULTURE) … I/II
Forestry (Programme 4 – Vote 34):
Forestry Oversight
Sustainable Forest Management
Forests and Fire Regulation and Governance
Forestry Enterprise Development & Livelihoods
Forest Technical and Information Services
State Forest Transfer and Regulation
State Forest Administration and Oversight
Forestry Management and Support
Forest Charter Implementation Unit

4. FUNCTIONS TO BE TRANSFERRED (DWAF TO AGRICULTURE) … II/II
Forestry Resources:
Forestry resources consisting of Savannas (woodlands), indigenous (natural) and Commercial plantations
Indigenous Forests cover ha of which are directly managed by DWAF
Commercial plantations 1,3 million ha of which directly managed by DWAF (Value: R )
Present complement of posts (3 487 filled;
78 at National office & in Regional offices – high vacancy rate due to previous restructuring)
Budget for 2009/10 is R (excl. Progamme 1)

5. TRANSFER - CHALLENGES Challenges to be addressed through Work streams
Integration of National (Forestry, commercial) & Concurrent (both Agriculture and Natural Forests, conservation) competencies
IT systems (ARIVIA) – service level agreements and transfer of systems
Support Services (historical KZN & Limpopo had own staff)
Alignment of legislation – delegations
Departmental policies and procedures

6. The Forestry Branch
Activities of the branch contribute to the following Strategic priorities of Government:
Speeding up growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
Comprehensive development strategy linked to land and agrarian reform and food security.
Strengthen skills and human resource base.
Pursuing Africa advancement and enhanced international cooperation.
Sustainable resource management and use

7. The Forestry Branch
Strategic Goal
Strategic objectives
Sustainably managed plantations, indigenous forests and woodlands that provides optimal social, environmental and economic benefits
To ensure the sustainable management of all natural forests, woodlands and plantations through the implementation of the National Forests Act, 1998
To reduce incidents of veld, forest and mountain fires through the implementation of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act, 1998
To improve the contribution of the Forest sector to skills development in order to address development and growth of the sector
To enhance awareness raising and information sharing to raise the profile of the forestry sector
To accelerate the transformation and growth of the forestry sector in line with the targets of the Forestry sector BBBEE Charter
To increase the contribution of greening, participatory forest management and community forestry in improving livelihoods and addressing poverty eradication

8. OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR - FORESTRY
Forestry Resources – Three main components:
Savannas (Woodlands)
The potential area is in the region of 39 million hectares
Approximately 9,2 million people live around these areas and depend on them for goods and services
Indigenous (Natural) Forests
Indigenous Forests cover about hectares
Almost three-quarters of this forest type is conserved either as declared State forests / within formal protected areas
Access and harvesting of products is provided

9. OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR - FORESTRY
Forestry Resources (continued):
Commercial Plantations (Category B and C)
Plantations cover approximately 1,3 million ha of SA land area (private and state owned)
Over 80% of plantations are found in 3 provinces: Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal & Eastern Cape
Plantations provide direct employment for about 76,000 people with over 1.7 million dependents
direct jobs in forest & forest product industry
Plantation forests produce ± 22 million m3 commercial roundwood worth R5 billion annually
Investment in the Forestry (Trees) Industry is about R 17.4 billion (2007) and R21.8 billion in Forest Products (Pulp, Sawmilling, etc)
Some environmental costs associated with plantations are recognized, 82% of the plantation area is certified by independent third party schemes

10. OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR - FORESTRY
Economic Benefits from Forest Resources
Commercial forests contribute R22 billion annually to the GDP
Employs ± people in the formal sector, including the pulp & paper industries
Over 80% of rural households depend on firewood as their energy source
Estimated that the value of forest goods and services derived from the natural forests and woodlands is about R17 billion annually

11. FORESTRY SECTOR CHALLENGES … I/II
Land Reform – Tenure Security; Post settlement support to communities; Transfer of plantation forests to communities
Profiling the Forest Sector – Emphasize the contribution that forestry makes towards rural development
Timber Shortage in the country - Shortage can be expected to affect government’s intentions to achieve a 6% economic growth rate
Research Development and Innovation - Forest sector R&D activities require more resources including addressing the declining skills base
Climate Change – Climate Change will have significant impacts on forestry in South Africa, at the same time forestry could offer meaningful mitigation and adaptation possibilities

12. FORESTRY SECTOR CHALLENGES … II/II
Access to Funding - Forestry is a business that requires large amounts of capital to be invested over a long rotation period,
Skills Shortage in Forestry Sector - Shortage of critical, scarce and core skills as well as shortcomings in the Forestry Sector
Forestry Protection – Threats from fires, pests & diseases.
Forestry and Regulatory Environment – Forestry as land use excessively regulated (water licenses; environmental authorisations; land use change; labour)
Monitoring and Evaluation – Improve measurement mechanisms and corrective actions

13. LEGAL & POLICY FRAMEWORK - FORESTRY
White Paper on Sustainable Forest Management
National Forest Action Programme (1996)
Implementation of National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998)
National Veld and Forest Fire Act, 1998 (Act No 101 of 1998
Forestry Sector BBBEE Charter (2008)
Forestry 2030 Roadmap (draft)

14. FORESTRY INSTITUTIONS
Forest Sector Charter Council (3 yr term)
National Forestry Advisory Council (3 yr term)
SAFCOL(MDPE) – category A plantations

15. KEY PRIORITY AREAS - FORESTRY (MTSF)
1. STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Sustainable resource management and use
Ensure the sustainable management of all natural forests, woodlands and plantations through the implementation of the National Forests Act, 1998
Reduce incidents of veld, forest and mountain fires through the implementation of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act, 1998
STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Strengthen skills and human resource base
Improve the contribution of the Forest sector to skills development in order to address development and growth of the sector,

16. KEY PRIORITY AREAS - FORESTRY (MTSF)
STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Speeding up growth and transforming the economy to create decent work and sustainable livelihoods
Accelerate the transformation and growth of the forestry sector in line with the targets of the Forestry sector BBBEE Charter
Enhance awareness raising and information sharing to raise the profile of the forestry sector

17. KEY PRIORITY AREAS - FORESTRY
4. STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Pursuing Africa advancement and enhanced international cooperation
Strengthening of regional integration of Forestry issues
Regional (SADC) collaboration on Sustainable Forest Management – Ratification and implementation of SADC Protocol on Forests
Forestry International Relations Strategy Framework developed and implemented
Cross-border MoU’s on forestry issues concluded with neighboring countries
5. STRATEGIC PRIORITY: Comprehensive (rural) development strategy linked to agrarian reform and food security
Transfer or release of state assets to appropriate agencies / government departments / land beneficiaries
Increase the contribution of greening, participatory forest management and community forestry in improving livelihoods and addressing poverty eradication (mitigation and adaptation measures for climate change)

18. STRATEGIC PLAN - INTERVENTIONS
Support for forestry development enterprises (financial and non-financial means, extension, associated skills) and leverage existing government mechanisms for security of timber and pulp supply
Implement the Forest Sector Charter (role of SoEs)
Emphasize sectoral partnerships and intergovernmental frameworks to address threats from fires, pests and diseases
Enhance cooperative governance/intergovernmental relations matters relating to land reform affecting forestry for sustainable rural development

19. STRATEGIC PLAN - INTERVENTIONS
Consolidate/alignment of the forest research agenda including the development of an integrated Forest Resources Assessment and Monitoring System to improve decision making.
Address concurrent sustainable forest management responsibilities (conservation of forests in a changing world)
Implement the four global objectives on sustainable forest management (non-legally binding instrument)

20. CONCLUSIONS 1/2 Global objective 1
Commitment to work globally, regionally and nationally to achieve (by 2015):
Global objective 1
Reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, including protection, restoration, afforestation and reforestation and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation;
Global objective 2
Enhance forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest dependent people;

21. CONCLUSIONS 2/2 Global objective 3
Increase significantly the area of protected forests worldwide and other areas of sustainably managed forests, as well as the proportion of forest products from sustainably managed forests;
Global objective 4
Reverse the decline in official development assistance for sustainable forest management and mobilize significantly increased, new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of sustainable forest management.