The legislative framework pertaining to seabird rehabilitation centres in South Africa : importance to seabird conservation

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: Seabird rehabilitation centres play a critical role in the conservation of seabirds in South Africa. There has been an increase in the decline of seabirds globally including in South Africa, mainly from anthropogenic activities. Seabird rehabilitation centres have occupied a niche responsibility that was previously unoccupied in society. In this, they have demonstrated immense capability in contributing to seabird conservation, by treating distressed, ill, injured or orphaned seabirds with the aim of releasing them back into the wild. Despite these conservation efforts, the environmental legislation has been lagging in respects of regulating seabird rehabilitation centres. This study, therefore, aimed to investigate how environmental legislation can help improve the management of seabirds in rehabilitation, to strengthen conservation efforts; reviewed the understanding of the environmental legislative framework for seabird rehabilitation in South Africa and also examined policy options for improving the state of seabird rehabilitation centres, to promote seabird conservation in South Africa. The data on the conservation functions and responsibilities of seabird rehabilitation centres in South Africa was obtained through the use of a semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was comprised of five sections titled 'General, Collection of Animals, The Release, Finance and Legislative Requirements. The study confirmed that seabird rehabilitation centres do play a critical role in the conservation of seabirds. However, there are operational challenges in fulfilling this role. The study also confirmed that there is minimal government support and that the legislation regulating seabird rehabilitation centres still does not fully address challenges experienced by the seabird rehabilitation centres. The study also acknowledges that there are attempts by the Department of Environmental Affairs, in revising its policies and rationalising its legislation, to minimise fragmentation of legislation regulating seabird rehabilitation centres. The study concludes that a clear policy objective and intervention will address key issues affecting seabird rehabilitation centres and will ensure the reform of this sector. The recommendations of the study state that other policy tools, such as Norms and Standards, can be used to provide much-needed guidelines. A rigorous process involving both rehabilitators and government officials is required to improve the level of competence. The government must also recognise the need for coordination with state entities and organisations with the necessary skills to augment the staff capacity constraint. Furthermore, alignment of legislation to minimize duplication and identify economic instruments to incentivise seabird rehabilitation centres is needed. Lastly, strategic locations within the country and the threshold on the number of seabird rehabilitation centres needs to be identified, to prevent the proliferation of facilities that compete for an already strained financial resource.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University