The considerations of culture in the sustainability of biodiversity in South Africa: A legal standpoint

JurisdictionSouth Africa
AuthorIfeoma Laura Owosuyi
Citation(2019) 30 Stell LR 250
Date12 September 2019
Pages250-280
Published date12 September 2019
250
THE CONSIDERATIONS OF CULTURE IN THE
SUSTAINABILITY OF BIODIVERSITY IN SOUTH
AFRICA: A LEGAL STANDPOINT*
Ifeoma Laura Owosuyi
LLB LLM LLD
Post-doctoral research fellow, North-West University
1 Introduction
Sustainable development was originally conceptualised as a theoretical
measure to pre-empt the escalating consequences of environmental
degradation due to development activ ities.1 The concept has since evolved
to encompass other area s of human concern that shou ld be considered in the
context of sustainable development such as social and econom ic interests.
For instance, there has be en an upsurge of inter national scholarly debates
regarding the inclusion of cultu re in the discourse of sustainable development.
This agitation for the inclusion of cultu re in development plans and strategies
has received favourable internat ional recognition includi ng its adoption in
the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”),2 which recognised the
potential of culture i n the international developmental agenda.3
In South Africa , the principle of sustainable development is constitutionally
recognised in the C onstitution of the Republic of South Afr ica, 1996
(“Constitution”). Section 24 of the Constitut ion4 entrenches a substant ive
environmental r ight.5 This principle of susta inable development is not only
restricted to ec ological interests, but also to social a nd economic interests.6
Several scholars7 argue that sust ainable development transcends t he three
intersecting a reas of environmenta l, social, and economic intere sts. This
* This res earch was en abled in par t by North-West Un iversity and by a grant f rom the Nation al Research
Foundation of South Afric a Grant number: 115581 All opinio ns expressed, viewpoi nts and errors remain
those of the autho r I a m further g rateful to Profess or Christa Raut enbach for her valuable c omments
1 In 1987, the World Commiss ion on Environment and Development (WCED) also known as the Brundtla nd
Commission led by the Nor wegian Pri me Minister, Gro Harlem Br undtland wa s convened Th e WCED
was conve ned to argue a mongst othe r things the consequential effects of exploitat ive resourc e use by
industr ialised countr ies on the environ ment
2 The resolut ion adopted by the Unit ed Nations Genera l Assembly: Transformin g Our World: 2030
Sustainable Development Goals UN Do c No GA/RES/70/1 (2015)
3 Cultur e plays a crucial role in t he attainment of SD G 11 (making cities and huma n settlements inclu sive,
safe, resilient , and sustai nable) Also, target 11 4 calls for the st rengthen ing of efforts t o protect and
safeguard t he world’s cultural and nat ural heritage
4 Section 24 of the C onstitution
5 LJ Kotzé & AA Du Plessis “Some brief obse rvations on fifteen years of E nvironmental Rights
Jurispr udence in South Af rica” (2010) JCI 157 157-158
6 Consider ing, eg, s 2(4)(a)(iii) of the National Envi ronmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (“ NEMA”),
which refers to the pre servation of cultu ral heritage amon g the principles of envir onmental manage ment,
these thre e dimensions are no t the exclusive interest s of sustainable develop ment
7 W du Plessis & L Feris “A rebel lious step in the right dire ction? A not e on the dissenting judgment of
Sachs J in Fuel Ret ailers Associat ion of Souther n Africa v Directo r-General ” (2008) 15 SAJELP 157 16 6
(2019) 30 Stell LR 250
© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd
is because, as Du Plessis and Feris8 posit, the i nterests of sustain able
development are intert wined in praxis. Therefore, envi ronmental, social, and
economic interests intersect with other interests such a s cultura l interests,
and they are all inext ricably interdependent. For inst ance, the biological
composition of the environment such as plant s, animals, the d iverse variety
of micro -organisms and the ecological communities they dwell in make up
the biological diversity of the environment. In t urn, t hese components form
the natural re source base that provides the c ritical ecosystem ser vices that
are funda mental for economic and social development. Some examples of
these ecosystem ser vices include food secur ity, the provision of clean and
secure water, biomass energy and building m aterials, a nd a resource base
for t he sustainable development and growth of the tourism, biotech nology,
pharmaceutical , bioenergy, agriculture, forestr y, sheries and i ndigenous
knowledge-based sectors of the economy.9 These services are t hreatened
by factors such as the expansion of the huma n population and its increa sing
demands on the environ ment, climate change and i nvasive alien species to
mention a few. Therefore, ensuring the sustainability of biological diversity is
crucial to accomplish su stainable development.
In this respect, a legal approach to sustainable development, as Owosuyi10
suggests, would ideally involve a synerg y between environ mental law,
economic law and social justice syst ems, whereby the ideals of each is
harnessed and e mployed toward s the a chievement of the principles of
sustainable development both locally and i nternationally. In view of the
interconnecte dness of culture, biodiversit y and sustainable development, this
article argues f rom a legal perspective for a consideration of cultural inte rests
in the sustain ability of biodiversity in Sout h Africa.
To fully understand the relevance of cult ure to the sustai nability of
biodiversity, this article considers how cultu ral con siderations could
be integ rated into the existing legal f ramework for the con servation,
management, and protect ion of biodiversity. The discussions in this ar ticle
accept that the ter m “culture” is complex and multivalent.11 Although this
article does not engage in an a nalysis of the divergent theorisations of culture,
it provides insights into the relevant inter pretations of cult ure within the
development discourse from an i nternational and domes tic perspective. In
this way, it establishes the link between cu lture and sustainable development.
More importantly, it demonstrates the nexus between cultu re and biodiversity
8 166-167; see als o, Gees v Provinci al Minister of Cult ural Affairs and S port 2017 1 SA 1 (SCA) paras 32-33
for the relevance of cu ltural heritag e preservation as a pa rt of environment al protection and sust ainable
development
9 Depart ment of Environme ntal Aff airs 2018 “Biodiversity and C onservation” (undated)
environment gov za/branches/biodiversity _conservation> (accessed 05-12-2018)
10 IL Owosuy i “The pursu it of sustainable development throu gh cultural law and governa nce frameworks:
A South Afri can perspective” (2015) 18 PELJ (access ed
10-0 7-2019)
11 In 1952, cultu ral anthropolog ists, L Kroebe r & C Kluckhohn Cul ture: A Critical Re view of Concept s and
Definitions (1952) in searched of a suit able definition of cultu re, assembled 156 definition s of culture
These were classif ied under six headings , e ach presuming dist inct perspective s of what a spec ific
population is l ikely to share na mely: descrip tive, histor ical, genetic, s tructu ral, psychologic al, and
normative def initions of cult ure
CONSIDERING CULTURE IN THE SUSTAINABILITY
OF BIODIVERSITY 251
© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

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