The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as a custodian of forestry
resources in South Africa is responsible for the promotion of the sustainable management
of the country's forest resources for the benefit of the nation. The forestry resource
base, i.e. natural (indigenous) forests, commercial plantations and woodlands, is
spread over some of the poorest areas in South Africa and therefore plays a significant
role in terms of poverty eradication, through job creation and the supply of basic
needs.
In 2005, Cabinet approved a new national strategic management model to improve the
science and technology system in South Africa, formulated by the Department of Science
and Technology (DST). This new model involved the transfer of the national Science
Vote for scientific and technological innovation (STI) activities to the line departments.
For the forest sector this model signified a new, focussed, strategic approach to
the management of state-funded STI through harmonisation and collaboration of initiatives
in science and technology innovation of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries (DAFF) and DST, with DAFF becoming directly responsible for state
R&D funding within the sector.
South Africa's forest policy accords with both national science and technology policy
and AsgiSA in emphasising scientific and technological innovation in building the
knowledge economy as a key foundation for the development of South Africa. Forestry
Research and Development is currently governed by numerous “instruments” including
the National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998), National Veld and Forest Fire
Act, 1998 (Act No 101 of 1998), The National Forestry Action Programme, the Framework
for the National Forestry Programme as well as the Forest Sector Transformation
Charter.
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National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No 84 of 1998) section 5
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"The Minister must carry out or commission research. The research must promote the
objectives of forest policy and conform with national policies and programmes relating
to science and technology."
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The National Veld and Forest Fires Act section 30
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"The Minister may carry out or commission research into the prevention and combating
of veldfires; and the use of controlled fire in sustainable forest management. The
Minister must make the results of the research available to all fire protection
associations free of charge."
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The National Forestry Action Programme (NFAP, 1998)
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set as its Research, Technology and Innovation Goal the development of a system
which had to supply, and effectively transfer, the information needed for an environmentally
and socially sustainable and economically competitive forest sector. It defined
a strategy to establish a funded, well-managed, accountable and credible structure
that can take responsibility for efficient coordination and networking between funding
bodies, researchers and end-users in the private and public sectors. The NFAP defined
seven tasks to implement the strategy.
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The Framework for the National Forestry Programme (NFP)
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The NFP also identifies ten (10) Forestry Policies and Strategies and their social,
economic and ecological goals, which should be reflected in R&D agenda's mandates
and priorities in SA.
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National Forestry Sector Transformation Charter
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The Charter governs Research and Development by stating:
"Greater attention needs to be given to Forest Sector innovation, research and development
to ensure that the sector has access to information, appropriate technology and
innovation to support B-BBEE and enterprise development. To this end Government,
through DWAF, undertakes to drive the process to develop a Forest Sector research
and development strategy with clearly outlined responsibilities, funding mechanisms
and timelines."
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Recently, the Department established a specific role focussing on forest science,
technology and innovation in the Directorate: Forestry Policy and Strategy by the
appointment of a Forestry Science, Technology and Innovation Advisor and a Forest
Research Coordinator. The mandate for this function includes
supporting the current research base in South Africa, as well as to expand their
role beyond merely playing a regulatory role in the forest sector science, technology
and innovation. The research capacity aims to:
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- Develop mechanisms to enable the Department to assume its proper leadership role
in sector related research and development.
- Substantially increase its financial support to the national forest sector R&D
effort and create increased, investment through appropriate funding mechanisms .
- Create a mechanism to determine and regularly review and prioritise research focus
areas (RFA’s).
- Establish a strategic harmonisation and integration of national science and technology
efforts in terms of training, infrastructure development, research and development
performed by a network of expertise nodes.
- Develop human resource capacity in sector research and development.
- Government needs to establish the effective and equitable management of intellectual
capital.
The new research and development capacity will furthermore aim at achieving a number
of short term goals such as:
- Reinvigorate Research and Development Strategy.
- Establish National Forest Research Forum.
- Management of intellectual property.
The Forest Research function within DAFF has been coordinating a number of research projects focusing on sustainable management of forest resources. These include:
- Sustainable utilisation of Flagelleria guineensis Read more...
- Monitoring and evaluation of bark harvesting techniques of two indigenous tree species in the Letaba State Forest Read more...
- Sustainable harvesting of plants utilised for medicinal purposes Read more...
- The sustainable use of Monkey rope (Secamone gerradii) by local subsistence farmers Read more..
- The ex situ and in situ conservation of the Critically Endangered Protea roupelliae sbsp. hamiltonii and conservation of the co-occurring endangered Leucospermum gerrardii within the Dr. Hamilton Nature Reserve Read more...
The Department furthermore relies on the substantial institutional and human capacity to mobilise forest sector Research & Development in South Africa. The current capacity consists of a number of world class research and Higher Education Institutions and Science Councils (research nodes) focusing on a broad spectrum of research focus areas as listed below.
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Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
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- Biodiversity and ecosystem services
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Climate change
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Ecology and management of alien plants
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Fire research
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Forest hydrology
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Reproductive biology research
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Resource economics
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Tree breeding and genetics
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Forest product research
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Woodland ecology and management
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Forestry and
Agricultural Biotechnology Institute
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- Forest biotechnology
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Forest entomology
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Forest genetics
- Forest pathology
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Merensky
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- Silviculture
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Tree improvement
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Wood quality
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Institute for
Commercial Forestry Research
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- Re-establishment
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Sustainable Forest Productivity
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Tree Improvement
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Collaborative research Initiatives:
- SA Sirex Control Programme
- Pine Fusarium Working Group
- Forest Engineering South Africa
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Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University
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- Fire management
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Forest engineering
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Forest management
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Forest site classification & evaluation
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Rhodes University
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- Conservation management
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Natural resource management
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Participatory forest management
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Resource valuation
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Woodland ecology
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University of Cape Town
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- Ecophysiology of trees – Nutrition, Water & Carbon
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Fire ecology
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Forest ecology
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Global change
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Rural development
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Social ecology
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University of Witwatersrand
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- Biogeochemistry of savanna ecosystems
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Nutrient cycling in plantation systems
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Plant Ecophysiology
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Nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon dynamics
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Fires and nutrient cycling
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Forest & woodland ecology
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University of Stellenbosch
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- Agro forestry
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Biomass production and renewable energy
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Community forestry
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Forest economics
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Forest engineering and logistics
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Forest mensuration and inventory
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Forest planning
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Contact Details
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Director: Forestry Regulations and Oversight
Mr. Renny Madula
Tel: +27 12 309 5710
Mobile: +27 82 809 1855
E-mail: DFPS@daff.gov.za
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Forestry Science, Technology and Innovation Advisor
Dr. Ronald Heath
Tel: +27 12 309 5753
Mobile: +27 83 611 6946
E-mail: Ronaldh@daff.gov.za
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Forestry Research Co-ordinator
Mr.Guiney Itchell
Tel: +27 12 309 5797
E-mail: Itchellg@daff.gov.za
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