Contents of October 2002

EDITORIAL
About fish traps and Heritage Impact Assessments

UPFRONT
News

TREE OF THE ISSUE
Johann and Leigh Nieuwoudt choose two of the Elders

INSPIRATION
Henning Rasmuss writes about SA Eagle Square

REMNANTS OF NATURE IN URBAN AREAS
Nerine rehmanii in suburban Gauteng

FEATURES

Waste Minimisation Clubs at Rosslyn

The Consumption Barometer

Some thoughts on Sustainable Cities

Protecting our cultural heritage

Gauteng protects its ridges

Sustainability measures at BMW

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EDITORIAL

About fish traps and Heritage Impact Assessments
It seems there is some cause for concern about the sustainability of the use of fish traps in the Kosi lake system which we featured on the front cover of our World Summit issue. Generations of subsistence fisherman at Kosi Bay have used this method and it has, generally, been considered to be a sustainable method of fishing or we would not have chosen the striking photo by Guy Stubbs for our special issue. Sustainable, for the simple reason that the fish trap allows small (undersized) fish to escape. Scientists have recently been concerned, however, about an imbalance in fish populations caused by the fact that certain species of fish that are small in size, even fully grown, have an advantage over fish which grow to a larger size. Some populations of these smaller fish are apparently swelling out of proportion to those of other species, as a result of this fishing method.

But there is more to it than that.  A notification I received from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in early September (after our Summit issue had been printed) quoted Minister Moosa as saying that while the use of fish traps in the Kosi lake system has been an acceptable fishing method over more generations than can be counted, the growth in the numbers of traps and their expansion into the channels has been identified as a problem. The reduction and removal of these traps is being negotiated by means of a formalised Trappers Liaison Committee that has been set up to manage trap fishery in Kosi Bay. The committee comprises local trap owners and the local Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife management staff. According to the Minister, it seems consensus has already been reached to reduce and relocate fishing efforts, with traps now actively being moved and removed.

This story illustrates the fact that sustainability is a complex issue, the success of which has to be monitored on an ongoing basis. The word is maybe bandied around a little too freely and unrealistic assumptions are made about what comprises sustainability.

Leigh Darroll has written about ‘Protecting our cultural heritage’ under the new National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) and has exposed the concern of many heritage professionals and other interested parties that because of lack of capacity at provincial level, our cultural heritage has been left, to a large extent, unprotected at present (see page 36). The requirement for a full Heritage Impact Assessment under certain circumstances and the lack of the equivalent of the Scoping Report (allowed for in the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations) which has helped to expedite Records of Decision, surely needs to be addressed? As it is, provincial environmental departments countrywide continue to cause unnecessary delays because of lack of capacity and the often cumbersome nature of EIAs. (This is being addressed in the revision of the EIA Regulations which is presently in progress.) 

Will the NHRA be just another piece of cumbersome legislation that cannot be properly implemented? At the Environlaw 2002 convention (which followed the IUCN Environmental Law Foundation’s Sustainable Development Conference) in August, a focal point was ‘implementation’. Francois Joubert, managing director of Envirolaw 2002, said: “In South Africa there is some of the best environmental legislation in the world. We have the legislation to conserve and manage the environment: the problem is the lack of capacity, coupled with lack of education and training.” 

Talking about the many international environmental conventions and treaties, John Scanlon of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre in Germany said: “We need to move on and implement what we have said – the next decade needs to be the decade of doing and of capacity building.”

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UPFRONT

eta Awards 2002: Winners in energy efficiency
Eskom sponsors the eta Awards, which were initiated 13 years ago, on an annual basis. The awards are designed to promote energy efficiency: which can be defined as using less energy to achieve the same results or using the same amount of energy to achieve better results.

This year the winner in the Agriculture Category was Dalein Agri Plan – a company from the Bloemendal district of Tshwane which has developed animal feed production milling and mixing equipment that achieves a 20% saving in energy compared to existing hammer mills with the same output.

In the Commercial Category, Enerflow Technologies was the winner for the design and development of an in-line heat pump water heater which can reduce energy consumption and peak demand in commercial buildings such as hotels and large residences. The system comprises a vapour compression heat pump and electrical control panel, together with electrical resistance heaters, water storage reservoirs, pumps, pipes and valves all combined into a specific configuration. The finalist in the Commercial Category was the consulting engineering group, Arthur Morris and Partners, whose modifications to the chilled water storage tank at the Sanbel building in Bellville, Cape Town, and to the building’s air conditioning and maintenance systems, saved 52% in energy costs compared with previous performance.

In the Residential Category, Ter¬rain Software Systems were given a special merit award, as the developers of CART software, a specialised CAD based design tool that has been on the market for four years and facilitates more efficient and optimised residential electricity reticulation planning.  The Women in Energy award went to Marlett Wentzel, chairman of the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa (Sessa). She is a director in the energy section of the firm Palmer Development Consulting and the first woman to be elected to the position of chairman (now in her second term of office) of Sessa. Sessa facilitates co-operation between the public and private sectors and lobbies to ensure an enabling environment for the application of renewable energy.

Bradley Mathews of Northcliff High School, Johannesburg, was the winner in the Young Designers Category. He has developed a new solar refrigeration technology that uses no electricity or fuel. Because fridges operate 24 hours a day, this technology has a huge potential energy cost saving. In designing and testing his Solar Freez invention, Mathews also won the Meiring Naude Award for the most innovative project in the development of science in SA and he achieved two second place awards at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Mathew’s Solar Freez unit offers refrigeration to rural areas where electricity and liquid petroleum are not available.
Contact Zahn Matthee of Eskom. Tel: (011) 800 4429.

Responsible tourism: The Imvelo Awards
In her talk at the inaugural Imvelo Award ceremony held in Sandton at the start of the World Summit this year, Mary Metcalfe (MEC of Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs) spoke about the partnership between the Greening the Summit initiative and Responsible Tourism, saying that the Greening initiative was an attempt at recycling attitudes and patterns of behaviour and that Fedhasa (the official representative of the hospitality industry) had already responded by helping to change behaviour and improve practice in the hospitality and tourism industry. Imvelo, central to the Hospitality Industry’s Campaign for Responsible Tourism, rewards those who are contributing towards sustainable practices. She said improved practices would bring their own economic rewards.

Responsible Tourism which is underpinned by sound environmental, social and economic principles, offers a way to minimise environmental impacts, benefit local communities and reduce poverty. Earlier this year the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism published Responsible Tourism Guidelines, and the Campaign for Responsible Tourism initiated by industry has already succeeded in getting numerous industry members to sign a Statement of Intent to adhere to the guidelines within their establishments. (See article ‘What is best practice ecotourism?’ in UGF’s special WSSD issue, Jul/Aug 2002, page 207.)

The Imvelo Awards recognised best practice in a number of categories and the Overall Best Practice Award went to Phinda Private Game Reserve, owned and managed by the CCAfrica Group. Phinda also won in the category Best Contribution towards Natural Environment Programme. Much of the land had been scarred by decades of inappropriate farming methods and old farm equipment, internal fences and powerlines had to be removed and a comprehensive ecological rehabilitation programme implemented. Invasive bush species were removed to restore the water balance. The land has been restocked with 1 000 head of game and Phinda’s cheetah introduction programme has been the most successful in SA, resulting in a net surplus of 90 cheetah for the reserve. The reserve has actively involved the community in its operations (employing 250 people of whom 80% are locals) and supports social and economic development projects.

Sun City won the Best Practice award for an Accommodation Establishment. In addition to its Environmental Management Committee, Sun City has a Corporate Social Investment programme which directs its work with local communities and contributes to development in the region. The resort is totally self-sufficient in waste management, recycling paper, glass, plastics and cans on a daily basis. It also recycles as much water as possible and its sewerage plant filters up to 2 million litres of water a day. Because of the infrastructure put in place to supply Sun City, the local authority has been able to offer reticulated water to villages and townships in the vicinity. The resort’s refrigeration plants are being replaced on an ongoing basis to comply with the requirement of the Montreal Accord for the use of ozone friendly gases. Sun City financially supports the Endangered Wild Dog Project which has facilitated the introduction of dogs into the neighbouring Pilanesberg National Park.

Winner for the Best Water Conservation Programme was Sabi Sabi. Each of the reserve’s three lodges has its own wetland system for the treatment of waste¬water. The Sandton Convention Centre was the winner for both the Best Air Quality Programme and the Best Energy Management Programme. It has a detailed Environmental Management System (EMS) in place to ensure that the facility operates in an environmentally responsible manner and that is one of the reasons it was selected to host the World Summit (see article on page 37 of the May/June 2001 issue of UGF). Shangana Cultural Village in Mpumalanga, which was developed to celebrate and conserve the Shangaan culture, was the winner in the Best Practice by a Small, Medium or Micro Enterprise (SMME).

Rocktail Bay Lodge in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park (a World Heritage Site) operated by Wilderness Safaris won in the category Best Community Involvement Programme. The local communities, the Mqobela and the Mpukane, and the conservation authority (Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife) have a shareholding in both the lodge owning and operating companies. The supply of fresh produce, curios, cultural tourism activities and other services to the lodge have provided economic opportunities for local residents.

The Holiday Inn Garden Court, Milpark, Johannesburg, won for the Best Waste Management Programme – one that is not only environmentally responsible but is also improving its local urban surroundings. Staff and management have been made aware of the need to recycle through a training program¬me developed at the hotel. Guests are asked to separate materials in their rooms and are provided with separation bins for this purpose. The programme has halved the waste to landfill reducing costs for the hotel. Old linen is donated to charities and what would have become waste food is used for a soup kitchen that feeds the homeless.
Contact Willem Fick executive director of Fedhasa. Tel: (011) 886-2394. Website: www.fedhasa.co.za

Potable water production based on solar distillation
Many rural communities in SA that do not have reliable access to clean drinking water are situated in geographical areas where the annual solar radiation levels are high and where saline groundwater is available. A research project funded by the Water Research Commission into the economic viability of producing potable water for such communities, through groundwater desalination with the use of solar energy, was launched in 1999.

A local private company, MSS (Pty) Ltd, in close collaboration with the Department of Chemistry of the University of Stellenbosch and the Chemical Engineering Department of the Cape Town Technikon, developed and optimised a number of solar distillation designs (solar stills) over a period of a year. This phase of the project was concluded with a solar still design that conformed to the project goals of affordability, durability and performance.

During the next year, a potable water production plant based on the above-mentioned technology was developed and tested at different sites in Bushmanland and along the West Coast. After satisfactory completion of these field trials, enough technical and scientific data existed to conclude the project with a community-based pilot study. The community of Kerkplaas near Ladysmith in the winter rainfall region of the Klein Karoo was identified for this study.

At Kerkplaas the solar radiation levels were high, especially during the dry summer months, and a borehole with saline groundwater was available. A solar desalination plant, based on solar still technology, was commissioned at Kerkplaas during December 2002 and it has subsequently been supplying more than suffcient volumes of drinking and cooking water, conforming to national health standards, to the community.

Members of the Kerkplaas community were identified by community leaders and made part of the project team. They played a leading role in identifying the site for the plant and were actively involved in the construction of the plant infrastructure. To date, all routine plant monitoring and water sampling is still carried out by community members.

Fresh water production plants based on solar distillation are now being marketed into niche market sectors that they can potentially serve. Interest in such water supply systems has been expressed by DWAF, district municipalities, the Development Bank of SA and single home users (such as farmers).
Contact Ian Goldie. Tel: (021) 808 3175. Email: Igoldie@intekom.co.za Website: http://home.intekom.com/canichem/html/stills.html

Sharing groundwater information
One of the positive messages to come out of the one-day conference on groundwater issues, held in Somerset West in September 2002, was that groundwater can play a major role in ensuring that Cape Town has an adequate supply of water in the future. A five-year study has been commissioned to assess the feasibility of developing local aquifers for this purpose.

Mike Killik of the City of Cape Town said: “The Table Mountain Group Aquifer and the Cape Flats Aquifer could play a significant role in bulk water supply to Cape Town within the next 10 years. If these sources do not prove to be viable options, desalination will have to be brought forward by six to nine years. This will increase the cost of water significantly in the medium to long term.”

Organised by the Western Cape Branch of the Groundwater Division of the Geological Society of SA, the purpose of the conference was to afford hydrologists the opportunity of sharing groundwater related information with colleagues and professionals from related disciplines, such as catchment managers, environmental consultants and engineers.

Topics that were addressed during the day were: avoiding conflict over Africa’s water resources; effects of the Cape Flats aquifer on the water quality of False Bay; whether EIAs are meeting the challenge of groundwater utilisation; water banking – a process of artificially recharging aquifers with surface water and then abstracting when required; and assessing groundwater use and dependency of terrestrial vegetation in SA.  

Chairman of the conference, Roger Parsons, a specialist groundwater consultant, in his summary stated that groundwater was an undervalued resource which could play a major role in improving conditions for many millions of people in SA, adding that there was a need to take environmental considerations into careful account in all groundwater developments. He said that bulk abstraction could potentially influence springflows and dependent aquatic ecosystems and that appropriate monitoring and management went hand in hand with groundwater development.
Contact Roger Parsons Cell: 083 310 6504. Tel: (021) 885 2480. Email: roger@pasgc.co.za

International Year of the Mountains
The UN has proclaimed 2002 as the International Year of the Mountains to increase international awareness of the importance of mountain ecosystems, and to promote the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions. Mountains are fragile ecosystems which are globally important as water catchment areas, repositories of rich biodiversity, destinations for recreation and tourism, and areas of important cultural heritage. Mountains provide a direct life-support base for about one-tenth of humankind. They also provide 30-60% of downstream fresh water in humid areas and up to 70-95% in semiarid to arid environments. 

The Magaliesberg Protected Natural Environment (PNE) declared in 1977, protects the core area of the Magaliesberg range. It stretches along the length of most of the range and consists of many strips and blocks of land, mostly privately owned. The protected area is on average only about 5-6km wide and in some sections is as narrow as 2km in width. Many developments threaten the integrity of the protected environment and organisations such as the Mountain Club of SA and the Magaliesberg Protection Association are continuously invol¬ved in trying to ensure that the PNE border is respected and that developments are appro¬priate for this nearpristine area.

To celebrate the Year of the Mountains, the Magaliesberg Section of the Mountain Club of South Africa invited a group of concerned people, including some in decisionmaking positions, to visit Maretlwane Kloof on the property of Advocate Francois Junod. The property has been donated to Pretoria Boys High School for the development of a unique Bushveld School.  

Junod said that he had given the farm in trust to the school to ensure that generations of school children could be given an in-depth experience of wilderness. He said the youth would, through their experience of the Magaliesberg which were some 2, 6 billion years old – some of the oldest mountains in the world – act as messengers about the environment. He called them “ambassadors of silence”, saying: “Through the silence of wilderness, you can hear many things.”

He spoke about the voluntary agreement that he had with downstream farmers that they would give up 50% of the water that they obtained from the Maretlwane River at the low flow period between August and October to sustain the needs of the biota – as an ecological reserve. Junod was at the forefront of the writing of the country’s new water laws. He also acknowledged the Weeds Research Division of the Plant Protection Research Institute for their help in conjunction with the Mountain Club in protecting the range from alien invasive plant species such as the Mexican Devil Weed (see article entitled ‘Garden escape runs riot in Magaliesberg’ in Sep/Oct issue of UGF, page 28).
Contact Ottilie Neser, Mountain Club Conservation Convenor. Tel: (012) 323 8540. Websites: http://www.mountains2002.org and http://mcsa.org.za/iym.html

Study of urban pollution in London
A four year study of central London’s traffic and air pollution problems is being undertaken by transport, air dispersion and pollutant experts from London’s Imperial College and Surrey University. The study – the dispersion of air pollution and penetration into the local environment (Dapple, for short) – will examine the best ways of making localised pollution hotspots less invasive and unhealthy, and discover contamination differences between roads where traffic accelerates and those of congested areas where vehicles are queueing.

Dr Roy Colvile of Imperial College said: “Hopefully Dapple will reveal the real benefits of measures such as ‘congestion charging’. The air quality improvement suggested by London’s present Mayor’s proposed scheme to tax vehicles entering the inner city might be undetectably small, using the measures conventionally applied by local and national government, but that is because they fail to represent what people actually experience as ‘bad’ air quality because they live and work in a big city like London. If we can identify ways of rewarding less polluting options such as cycling and walking that will represent a real step forward to a more sustainable achievement within our stressed urban transport system.”

Dapple will also assess whether or not pollution reaches backstreets by going over buildings or around them; and the likely results of pollution released into the atmosphere by dry cleaning and small industrial outlets.
Contact Abigail Smith of London’s Imperial College. Tel: +44 20 7589 5111. Email: abigail.smith@ic.ac.uk Website: www.ic.ac.uk

Launch of the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) Secretariat
The new GISP Secretariat which is to be based in Cape Town was launched during the World Summit. Seed money to set up the Secretariat has been provided by the World Bank, one of the biggest financiers of biodiversity protection. GISP was initially developed in January 1996 and established in 1997 to address the global threats caused by invasive alien species and to provide support for the implementation of Article 8 (h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is operated by a consortium of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), CAB International and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in partnership with UNEP.

GISP seeks to improve the scientific basis for decision-making on invasive species; develop capacities to employ early warning and rapid assessment and response systems; enhance the ability to manage invasives; reduce the economic impacts of invasives and control methods; develop better risk assessment methods; and strengthen international agreements.

Guy Preston of the internationally renowned Working for Water Programme said a global policy on invasives was essential, as the biggest single threat to biodiversity was invading alien plants – a reciprocal respect amongst countries would help to guard against careless and often accidental exportation and importation of invasive aliens.

Jeff McNeely, chief scientist of IUCN, commented that the problem of invasive species was a quintessential global problem – a problem which needed to be approached at source as well as at destination. He said that there were three things that GISP needed to do, urgently: to build stronger links between trade issues and the problem of invasive aliens, through bringing this to the attention of the World Trade Organisation; to establish cost effective approaches towards the eradication of invasives; and to bring the problem to the attention of the general public. He said: “We need to move GISP into the implementation stage.”
The publication ‘Global Strategy on Invasive Alien Species’ is available from IUCN Publications Services Unit. Email: info@books.iucn.org Website: http://www.iucn.org

Tshwane municipality contributes towards survey into biological control for Jacaranda
Jacaranda mimosifolia has been declared a Category 3 invader plant and, according to amended regulation 15 of the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (No 43 of 1983), may not be propagated, sold or planted, but may be allowed to continue to grow if the tree had already been planted on the date of the amendment. Pretoria is known as the Jacaranda City as its streets are lined with this exotic which when it flowers produces an incomparable display. It is a major tourist attraction for Pretoria (Tshwane).

When the regulations were being updated and Pretorians became aware of the new status of their much loved tree, there was an outcry in the city’s newspapers – in fact, an outcry countrywide. As a result of their determination to find a way to keep planting the tree and replacing it as a street tree on the main routes, so as not to lose the character of the City provided by its 40 000 Jacarandas, the Land and Environmental Planning Division of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality’s Planning Department put in a request for the funds to be made available for a preliminary feasibility study into the biological control of seed production in Jacarandas.

Dr Stefan Neser of the Weeds Research Division of the Plant Protection Research Institute prepared a proposal for the Municipality and Tshwane has allocated funding for a preliminary feasibility study to be done by Dr Neser. He will be leaving for Argen¬tina (the Jacaranda’s region of origin) towards the end of the year. He is already aware of numerous possib¬ilities that might provide the answer to Pretoria’s dilemma and Urban Green File will be interviewing him when he returns from his trip.

Urban Green File would like to commend Tshwane Municipality on their practical action. A seed eating insect or similar biological control agent could mean that the problem of invasion by Jacarandas is eventually brought under control, leaving people free to plant this ornamental tree in gardens, parks and streets.
Contact Bertie Dry of Parks and Horticultural Services, Tshwane. Email: BertieD@tshwane.gov.za

Succulent rockery at Wits Botanical Garden
After many years of planning and collecting plants, cuttings and seed, largely from the network of eight National Botanical Gardens around the country, the new succulent rockery was finally opened on 28 August 2002, in celebration of the World Summit as well as the 20th anniversary of the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden. At the official opening function Prof Brian Huntley (CEO of the NBI) said the new succulent rockery was of ‘world class’ standards.

In 1999 it was decided to redevelop the lower part of the former succulent garden into a properly constructed succulent rockery. Although funds at the time were not available to support the project, permission was obtained from the local municipality to collect large quartzite boulders from areas that were due for development. The succulent garden was born, although the money for lifting equipment, infrastructure and transport was non-existent. Slowly, as the gardens operational budget allowed, a few truck loads of rocks started to trickle in.

In 2001 the Bankenveld branch of the Botanical Society agreed to foot the bill and work began in earnest. About 200m3 of specially mixed soil and somewhere in the region of 250 tonnes of rock were loaded, shifted, pushed, pulled and carefully positioned. Countless hours were spent collecting the small hand-sized cobblestones used to create some 200m of pathways which define the garden layout.

The garden was designed and implemented by horticulturist Andrew Hankey and the competent team of trained gardeners who maintain the botanical garden at the high level that visitors have come to expect.

The main objective of the garden is to display the succulent splendour of South Africa and educate both tourists and local visitors about the unending array of succulent plants that abound in South Africa. The garden is divided into two sections. There is a small winter rainfall area which accommodates plants that prefer wetter winters to those experienced in Gauteng. The balance of the garden will showcase all kinds of indigenous succulent plants that can be grown in an open garden under highveld conditions. Many rare plants are also being cultivated in the garden as part of the garden’s threatened plant programme, which assists nature conservation authorities with the conservation of rare and threatened species.

Small quantities of unusual succulent plants will be made available to the public through the on-site Garden Centre managed by Random Harvest Nursery. These special items will appear at the nursery from time to time, as and when the plants become available.
Contact the Wits Botanical Garden at 958 1750.

The Audubon Co-operative Sanctuary Programme for Golf Courses
Nigel Butler, former chairman of the Golf Course Managers and Greenkeepers Association and the present secretary of the Turfgrass Association of SA, spoke to Urban Green File about Audubon International – an environmental organisation based in the USA and dedicated to improving the quality of the environment through research, education and conservation assistance. An aspect of the Audubon Movement is the Audubon Co-operative Sanctuary Programme for Golf Courses and Butler said that there were compelling reasons for golf courses in South Africa to adopt such a programme.

He mentioned a conversation that he had had at the recent Australian Turfgrass Conference with David Warwick, the course superintendent at Avondale Golf Club in Australia. Warwick had signed up for the Audubon Programme and had found that enhancing and protecting natural resources and minimising the potentially harmful impacts of his course had led not only to financial savings and good public relations but to his own personal development – he had gained a great awareness of the value of creating wildlife habitats and great satisfaction through improving the quality of open space on his golf course. In a paper he gave at the Turfgrass Conference, he strongly advocated that courses should join the programme.

The initial step is to register the course with Audubon International. The membership package includes a book entitled ‘A Guide to Environmental Stewardship on the Golf Course’ which gives a comprehensive overview of the programme; a subscription to the newsletter ‘Stewardship News’ and a ‘Certification Handbook’. Step two involves the completion of a site assessment and environmental plan with the objective of, through the implementation of environmental management strategies, becoming a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. A course can be certified in six key environmental areas: environmental planning; wildlife and habitat management; chemical use reduction and safety; water conservation; water quality management; and outreach and education.
Website: www.audubonintl.org

The Audubon Co-operative Sanctuary Programme for Golf Courses
Nigel Butler, former chairman of the Golf Course Managers and Greenkeepers Association and the present secretary of the Turfgrass Association of SA, spoke to Urban Green File about Audubon International – an environmental organisation based in the USA and dedicated to improving the quality of the environment through research, education and conservation assistance. An aspect of the Audubon Movement is the Audubon Co-operative Sanctuary Programme for Golf Courses and Butler said that there were compelling reasons for golf courses in South Africa to adopt such a programme.

He mentioned a conversation that he had had at the recent Australian Turfgrass Conference with David Warwick, the course superintendent at Avondale Golf Club in Australia. Warwick had signed up for the Audubon Programme and had found that enhancing and protecting natural resources and minimising the potentially harmful impacts of his course had led not only to financial savings and good public relations but to his own personal development – he had gained a great awareness of the value of creating wildlife habitats and great satisfaction through improving the quality of open space on his golf course. In a paper he gave at the Turfgrass Conference, he strongly advocated that courses should join the programme.

The initial step is to register the course with Audubon International. The membership package includes a book entitled ‘A Guide to Environmental Stewardship on the Golf Course’ which gives a comprehensive overview of the programme; a subscription to the newsletter ‘Stewardship News’ and a ‘Certification Handbook’. Step two involves the completion of a site assessment and environmental plan with the objective of, through the implementation of environmental management strategies, becoming a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. A course can be certified in six key environmental areas: environmental planning; wildlife and habitat management; chemical use reduction and safety; water conservation; water quality management; and outreach and education.
Website: www.audubonintl.org

Paper recycling initiative
The waste paper collection efforts of schools, churches and charity organisations over a three month period from March to May saved more than 63 000 pine trees. This is the number that would have had to be felled to produce the fibre equivalent of the 3 744 tonnes of old magazines, newspapers and cardboard boxes that were collected. In a ‘Recycling Reaps Rewards’ (RRR) initiative launched by Mondi Recycling in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, schools excelled generally and the Cape schools put up outstanding performances with three finishing in the top five places.

Kronendal Primary School in Hout Bay collected 92 tonnes of waste paper to take first place and earn a cash prize of R50 000, while Grassy Park High School was placed second with 62 tonnes collected which earned them R40 000 and Kenridge Primary finished fifth with 50 tonnes and was rewarded with a prize of R15 000. Two Pretoria schools finished in the top six places and there were two KZN schools in the top ten places.

Raingem, an entrepreneurial company managing refuse sites was the highest placed KZN organisation, taking fourth place with 51 tonnes of waste paper collected and earning a cash prize of R20 000. Raingem donated a percentage of its earnings to the Keep Durban Beautiful campaign. Ry-Ma-In, a self-help home for quadriplegics in Linden Johannesburg took tenth place and was the highest placed Johannesburg organisation, with 41 tonnes of waste paper collected and a cash prize of R10 000.

Apart from saving trees, the RRR initiative also prevented 3 744 tonnes of waste paper from being committed to municipal landfills where it would have taken up more than 11 000m3 of space – equal to about 10 Olympic-size swimming pools – considerably reducing the life of the landfills.

Peter Hunter, Mondi Recycling’s national marketing manager, emphasised that it was in the national interest to collect more waste paper. He said that SA homes generated about 340 000 tonnes of waste paper every year, of which only 30 000 tonnes (less than 9%) was recovered for recycling. “We need to increase the recovery of waste paper significantly. For these reasons we are offering PaperBanks – large igloo-like fibreglass containers into which paper can be placed for collection and eventual recycling – to institutions countrywide” said Hunter.

A total of 1 734 institutions took part in Mondi Recycling’s RRR initiative and tonnages collected rose by 71% over the three-month promotion. Of the competing institutions, 151 were previously disadvantaged operations. Collectively they brought in 316 tonnes of waste paper for which they were paid more than R60 000, in addition to promotional cash prizes won in the RRR competition.

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TREE OF THE ISSUE

Johann and Leigh Nieuwoudt choose two of the Elders
Nuxia Congesta and Nuxia Floribunda

Wild Elders
Johann and Leigh Nieuwoudt of Simply Indigenous nursery near Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West Province have chosen two of the Wild Elders – the Common Wild Elder (Nuxia congesta) and the Forest Elder (Nuxia floribunda) – as the Trees of the Issue. They are both evergreen trees, with the Common Wild Elder being the smaller (not much above 5-7m in suburban gardens) and hardier of the two. The natural habitat of the latter is rocky areas in grassland, bushveld and on the fringes of forests, inland in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces but also along the eastern coastline; whereas the Forest Elder is found in and around forests, largely along the south and east coasts from George northwards but also inland in a belt towards the Soutpansberg in Limpopo Province.

Both the Nieuwoudts favour Nuxia congesta because it is the easier of the two to keep in shape, largely because it has a moderate growth rate (40-50cm yearly), in comparison to the fast growing N. floribunda (1m yearly), which is also the more sensitive and should not be grown in areas prone to heavy frost, unless it is carefully protected by positioning it in a north or west facing situation against a wall. N. congesta, they say, can be used everywhere, is adaptable to the whole gamut of soils from clay to sand and does not require much water. It will burn in a black frost but can be nipped back and will sprout again quickly. N. floribunda is less versatile in its adaptability to soils and, being a forest plant, needs a lot of compost and a lot of water. Both species will grow in sun or dappled shade.

Both trees are winter flowering. The Forest Elder produces a larger, very dramatic but shorter flush of flowers. The small flowers are white to cream-coloured, scented and in large loose terminal sprays, and they appear over July and August. The Common Wild Elder produces smaller heads of scented flowers intermittently, over a longer period. Indige¬nous bees and some adult butterflies are attracted to the flowers and these, in turn, attract insect-eating birds. Three species of butterfly use N. floribunda as their host plant and N. congesta is host to the larvae of one species. The fruit of both trees are small capsules which split to release fine seed for dispersal by the wind.

According to the Nieuwoudts, N. congesta is an excellent container plant and the more you prune it, the more compact it gets. It also serves as a low screening or hedge plant. Its foliage varies greatly in shape, size and texture. It is an excellent focal plant for a small garden. In their landscaping work, the Nieuwoudts have used N. floribunda in avenues or in linear formation along borders, sometimes in combination with other indigenous varieties that have been trained up into standards. Its exposed, long, slender stem with its greyish-brown, flaky bark is very pleasing aesthetically, while its glossy leaves combine well with other indigenous trees in a woodland landscape. The tree also serves well as a background or screening plant.

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INSPIRATION

A magix carpet
It takes something exceptional to surprise you in downtown Johan¬nesburg these days. Jo’burg is not a city of small things and size does normally matter. I went walking near the old Standard Bank HQ in ‘downtown’ and came across a stupendous row of metre-high erect concrete penises basking in the early morning sun. I stopped in my tracks. In admiration, I suppose? More likely in shock at the crudeness of the detail.

By now, I have become quite comfortable with seeing downtown as a series of islands, loosely connected by the spaces between. From the colourful improvement districts to the self-contained office-cities of the Banks, the streets and their spaces are the glue that holds together a series of floating islands. In this way, my perception of the city is coarse-grained, even if my experience of it is flavoured by detail – the sounds, the smell, the colour, and the textures. One of my favourite islands is the Hollard Street Mall.

I have always loved this particular space between these particular buildings. Looking around, I noticed the spandrel panels of the adjoining building – this is what Jo’burg used to be good at. In the face of the imposing, the grandiose, the posturing: a touch of whimsy, of the delicate. Iconography of power – perhaps? Glorifying industry? But it certainly beats the newly installed phallic symbols (Is there something else that I can call them?).

I have always loved the bush-hammered concrete lily-leaf light pylons, with their green light making you feel as if you are looking up towards the sky through a pond of clear water. I love the old Standard Bank building, with its sheer glass walls disappearing into the canyon of its banking hall below street level. One of the best ways in Johannesburg of attaching a building to the ground, I think.

A part of the Mall (below the phallic bollards) has recently been rebuilt at the initiative of SA Eagle and is now called SA Eagle Square. It is a difficult space to work with, imposing facades all around and any number of ‘found objects’ floating about: from one of those fantastic light pylons to the old bull-and-bear relief sculpture wall of the old Stock Exchange. What is the best way to describe how the design has been handled? A magic carpet. Carpet, in the sense of a continuous, unifying tapestry that weaves together the pieces. Magic, in the sense of the small touches, the delight in the ordinary, the celebration of amenity and place.

In a city of big gestures, this place is for the small things that delight. In comparison to some of the other recent urban place rebuilds in Johannesburg, this project exceeds the low standards that have been set. Urban space lives or dies by its ability to support everyday use, and there are few places in town that freely allow this. Here, on the magic carpet of Hollard Street, is an inclusive way of making urban space truly useful.

There is amenity in the well-shaped concrete benches, wrapped around the grown trees that provide real shade in a hot city. The benches in turn appear to float like ships in the stream of paving patterns, unanchored, like loose drifting thoughts over lunchtime.

There is the celebration of the passing of time in this place, in the way that stainless steel cut-outs of the leaves of the trees are set into benches and the pavement. The falling leaf, that old symbol of the passing of time, cast into stone, frozen, while life in all its colour carries on around us.

There is history and its traces – from the bull-and-bear relief, almost appearing like a beached whale washed up from another time, cutting across the lines of pattern, separate but now given a place and respected. There are the amazing mosaics, set in diagonal strips, giving delight to the eye, detail to mull over – providing food for the mind while the lunchtime sandwich feeds the body.

The mosaics in themselves connecting this space to the wider city: a series of fragments of the city grid, pieces of the map, names of other places...President, Claim, Power. All the glory of Johannesburg, scattered on the floor like so many shards of memory of the past.

My island has had an inspired upgrade, and I have another reason to come back to one of my favourite places in the city.

Project team
Landscape architects: Green Inc
Mosaics: Marco Cianfanelli
Project managers: Project Logics
Client: SA Eagle

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REMNANTS OF NATURE IN URBAN AREAS

Nerine rehmanii in suburban Gauteng
Urban Green File is hoping to create awareness and encourage conservation of the valuable natural areas that we have remaining within the parameters of our towns and cities, countrywide.

Professor Paul Ehrlich, renowned ecologist and conservationist, said in his keynote address to the Conference on the Conservation of SA’s Biodiversity held in Cape Town in 1988: “Our first priority in this uniquely biodiverse portion of the planet should be to ensure that all developments are located on already disturbed sites. All pristine areas should be considered sacrosanct.”

UGF is on a search for those near-pristine areas within our urban environments that hide floral or faunal gems. Here is our first discovery – Nerine rehmanii – found on the ridges of suburban Gauteng. Readers are invited to participate by sending in information about unusual finds in urban areas.

This beautiful small Nerine, which is a species threatened by urbanisation, can still be found on portions of undisturbed rocky ridges in suburban Gauteng –  where it continues to grow, it is quite abundant. Its worst enemy is a pest that is on the increase in lush suburban gardens – the Amaryllis worm. Suburban gardens are a perennial source of this pest as various species of the Amaryllis family are in flower or in leaf all year round. Colonies of Nerine rehmanii have also been smothered by the illegal dumping of construction waste. In peri-urban areas its shallow bulbs are trampled by cattle, goats and sheep. The best remaining colonies are found on the partially transformed ridges on the eastern side of Johannesburg, where there are no large grazing ungulates.

Charles Craib, a grower of rare indigenous plant species, has provided Urban Green File with some of his present thinking on this little known species. He has observed that the species requires a habitat of shallow soil amongst rocks and a limited amount of short grass. It is usually found in periodically wet areas where there is moss growth and is related to water held in rock crevices. For it to thrive, Nerina rehmanii needs to be in an area which oscillates between very wet and very dry. It flowers at the end of February and into March, needing lots of sunlight to stimulate flowering.

Charles has never seen its pollinator and he speculates that it may rely on a combination of wind pollination, as it grows in fairly exposed areas, and insect pollination. He has found the seed, which is produced in abundance, except during droughts, to be highly fertile and comments that the plant is capable of flowering within a year from seed – which he says is very unusual for an Amaryllid.

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FEATURES

Waste Minimisation Clubs at Rosslyn
Having experienced first-hand the environmental, financial and efficiency benefits of actively pursuing waste and pollution reduction at source, BMW’s Rosslyn facility approached BECO-Institute for Sustainable Business, in an initiative aimed at addressing the Rosslyn industrial area’s waste and pollution.

Bas Kothuis, managing director of BECO-ISB says: “We’ve had considerable success in the Western Cape in setting-up and running Waste Minimisation ‘Clubs’. When BMW approached us to launch similar initiatives in Rosslyn, we were excited at the potential of assisting organisations and reducing environmental impacts in Gauteng as well.”

Member companies of Waste Minimisation Clubs (WMC’s) nominate an appropriate person to attend WMC meetings every alternate month. Amongst other benefits, members receive training in Cleaner Production techniques, updated information regarding relevant regulations and legislation, and the opportunity to share experiences in pollution prevention. The combined fees paid by member companies, enable BECO-ISB to deliver this information and training, together with technical Waste Minimisation Opportunity Assessments of member facilities, at a cost-effective membership rate.

The WMC for Large Companies in the Western Cape has much to boast about (see article on page 220 of UGF’s World Summit issue, Jul/Aug 2002). Having been in operation for only one year, its member organisations have identified combined potential annual savings of up to   R8 million. This is largely through preventative measures which create energy and raw materials savings, and reduce wastes, effluent and air-emissions. Determined to continue with the initiative to learn yet more and to maximise potential benefits, the member organisations (Caltex, Milnerton; Namakwa Sands, Vredenburg; Simba, Parow; SANS Fibres, Bellville South; KWV, Paarl; British American Tobacco, Paarl; South African Breweries, Newlands) have not only embarked on a second year of WMC operation, but have agreed to enlarge their membership base. Thus the circle of competence and the potential to reduce local environmental impacts will enlarge still further.

Dalene Viljoen, environmental manager for BMW SA, is committed to environmental protection and to playing a role in reducing the impacts of Rosslyn’s industrial activities. She sees the WMCs as a first step towards an Environmental Forum for the Rosslyn area. This forum will serve as a Center of Competence for the area and will be made up of representatives from the Rosslyn WMCs and representatives from national, provincial and local government. ISO14001 certified itself, BMW also sees WMCs as a tool to assist their supply chain in embarking on environmental improvements, in line with BMW’s requirements.

One of BMW’s waste minimisation projects resulted in a reduction in water usage of more than 80% per unit produced: totaling 459 240m³ per year (enough water to supply 76 540 households with one month of their free water allocation of 6kl). A second reduction project reduced Chrome 6+ in the effluent to below 0,005 mg/l. This significant reduction in Chrome 6+ (about 83% over the last 4 years), constitutes a major step in reducing the environmental and health impacts emanating from the industry and sets a benchmark for other players to emulate. In financial terms, these two projects alone resulted in an annual financial saving to BMW of US$ 617 076, with a return on investment of more than 6000%!

Sue Bellinger, BECO-ISB’s representative in Gauteng, is excited by the prospect of facilitating the WMCs in Rosslyn. “A change in mindset is what this is about” she says. “Once organisations start to identify the potential savings that they could achieve by NOT doing business as usual, they start to get really enthusiastic. Not only do the organisations themselves benefit both financially and in terms of efficiency, but very importantly so does the environment”.

Decision-makers from 20 organisations operating within the Rosslyn area attended a WMC launch meeting, hosted by BMW’s Rosslyn plant, earlier this year. Ike Ndlovu, deputy director: Cleaner Production, within the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Marba Visagie, deputy director: Standards and the Environment, within the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) both delivered presentations in support of the initiative, as did Chris Hugo, deputy manager: Waste Minimisation for the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

Also attending and representing support for the concept were the Department of Water Affairs, the Plastics Federation of South Africa, The Responsible Container Management Association of South Africa and Alan Brent who holds the Chair of Life Cycle Engineering at the University of Pretoria.

From initial responses received, indications are that one to two WMCs are likely to result from the launch meeting, with participating companies standing to be the first in Rosslyn to benefit from the initiative. BECO will apply for support from DTI’s Sector Partnership Fund thus potentially reducing company membership fees to below R8 000 per annum.

“The opportunity to pursue cleaner production is available to organisations of all sizes and types (industrial, commercial, institutions, etc)” says Bellinger. “We hope that many more will come forward to embark on reduction initiatives. Prevention really needs to become an operational focus so as to avoid both costs and environmental impacts.”

Information on ‘Waste Minimisation Clubs in Rosslyn’ was obtained from Sue Bellinger of Enviro Fringe Services, BECO-ISB’s representative in Gauteng. Tel: (011) 787 1497. Email: sbellinger@beco.co.za

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The Consumption Barometer
Greening the WSSD initiative
The Greening the WSSD initiative was the first attempt to reduce the environmental impact of a major UN Summit on the host city. The Consumption Barometer highlighted the impact, on a day by day basis, of collective human activity on natural resources over the period of the Summit – an attempt to give delegates and the public an idea of consumption patterns over this period. The barometer was displayed on plasma screens at five major Summit venues, on eletronic billboards and on the internet, and was published in daily newspapers. Claudia Holgate, project manager of Greening the WSSD, provided some insight into the logistics of this ambitious project.

Greening the WSSD is being funded and supported by Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs (DACEL), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). (For an introduction to the initiative, see the article ‘How green will the Summit be?’ in the March/April issue of Urban Green File.)

An environmental evaluation, based on three days in August (14-16) before the start of the Summit, provided baseline information on consumption levels at five major Summit venues: the Sandton Convention Centre (SCC) (UN Conference); the Ubuntu Village (sustainability exhibition); Nasrec (Civil Society Global Forum); the Hilton Hotel (Business for Sustainable Development); and the Crowne Plaza Hotel (local government session). Four factors or variables were taken into account – waste, water, electricity and CO2. Accurate figures showing the change in consumption levels over the months were not available for Nasrec and Ubuntu, so the decision was made to utilise the consumption figures from three days before the opening of Ubuntu as the baseline. The baseline for future Summits will be calculated from the figures obtained at the Johannesburg Summit. The final figures will be produced in the Lessons Learnt report which should be available on the website (www.greeningthewssd.com) by early December 2002. 

During the Summit, daily consumption figures from all five venues were fed into the barometer and measured as a percentage increase (or decrease) from the baseline. Each factor (except for water) had an offset which was the result of a direct intervention of the Greening project. The offsets were subtracted from the factors being measured.

Errol Cerff of Common Ground Consulting, who also provided environmental auditing services before, during and post Summit, worked with Holgate to obtain the information and update the barometer. They had to liaise with up to 20 people to obtain the required figures on a daily basis.

Waste generation
The components calculated on a daily basis were waste to landfill which was weighed at landfill, and recyclables which were weighed on site. According to Holgate, the recycling figures which were used as an offset were slightly skewed away from their true value because weighing is not the ideal way of measuring recyclables – volume is clearly a better measure of recycling success in terms of saving landfill space.

The SCC, Hilton and Crowne Plaza had their own integrated waste management systems in place before the Summit and their waste was separated on site by independent waste contractors, baled, weighed and removed by recycling companies or removed to landfill (see article on environmental management at SCC in May/June 2001 issue of UGF page 37 and Imvelo Awards on page 7 of this issue). These figures were sent through each day except from the SCC, where the stringent security measures created a logistical challenge and trucks could only be brought into the conference centre on a weekly basis. The recycling percentages from the SCC, Hilton and Crowne Plaza were impressive.

The weighing of recyclables was done by waste consultants Jarrod Ball & Associates at the weigh stations set up at Ubuntu and Nasrec, while the waste to landfill from these venues was weighed at Pikitup’s landfill sites. Earthlife Africa launched their Zero Waste campaign at Nasrec (see annotated photographs for further information) which was run along similar lines as the waste separation at Ubuntu except that no provision was made for the separate collection of plastics which were largely ‘banned’ from this venue – particularly PVC, in keeping with UNEP’s Stockholm Convention.

Plastic straws for cooldrink cans were not acceptable at any of the venues because that grade of plastic is not easily recycled and because the straws were more likely to stay in the cooldrink cans and land up in the bin for metal cans.

Recyclables at these two venues were weighed before and after final sorting to establish the extent of co-mingling in the separation bins. These bins were in place at all the venues to encourage visitors to separate at source. The recycling companies removed their materials (paper, glass, cans and plastics) from site. Volunteers at Ubuntu monitored the recycling stations where each bin was clearly labelled both in writing and by means of pictograms and encouraged the public to separate at source – and as the Summit progressed, so the recycling rates went up.

Because there is no licensed composting facility for food waste near Johannesburg, biodegradables were not collected separately at four of the venues, whereas at Nasrec special bins were provided for compostables and, according to Earthlife Africa, the food scraps were destined for pig farms in the area. As a result of awareness gained at the Summit, Pikitup is investigating the site of an old composting facility with the intention of bringing a licensed facility into operation.

The tonnage of recyclables from all five venues was combined and calculated as a percentage increase (or decrease) against the baseline figure and this was loaded into the barometer on a daily basis, as was the tonnage to landfill. The baseline figures for waste were 5,3 tonnes to landfill/day and 1,59 tonnes to recycling/day. The average total waste per day over the Summit was 18,25 tonnes/day – of which waste to landfill was an average of 13,28 tonnes/day and waste to recycling 4, 96 tonnes/day.

Electricity consumption
Consumption figures for electricity were collected at the same time each day by a partnership of volunteers from JOWSCO and Agama Energy – the company responsible for initiating the green electricity project at the Summit (see article in UGF’s special World Summit issue, July/August 2002, page 135). City Power supplied green electricity to Ubuntu and Nasrec and this served as an offset to coal powered electricity.

Baseline consumption at the five venues combined was 105, 22 MWhrs/day, while over the Summit period the combined consumption rose to just over 140 MWhrs/day. Coal produced electricity was consumed at 101, 48 MWhrs/day and green electricity at 38, 64 MWhrs/day. The entire extra consumption could be offset against the green electricity provided.

Water consumption
Here again, consumption figures were recorded at the same time every day and loaded into the consumption barometer. Although Greening the WSSD gave the Water Neutral initiative (see article in UGF’s WSSD issue, July/August 2002, page 185) its support, the figures achieved could not be used as an offset because there was no direct linkage, as there was with the Carbon Neutral project.

The baseline figure for water consumption was an average of 569, 4 kl/day and the consumption over the Summit showed an increase to 579, 4 kl/day. Throughout the Summit daily figures were displayed on the Consumption Barometer.

CO₂ generation
A baseline figure for carbon generation was worked out across the whole of Johannesburg, as was the approximate expected increase in tonnes per day over the Summit period. The latter related to increased air travel, road usage, electricity usage, waste generation, etc. The CO₂ baseline figure used for Johannesburg was an average of 236 842 tonnes/day, with an expected increase to 290 000 tonnes over the entire Summit period – which manifests in a very small percentage increase per day. The final CO₂ offset amount was 43 421 tonnes, including savings from green electricity. It cost delegates $10 dollars a tonne to offset their CO₂ emissions.

The Greening the WSSD’s offset initiative was a Carbon Neutral campaign called the Johannesburg Climate Legacy (JCL) which was managed by Future Forests (see article in UGF’s WSSD issue, page 192) and will be continued after the Summit through the IUCN secretariat. The money raised will serve as a direct or true offset to carbon emissions, as it is being injected into community projects such as the retrofitting to achieve energy efficiency of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The whole hospital is being retrofitted with Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) which will achieve energy and as a result CO₂ savings. These savings will be signed off to the JCL to offset extra CO₂ generation over the Summit period. The new CFLs will result in reduced energy bills at Baragwanath. Other projects will, for example, supply communities with photo-voltaic cells for their energy requirements and these will be offset against Summit related emissions.

How successful were the interventions?
Holgate commented that because companies hoping to provide services for the Summit had to comply with strict tender requirements concerning choice of materials, they started to develop basic Environmental Management Systems and environmental policies. “They had to go away and think hard about the environment before they presented to the procurement panels,” she observed.

Examples include the choice of metal detectors for security purposes, where WasteTech was brought in by the company manufacturing the detectors to ensure that fibreglass waste materials and chemicals used in the production process would be disposed of responsibly.  Fifty percent of the flowers used for decoration or gifts during the Summit was sourced from sustainable fynbos harvesting; and the 25 tonnes of paper (the UN would not allow recycled paper because of its liability to jam in copiers and faxes) allocated to the SCC was certified from sustainable forests.  

According to Mary Metcalfe, MEC for Gauteng’s DACEL, the importance alone of acknowledging that UN Summits leave ecological footprints and that the negative effects need to be mitigated was extensive – the Greening initiative lifted the level of awareness not only amongst the delegates but opened the eyes of many Johannesburgers. She said that there had been successes as well as failures and that it was necessary to take a critical look at the practices and procedures followed to contribute to growing Best Practice guidelines for future Summits. The Consumption Barometer, she said, served to measure the extent to which the public bought into the initiative and that this would, hopefully, influence behaviour in the future.

She mentioned that the 200 new buses purchased to provide transport for the Summit were fitted with emission control technology as a standard feature and were now a permanent addition to Johannesburg’s fleet. She said that the Gauteng government was investigating the use of green fuel technology for the province’s fleet and was aiming for conversion of the fleet by March 2003. “There are 6 million passenger trips made in Gauteng every day – and traffic is increasing at a rate of 7% per annum. We trust that the awareness created by the Summit will encourage Gauteng drivers to think about CO2 emissions and to alter their driving patterns. If four people use one car, the number of vehicles on the highway can be reduced by a third,” was her comment.

Metcalfe described the recycling rate of 24% achieved during the Summit as commendable in comparison to the recycling norm in Gauteng of 5%. “The hundreds of recycling bins used at Summit venues will continue to be used in the Johannesburg CBD, as part of a cleanup campaign. In addition, a hundred previously unemployed people were employed by Pikitup at the Summit and were taught about waste recycling – they now have the ability to launch their own recycling businesses. If we manage to increase the percentage of recyclable waste in Gauteng from 5% to 25%, our Summit initiatives will have left a really valuable legacy”    

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Some thoughts on sustainable cities
An interview with Zimbabwean architect Mick Pierce
Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce, perhaps best known for his design of the Eastgate building in Harare, was in Johannesburg recently to present a number of papers at the first Southern African Solar Academy, organised jointly by ISES – the International Solar Energy Society, SESSA – the Solar Energy Society of SA, and the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand. In an interview with Leigh Darroll, Mick Pearce spoke about his views on the low-energy city versus the high-energy city and outlined some possibilities that he sees for sustainable urban development in Africa.

Design for integral climate control
Pearce is currently commuting between Zimbabwe and Australia – where he is involved with a team working on the design of a ‘green’ office building for the Melbourne City Council. Asked why there seems to have been relatively limited expansion – by implementation in other buildings – of the design ideas and engineering technologies that were put to work in Eastgate (completed in 1996) and in other projects carried out subsequently by the Pearce Partnership (now Pearce McComish Architects) working in collaboration with Arup (see Urban Green File November/December 2000), Pearce puts forward a number of considerations.

One of the constraining factors, he suggests, is that developers generally – and particularly in the case of speculative projects – do not benefit directly from the cost savings achieved by energy efficient design, as the costs of climate control are passed on to the tenants. Thus the developer often has little interest in energy efficient design.

A further factor is that the fees of professional consultants are traditionally linked to the cost of the building – so where the building itself is designed to manage cooling and heating and the costs of mechanical controls, like air conditioning plant, are eliminated or substantially reduced, the engineering consultants stand to have their fees reduced proportionately. In the case of Eastgate, Pearce points out that the developer, Old Mutual, recognised the broader benefits of seeking an alternative and sustainable design solution and agreed to pay the engineers fees equivalent to those that would have arisen had a conventional design approach been followed. The sum that would have been incurred for air conditioning plant and systems was then dedicated to research and development of the design and technologies that enabled Eastgate to be built to incorporate passive climate controls. So, Pearce suggests, an enlightened developer can support the cause.

The research, development and implementation of the rock stores as a component of the low-technology climatic controls designed into the International School in Harare was made possible by the commitment of the developer and property owner – the representative office of the United States government in Zimbabwe. This commitment was supported by the fact that students from the school were involved in the research and development programme, so the project included an educational aspect.

Regarding the project he is working on in Melbourne, Pearce highlights a political motivation rather than a commercial or directly educational one. He remarks on the fact that the city authorities in Melbourne are particularly concerned with sustainability, they are recognised as enlightened and are keen to reinforce their standing as the most progressive local authority in the country. Pearce celebrates the opportunity of working for such a client.

Adjusting to the green economy
In an aside he suggests that in cities like Melbourne, business and industry are beginning to adjust to ‘green life’ and to recognise the economic opportunities that it introduces. There is a business in Melbourne, for example, that buys installed air conditioning plant from the property owner or developer and leases the air conditioning services back to the building’s tenants at an agreed rate. By managing the operations of the plant and the air conditioning systems to maximum efficiency, this business profits from the energy cost savings achievable.

Another example of business exploiting a green opportunity is that in the USA of a carpet leasing company that offers, as part of its service, the benefit that carpets will be replaced at any time at the lessee’s request. Since it retains ownership of the carpets that it lays, this company can, on replacing carpets, recycle the used material. And carpets are typically 95% recyclable, according to Pearce. Instead of the used carpets being pulled up and dumped to landfill, they can be recycled and reused. The business profits from re-leasing basically the same materials time and again.

“We see this kind of enterprise all over Zimbabwe and South Africa, albeit on a less formal basis,” says Pearce. “I call it the second economy. In Zimbabwe there is a huge informal industry that recycles plastic milk bottles. We see the same thing here, where plastics and plastic containers, glass containers, newspapers, cardboard and building materials are recycled and reused almost endlessly. We see houses built from recycled materials almost everywhere.”

A new economy
Pearce suggests that we need to seek out a new economic order and that this new economy, driven by alternative energies such as solar and wind power and the energy of hydrogen, is perhaps more accessible to the developing world (and particularly the so-called second economies) and more likely to benefit it by enabling development independently of the western world and its technologies.

In one of the papers that he presented at the Academy, entitled ‘Stop burning diamonds’, Pearce describes fossil fuels as being as valuable as diamonds, in the sense that they have been formed over millions of years. He highlights the alarming fact that at present we are burning up non-renewable fossil fuels at the rate of one million years’ worth every year. In his view, because they are so precious, fossil fuels should be used only in the production of highly specialised materials such as carbon fibres and certain plastics – which, he says, are very efficient at wrapping up carbon. In the new economy, a shift to solar, wind and hydrogen power would engender changes in behaviour at a local level and, significantly, a dispersal of the current global energy monopolies.

Photovoltaic solar panels provide for localised power generation independent of national power grids. (With regard to solar energy, Pearce also makes the point that trees, as well as being efficient harvesters of carbon, are in effect rich sources of solar energy. He thus argues that the burning of firewood is an efficient way of using solar energy – provided that replacement trees are planted.) Wind can also be harnessed for localised power supplies. Biogas digesters that process domestic waste to produce methane as an energy source present another option. And hydrogen, “the most common material in the universe”, is a further favoured alternative – in the form of portable hydrogen fuel cells. A fuel cell combines hydrogen with atmospheric oxygen electrochemically, to produce electricity and water vapour. Hydrogen can be ob¬tained from converting hydrocarbon fuels but also from many renewable sources, through electrochemical generation and through straightforward catalysis. The hydrogen can then be stored until it is required for electrical generation by the fuel cell. Although hydrogen fuel cells are currently expensive, a bigger market, improved technologies and reductions in material costs could see such fuel cells – already in use to power mobile electronic devices, stand-alone electronic systems such as freeway signs or generators, and even mass transport vehicles – being installed in a corner of every house to meet the household’s energy needs (see article on page 45).

Pearce points to the disastrous environmental, social and economic consequences of the developed world’s extravagant and fast-increasing exploitation of non-renewable fossil fuels as clear reasons for the development of alternative energy resources and a new economic order. “Sharp increases in CO2 emissions are reflected in readings of carbon trapped in the ice cores of the polar caps over the last 1 000 years. Global warming and rising sea levels threaten the sixth great extinction – in line with the pattern that has marked the five great extinctions over the past 600 million years. As James Lovelock said (in his book Gaia, first published in 1979), the biosphere will adjust and, as with the previous extinctions, this will promote huge innovation in nature. For all we know, termites may be the next dominant species!”

He goes on to say that the scale of consumption in the developed world, and the rate at which it is increasing, has become a bigger problem than the population growth of the developing world. It should be remembered that fossil fuels are fundamental to the supply of diesel, fertilisers and pesticides, amongst other things, that support the industrial food farming that feeds our growing urban populations. In addition, fertilisers rich in nitrogen and phosphates destroy the natural structure of the soil, so the agricultural industry is led to attempt further modifications not only of the soil but now also of seeds and their genetic composition – an endeavour Pearce describes as “fiendishly dangerous” and one which, because it is yet another attempt to dominate nature, is sure to provoke a response from Gaia.

The extreme discrepancies between rich and poor expose for Pearce the myth of western-driven growth economics, which pretends to absolve debt capital yet ignores the limits of the planet. The top 1% of households in the USA are wealthier than the entire bottom 95%. In 1976, Switzerland’s GNP was 50 times higher than Mozambique’s; in 1997 it was 500 times higher. Comparative ecological footprints of current consumption patterns indicate that our planet earth could feed 2,4 billion people on the average North American diet, or 10 billion on the traditional Indian diet.

“If we wanted to achieve the developed world’s promises of development in the underdeveloped world, we would need six more planets as bountiful as our own. The promise of development in terms of growth economics is an illusion, because an ever-growing economy eventually reaches the limits of the containing ecosystem – which remains constant in scale. Since the time when man-made capital was the limiting factor in economic development, the man-made economy has grown to a point at which the remaining natural capital is the limiting factor. We need to develop a new relationship between man and nature that observes the limits of the ecosphere. And in terms of architecture, we need to evolve an architecture that is embedded in its natural, social and economic environment.”

The African city
With this aim in view Pearce suggests that we can learn much from the low-energy settlements that surround those high-energy African cities that are modelled on the idealised and inappropriate western metropolis. “In 1947, Harry Truman, then president of the United States, promised development in Africa. That ideal, envisaged in the fully motorised garden city and the general adoption of the North American lifestyle, still has not been realised. Yet world governments, including our own, cling to the illusion that growth will eliminate poverty and that the North American lifestyle is attainable for everyone. No government or global institution has yet faced the reality that the limits of the planet make both these objectives impossible. The illusion may be most strongly held amongst the rapidly urbanising African populations where hopes and expectations survive amidst accelerating poverty.

“In Harare, as in Johannesburg and in many other African cities, there are two economies: one based on high energy use and the other on low energy use. The former is authoritarian and exclusive; the latter is self-organised and inclusive. The self-organised city is innovative, undemanding on public services and has a very low level of energy consumption. In fact it is almost entirely a recycled city. In Zimbabwe it is also illegal, but such cities grow up organically, created through human ingenuity and within the means and materials available, to meet the basic human needs for shelter and for community.”

Pearce argues that this tradition of hand-built housing should be encouraged, because it is generated by the energy of the people in the community and that energy therefore remains in the community. He suggests that the only requirement is adequate land for housing (ideally supplemented by a provision for urban agriculture to cultivate food crops) and security of tenure on that land. Services can come later – and there are many examples of this happening in South Africa, he says. “The community’s existing knowledge and capacity for building are valued; some of the construction pieces may be separately manufactured but, by and large, the know-how is in place. People build with recycled materials; they can do equally well using these in combination with sun-dried earth bricks, or rammed earth construction, or layered stone and rammed earth, even bale and cob construction. In North Africa – Morocco, Sudan, Yemen – whole villages and towns are built of earth, mainly using rammed earth construction and the innovative system of building in timber beams to provide a ladder to upper stories.

“The advantage of this kind of self-built community is that it does not overstretch its economic capacity; it does not become dependent on debt capital or subject itself to never-ending interest costs which restrict any improvements on the home or the neighbourhood.” Pearce reminds us that the great cities of the world were built in this way, long before mortgages were introduced. “Two hundred years ago mortgages, or money-lending, were still outlawed by the church. And mortgages, along with interest costs, introduce virtual growth, not real growth. They draw money (and energy) out of the community.”

Pearce suggests that the self-built community also finds its place within the long established urban landscape. Until recently, Turbine Hall in Newtown, Johannesburg, was occupied by squatters. “These people had the right idea,” says Pearce. “The building offered shelter, the personal spaces inside it could be of relatively lightweight construction, easy and inexpensive to erect. The occupants took up residence close to urban opportunities and amenities. What were missing were the services, so it must be said that the building deteriorated into a slum and, yes, its occupation by squatters was illegal. But the possibility of using this existing structure, or others like it, to house, formally and at very low cost, a host of subsidiary dwellings and possibly community facilities, is worthy of consideration.”

Beyond the centralised city form that still predominates and sees growing rates of urbanisation without sufficient infrastructural development, Pearce suggests that a way forward may be towards the polycentric city – a network of interconnected nodes of activity, surrounded by intensive agriculture, each potentially self-sustaining in terms of food, power and water yet linked to the others to support an exchange of resources. “Kinshasa is commonly called the city of ‘swept up villages’. It is said that the forest village culture of the Democratic Republic of Congo has transferred itself into the city with its gardens. Most urban dwellers in Zimbabwe now use their gardens for intensive agriculture. It is not difficult to see how African cities could survive in this way, with minimal consumption of non-renewable energy.”

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Protecting our cultural heritage
Questions about the National Heritage Resources Act
Leigh Darroll spoke to Robert de Jong, museologist and manager of the Tswaing Meteorite Crater in northern Gauteng, and Mauritz Naudé of the National Cultural History Museum in Pretoria, about the National Heritage Resources Act, the South African Heritage Resources Agency and the challenges of Heritage Impact Assessments. Together they highlighted some of the questions raised by the new legislation and presented some useful references for those concerned to preserve our cultural heritage. Pumla Madiba, CEO of SAHRA, was also asked to comment on the state of implementation of the new Act.

The National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA), which took effect in April 2000, replaced the National Monuments Act of 1969 and established the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) as the custodian of the national estate. This comprises all places – townscapes, landscapes and natural features – and objects of cultural significance in the country. The new Act prescribes a management framework for South Africa’s heritage resources which sees responsibility devolving from SAHRA at the national level to provincial heritage resources authorities, and provides for the involvement of local authorities in managing local conservation sites. In parallel, it calls for a review of the established register of national monuments with a grading of sites to determine respective national, provincial or local responsibilities. The NHRA also formalises the concept of Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) and outlines specific categories of development in which the developer is obliged to commission such an assessment and apply to the respective authority for approval before proceeding.

While the legislation and its intentions are commendable, there appear to be substantial gaps in the structures required to implement and manage it. Pumla Madiba explains that at the time the NHRA came into effect, SAHRA became the only formal body responsible for heritage conservation; none of the other authorities envisaged by the Act were in place. The Minister of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology signed a provision that allowed for SAHRA to carry out the duties of the intended provincial heritage resources authorities while the provinces set up the required structures and built up capacity. This provision expired in April 2002 and Madiba confirms that there is at present a vacuum where eight of the nine provinces in the country have not established the structures or the capacity to take on their heritage responsibilities. She reports that the provinces have acknowledged the need for urgent action and most have prepared their applications for the national treasury approval (another complicating factor) required to authorise the formation of the public entities that will manage heritage resources at provincial level.

A further consequence of the gap in provincial structures is that local governments have no authority to act on conservation matters since they are, in terms of the NHRA, reliant on the provincial authorities to approve their competencies. The present vacuum leaves our cultural heritage to a large extent unprotected. National treasures in the built environment are allowed to decay and, with regard to potential development impacts in both urban and rural landscapes, we are reliant on the goodwill of developers to observe their obligations and on the competencies of a new breed of ‘heritage experts’ to determine the significance or otherwise of any number of elements of our cultural heritage.

What constitutes our cultural heritage?
The National Parks Service of the USA in 1972 defined cultural heritage as: the physical features, both natural and man-made, associated with human activity. These would include sites, structures and objects possessing significance, either individually or as a grouping, in history, architecture, archaeology or human (cultural) development. This definition also describes cultural resources as unique and non-renewable. The key factor, however, is that cultural development is identified as synonymous with human development.

While the Environmental Conservation Act of 1989 and the associated Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations require developers to take account of potential impacts on the natural environment and include considerations such as anthropological and archaeological aspects, the NHRA and associated HIA requirements introduce a broader domain of cultural considerations where significance may be determined by aesthetic, architectural, historical, scientific, social, spiritual, linguistic or technological value.

Naudé suggests that this domain is not exclusive to the natural or the human scientist but invites a multidisciplinary approach that considers man-and-the-environment, acknowledging that man’s moulding of the environment and his association of meaning with certain places, cannot be excluded from the paradigm of Integrated Environmental Management. Although the NHRA may be applicable in instances where the Environment Conservation Act does not apply, and vice versa, there are also instances where both cultural and environmental assessments are required. This indicates that there are areas where the legislative requirements overlap and where the different knowledge, skills and processes – from environmental and cultural backgrounds – can be merged.

Without the guidelines and regulations that are intended to form an addendum to the NHRA, outlining what constitutes our cultural heritage and defining the criteria by which the significance of those cultural resources may be assessed, de Jong, Naudé and other heritage experts called on to conduct HIAs have sought alternative references to inform their work.

The Galla model
The Galla model, developed by Amareswar Galla in Australia, presents a useful reference. It clusters together those cultural features with similar characteristics that can be managed in a particular way. Galla defines:
•            Movables, those collectable artefacts such as furniture, art, ceramics, most often removed from their historical locations to be managed in museums or private collections;
•            Immovables, such as buildings, infrastructure, landscapes and those natural sites that can be described as sacred, elements that cannot be relocated but have to be managed insitu; and
•            Living History, the stories, legends, myths and values associated with a particular place, building or artefact.

This living history is most difficult to preserve. In the African context, where there often is no written history of people and places, it is a primary concern. The NHRA makes specific reference to consideration of aspects such as cultural tradition, oral history, ritual, popular memory, and indigenous knowledge systems, among other things, all of which are particularly difficult to identify, assess or manage in the interests of cultural conservation.

Naudé suggests that a fourth dimension be added to the Galla model – that of domesticated plants and animals, which falls within the realm of human or cultural development. This raises the question of whether those alien fauna and flora, which have become part of our cultural heritage, should be preserved. The so-called 60-year clause of the NHRA stipulates that no structures older than 60 years may be demolished, altered or added to without the permission of SAHRA. Are the exotic trees and plants and once alien, domesticated animals also protected by this clause?

The cultural landscape
Within the context of cities, towns and natural landscapes, singular features that may be defined as cultural resources can be identified within the following broad categories:
•            buildings;
•            structures, which are distinguished from buildings as being without a roof and may include bridges, walls, wells, windmills, weirs, cattle kraals, and graves;
•            infrastructure, including engineering works such as roads, railway lines, power lines, pipelines, water canals and furrows;
•            activity areas, which may be unstructured and without buildings yet culturally significant in respect of human activity – areas such as rock art sites, battlefields and gardens; and
•            planted vegetation, such as cultivated gardens, orchards, hedges, and planted avenues or lanes.

Developments requiring HIAs
The NHRA outlines specific categories of development which require an HIA to be completed. If the proposed development falls within the scope of the EIA Regulations, SAHRA still requires that it be notified of the development and in the case of evidence pointing to potential impact on heritage resources, SAHRA would call for a copy of the scoping report and reserve the right to comment on it. Depending on findings and recommendations in the report, the consenting authority may be obliged to ensure compliance with the NHRA, in terms of the evaluation of the impact of the proposed development on heritage resources, within the broader EIA process.

Where a development does not necessitate an EIA but falls within the categories defined by the NHRA, SAHRA requires to be notified of such development and is obliged to call for the submission of an HIA within 14 days of such notification. The HIA is required to be undertaken by experts approved by SAHRA. At present there is no formal register of so-called heritage experts. De Jong and Naudé describe a kind of informal network of specialists in various cultural fields and also point to definite gaps in the existing knowledge base. Different sites call for different fields of knowledge and the assessment of cultural significance may involve a range of players: archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, architectural historians, art historians, cultural historians, engineering or industrial historians, landscape historians, military historians, museologists, sociologists and, very often, interpreters with an understanding of the issues of cultural heritage and community consultation.

The HIA process
The HIA process described in the NHRA outlines the following steps:
•            the identification and mapping of all heritage resources in the area affected;
•            an assessment of the significance of such resources in terms of the heritage assessment criteria (yet to be defined);
•            an assessment of the impact of proposed development on the heritage resources;
•            an evaluation of the impact of proposed development on the heritage resources, relative to the sustainable economic benefits to be derived from the development;
•            considerations of new use and sustainable use;
•            consultation with communities affected by the proposed development and other interested parties regarding the impact of the development on heritage resources;
•            if heritage resources will be adversely affected, consideration of alternatives; and
•            plans for mitigation of any adverse effects during or after completion of proposed development.

There are elements in this process that assume specialised skills not readily available. A heritage expert may well be able to identify and assess the significance of cultural artefacts or buildings but is not trained to compare cultural significance to the potential economic values of development. The process of community consultation is another specialised field and one in which EIA practitioners have already mapped a path. It is suggested that, in cases which call for both environmental and heritage impact assessments, this aspect of HIA could best be handled as part of the community consultation process undertaken in EIAs.

Again in the absence of specific guidelines for the HIA process, practitioners have turned to existing references. The Burra Charter, developed by the Australian authorities for the conservation of places of cultural significance, is considered one of the most useful, practical guides It is widely used not only by heritage experts but also by state departments such as the Department of Public Works, which is responsible for the management of all government properties, and the Department of Defence, which is still one of the largest landowners in the country and is abandoning a growing number of its facilities as redundant.

The Burra Charter was first drafted in 1979 and has subsequently been updated and revised several times, most recently in 1999. The Charter has also given rise to a number of supporting documents which provide guidelines on related concerns such as cultural significance, conservation policy, procedures for studies and reports, all of which are helpful in the practice of heritage impact assessment.

The scope of HIAs
Although the HIA process does not define ‘scoping reports’ in the same way that EIAs do, some examples of HIAs conducted by de Jong and/or Naudé, with other consultants in some cases, present an indication of the rather unwieldy scope of heritage impact assessment and, in turn, heritage management. The proposed new Foreign Affairs complex in Pretoria potentially impacts on the neighbouring Union Buildings and their gardens, as well as on other neighbouring suburbs. The site of the proposed new office building for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, also in Pretoria, is close to the Apies River and traversed by a historical water furrow. The long redundant Witbank power station incorporates an associated cluster of historic buildings and Eskom called for an assessment of what should be preserved and guidelines as to how the buildings and any future development should be managed. Proposed extensions to a clay brick quarry will impact on land where evidence exists of earlier human settlements. In the proposed Gautrain development an assessment of heritage aspects forms part of the broader EIA being conducted in respect of the optional routes.

HIA studies such as these are pioneering the practice of heritage impact assessment. Over time, South Africa will be able to develop its own regulations and guidelines for heritage impact assessment. Both de Jong and Naudé emphasise the need for greater knowledge and skills in this field and they reiterate the urgent need to establish and capacitate the provincial and local structures to manage the protection of our cultural heritage in all its diversity.

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Gauteng protects its ridges
The quartzite ridges of Gauteng, together with the Drakensberg Escarpment, should be regarded as one of the most important natural assets in the entire region of the northern provinces of South Africa. Due to their high spatial heterogeneity, these ridges provide habitat for high numbers of plant and animal species and, as they function as islands even within a natural landscape, are particularly suitable as future refuges for biodiversity in an urbanised landscape.

Ridges form vital habitat for many threatened or Red Data species, while the survival and behaviour of invertebrates, many of which are important pollinators, are often dependent on the ridge environment. Ridges form natural wildlife corridors, which promote ecological processes and benefit regional and local biodiversity. As a consequence of the influence of topography on rainfall, many streams in Gauteng originate on ridges and ridges control water input into wetlands. Ridges can be viewed as a source of spiritual renewal, providing aesthetically pleasing environments for the surrounding inhabitants and attracting tourists and recreational users.

The quartzite ridges of Gauteng are extremely limited in distribution. Urbanisation presents the major threat to these ridges, especially within the urban environment.  For example, by 1994, only 38% of the ridges in Johannesburg remained in a natural state, with approximately 53% already urbanised. Encroaching alien vegetation, agriculture and mines/quarries are also responsible for the permanent transformation of ridge habitat in the province.

In recognition of their value, DACEL has compiled a policy to protect the ridges of the province from further development. The term “ridge” in this policy document refers loosely to any topographic feature in the landscape, including hills, koppies, mountains, kloofs, gorges, etc, with steep slopes of 5° or more, as determined by means of a GIS digital elevation model at a scale of 1:50 000. The ridges policy has been adapted according to the current transformed status of some of the ridges.  All ridges in Gauteng have been grouped into four classes within a Geographical Information System, based on the percentage of the ridge already transformed.

A strict “no-go” policy is applied to Class 1 ridges (0-5% transformed).   No further development (including single dwelling units) or subdivisions are allowed and consolidation of subdivisions is encouraged. A 200m buffer zone of low impact development is required.

A “no-go” development policy is also applied to Class 2 ridges (5-35% transformed). No further subdivisions are allowed and consolidation of subdivisions is encouraged.  Low impact developments such as tourism, the ecological footprint of which must cover no more than 5% of a property, will be considered with a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and full set of specialist reports. The implementation of an ecological management plan is required to maintain the ecological integrity of the remaining property. A 200m buffer zone of low impact development is required. DACEL undertakes to conduct Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) for these ridge systems.

Class 3 ridges (35-65% transformed) are to be zoned into low impact development areas (parts of the ridge that are in a relatively natural state) and high impact development areas (parts of the ridge that are already highly transformed). DACEL will consider an entire class 3 ridge as a low impact development area until such time as the relevant local council conducts and submits for approval an SEA that designates the location and extent of high impact development areas. Development must be contained within areas that are already transformed (that is, high impact development areas). Policy guidelines for low impact development areas are the same as for class 2 ridges. Policy guidelines for high impact development areas are the same as for class 4 ridges.

Proposed developments on Class 4 ridges (65-100% transformed) are exempt from the EIA process unless a Red Data species is recorded for the ridge, the open space is 4ha or larger (policy guidelines are the same as for class 2 ridges) or public/surrounding landowners object (scoping report with at least a social study required).

The DACEL ridges policy is already being implemented within the Department with respect to the administration of the EIA regulations, which is a provincial competency.

Some developments in the province (such as exercising of primary rights or development on land already zoned as residential prior to the EIA regulations) do not require approval through the EIA process, and in these cases the local authorities are often the level of government authorising developments.  However, Local Councils are required to apply the principles of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) in all their decisions and therefore must review all development on ridges in terms of impacts on sensitive environments. Local Councils are encouraged to use the ridges policy as a guideline for applying NEMA principles. Councils can also use section 24(1) of NEMA to request environmental assessments for the building of dwelling or business units where business/consent rights have already been granted but which still require authorisation such as the approval of building plans.

Recently DACEL undertook a public participation workshop, during which the policy was favourably received. Comments from the public are, however, still welcome.  Legal advice on the implementation of the policy is currently being sought in terms of the limitation of property rights, while submission of the ridges policy to the Gauteng legislature is currently being initiated. Once accepted and approved by legislature, the policy will become an accepted policy to be applied by all areas of provincial government in Gauteng.

DACEL will additionally list ridges as a sensitive environment in the new provincial EIA regulations currently being drafted. Once these regulations come into effect, any development on a ridge will require application for authorisation to DACEL through the EIA process.

Owners of land on ridges can protect their properties through formal legislation. Communities can form conservancies to protect and manage ridges in their neighbourhoods. The public should play a watchdog role by objecting to development proposals on ridges, bringing insensitive development proposals to the attention of local media and requesting that their local councils implement the policy fully.
For more information on the DACEL ridges policy contact Michèle Pfab on (011) 355-1480 or Felicity Carliell on (011) 355-1950.

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Sustainability measures at BMW
CleanEnergy, the Rosslyn Plant and Waste Minimisation Clubs
According to Dr Norbert Reithofer, member of the BMW AG Board of Management, sustainability is the core of BMW’s corporate strategy and the key to its continued success as a manufacturer of premium automobiles. Key elements of the BMW strategy include an active social commitment at its production sites worldwide, high social standards for all employees and environment friendly manufacturing processes, in keeping with the Clean Production theme. BMW’s CleanEnergy strategy is based on hydrogen as the fuel of the future. Carol Knoll accompanied BMW on one of their Sustainability Tours organised over the World Summit to their world class Rosslyn Plant. BMW is at the forefront of establishing Waste Minimisation Clubs in the industrial area of Rosslyn.

CleanEnergy: the BMW energy strategy
There is only one thing we know for sure about the automobile of the future: it will not run on the fossil fuel we know today!

Fossil fuels are running out – even according to optimistic estimates, mineral oil and natural gas supplies will dry up in about 100 years. Also, as almost all cars are powered by petrol or diesel, they generate large quantities of CO₂ which contributes to the warming of the earth’s atmosphere.

Two decades ago, the BMW Group began research into alternative energy sources and possible associated drive forms and came to the conclusion that solar energy could be used more realistically indirectly through an intermediary such as hydrogen. The move into the world of hydrogen will, however, involve a large number of gradual developments by a large number of partners including the support of government policymakers.

The BMW Group has already moved from the electric car to hybrid vehicles and on to the hydrogen powered car. The research process has led to the development of a navigation system called CleanEnergy. The objective defined by this energy strategy is the complete avoidance of exhaust emissions and involves the use of regenerative energies. At this stage, it appears that hydrogen as a fuel is the most environment friendly, cyclically usable energy source. The product of combustion is the substance at the start of the cycle: water.

Hydrogen is the most common and also the lightest element of the universe. As a component of water and of all organic compounds, it forms part of the biological cycle and is thus environmentally compatible. Hydrogen can easily be stored and relatively simply transported, as a gas or as a low-cooled liquid. The colourless and odourless gas is combustible and has a thermal value which, in the liquid phase, is around one quarter of petrol in relation to volume. In relation to weight, liquid hydrogen possesses almost three times the energy of petrol. It can therefore be used as a transportation fuel.

However, hydrogen almost never occurs in an uncombined form and it occurs most frequently in water. Hydrogen which can be usefully processed needs to undergo a transformation. The most promising method for producing hydrogen is by electrolysis: the use of electricity allows hydrogen to be produced from water to a virtually unlimited extent. The process called alkaline water electrolysis is currently the most environmentally sound, most economical method. However, it only makes ecological sense if the electricity for the electrolysis of the water is derived from primary energy sources. In BMW’s opinion, the solution is the large scale production of solar energy – using the power of the sun to produce hydrogen.

A basic requirement for the introduction of hydrogen as a fuel, is a fuelling system which is not more complicated than the current system and, in collaboration with project partners, BMW has developed a tank system by means of which vehicles can be fuelled with liquid hydrogen, as quickly and as safely as vehicles running on petrol.

After researching engines and vehicles for operation since 1978, in May 2000, BMW was the first automobile manufacturer in the world to present a small series of saloons powered by hydrogen – the BMW 750 hL; and in 2001, the Group presented the BMW 745h with the new CleanEnergy engine. Both these vehicles can run on both petrol and hydrogen, with a complete tank and supply system for each type of fuel. This will bridge gaps of supply, which are bound to occur, as the network of hydrogen filling stations is gradually being established. Motorists who decide in favour of CleanEnergy will thus not be constrained either in range or cruising radius.

Also in 2001, the package study MINI Cooper Hydrogen designed solely for hydrogen operation, was released at the Frankfurt Motor¬show. The compact study allowed the BMW Group to demonstrate that the combustion engine without CO₂ emissions can provide an excellent combination of cost savings and driving enjoyment – fundamental requirements if hydrogen is to become broadly established as the fuel of the future.

Sustainable production at the Rosslyn plant
An excerpt from the international BMW Group environmental guidelines published in 1998 reads as follows: “In keeping with our responsibility to protect human health and our natural environment, we consistently implement the latest technologies to increase safety and minimise exhaust gas and noise emissions, while reducing fuel consumption.”

The modernising of the Rosslyn Plant in the late nineties resulted in it becoming one of the most advanced BMW Group manufacturing plants worldwide. Car production at the plant has increased by 220%. From 1998 to 2001, the number of employees increased by nearly 900. Around 60% of the components used for cars built at Rosslyn are produced in SA. In 1999, the Rosslyn plant became the world’s first automobile production facility to be certified in compliance with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and BS 880 for integrated quality, work safety, health and environmental management systems.

One of the primary areas of focus at BMW worldwide is on reducing fleet fuel consumption and in the last decade the company has managed to reduce fleet fuel consumption by 20%, as a direct result of advanced engine technologies. The Group is also working on reducing vehicle weight which will result in further fuel savings. The Group follows the principles of Design for Recycling and Life Cycle Assessment. Some of the basic requirements for recyclable construction include the use of pure grade recyclable plastics, reduction of the variety of plastics; use of disassembly-compatible composite materials; selection of suitable joining techniques; and material labelling. Vehicles produced by Rosslyn can, as a result, be economically and almost completely recycled (for example, the windscreen made in this country cannot be recycled because of the glass strengthening process used) – 76% of the new 7 series is recyclable.

Opened in 1998, the painting facility characterises the technical progress that has been made at the Rosslyn Plant. The advanced water-based paint technology has helped reduce volatile organic solvents by 80%, over conventional painting techniques.

At the end of the production line cars are loaded onto rail cars for transport to seaports – over 80% of the cars produced by Rosslyn are for the export market. Rail is considered to be the most environment friendly mode of transport and it means a reduction in truck traffic on SA’s roads. Wherever possible, workers use bicycle transport around the plant because it is emission-free. 

BMW is confronted with a variety of social challenges that impact on the work at the Rosslyn plant and social investment focuses on five key areas: education and training; science and technology; HIV/AIDS education, prevention and treatment; sports and environment; and community support – with a special focus on preventative health care. One of the highly successful projects initiated by BMW in 1998 is named the Soshanguve Schools Recycling Project. Children from many different schools in the area learn the theory and practice of recycling, water conservation, vegetable gardening, etc. Parents, many of whom are unemployed, help with the gardening chores at the schools. A percentage of the harvested vegetables is sold at local markets to help raise money for educational materials. BMW provides know-how and an infrastructure for recycling metal, plastic material and paper.

The Schools Environmental Education Development Project (SEED), initiated in 1996, has seen school children assume responsibility for implementing environmental projects – each year the most creative project proposals receive cash awards. BMW increases the number of participating schools each year and is gradually implementing the project countrywide.

Waste Minimisation Clubs at Rosslyn
Having experienced first-hand the environmental, financial and efficiency benefits of actively pursuing waste and pollution reduction at source, BMW’s Rosslyn facility approached BECO-Institute for Sustainable Business, in an initiative aimed at addressing the Rosslyn industrial area’s waste and pollution.

Bas Kothuis, managing director of BECO-ISB says: “We’ve had considerable success in the Western Cape in setting-up and running Waste Minimisation ‘Clubs’. When BMW approached us to launch similar initiatives in Rosslyn, we were excited at the potential of assisting organisations and reducing environmental impacts in Gauteng as well.”

Member companies of Waste Minimisation Clubs (WMC’s) nominate an appropriate person to attend WMC meetings every alternate month. Amongst other benefits, members receive training in Cleaner Production techniques, updated information regarding relevant regulations and legislation, and the opportunity to share experiences in pollution prevention. The combined fees paid by member companies, enable BECO-ISB to deliver this information and training, together with technical Waste Minimisation Opportunity Assessments of member facilities, at a cost-effective membership rate.

The WMC for Large Companies in the Western Cape has much to boast about (see article on page 220 of UGF’s World Summit issue, Jul/Aug 2002). Having been in operation for only one year, its member organisations have identified combined potential annual savings of up to   R8 million. This is largely through preventative measures which create energy and raw materials savings, and reduce wastes, effluent and air-emissions. Determined to continue with the initiative to learn yet more and to maximise potential benefits, the member organisations (Caltex, Milnerton; Namakwa Sands, Vredenburg; Simba, Parow; SANS Fibres, Bellville South; KWV, Paarl; British American Tobacco, Paarl; South African Breweries, Newlands) have not only embarked on a second year of WMC operation, but have agreed to enlarge their membership base. Thus the circle of competence and the potential to reduce local environmental impacts will enlarge still further.

Dalene Viljoen, environmental manager for BMW SA, is committed to environmental protection and to playing a role in reducing the impacts of Rosslyn’s industrial activities. She sees the WMCs as a first step towards an Environmental Forum for the Rosslyn area. This forum will serve as a Center of Competence for the area and will be made up of representatives from the Rosslyn WMCs and representatives from national, provincial and local government. ISO14001 certified itself, BMW also sees WMCs as a tool to assist their supply chain in embarking on environmental improvements, in line with BMW’s requirements.

One of BMW’s waste minimisation projects resulted in a reduction in water usage of more than 80% per unit produced: totaling 459 240m3 per year (enough water to supply 76 540 households with one month of their free water allocation of 6kl). A second reduction project reduced Chrome 6+ in the effluent to below 0,005 mg/l. This significant reduction in Chrome 6+ (about 83% over the last 4 years), constitutes a major step in reducing the environmental and health impacts emanating from the industry and sets a benchmark for other players to emulate. In financial terms, these two projects alone resulted in an annual financial saving to BMW of US$ 617 076, with a return on investment of more than 6000%!

Sue Bellinger, BECO-ISB’s representative in Gauteng, is excited by the prospect of facilitating the WMCs in Rosslyn. “A change in mindset is what this is about” she says. “Once organisations start to identify the potential savings that they could achieve by NOT doing business as usual, they start to get really enthusiastic. Not only do the organisations themselves benefit both financially and in terms of efficiency, but very importantly so does the environment”.

Decision-makers from 20 organisations operating within the Rosslyn area attended a WMC launch meeting, hosted by BMW’s Rosslyn plant, earlier this year. Ike Ndlovu, deputy director: Cleaner Production, within the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Marba Visagie, deputy director: Standards and the Environment, within the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) both delivered presentations in support of the initiative, as did Chris Hugo, deputy manager: Waste Minimisation for the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

Also attending and representing support for the concept were the Department of Water Affairs, the Plastics Federation of South Africa, The Responsible Container Management Association of South Africa and Alan Brent who holds the Chair of Life Cycle Engineering at the University of Pretoria.

From initial responses received, indications are that one to two WMCs are likely to result from the launch meeting, with participating companies standing to be the first in Rosslyn to benefit from the initiative. BECO will apply for support from DTI’s Sector Partnership Fund thus potentially reducing company membership fees to below R8 000 per annum.

“The opportunity to pursue cleaner production is available to organisations of all sizes and types (industrial, commercial, institutions, etc)” says Bellinger. “We hope that many more will come forward to embark on reduction initiatives. Prevention really needs to become an operational focus so as to avoid both costs and environmental impacts.”
Information on ‘Waste Minimisation Clubs in Rosslyn’ was obtained from Sue Bellinger of Enviro Fringe Services, BECO-ISB’s representative in Gauteng. Tel: (011) 787 1497.

Email: sbellinger@beco.co.za