African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

mining industry also employed 451,000 people and contributed R34.7-billion in value-added taxes. Countries worldwide rely on mining for raw materials to meet the demand for so many different products. The big question is: how does one find the right balance between mining and keeping certain irreplaceable areas unspoilt and in a natural state? In South Africa the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES), the protected area network currently falls far short of sustaining biodiversity and ecological processes. In this context, the goal of the NPAES is to achieve cost- effective protected area expansion for ecological sustainability and increased resilience to climate change.The goal is to have 12% of the land surface protected, and yet we currently have about half that. In this context we cannot compromise on intact natural areas for mining, as we have an obligation and a huge responsibility to future generations. As conservationists, we have been made very conscious of the constant battle between industrial might and quick financial gain, as opposed to natural protected areas where ecological values, aesthetic values, recreational values, spiritual values, economic values and cultural values are not even considered. Strictly speaking, wilderness and protected areas are priceless, and can never be measured in monetary terms. When I (Bryan) was appointed as General Manager of the Selati Game Reserve (SGR) in October 2020, I was made aware of a mining application that had been registered by Tiara Mining. The current situation with mining rights in South Africa is 'Mineral and petroleum resources are the common heritage of all the people of South Africa and the State is the custodian thereof'. Mineral and mining rights under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 2002 (MPRDA) means that land can be expropriated without compensation to the private landowner. This Act effectively confiscated all mineral and petroleum resources beneath the surface of privately owned property. However, amongst other environmental authorisation is needed according to NEMA, before any mining can take place. A mining right can be granted for a period of up to 30 years before it has to be renewed if all the boxes have been ticked.

We as humans in the food chain are heterotrophic organisms that cannot produce our own food. We rely on other sources of organic carbon and get our nutrition and energy from plant or animal matter. This makes us as humans primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. In the case of open-cast and strip-mining, we as humans become very similar to a parasite, because we destroy the natural system, strip out the minerals for personal wealth and the only by-products are noise pollution, air pollution, water pollution and waste dumps. A parasite thinks only about itself and has no thought for the host which it is consuming and ultimately destroying. We only have one planet, there is no spare. Once we destroy the very thing that gives us life, the consequences will be very dire. The mining sector in South Africa contributed R400 billion to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, according to the Minerals Council. The

27 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 79 (2021)