Pretoria – Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister Barbara Thomson says young people need to be given the opportunity to learn the skills needed to preserve the environment.
Deputy Minister Thomson was speaking on Tuesday during the South Africa-China Wildlife Conservation Youth Forum which gives young people a platform to exchange ideas on how conservation issues can be addressed.
“These skills are critical if our young people are to rise up to the occasion and play their part in responding to environmental concerns.
“It will be up to the youth themselves to identify the skills they will need to effectively manage conservation in the future,” she said.
The Deputy Minister said the critical skills required by the youth should also take into account existing indigenous knowledge systems to complement existing interventions in the quest for better environmental management.
“Young people constitute a large part of the world’s population and young people will have to live longer with the consequences of current environmental decisions than will their elders,” she said.
Deputy Minister Thomson said natural resources, which include South Africa’s wildlife, are part of the legacy that should be passed onto future generations in the manner envisaged through Section 24 of South Africa’s Constitution.
“In order to ensure that this happens, young people need to be given the necessary skills to harness these resources for their future development,” she said.
In March 2013, South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China on co-operation in the fields of Wetland and Desert Ecosystems and Wildlife Ecosystems and Wildlife Conservation. – SAnews.gov.za
