Wildlife & Protected Areas Ordinance

From South Georgia Website

Wildlife and Protected Areas Bill - Consultation Draft 13 May 2010: download pdf here.

The Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) is undertaking a review of current legislation, with a view to replacing old Falkland Island Dependency legislation with new laws that are specific to the Territory.

Given the global significance of the native wildlife of South Georgia the development of modern legislation to protect this wildlife is a high priority. A draft version of the Wildlife & Protected Areas Ordinance is now available for stakeholder / public consultation.

This Ordinance is intended to provide protection for all of the Territory’s native wildlife, to enable the declaration of Specially Protected Areas and Marine Protected Areas and, where appropriate, for species to be listed as Specially Protected. The Ordinance is in six parts.

Part I of the draft Bill is a preliminary section, which includes definitions of terms used in the Bill.

Part II addresses the Protection of Wildlife. Section 6 affords protection to wild birds and protected wild mammals (cetaceans, seals and reindeer). Sections 8-9 deal with protection of native invertebrates and plants. Here plants are invertebrates are assumed to be native, unless it is shown to the contrary. Section 10 deals with the possession of wildlife, whilst Section 11 makes the introduction of non-native species, without a permit, an offence. Section 12 includes the prohibition of certain methods of capturing or killing wild birds or wild mammals. Section 13 introduces Schedules 1 to 4, which are lists of protected wild mammals, native invertebrates, native plants and specially protected species. Schedules 2 (native invertebrates) & 3 (native plants) are not yet complete. It is intended that species covered by the Agreement on Conservation of Albatross & Petrels will be included as Specially Protected Species in Schedule 4. Section 15 deals with controls on imports and exports of wildlife.

Part III deals with Specially Protected Areas (SPAs) and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). SPAs protect areas of land that are important ecologically, geologically or scientifically (Section 17) and will require management plans (Section 18). Section 19 includes provision for the designation of MPAs to protect flora or fauna, habitats, geological features or heritage in the marine environment.

Part IV addresses conditions under which a permit may be granted for activities that would otherwise be a contravention of this legislation.

Part VI includes provisions in relation to offences under the ordinance and repeals the Wildlife and Protected Birds Ordinance 1913 and the Falkland Islands Dependencies Ordinance 1975.

Comments are sought on the draft legislation by June 30th and should be directed to Darren Christie. In particular we ask that the following questions be addressed:

Do you agree there is a need to rigorously protect the wildlife of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands through legislation?

Does the Ordinance provide sufficient protection for the native wildlife of the Territory? If not, how could the legislation be strengthened?

Are the criteria under which SPAs and MPAs can be designated adequate?

Are there any aspects of the Ordinance that you consider to be unnecessarily restrictive?

Please indicate if you wish your comments to be treated confidentially. GSGSSI will respond to all comments. Responses will be sent directly to the individuals concerned and a summary will be posted on the GSGSSI website.