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South Africa has 291 functional estuaries of which 43 per cent are threatened. These estuaries provide numerous environmental goods and services to the species situated within and adjacent to them. In an effort to improve the protection of the country's estuaries and the environmental goods and services they provide, many laws of direct and indirect relevance to estuaries have been introduced over the past two decades. The provision of these environmental goods and services is contingent, however, upon maintaining the natural ecological flows inherent in estuaries. One significant threat to maintaining these natural ecological flows is the artificial opening of the mouth of an estuary, an action often triggered by the desire to protect private property against flooding when estuarine water levels rise. Decisions to artificially open the mouth of an estuary often therefore need to achieve a difficult balance between ecological (generally public) interests and proprietary (generally private) interests, a balance which should ideally be informed by the numerous laws, and their associated plans and policies, of direct relevance to protecting and managing estuaries. The courts have recently been called upon to resolve disputes regarding decisions about whether or not to artificially open the mouth of an estuary, and what one recent decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Abbott v Overstrand Municipality 2016 JOL 35969 (SCA) clearly illustrates is that there are not only significant challenges in the implementation of the legal framework of direct relevance to estuaries, but also in the judiciary's understanding and application thereof. It furthermore illustrates distinct anomalies in the interpretation of the original, assigned and incidental executive authority of local government in relation to environmental matters, and that notwithstanding a swathe of recent relevant jurisprudence in this regard, confusion still abounds in this environmental governance quagmire.Keywords: Estuaries; ecological flows; coastal management; estuarine management; legal frameworks; constitutional executive authority; local environmental governance

Prescribing and implementing legal doctrine are two interrelated but distinct tasks, the latter frequently proving far more challenging than the former. This is very evident in the domestic implementation of the sustainable development doctrine, generally regarded as 'the fundamental building block around which environmental law norms have been fashioned both internationally and in South Africa'(J Glazewski 'The environmental right'in M H Cheadle, D M Davis&NRL Haysom South African Constitutional Law: The Bill of Rights (2002) 423). Notwithstanding the fact that its origins date back over two decades, the exact meaning and ambit of sustainable development remains subject to debate (see Elmene Bray 'Towards sustainable development: Are we on the right track?' (1998) 5 SAJELP 1; P Birnie & A Boyle International Law & the Environment 2ed (2002) 44–7; Philippe Sands Principles of International Environmental Law 2ed (2003) 252–6). South Africa's legislators have sought to define the doctrine in the country's constitutional, framework and sectoral legislation.

South Africa has 291 functional estuaries of which 43 per cent are threatened. These estuaries provide numerous environmental goods and services to the species situated within and adjacent to them. In an effort to improve the protection of the country's estuaries and the environmental goods and services they provide, many laws of direct and indirect relevance to estuaries have been introduced over the past two decades. The provision of these environmental goods and services is however contingent upon maintaining the natural ecological flows inherent in estuaries. One significant threat to maintaining these natural ecological flows is the artificial opening of the mouth of an estuary, an action often triggered by the desire to protect private property against flooding when estuarine water levels rise. Decisions to artificially open the mouth of an estuary often therefore need to achieve a difficult balance between ecological (generally public) interests and proprietary (generally private) interests, a balance which should ideally be informed by the numerous laws, and their associated plans and policies, of direct relevance to protecting and managing estuaries. The courts have recently been called upon to resolve disputes regarding decisions about whether or not to artificially open the mouth of an estuary, and what one recent decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Abbott v Overstrand Municipality (2016) clearly illustrates is that there are not only significant challenges in the implementation of the legal framework of direct relevance to estuaries, but also in the judiciary's understanding and application thereof. It furthermore illustrates distinct anomalies in the interpretation of the original, assigned and incidental executive authority of local government in relation to environmental matters, and that notwithstanding a swathe of recent relevant jurisprudence in this regard, confusion still abounds in this environmental governance quagmire.

Legal aspects of the protection of forest and marine biodiversity : understanding the context / Ed Couzens, Alexander Paterson and Sophie Riley -- Moral boundaries, anthropocentrism and biodiversity : possums in New Zealand as an example / Guy Morgan -- For peat's sake : environmental law amidst the bogs / Nicholas A Robinson -- Illegal trade in endangered forest and marine species - enhancing laws and enforcement : a Southeast Asian perspective / Lin Heng Lye and Sallie Chia-Wei Yang -- Biodiversity and agriculture : friends or foes? The legal implementation of agroforestry practices in Brazil / Marcia Fajardo Cavalcanti de Albuquerque -- Forest biodiversity conservation : strengthening the regulation and management of Chinese enterprises during foreign investment / Bingyu Liu -- Addressing human and wildlife conflict in forest protected areas : a critical analysis of China's nature reserve management experience / Yilin Pei -- Climate change and forest management in Nepal / Amber Prasad Pant -- Governance of oil and gas exploration and exploitation at sea : towards coastal marine biodiversity preservation / Violeta S. Radovich -- The valuable role that private environmental governance might play in managing global fisheries resources / Anastasia Telesetsky -- Black coral forests and marine biodiversity in New Zealand / Trevor Daya-Winterbottom -- The contribution that the concept of global public goods can make to the conservation of marine resources / Carina Costa de Oliveira and Sandrine Maljean-Dubois

Law | Environment | Africa ist ein Tagungsband des 5. Symposiums und der 4. wissenschaftlichen Konferenz der Vereinigung afrikanischer Umweltrechtslehrer (ASSELLAU) in Kooperation mit dem Klima- und Energiesicherheitsprogramm für Subsahara-Afrika der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) und dem Umweltprogramm der Vereinten Nationen (UNEP). Ziel des Buches ist es, jüngere Entwicklungen im Zusammenhang von Recht und Umwelt in Afrika zu untersuchen, zu besprechen und zu analysieren. Die Sammlung umfasst 32 Kapitel von Rechtsexperten aus Mittel-, Ost-, Süd- und Westafrika. Die Publikation ist thematisch in vier Teile unterteilt:1.) Klimawandel und Energie2.) Natürliche Ressourcen-Governance3.) Wasser-Governance, -Management und -Nutzung4.) Regulierung von sozialen und ökologischen Auswirkungen im Zusammenhang mit menschlichen AktivitätenDiese Themen werden im nationalen, regionalen und internationalen Rechtsrahmen diskutiert. Afrikas Streben nach nachhaltiger Entwicklung steht dabei – im Hinblick auf die wertvolle und zugleich fragile ökologische Infrastruktur – im Fokus der Beiträge.Mit Beiträgen vonDr. Oluwatoyin Adejonwo-Osho, Dr. Lanre Aladeitan, Dr. Jean-Claude Ashukem, Dr. Godard Busingye, Prof. Dr. Mark B. Funteh, Dr. Elizabeth Gachenga, Prof. Dr. Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Prof. Dr. Emmanuel D. Kam Yogo, Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Kasimbazi, Prof. Dr. Michael Kidd, Gift Dorothy Makanje, Amanda Mkhonza, Prof. Dr. Ayoade Morakinyo Adedayo, Dr. Kariuki Muigua, Dr. Phiona Muhwezi Mpanga, Andrew Muma, Dr. Joseph Magloire Ngang, Dr. Marie Ngo Nonga, Chidinma Therese Odaghara, Edna Odhiambo, Dr. Collins Odote, Dr. Irekpitan Okukpon, Dr. Erimma Gloria Orie, Prof. Dr. Bibobra Bello Orubebe, Daniel Armel Owona Mbarga, Prof. Dr. Alexander Ross Paterson, Olivia Rumble, Prof. Dr. Oliver C. Ruppel, Dr. Esther Effundem Njieassam, Dr. Pamela Towela Sambo, Prof. Dr. Christopher Funwie Tamasang, Prof. Mekete Bekele Tekle, Robert Alex Wabunoha, Nerima Akinyi Were, Hadijah Yahyah.