The benefits derived from biodiversity or ecosystem services are estimated at R73 billion per annum, according to Minister of Water & Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa.

Molewa was speaking at the Seventh Pan African ABS Workshop on 25 February 2013, which is being held at the Hans Merensky Hotel in Phalaborwa in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. The Workshop is the second to be hosted by South Africa, the first of which was held in Cape Town in 2005.

According to Molewa, this contribution amounts to 7% of South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product per annum. “The biodiversity economy, which is part of our broader Green Economy, is therefore our country’s competitive edge in growing our economy and addressing climate change adaptation,” said Molewa.

She called on the relevant stakeholders to “debunk the myth that biodiversity management hinders development, by positioning the biodiversity sector as a major contributor to job creation and the fight against poverty.”

The workshop is being held in partnership with the ABS Capacity Development Initiative, coordinated by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), which was established as a multi-donor initiative in 2005 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is funded by the European Union (EU), the Institute for Energy and Environment of the Francophonie, as well as German, Norwegian and Danish governments.