A draft government environmental management plan has been welcomed as steps in the right direction, but viewed with some scepticism for its shortfalls. Will our biodiversity strategy evolve into a holistic blueprint that safeguards nature while also uplifting communities, or will it falter, leaving biodiversity and livelihoods in jeopardy?

A new government plan for preserving and harnessing the country's biodiverse but threatened plant and animal life is well intentioned but the victim of back-to-front thinking.

It pays scant attention to the potential of rhino horn and elephant ivory to fund conservation, and its expansive plans to involve rural communities in conservation and eco-tourism ventures could backfire badly.

These are among the assessments of the Draft National Environmental Management Biodiversity Bill by conservation biologist and policy expert Michèle Pfab.

Pfab was speaking at the latest Tipping Points webinar, hosted by Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation "OGRC" on 30 May, themed around the question, "Values vs value: should biodiversity have to pay its own way?"

Alongside Pfab was Howard Hendricks, the managing executive for conservation services at South African National Parks (SANParks), and Michael 't Sas-Rolfes, a conservation economist specialising in wildlife trade and policy.

The discussions, steered by Prof Francois Retief of the Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management at North West University, dissected the pros and cons of the draft bill, now open for public comment. This follows the recent release of the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE).

Careful...