Environment
Environment
The Environment Department is responsible for promoting environmental sustainability and conservation within the district. Key duties and responsibilities include:
Developing and implementing environmental policies, strategies, and action plans to promote sustainable resource management.
Collaborating with local communities, government agencies, and other stakeholders on conservation projects and initiatives.
Conducting environmental impact assessments and monitoring environmental quality to ensure compliance with regulations.
Raising awareness about environmental issues and the importance of conservation among local communities, schools, and businesses.
Managing natural resources, such as forests, wetlands, and wildlife habitats, to ensure their sustainable use and protection.
Addressing environmental challenges, such as climate change, pollution, and waste management, through innovative solutions and partnerships.
Providing technical advice and support to other council departments on environmental matters.
Monitoring and enforcing compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
The environment Department seeks to promote sustainable utilization of natural resources within the administrative area of Jurisdiction of Umguza Rural District Council. The department aims to achieve this through monitoring the extraction and ferrying of natural resources from the Council’s area of Jurisdiction to other parts of the country. Previously, his has been done through issuing out of permits to abstract and ferry these resources and penalizing those who breached the law as supported by the Council Land Use and Conservation By-Laws of 2013. The Council also makes it mandatory to educate the community on Sustainable Utilization of Natural Resources. Umguza Rural District Council is endowed with natural resources such as stones (quarry,pit-sand, river-sand and gravel) wood, wildlife. The department also deals with other various environmental issues like Land use and allocation where it partners with the Engineering department to assess project feasibility through what is called ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’. The department also deals with veld fires, proper waste management, problem animal Control, human-wildlife conflict, trophy hunting Quotas and any other environment related issues that emerge by day.