As a nation we have resolved to embark on a different path. Our constitution also enshrines the protection and preservation of our natural heritage for future generations. The Integrated management of our natural environment cannot be regarded as a luxury. It is an imperative rooted in the appreciation that ours is a small planet, made up of a number of extremely fragile and delicately balanced systems whose equilibrium is essential for the very survival of life on Earth. Poverty remains the single greatest obstacle in our quest for sustainable development.
Poverty impacts on the environment in two ways.
Firstly, poor rural and urban communities in developing countries hardly have the opportunity to think through the consequences of the over-utilization of resources because their priority is survival. Secondly, it does happen that governments in developing countries, spurred by the imperative of economic growth as the key to prosperity, are often tempted to embrace ecologically unsound development strategies. The Herculean task of devising a sound environmental management strategy is directly linked to the struggle to eradicate poverty. Consequently the eradication of poverty must be firmly established as a true cross sectoral matter featuring prominently in all regional and national policies aimed at achieving sustainable development. South Africa's own Reconstruction and Development Programme is a social policy aimed at meeting the basic needs of all South Africans by addressing the massive disparities that still divide the previously privileged from the historically disadvantaged.