The meaning of custodianship in environmental law
Ian Cox is a commercial attorney practicing for his own account in Durban. His interest in environmental law was piqued when DEFF tried to list trout as an invasive species. Ian is a passionate fly-fisherman. He quickly realised that environmental laws were not being developed or applied as the Constitution intended.
A custodian is somebody who is responsible for taking care of or protecting something.
Section 25 of the Constitution obliges the state to protect an environment that is not harmful to our health and wellbeing through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation, promote conservation and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
The term ‘environment' can be confusing as it can mean different things to different people. So it is notable that the Constitution does not refer to ‘the environment' as something physical like the biosphere, which is our planet. It refers to ‘an environment'.
This constitutional idea of ‘an environment' is defined in the umbrella environmental law, the National Environmental Management Act or NEMA, as an ideal or sought-after condition rather than an actual physical thing.
“the surroundings within which humans exist and that are
