PPP Part 3: The Vital Roles of EAPs and I&APs in the Public Participation Process
Most people have not heard of an Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) unless they have already engaged with the Public Participation Process (PPP). This is the legally mandated mechanism to assess all types of developments, including mining applications. EAPs are the professionals tasked with managing the PPP on behalf of mining applicants, and while many operate ethically, some do not, with potentially devastating consequences.
The Ripl effect: PTWC flies high at BirdLife SA events
PTWC recently promoted the effective use of our Public Participation Platform, Ripl, at two BirdLife South Africa events. Between site visits to mines, appeals and comments about mining legislation and applications, we were able to accept invitations to a workshop about threats to protected areas, and a biweekly webinar series, Conservation Conversations. We welcomed the opportunity to collaborate and mingle with like-minded organisations and environmental activists.
Government urged to decline Trans Hex ocean mining bid
A Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, Patrick Bond, says that the double application to prospect and mine for diamonds and heavy minerals in concessions along 80km of the West Coast goes against fundamental national wealth strategies, and provides insufficient proof that the non-renewable resources it will extract will be properly compensated for as mandated in the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the Gaborone Declaration of 2012.
The Ripple Effect: A Simple Guide to PTWC’s digital public participation platform, Ripl.
The Public Participation Process (PPP) is a crucial mechanism to provide the public with a voice to raise concerns and provide feedback on prospecting and mining applications. But the traditional process to register and comment as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP) has been complex and onerous. Which is why Protect the West Coast created Ripl to provide an easy, one-stop digital PPP platform – but we are still asked how to use it all the time. In the second in our series of articles covering PPP, we offer you a simple step-by-step guide to navigate Ripl.
Urgent call for comment on rare earth metals and uranium mining threat near West Coast
PTWC urges the public to comment at www.ripl.co.za by close of business today, which is the deadline for public participation in the application by Sano Mining to prospect for minerals such as uranium, gold, titanium and rare earth elements on two farms near Vredendal over five years.
Time runs out to stop invasive diamond prospecting on pristine coast
The deadline for appeals to stop Fish by the Sea prospecting for diamonds on the beach near Brand-se-baai adjacent to a Critical Biodiversity Area and a marine Ecological and Biologically Significant Area (EBSA), a world class surf spot and important bird habitats, among a slew of other environmental concerns, is almost upon us. PTWC calls […]