During the workshop and in subsequent meetings it was agreed that what needs to be achieved mechanism and legal framework that would, in order to prevent avoidable and manage unavoidable detrimental impacts to the environment, prohibit recreational off-road driving in sensitive areas except on a registered trail by a licensed driver in a permitted vehicle.In order to achieve this, a number of things need to happen. These tasks and activities have been identified and desired outcomes recommended through the 28 mini workshops referred to above. Please find below a summary of the major desired outcomes as implied in the statement above.

1.1          Recommendations of the NOW:

1.1.1                Sensitive Areas

Sensitive areas where off-road driving is considered as an activity that may impact detrimentally on the environment must be identified. NEMA can be utilised to identify geographical areas but as mapping is a time consuming activity, alternative ways of identifying these sensitive areas will need to be investigated. This could include identification of areas by means of attribute description, for example areas falling within the 1:100 year flood line of rivers, wetlands and a 100m buffer area around it, mountains and ridges, nature reserves. Another means would be through the inclusion of this activity in provincial supplementation of the National EIA Regulations. It should be noted that the identification of sensitive areas for the purposes described herein would be the responsibility of the authority (DEAT and provincial Departments). It should further be noted that due to the omission (on legal advise) of the schedule dealing with activities in sensitive areas from the Draft EIA Regulations, the development of 4x4 tracks are not covered in the Draft Regulations and inclusion will depend on provincial identification thereof. It may accordingly be necessary to draft regulations in terms of NEMA section 24 specifically aimed at the off-road industry.

1.1.2                Registration of tracks

Registration of tracks would require a legal framework and a regulatory body (preferably through self regulation). The recommendations in this regard are inter alia that in order to be registered, a trail would need to be legal in terms of Environmental Impact legislation, must be graded in terms of difficulty and vehicle requirements and must have a valid / authorised environmental management plan. Operating a trail that is not registered or contravening the conditions of registration will constitute an offence.

1.1.3                Driver Training and Licensing

Damage to the environment is often caused by technique or lack thereof used by the vehicle driver. It has accordingly been recommended that a special licence be required for off-road driving. The grade of licence should be determined by level of training undergone and demonstrated expertise. It was further recommended that the grade of licence should be linked to the rating of the trail and that a certain grade be required to be able to utilise a certain category of trail. Licensing of drivers is particularly problematic when it comes to quad and trice bikes where no driver’s license is required and no age restrictions imposed. As for the registration of tracks, special off-road licenses will require a legal framework and regulatory body.

1.1.4                Permitting of vehicles

Permitting of vehicles has been discussed and it was agreed that some form of visible permitting would be desirable as this would assist with compliance monitoring and enforcement. Something similar to the old beach permits could be considered. Once again, the fact that quad and trice bikes require no form of licensing is problematic and solutions would need to be found. A legal framework and regulatory body would once again be a requirement. In order to facilitate the realisation of all of the above, a representative umbrella body with a confirmed mandate and with legal status would need to be established. The new NOW will fulfil this role in the interim.

1.2          Environmental Management Cooperation Agreement

An Environmental Management Cooperation Agreement between the representative body of the industry and the Minister (and his provincial counterparts) should be investigated as a vehicle towards self-regulation. This would need to be preceded by a strategy of implementation and the establishment of the necessary legal framework.

1.3          More on Self-Regulation

Other issues that should receive prominence in the self-regulation efforts of the industry include, inter alia:

1. Community benefit;
2. An industry that is representative of South Africa’s demographics, especially in terms of race and gender;
3. Linking up with the tourism charter; and
4. Services rendered by the 4x4 fraternity to inter alia conservation, crime prevention and control, fire management, search and rescue, research, etc.

1.4          Coordination between the NOW and DEAT

 The Chief Director: Environmental Impact Management would coordinate the DEAT’s involvement in the NOW initiative. It is recommended that a departmental task team, consisting of senior officials from Environmental Quality & Protection, Biodiversity & Conservation and Tourism be established to assist the NOW in deriving at the required implementation strategy, enabling legal framework (if required) and Environmental Cooperation Agreement.  It is recommended that the DEAT task Team only convene to discuss deliverables of the NOW and to inform activities to be undertaken by DEAT to realize regulated management of the industry and its environmental performance. All correspondence to the DEAT will be addressed to the CD: EIM and requests for technical input and assistance from any of the representatives of the Task Team will be facilitated by the CD: EIM. Based on the proposed increased involvement of the Department (see recommendations below) it will in future be necessary to delegate the functions currently fulfilled by Chief Director to a still to be identified official within Environmental Impact Management.