Introduction

The ability to influence biophysical changes is often constrained by capacity and resource factors in the political, economic and social spheres. A lack of capacity in government departments dealing with the process of environmental management can severely impede their ability to carry out their mandate. Capacity is seen as the availability of adequately trained personnel who are able to fulfill their designated functions.

Assessment of Data

It is doubtful whether any department would be able to fulfill their roles and responsibilities without the necessary capacity. Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Environment (DACE), now the Department of Agriculture & Land Administration (DALA), has provided figures on their capacity for Environmental Management and Education. The graph below shows the Mpumalanga DALA staff capacity in the Environmental Management Directorate over the past two years with the trend in percentage posts filled showing a decrease over the past 2 year period (in 2001/2002 only 53.5% of the necessary posts were filled, whilst in 2002/2003 this figure dropped to 49%).