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Valli Moosa will go down in history as the man who let the groceries out of the bag or, rather, as the Minister of Tourism and the Environment who saved countless land and sea creatures – and improved the appearance of South Africa – by banning the thin plastic bags that were causing havoc in the wild. During his 10 years in government he also banned driving on beaches, took on perlemoen poachers, established trans-frontier 'peace parks' and transformed the fishing industry. Now that he's retired from parliament, Moosa has not stopped caring about the environment. No sirree. He's just been appointed President of the influential World Conservation Union (IUCN) and his fight has gone global. 'Conservation,' he says, 'is not a luxury reserved for the rich. You might think that South Africa has more urgent problems than protecting our environment, but conservation goes hand in hand with job creation and poverty eradication. South Africa has the third highest level of biodiversity in the world – we are vitally important in global conservation terms. We also have the most advanced laws on conservation, and we're unique in being the only country to host both the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the World Parks Summit, each of which only happens every 10 years. The rest of the world looks to us.'Property development, he says, is not in the least a dirty word to the conservationist. 'It is a high priority in South Africa, and must continue to grow, but developers are short-sighted if they don't take environmental concerns into account from the start, or they could end up destroying our natural beauty, which devalues the country in terms of tourism – and devalues the property too.' He's excited about the regeneration of Johannesburg's inner city and about the booming property market in general. 'This is certainly not a flash in the pan,' he says. 'Property prices are soaring because of real and sustained economic growth. Artificial factors distorted the market for years, and it is still undervalued to some extent. It's going to carry on rising. Why else do you think I have plans to enter the property market, now that I'm in the private sector?' The commercial property developers are required by law to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment on land marked for construction, but Moosa says that private owners also have a part to play. 'It's not laws that protect our land,' he says. 'It's people. Property owners can do a great deal by protecting indigenous vegetation, eradicating alien plants and rehabilitating land.' (Help and advice in this regard can be obtained from the Department of Nature Conservation or the Working for Water project. And it's not just a philanthropic gesture – indigenous gardens use a lot less water and attract more birds.) As well as our natural resources, Valli would like to protect our eyes from some of the atrocities committed in bricks and mortar. 'There is a crying need for the emergence of an authentically South African architectural style,' he laments. 'There are more Tuscan villas in Johannesburg than there are in Tuscany! They might look great in Tuscany, but they look terrible here. Come on – we're a modern, emerging African nation that believes in democracy, openness and transparency. We're multicultural, multiethnic and tolerant. Surely there's a way of using all that to create our own unique architecture?'
Fast Facts! First Job Mathematics teacher in Lenasia. First Car 1962 VW Beetle with a 1200 engine and a 6-volt battery. First Kiss In the Beetle, naturally. Current Car Landrover Defender. Favourite Hobby Walking in the mountains, particularly on Table Mountain. First Pet A small dog, part fox terrier and part Maltese poodle, which is still with me. Favourite Item Of Clothing My all-weather Vantex outdoor jacket, which is windproof, waterproof, light and folds up small enough to squash in any backpack. I climbed Kilimanjaro in it and still wear it all the time. Favourite Animal Nguni cow. Best Holiday When I climbed Kilimanjaro 10 years ago, then spent a week in Zanzibar. Favourite Music Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Book I'm Reading The Reluctant Traveller by Michael Heyns. Favourite Food Sushi. Favourite Drink Espresso. Day In The Life I get up at 5am every day, have a cup of rooibos tea and spend an hour faffing around and settling my mind. At 6am I check emails and do correspondence, and I'm in the office or at a meeting before 8am. I'm involved in such a wide variety of activities that no day has the same structure, except that they're all busy! I don't stop for lunch unless I have a lunch meeting. At 6pm I go to the gym, and I'm usually in bed by 10pm.
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