Exploring the Relationship between the Environmental Right in the South African Constitution and Protection for the Interests of Animals

This article considers the relationship between the environmental right in the South African Constitution, 1996 and the protection of the interests of animals. The question is addressed through articulating two interpretive approaches to the terms ‘conservation’ and ‘sustainable use’. The ‘aggregative approach’ – which has been the dominant policy approach adopted by the legislature and executive – focuses on broad collective environmental goals such as the long-term survival of a species, the health of ecosystems or conserving biodiversity. The ‘integrative’ approach, on the other hand, – which has recently been referenced with the approval by the Constitutional Court – requires the adoption of an attitude of respect to the individuals that make up a species, an eco-system or the components of biodiversity. The article makes several arguments as to why the integrative approach is preferable and attempts to demonstrate that the aggregative approach is self-defeating in its own terms. The practical implications of the differences between these abstract approaches are illustrated by considering two recent controversies in interpreting environmental legislation. The article thus sets itself the ambitious purpose of connecting two sets of discourses that often talk past one another in developing the interpretation of the environmental right in the South African Constitution.