National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No. 84 of 1998)Chapter 4 : Use of ForestsPart 3 : Community forestry30. Conclusion of community forestry agreements |
| (1) | The Minister may— |
| (a) | reject any offer; |
| (b) | make a counter-offer to one or more offerors; or |
| (c) | decide to enter into a community forestry agreement with one or more offerors in respect of the State forest in question. |
| (2) | If the forest is a trust forest, the Minister may only enter into such an agreement if— |
| (a) | in the case of land held in trust by the Ingonyama referred to in the KwaZulu Ingonyama Trust Act, 1994 (KwaZulu Act No. 3 of 1994), the authority with the necessary power in terms of that Act agrees; and |
| (b) | in the case of other land, the Minister of Land Affairs agrees. |
| (3) | The Minister must license the activities which the community or communities may carry on under the community forestry agreement. |
| (4) | The Minister need not implement a public tender process before entering into a community forestry agreement, despite any other law, unless he or she is of the opinion that such a process is needed in any particular case. |