South Africa

South Africa, Our Burning Planet

DA MP Andrew de Blocq: A unique blend of environmental advocacy and artistic flair

In his free time, DA MP Andrew de Blocq plays the bigpipes and has played at a variety of functions, including at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, for the Queen’s 90th birthday party, for the Pope’s welcome to Edinburgh, and for Sir Paul McCartney on tour in Glasgow. (Photo: Supplied)

By Kristin Engel

11 Apr 2025

Conserving seabirds, wearing kilts while playing the bagpipes for royalty, and rocking out with Paul McCartney; now DA MP Andrew de Blocq is in Parliament, taking on a whole new animal — South African politics.

From conserving African Penguins to playing the bagpipes for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday party and with Sir Paul McCartney on tour in Glasgow, Andrew de Blocq is now a children’s book author and is informing policy as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the National Assembly.

Before serving as a DA Member of Parliament, De Blocq worked as a Coastal Seabird Conservation Project Officer and Avitourism Project Manager at BirdLife South Africa.

There he spent his time engaging in field research and community outreach to mitigate the growing threats to seabird populations, with the majority of his work focused on the now critically endangered African penguin.

Now, the DA MP sits on the portfolio committee of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, where he is meant to hold accountable those responsible for the African penguin’s decline (among others), and to attempt to bolster policy that could hopefully reverse the decline. This is just one matter the MP is focusing on in this administration.

In an interview with Daily Maverick, De Blocq discussed how he went from the world of biodiversity conservation and science to the chambers of Parliament, along with his life outside of politics — which includes playing the bagpipes and writing a children’s book!

Transitioning from biodiversity conservation to politics

De Blocq holds a master’s degree in Biological Sciences from UCT, and his thesis was conducted through the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology and largely focused on the effects of boat-based tourism on waterbirds at De Hoop Nature Reserve on the Agulhas Plain.

He compared the effects of motorised boats to self-propelled boats like kayaks and canoes. Then he looked at the reactions of the different species of birds, and mapped out the areas that the birds of conservation concern were using, as well as their breeding areas.

He then took all of that information and, in the last chapter of his thesis, drew up management guidelines for environmentally friendly boat tours, which would showcase the bird life at the site but also be respectful of the needs of the environment.

“It was a good life lesson, or professional lesson, to be caught between the conservation interests and the profits. I was being dined on the one side by the tourism operator, and then I had the reserve manager at my house the next day saying, ‘How’s your study looking? What do the results look like?’” De Blocq said.

So there were strong competing interests from both sides, which, De Blocq said looking back now, was a good lesson in politics.

In the end, De Blocq handed the management guidelines over to the reserve manager, but he said that, unfortunately, the reserve manager was then cycled out.

Andrew de Blocq currently represents the Democratic Alliance (DA) as a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly. (Photo: Supplied)

When he went back to De Hoop a year or two later, he saw a boat taking off on a cruise, which went right at the flock of flamingos and just charged straight at them with the pontoon boat that De Blocq had done the studies on.

“All the flamingos took off and flew down the vlei. I’m sure they got some wonderful photographs, and the guests were all struck by beautiful birds… But that was exactly what I was trying to avoid in my guidelines. Having safe distances to avoid disturbing them while still enjoying them,” said De Blocq.

He also spent years working on African Penguins at BirdLife South Africa, collecting data and researching their important foraging areas, particularly before and after they molt.

I was collecting the data to say where those important areas were during those sensitive life stages, and that data then formed some of the basis, at least, for the (African penguin) court case which has just now been completed.

Read more: Of politics, penguins and how a new environment minister thwarted probable extinction

After this, De Blocq began working on BirdLife South Africa’s avitourism projects. He explained that there, his job was to train and maintain a network of community bird guides.

Then he joined the DA’s young leaders program in 2023, where the DA takes about 20 people between 18 and 35 whom it sees as having leadership potential, whether that means to be a leader for South Africa, within the DA, in civil society or communities.

‘I never imagined I’d end up in Parliament’

De Blocq joined “with no real intention of getting into politics”, until the point where it became a potential reality before the 2024 national elections.

“I thought quite hard about it because it was quite a jump in responsibility. It was a complete career change, but I was encouraged that there would be someone who had an environmental slant in Parliament, and I think we’ve been lacking that,” said De Blocq.

This comes as the country has had a series of career politicians put on the Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and whatever manifestation of this through the years with tourism, agriculture and other departments when some of the crises facing South Africa and the world are environmental and existential for humankind.

Now, after being appointed as a DA MP, De Blocq’s days are vastly different, with constituency calls, caucus meetings, committee oversight work, and informing policy in South Africa.

He said he was under no illusions about the challenges ahead, with the entrenched interests and economic pressures that often hinder environmental progress.

De Blocq said his transition from the NGO conservation space toParliament was unexpected.

I never imagined I’d end up in Parliament. But if this is where I can make the biggest impact, then it’s where I need to be.

As general members of the public, even if you’re politically aware, De Blocq feels there is not much exposure to opportunities where people can get involved in politics, and said it was a credit to the DA that they were casting the net wide, trying to get well-qualified people and specialists in roles at the highest levels of government.

“We’re all very good at complaining that the focus is in the wrong place or they’re doing the wrong thing. But you’ve got to be on the inside to really change it… I’ve been given a platform that I’m hoping to use positively, but everyone has a different role to play… and I think it’s important that good people put up their hands to do the job,” he said.

Implementing conservation lessons in politics

De Blocq said that having a background in conservation had been massively helpful in allowing him to do his job as an MP more effectively because he had a network who were feeding him information or concerns on issues to bring up.

In 2024, DA MP Andrew de Blocq also published a children's book called 'The Twins' South African Bird Tour', teaching 6 to 10-year-olds about the diversity of nature, culture and languages in South Africa. (Photo: Supplied)

One of these issues was the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) industrial mega-development plan, which De Blocq was urging to be replaced with alternatives like expanded ecotourism, carbon markets, bioprospecting, agriculture, and agro-processing that highlight the natural assets and local context of the Vhembe region.

“There’s all sorts of roles the private sector can play, and I think the DA has always been friendly to the private sector — seeing it as a partner in these kinds of things rather than a competitor,” he said.

Bagpipes, birdlife and life outside of politics

Outside of his work as a parliamentary representative, De Blocq recently published a children’s book called The Twins’ South African Bird Tour with Penguin Random House South Africa.

The book follows two young bird enthusiasts, Nandipha and Andile, on a journey from Johannesburg to the Drakensberg mountains, teaching 6- to 10-year-olds about the diversity of nature, culture and languages in South Africa.

The MP said one of his favourite hobbies outside of the chamber of parliament was playing the bagpipes — yes, in Scottish dress and all!

Playing at a variety of events, he said some of the highlights were welcoming the pope to Edinburgh, Scotland, with the Loretto School Pipe Band and when the Cape Town Highlanders played for Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday party in Windsor.

De Blocq said his all-time highlight was playing with Sir Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, on tour in Glasgow with the Loretto School Pipe Band.

We played the encore for his concert at Hampden Park, which is one of the big soccer stadiums in Scotland. We played a song called Mull of Kintyre, a Scottish-themed song that he wrote with his band Wings. I got to meet him, and he shook my hand because I was wearing a Beatles shirt during the soundcheck.

De Blocq has worked in the conservation space for a long time and studied it for a long time, and now plans to influence conservation policy, specifically in Parliament. He said he was looking to do this by using the best available information to make the right decisions.

“I’m particularly passionate about the role that NGOs can play, especially where we have a government and a department that are understaffed (and) undercapacitated, whether that’s because we have a restricted fiscus or because of cadre deployment and the hollowing out the skills base of our departments.

“NGOs fulfill a massive part of the government’s mandate at the moment in South Africa, and we need to support that where we can have productive relationships,” he said.

De Blocq said he had a background in biodiversity conservation and science and a passion for it, but was still learning a lot about the breadth of the Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment portfolio.

“In one meeting, we can be talking about waste management, climate change, Kruger National Park, and the management of the squid fishery… I’m not an expert in all of this, but I’m trying to get myself up to speed on some of these other issues and build up networks in areas I didn’t before. That’s a focus for me, being in the role and trying to represent each interest of the department as best I can,” he said.

For all his conservation credentials and outsider charm, the MP now faces his toughest test: turning those good intentions into real policy wins and serving the people of South Africa. DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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South Africa

Transitioning from biodiversity conservation to politics

‘I never imagined I’d end up in Parliament’

Implementing conservation lessons in politics

Bagpipes, birdlife and life outside of politics