Protected areas of coastline or ocean in the EEZ of South Africa
Marine protected areas of South Africa{{Cite journal|title=MPA Declarations |issue=10177 |journal=Regulation Gazette No. 42478 |volume=647 |date=23 May 2019 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MPA-declarations.pdf |publisher=Government Printer |location=Pretoria }}{{Cite web |title=Protected Areas Register |url=https://dffeportal.environment.gov.za/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7e27f116dd194c1f9d446dacc76fe483 |website=dffeportal.environment.gov.za |access-date=10 July 2022}}
The marine protected areas of South Africa are in an area of coastline or ocean within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Republic of South Africa that is protected in terms of specific legislation for the benefit of the environment and the people who live in and use it.[1] An MPA is a place where marine life can thrive under less pressure than unprotected areas. They are like underwater parks, and this healthy environment can benefit neighbouring areas.[2][3]
There are a total of 42 marine protected areas in the South African EEZ, after consolidation, with a total area of 15.5% of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The target was to have 10% of the oceanic waters protected by 2020. All but one of the MPAs are in the exclusive economic zone off continental South Africa, and one is off the Prince Edward Islands in the Southern Ocean. Without the large Prince Edward Islands MPA, South Africa has 41 MPAs covering 5.4% of its continental EEZ. This achieves United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14.5 for conservation of marine and coastal areas, and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 Aichi Target 11.[4][5]
People can take part in a wide range of non-consumptive activities in all of South Africa's MPAs, and some parts of some MPAs are zoned for limited consumptive activities.[3] Some of these activities require a permit, which is a form of taxation.
A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated, and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.[1]
A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of sea or estuary. These areas can range from wildlife refuges to research facilities.[6] MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources.[7] Such marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional, national, or international authorities and differ substantially among and between nations. This variation includes different limitations on development, fishing practices, fishing seasons and catch limits, moorings and bans on removing or disrupting marine life. In some situations (such as with the Phoenix Islands Protected Area), MPAs also provide revenue for countries, potentially equal to the income that they would have if they were to grant companies permissions to fish.[8]
As of August 2016 there are more than 13,650 MPAs, encompassing 2.07% of the world's oceans, with half of that area – encompassing 1.03% of the world's oceans – receiving complete "no-take" designation.[9]
Purpose and function
If there is no defined long-term goal for conservation and ecological recovery and extraction of marine resources occurs, the IUCN does not recognise a region as a marine protected area.[10] The purposes stated for declaring South African marine protected areas include:[11]
Contribution towards a national and global representative system of marine protected areas by providing protection to benthic and pelagic ecosystems in various regions, including coastal habitats such as sandy beaches, rocky shores and estuaries offshore habitats such as soft sediment and reef systems, gravel, mud, sandy, and rocky habitats, shelf edge, submarine canyons and slope habitats, seamount and associated deep sea ecosystems, and open ocean pelagic habitats.
Providing protection for sites of special sensitivity and sites that are critically endangered
Providing large contiguous conservation areas, and links between inshore marine habitats with those further offshore, and providing contiguous conservation areas between marine, estuarine and terrestrial habitats.
Protecting threatened seabed ecosystems, such as mud habitats, untrawled rocky shelf habitat and untrawled shelf edge areas.
Conserving and protecting the biodiversity and ecological processes associated with these ecosystems, including threatened seabird species, threatened fish species and economically important invertebrate species.
Providing an appropriate environment for research and monitoring of ecosystem health and biodiversity
Contribute to sustainable marine and coastal ecotourism by zonation for activities which yield socio-economic benefits and protecting and promoting scenic areas and their eco-tourism opportunities
Facilitating fisheries management by protecting spawning grounds and spawning stock, nursery,foraging, aggregation and refuge areas, allowing stock recovery, and improving abundance in adjacent areas for overexploited species , linefish and sharks;
Facilitating sustainable use of linefish, rock lobster, abalone and intertidal resources
Protection the biota or specific species and the environment, biodiversity and ecosystems that support them, including vulnerable benthic habitats, tropical and cold water coral reefs, canyons which are coelacanth habitat and important migratory corridors for seabirds, turtles, sharks and other fish
Providing reference sites and environments for research and monitoring, including areas in good ecological condition and areas which may be indicators of impacts of climate change, and allowing for research on ecosystem impacts and recovery, and habitat requirements of economically important species
Protecting areas of important cultural heritage, including archeological middens and fish traps, South African National Heritage sites and World Heritage sites.
Conserving and protecting a fossilised forest.
MPAs have been shown to protect biodiversity and stocks of economically important marine organisms, and are also considered to protect cultural heritage, provide educational and recreational opportunities, provide sustainable employment, and stimulate tourism, and may assist with resilience to climate change.[3]
Planning
Planning scenarios for site selection analysis include seabed protection, pelagic biodiversity, threatened species, sustainability of small pelagic and demersal trawl fisheries, inshore, offshore and crustacean trawl bycatch management, a range of sector-specific analyses exploring areas where spawning or nursery grounds can be protected, as well as integrated analysis of all targets for all objectives including minimising and spreading impact on industry. Scenarios also considered industry targets and spreading the impact fairly, and the impact on rights holders who operate in fixed areas such as diamond mining and petroleum extraction.[12]
In recent planning, areas were considered in combination, with a recommendation to implement several new MPAs as a set, as this would speed up the process and allow a spatially efficient network that meets multiple combined objectives and minimises cumulative impact on industry. This plan was followed with the 2019 set of mostly offshore MPAs.[12]
Conservation authorities took into account the lack of protection for offshore benthic and pelagic habitats, and the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) developed the National Protection Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES) which was approved for implementation in March 2009. Subsequently, ten focus areas were identified for offshore biodiversity protection,[5] and on 24 October 2018, 20 of the proposed 22 new MPAs were approved by Cabinet,[15] and were proclaimed by the South African government on 24 May 2019, along with regulations for their management, in Government Gazettes Nos. 42478 and 42479 of 2019.[16] Most of the new areas were slightly reduced from the recommended areas. The area proclaimed was 54214km2, while the proposed area was 68578km2. In some cases new areas were combined with existing MPAs, and the total number rose to 42.[5]
Operation Phakisa is a South African government initiative intended to accelerate the implementation of solutions on critical development issues identified in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. Phakisa means "hurry up" in Sesotho and is intended to indicate urgency. The intention is to produce clear targets and plans and involves collaboration between key stakeholders in public and private sectors, academics and civil society organisations.[17] The purposes stated for the new MPAs include facilitation of sustainable fisheries and use by other economic sectors, as well as the protection of offshore species and ecosystems. The 2008 NPAES was revised in 2016 and prioritised conservation of the areas gazetted following the Phakisa process.[5]
The Marine Protection Services and Ocean Governance focus area is tasked with the development of an integrated governance framework for the exclusive economic zone to allow sustainable growth of the ocean economy.[18]
Extent
The EEZ of South Africa has a total area of approximately 1,547,576km2.[19]
The coastal MPAs before 2018 constituted 0.43% of the continental EEZ, and 0.16% of the EEZ was no-take zones. Offshore ecosystems were the least protected ecosystems of territory under South African management.[1] The 20 new MPAs proclaimed by the South African government on 24 May 2019 increased the area of the continental protected areas to about 5.4%.[16][5] To comply with the goals of the United Nations, another 5% of South African oceanic waters must be protected by 2020.[1] With the inclusion of the large Southern Ocean Prince Edward Islands Marine Protected Area the total marine area protected is 15.5%, or [5]
Coastal MPAs in the continental EEZ range in size from the Rocherpan Marine Protected Area on the Western Cape coast with 3km of shoreline and extending 500m seawards, to the iSimangaliso MPA in northern KwaZulu-Natal with 177km of coastline some of which extends up to 107km seawards. The offshore MPAs also vary considerably in size: Benguela Muds MPA is only 95km2, while the two seamount MPAs are both more than 7500km2.[5]
The coastal MPAs protect about 34% of the continental shoreline, of which about 12% is classified as restricted zone, based on a coastline length of 3113km (the coastline length was previously estimated at 3656km). 5.4 percent of the continental EEZ is protected, of which about 3% is restricted zone. The Prince Edward Islands MPA is the largest, with 181247km2 which is 38.17 percent of the archipelago's EEZ.[5]
Distribution
Coastal MPAs are distributed along the coastline from the Namaqua National Park Marine Protected Area on the west coast, to the iSimangaliso MPA on the east coast, which extends up to the South African – Mozambique border. The continental offshore MPAs are distributed through the EEZ from the border of Namibia to near Durban, on the east coast, to provide best coverage of the variety of habitats and ecosystems. Protea Banks MPA is closest to the mainland shore with depths starting at about 30m, while parts of the Agulhas Front MPA and Southwest Indian Ocean and Atlantic Seamount MPAs are near the outer edge of the EEZ, and include abyssal benthic habitats more than 4000m deep.[5]
The MPAs provide habitat protection for beaches, rocky shores, coastal and open ocean islands, lagoons, pans, estuaries and offshore shoals.[5]
The earliest proclamations of marine protected areas in South Africa were under the Sea Fisheries Acts of 1973 and 1988 and amendments. From 1998 they were declared under Section 43 of the Marine Living Resources Act, after which the management of fisheries was separated from MPAs, which were thereafter grouped with terrestrial conservation areas under the National Environmental Management Act: Protected Areas Act, No. 10 of 2004, by the 2014 amendment, and all pre-existing MPAs were transferred by presidential pronouncement to section 22A of the NEM: PAA, published on 2 June 2014 in Government Gazette No. 37710.[5]
Management
The South African Constitution makes the national government responsible for protecting the environment. Originally the management of MPAs and fisheries was the responsibility of the Marine and Coastal Management branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), but the department was split in 2009 into the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Department of Tourism, and management of the marine environment was shared by the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This continued until 2019 when another reshuffle of portfolios created the Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries, which was allocated the responsibility for MPAs.[5][3]
Zonation of marine protected areas in South Africa is classified by the Marine Living Resources Act[22] and the National Environmental Management Act.[23] An MPA may be divided into one or more types of zonation. Restricted and controlled areas are common.[22]
Sanctuary area
Part of a marine protected area where no fishing or any other activity contemplated in terms of section 48A(1) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, No. 57 of 2003 may take place, except for scientific research purposes. This prohibits fishing, collection or destruction of any fauna or flora, dredging or extraction of mineral materials, discharging or depositing any waste or pollutants, disturbing, altering or damaging the natural environment or water quality, removing seawater, conducting any activity which may adversely affect the ecosystem, constructing any building or other structure, marine aquaculture, bio-prospecting, sinking any platform, vessel or structure, prospecting for or extracting fossil fuels.[23]
Restricted area
Also known as a no-take zone, is a part of a marine protected area where extraction and harvesting of any marine life is prohibited.[22]
Wilderness area
Part of a marine protected area where no fishing may take place, but ecotourism activities that do not affect wilderness characteristics and attributes may be authorised.[24]
Controlled area
Also known an open area, is a part of an MPA where extraction and harvesting of marine life is allowed but restricted to specific activities, species, and catch limits, and other commercial activities, subject to a specific permit, basically a form of taxation, issued for that activity for a specified time period, usually a year. These activities include spearfishing (on breathhold), angling, recreational scuba diving, snorkelling for mollusc extraction, boating, commercial diving, salvage operations, commercial fishing, whale watching, shark cage diving or filming.[22]
List of MPAs
The listed MPAs were individually proclaimed. Some were later consolidated with adjacent MPAs and may not still be generally referred to by the original name.
Agulhas Front Marine Protected Area– Offshore marine conservation area off the Eastern Cape in South Africa's EEZ (South of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, 2019)[25]
Agulhas Muds Marine Protected Area– Marine conservation area offshore of the Western Cape in South Africa (South of Cape Agulhas, Western Cape. 2019)[25]
Maputaland Marine Protected Area– Marine protected area (MPA) along the Indian Ocean coastline of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, 2000)[26]
Namaqua Fossil Forest Marine Protected Area– Marine conservation area off the northwest cost of the Northern Cape province of South Africa (Off Kleinzee, Namaqualand, Northern Cape, 2019)[25]
Protea Banks Marine Protected Area– Marine conservation area in the coastal waters of southern kwaZulu-Natal in South Africa (South Coast, KwaZulu-Natal, 2019)[25]
Rocherpan Marine Protected Area– Marine conservation area on the west coast of the Western Cape in South Africa (Western Cape, north of Saldanha Bay)[5]
Robberg Marine Protected Area– Conservation area at the Robberg peninsula in South AfricaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets (Western Cape, 2000)[26]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2019)
Protection
The 2019 proclamation of 20 new marine protected areas extended protection for the first time to 51 previously unprotected ecosystem types. This reduced the number of unprotected ecosystem types from 47% to 13%. The quality of protection is variable. Insufficient area of some ecosystems is protected. In other cases legal and illegal fishing, waste water discharge and other pressures degrade the protection. Improvements in governance are urgently needed, including developing and implementing management plans, better financing, and improving liaison end compliance.[27]:xxxvii
Threats
Illegal and unregulated fishing. Illegal fishing in South African waters has generally been assumed to be the illegal harvesting of abalone, but IUU fishing has been estimated to cost the South African economy as much as R60 billion per year.[28] In May 2016, three Chinese skippers were charged with fishing without the required permits in South African waters, and having illegally taken R70,000,000 worth of squid, and an earlier case of illegal harvesting of rock lobster over 14 years was litigated in 2013 and resulted in a US$22.5 million reparations payment to South Africa. This is a considerable loss of income and employment opportunities for South Africa.[28]
Inadequate enforcement/security. Security and enforcement capabilities are necessary for implementing Sustainable Development Goal 14 – to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources, for preventing pollution, combating overfishing and IUU fishing, for the conservation of certain coastal and marine areas, and for increasing the economic benefits accrued through the sustainable use of marine resources.[28]
Political pressure and corruption
Climate change
Pollution
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2021)
Related Research Articles
The Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area is a coastal and offshore marine protected area between the Lovu and Mzimayi estuaries, off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, South Africa. The MPA contains the popular scuba diving destination Aliwal Shoal
The Helderberg Marine Protected Area is a small marine conservation area on the north-eastern side of False Bay in the Western Cape province of South Africa, It lies between the mouths of the Lourens River in the Strand, and the Eerste River in Macassar.
The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the protected areas of South Africa:
The iSimangaliso Marine Protected Area is a coastal and offshore marine protected area in KwaZulu-Natal from the South Africa-Mozambique border in the north to Cape St Lucia lighthouse in the south.
The Protea Banks Marine Protected Area is a marine conservation area on the continental shelf edge off the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
The Southeast Atlantic Seamounts Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation region in the exclusive economic zone of South Africa
The Agulhas Front Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation region in the exclusive economic zone of South Africa.
The Agulhas Muds Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation Marine Protected Area region in the exclusive economic zone of South Africa.
The Amathole Offshore Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation region, extending the Amathole Marine Protected Area in the territorial waters of South Africa.
The Benguela Muds Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation region on the continental slope of the west coast in the exclusive economic zone of South Africa.
The Marine biodiversity of South Africa is the variety of living organisms that live in the seas off the coast of South Africa. It includes genetic, species and ecosystems biodiversity in a range of habitats spread over a range of ecologically varied regions, influenced by the geomorphology of the seabed and circulation of major and local water masses, which distribute both living organisms and nutrients in complex and time-variable patterns.
The Southwest Indian Seamount Marine Protected Area is an offshore conservation region in the exclusive economic zone of South Africa.
The uThukela Banks Marine Protected Area is an inshore and offshore conservation region in the territorial waters and exclusive economic zone of South Africa.
The Hluleka Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The Biodiversity of South Africa is the variety of living organisms within the boundaries of South Africa and its exclusive economic zone. South Africa is a region of high biodiversity in the terrestrial and marine realms. The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries, and is rated among the top 10 for plant species diversity and third for marine endemism.
The Rocherpan Marine Protected Area is a small coastal conservation region on the West Coast of the Western Cape province, in the territorial waters of South Africa. It is about 25 km north of Velddrif on the road to Elands Bay, north of Dwarskersbos.
The Amathole Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa, near East London on the coast of the Eastern Cape.
The Trafalgar Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa in kwaZulu-Natal, between Port Edward and Margate.
↑ Administration, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric. "What is a marine protected area?". oceanservice.noaa.gov. Retrieved 5 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ "Government Notices - Department of Environmental Affairs". Regulation Gazette No. 10553. Pretoria: Government Printer. 608 (39646). 3 February 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.