2005/2006 - SANParks

2005South African National ParksGARDEN ROUTE CLUSTERTHE KNYSNA PROTECTEDNATURAL ENVIRONMENTOVERVIEWSince the promulgation of the new Protected Areas Act, the Lake Areachanged its designation to that of a Protected Natural Environment.A major cause of concern resulting from this, is that all the regulatoryprovisions under the previous Act have been withdrawn, leaving theKnysna protected natural environment in a legal vacuum.Planning of the Thesen Island state land is ongoing. An engineering fi rmhas been appointed to investigate the integrity of Thesens Jetty.Regular maintenance was done to infrastructure and initial repairshad to be done to the toilet blocks at the Knysna Heads due to winterstorm damage. A community footpath project,run in conjunction withthe Rastafarian community has been extremely successful. The projectwas awarded a C.A.P.E Certifi cate of Merit.CONSERVATION IN THE PARKThere was no major deviation from the long term rainfall average for thearea. Water restrictions have been in place in the Knysna municipal areadue to the extremely low levels of the area’s supply dams.A joint SANParks and Municipal alien clearing project, which involvedthe cutting of a 50m-wide fi re belt along the top of Mount Pleasant,was undertaken. Several large sewerage spills took place and this is acause for concern, however, a workshop was held with the Municipalityto identify protocols to handle land-based and marine pollution.Recent aerial inspections showed a reduction in the number of diggingscars on the Salt Marshes. It seems that the presence of rangers isfi nally showing results; however there has been an increase of humanhabitation along the lagoon area, which could have a further negativeimpact on the protected area.There has been pressure from the local community to create moresubsistence fi shing opportunities in Knysna, however MCM scientistshave indicated that the fi sh stock is already in dire straits in the Knysnaarea. A highlight during the period under review was the rare sighting ofFlamingoes in the Knysna area.TOURISMThe Knysna Protected Natural Environment does not have a tourisminfrastructure. The annual Knysna Oyster Festival took place and theSA Naval ships moored along side the Thesens Jetty. This generatedinterest from the infl ux of Festival visitors.60