State of Management of South Africa’s ... - WWF South Africa

STATE OF MANAGEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S MARINE PROTECTED AREAS8.2 TRAFALGAR MPA8.2.1 ContextThe Trafalgar MPA is situated on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal between Marina Beachand Mpenjati. Approximately one third of the MPA is situated adjacent to the Mpenjati NatureReserve. The MPA’s coastline is 4.8km and it extends one nautical mile offshore from thehigh water mark. Habitats represented in the MPA include sandy beaches, rocky platformsand subtidal sandy benthos and reefs. The area was initially declared as a marine reserve in1979 to protect marine fossil deposits. The beaches in the MPA are popular with tourists andlocals for swimming and bathing and recreational shore angling.Sam Ndlovu (District Conservation Officer), George Nair (Cluster Manager) and JenniferOlbers (Scientific Services) from EKZN Wildlife were consulted for this MPA.8.2.2 Legal and organisational frameworkThe Trafalgar MPA was promulgated under the MLRA in 2000. There are no specificobjectives and regulations provided for the MPA under the MLRA, however the proclamationindicates that recreational shore angling and recreational boat angling and spearfishingactivities, restricted to a list of bony and cartilaginous fish species, are permitted activities.The protection of the fossils is not a listed objective for the MPA and there are no regulationsrelating to the fossils directly under the MLRA. The objectives that apply to the MPA are thebroad objectives provided under section 43 of the MLRA i.e. to protect fauna and flora andthe physical features on which they depend, or to facilitate fisheries management, or todiminish conflict arising from competing uses.8.2.3 MPA designMPA DESIGN (33%)The MPA design was viewed as inadequate in terms of protecting marine living resources asonly a small portion was adequately preserved due to the MPA’s size and zoning as acontrolled zone. Furthermore the MPA incorporated only a portion of the fossil depositswhich extend as far as the Umtamvuna River and several kilometers inland. There was nouser zonation within the MPA but this was not necessary due to its size and the lack of userconflicts.8.2.4 MPA Management PlanEXISTENCE OF PLAN, OBJECTIVES AND REGULATIONS (25%)There was no management plan being implemented for the Trafalgar MPA. A survey reporton the fossil deposits in the MPA has been used to guide management and formulateoperational plans. The report indicated that the objective of the MPA was to protect the fossilPg 122