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

STATE OF MANAGEMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA’S MARINE PROTECTED AREASStrengthsA budget has been allocated for the management of the MPA.There was adequate equipment and infrastructure available to conduct managementfunctions.A boat has been supplied to the MPA and there is a skipper.New interpretative signs have been erected.A permit office with interpretative displays and several brochures specific to the MPAhas been developed.Education programs and workshops which raise awareness in school groups andtarget the affected communities and resource users were implemented.Management has made specific efforts and initiated processes to meaningfullyengage with local stakeholders.There is monitoring of certain species and ecosystems.WeaknessesThere is a management plan however it is inadequate in its current form asstakeholders were not effectively engaged in the planning process.Activity regulations need gazetting.Staff lacked a basic understanding of MPA theory and the applicable legislation.Most staff members lacked basic skills required for operations in MPAs.A comprehensive management effectiveness monitoring program with results to beused in adaptive management needs to be designed and implemented.8.4 iSIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK MPAs8.4.1 ContextThe St Lucia and Maputaland MPAs are contiguous MPAs situated within the iSimangalisoWetland Park in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The coastline of the Park is 190km long and thetwo MPAs collectively make up about 145km of this- extending between the border ofMozambique and South Africa to a point one kilometre south of Cape Vidal. A southernmarine section of the Park extending between the points one kilometre south of Cape Vidalto Maphelane has not been declared as an MPA under the MLRA but is managed holisticallywith the MPAs as one of the marine sections of the Park. This assessment will focus on theMPAs currently declared under the MLRA in a collective manner, but brief descriptions ofdifferent aspects of management in the excluded southern section will be included, as thissection has been proposed as an extension area for the MPA.The MPAs are of international and national significance. Both MPAs are included in a WorldHeritage Site and the turtle beaches and coral reefs of Tongaland have been declared aRamsar site. The MPAs are situated within the Delgoa coastal bioregion which ends at CapeVidal, and are influenced by the warm Agulhas current which flows southwards from thePg 131