Uilkraals Situation Assessment - Anchor Environmental

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• to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generationsthrough reasonable legislative and other measures that –• prevent pollution and ecological degradation;• promote conservation; and• secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources whilepromoting justifiable economic and social development.This lays the basis for environmental law in South Africa (Breen & McKenzie 2001) and is a veryimportant justification for the wise use of estuarine biodiversity.Because they are not freshwater, terrestrial or marine, estuaries have tended to be neglectedin past legislation. However, the fact that estuaries contain freshwater, terrestrial and marinecomponents, and are heavily influenced by activities in a much broader catchment andadjacent marine area, means that they are affected by a large number of policies and laws.The situation has improved with newer policies and legislation, but there is still no specificprovision for Estuarine Protected Areas.South African policy and law as pertaining to estuaries has been summarised in detailelsewhere (Smith & Cullinan 2000, van Niekerk & Taljaard 2002). A brief summary of the mostrelevant policies is given here (Table 9 and Table 10). Policy and legislation which affectsestuaries directly can be roughly divided into that affecting (a) water quality and quantity, (b)land use and infrastructure development, and (c) living resources within estuaries (Van Niekerk& Taljaard 2002, Taljaard 2007).Estuary management falls mainly under two national government departments: theDepartment of Water Affairs and Forestry, responsible for water resources, and theDepartment of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), responsible for everything else, e.g.land use, living resources. Environmental management in most instances is devolved toprovincial level through whichever provincial department is responsible for environmentalmatters. Management and conservation of marine living resources is an exception in thisrespect, in that this is retained as a national competency, responsibility residing with theBranch Marine & Coastal Management (MCM) of DEAT. In instances where provincial or locallegislation are in conflict with national legislation, national legislation prevails. At a local(municipality) level, municipal councils pass municipal by‐laws, which in turn, cannot conflictwith provincial and national laws (Breen & McKenzie 2001).The Western Cape Government has also released a Coastal Management Programme whichincludes a suite of goals, objectives and strategies designed to achieve sustainable coastaldevelopment in the Western Cape. These are closely aligned with the National CoastalManagement Programme and are organised within five themes:Theme A: Governance and Capacity BuildingTheme B: Our National AssetTheme C: Coastal Planning and DevelopmentTheme D: Natural Resource ManagementTheme E: Pollution Control and Waste ManagementA number of goals within each of these themes are of relevance to the management of theUilkraals Estuary (Table 11).Uilkraals Estuary Situation Assessment41Anchor Environmental
Table 9.Summary of national policies which affect water quality and quantity in estuaries in general, landing use, development and resource use in the estuarine environment.Water quality& quantityWhite Paper (= Policy) Bill or Act (= Law) LeadAgentWhite Paper on NationalWater Policy for SA (1997)White Paper on IntegratedPollution and WasteManagement for South Africa(2000)ImplicationsNational Water Act 36 of 1998 DWEA Defines the environmental reserve in terms of quantity and quality of water; provides fornational, catchment and local management of waterMarine Pollution (Control andCivil Liability) Act (1981)National EnvironmentalManagement: IntegratedCoastal Management Act no 24of 2008Seashore Act(1935) as amendedDOT/DWEADWEADEADPProvides for the protection of the marine environment from pollution by oil and other harmfulsubstances, the prevention and combating of such pollution, and the determination of liability incertain respects for loss or damage caused by the discharge of oil from ships, tankers andoffshore installations.Provides for the control of dumping at sea and pollution in the coastal zone (including estuaries).The leasing of the sea shore for the purposes of construction on the sea‐shore or in the sea.Environmental Conservation Act(1989)Most of the provisions of this Act have been repealed by NEMA, apart from the regulation onSensitive Coastal Areas.Land use &managementWhite Paper for SustainableCoastal Development inSouth Africa (2000)National Heritage Resources Act(1999)National EnvironmentalManagement: IntegratedCoastal Management Act no 24of 2008DWEADWEAProvides for managements of national heritage resources (including landscapes and naturalfeatures of cultural significance, and for participation of communities in the identification,conservation and management of cultural resourcesProvides for integrated coastal and estuarine management in South Africa, and sustainabledevelopment of the coastal zone, defines rights and duties in relation to coastal areas; includes aNational Estuarine Management Protocol for South Africa, and requires that estuarinemanagement plans be developed and implemented for all estuariesWhite Paper on SpatialPlanning and Land‐useManagement (2001)Local Government: MunicipalSystems Act (2000)DPLGRequires each local authority to adopt a single, inclusive plan for the development of themunicipality intended to encompass and harmonise planning over a range of sectors such aswater, transport, land use and environmental management.Uilkraals Estuary Situation Assessment 42Anchor Environmental
Page 1: C.A.P.E. Estuaries Management Progr
Page 6 and 7: Need for protection of the Uilkraal
Page 8 and 9: TABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION...
Page 10 and 11: 1. INTRODUCTIONThe Uilkraals Estuar
Page 12 and 13: 2. GEOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO‐ECONOMIC
Page 14 and 15: 2.2 Catchment climate, vegetation a
Page 16 and 17: Figure 7: Annual rainfall for the U
Page 18 and 19: EconomyAgriculture dominates much o
Page 20 and 21: Figure 9. An aerial view of the Uil
Page 22 and 23: Figure 12. Pictures of the exposed
Page 24 and 25: 3.4 VegetationThere are four main v
Page 26 and 27: covered 19 ha and grassland 1.3 ha.
Page 28: Because the Uilkraals Estuary is ca
Page 31 and 32: For this study, a count of water‐
Page 33 and 34: iophysical variables. The current s
Page 36 and 37: Table 8. Ecosystem goods, services
Page 38 and 39: Estuaries are typically shallow and
Page 40 and 41: strands of remnant undisturbed fynb
Page 44 and 45: ProtectedareasUse of living resourc
Page 46 and 47: Table 11.Goals and strategies in th
Page 48 and 49: 5.3 Water quantity and quality requ
Page 50 and 51: Development planning has been rathe
Page 52 and 53: and weakening or destruction of the
Page 54 and 55: • take into consideration whether
Page 56 and 57: principles involve identifying an o
Page 58 and 59: Component Strategy with spatial imp
Page 64 and 65: Component Description PoliciesConse
Page 66 and 67: Component Description PoliciesCore
Page 68 and 69: Other recreational activities are o
Page 70 and 71: 2. Establish a Marine Protected Are
Page 72 and 73: Gillanders, B.M. & Kingsford, M.J.
Page 74 and 75: APPENDIX 1: TERMS OF REFERENCEThe d
Page 76: 6. Monitoring and evaluationAn appr

Uilkraals Situation Assessment - Anchor Environmental

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