SA gets four new marine parks
2004-05-31 22:12
Port Elizabeth - Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk launched National Environment Week on Monday with a visit to Bird Island in Algoa Bay, about 50km east of Port Elizabeth.
His visit to the island comes shortly before it and four other areas around the South African coast are gazetted, on Friday, as marine protected areas (MPA).
Speaking on the island to journalists, environment department director-general Dr Chippy Olver, who had accompanied Van Schalkwyk, said that by the end of the week a total of 19% of the country's coastline would fall under marine protection.
He also signalled the department was poised to beef up marine protection.
"We don't intend to put in place MPAs without the necessary capacity... these are not paper MPAs," he said.
Van Schalkwyk told journalists: "What we are lacking is a coast guard."
He declined to give any more details of the department's plans in this regard, saying more information would be given later in the week.
20% coastal protection
In recent months, Bird Island has been targeted by abalone poachers, and rangers on the island have had to sit by helplessly watching the resource being plundered.
Briefing the media at parliament earlier this year, Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) head Horst Kleinschmidt said once the new MPAs were proclaimed, South Africa would have almost hit the international target of 20% coastal protection.
According to documents and maps, the new MPAs include:
Aliwal Shoal. This is a reef off KwaZulu-Natal's South Coast, home to certain unique species of hard and soft coral.
Pondoland. This will extend about 90km, from Port St Johns north to the Mtamvuna River, and about 15km out to sea. The total area of the MPA will be 1 300km².
Bird Island group. Situated in Algoa Bay, the Bird, Seal and Stag islands are home to several species of endangered seabirds, while the reefs around them are breeding grounds for abalone and linefish.
According to Kleinschmidt, the protection of the islands "is the first stage in the expansion of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park to include parts of Algoa Bay".
Cape Peninsula. The new MPA will include all of the coastal waters around the peninsula, from Mouille Point in the west to Muizenberg in the east.
Six areas closed to fishermen
It will be an extension of the Cape Peninsula National Park, which will be responsible for managing the MPA.
The area will also include six areas closed to fishermen, although controlled fishing will be allowed in all other parts of the MPA.
Namaqualand. This, once proclaimed, will be South Africa's largest MPA, covering 9 700km². It will extend from the inter-tidal area between the Groen and Spoeg rivers out to sea, including the Child's Bank seamount.
The area - biologically rich, and home to various shallow and deepwater marine species such as hake, kingklip, monkfish, rock lobster and tune - faces serious threats from trawling and mining activities.
- SAPA