SA protects marine resources

2004-07-29 11:18

Cape Town - South Africa is to proclaim a major marine protected area around Prince Edward and Marion Islands, Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced on Wednesday.

This would be one of the largest areas of its kind in the world, he said.

The islands are in the Southern Ocean just over 2 000km south-east of Cape Town.

He was speaking in Cape Town at a ceremony where the government was honoured with the World Wildlife Fund's highest award, the Gift to the Earth, for its commitment to protecting marine resources.

The award was in recognition of the four new marine protected areas (MPAs) declared by Van Schalkwyk during National Environment Week in June - at the Aliwal Shoal, Pondoland, the Bird Island Group, and the Table Mountain National Park.

The four, along with 19 previously declared areas, brought roughly 18% of South Africa's 3 000 km coastline under protection.

MPAs are the marine equivalent of national parks, and South Africa's allow different categories of use ranging from limited fishing and controlled tourism, to full "sanctuary zones".

Van Schalkwyk said the new MPAs were a critical step in reaching the internationally agreed target of protection of 20% of habitats set for 2010.

Future efforts would have to be directed at conserving substantial components of the continental shelf, extending into South Africa's economic exclusion zone.

Director General of WWF International Dr Claude Martin, who handed over the award, praised the South African government for the leadership role it had taken in protecting its marine resources.

Currently some 75% of the world's commercial fish stocks were either fully or over-exploited and only some 0.5% of global oceans enjoyed formal protection.

There was a "critical urgency" for individual governments as well as the international community to increase the protection of offshore habitats.

- SAPA