Less than 1% of South Africa’s vast coastline has been declared Marine Protected Areas or MPA’s. While the country has some of the most progressive laws in terms of conservation on the continent, the coastal and deep water environment must receive greater attention.
During National Marine Week, which ends on Monday, SANParks is on a drive to create greater awareness around the issue. Saturday is also International African Penguin Awareness Day.
SANParks manages four of South Africa’s 23 Marine Protected Areas.
They include the Table Mountain National Park MPA – a stretch of 138 kilometre coastline and a thousand square kilometres of the sea.
This MPA protects over 40% of the species found along the coastline of the Western Cape.
It’s a vast area and without rangers its status as an MPA would be pointless.
Warren Sables, Ranger Sergeant: TMNP Marine Unit says: “It’s a common mistake out there that our job is to arrest and to fine but that is not actually the case. We are there to help create awareness and minimise the offence that we find. If we’re out in the field we will go first try to explain and to educate before we take any other route.”
South Africa’s coastline stretches over more than 2 500 kilometres.
Within its MPA’s there are ‘no take zones’ which serve as vital breeding and nursery grounds for marine species under threat such as the West Coast Rock lobster and abalone.
Plans are afoot to declare 21 more Marine Protected Areas.
Dr. Alison Kock, Cape Research Centre: SANParks says: “It’s been identified for a long time that there is a need to increase the size of the protected areas, the medium term goals are five to 10% and then the long term goals, which is an international level, is 30 percent.”
MPA’s are home to iconic species such as the African penguin.
In a decade, their numbers in the wild declined to such an extent that they were re-classified in 2010 on the Red List of Threatened Species from vulnerable to endangered.
As part of the Table Mountain National Park MPA, Boulders Beach is one of eight major colonies in South Africa.
There are fears that the species could become extinct in the near future.
Faroeshka Rodgers, Section Ranger: Boulders Beach says: “If we have extinction of species, not only the African penguin but others as well, we ourselves are put at risk of becoming extinct. Because those are our natural resources, food sources at the end of the day we all interact within this ecosystem. We are not an entity on our own, we need to co-exist, we are not part of it, we are not superior to it.”
The ocean generates 30% of all oxygen on earth.
Each creature, big and small, plays a role in its ecosystem making humans dependent on its entire well being.
