The new Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area (MPA) officially comes into effect on Thursday, SANParks spokesperson Fayroush Ludick said on Wednesday.
The Addo MPA was one of 20 new marine protected areas in South African waters and one of three located within South African national parks which were gazetted by the Department of Environmental Affairs on May 23, she noted.
“This declaration was the culmination of many years of work by South African National Biodiversity Institute, SANParks, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Affairs.”
The other two new national park MPAs were the Robben Island MPA (to be managed by Table Mountain National Park) and the Namaqua National Park MPA.
Ludick said an MPA was an area of coastline or ocean specifically protected for the benefit of people and nature.
“They help manage part of the marine environment to rebuild fisheries populations, keep marine ecosystems working properly, and protect the range of species living there. MPAs are divided into controlled and restricted zones to allow for both protection and use of resources.”
She said the 1,127km² Addo MPA protected a wide range of ecosystems, including sandy beaches, rocky shores, reefs, an estuary and islands.
“The protection of the estuary and reefs are important for the recovery of valuable fisheries resources such as abalone and kob. It also protects important feeding areas for the 9000 pairs of endangered African penguins breeding at St Croix Island and the 60000 pairs of endangered Cape gannets breeding at Bird Island.”
Because the Addo MPA was located close to Port Elizabeth, it would facilitate nature-based tourism and serve as an outdoor classroom for educational activities.
Ludick said the new network of MPAs increased the conservation footprint of South Africa’s oceans from 0.43-5% and was a major achievement for conservation.
The planning towards some of the MPAs, such as the Addo and Sanbi offshore MPAs, started as far back as in 2006.
Hundreds of planning and stakeholder meetings and negotiations with communities and industries such as oil and gas, mining, fisheries, and aquaculture took place.
Conservation planners and lawyers spent five years developing the shape, size and regulations for these MPAs with many compromises on all sides, she said.
Addo MPA comes into effect
Fresh regulations for new protected area in Algoa Bay now in force, SANParks reminds
Image: Ane Oosthuizen
The new Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area (MPA) officially comes into effect on Thursday, SANParks spokesperson Fayroush Ludick said on Wednesday.
The Addo MPA was one of 20 new marine protected areas in South African waters and one of three located within South African national parks which were gazetted by the Department of Environmental Affairs on May 23, she noted.
“This declaration was the culmination of many years of work by South African National Biodiversity Institute, SANParks, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Affairs.”
The other two new national park MPAs were the Robben Island MPA (to be managed by Table Mountain National Park) and the Namaqua National Park MPA.
Ludick said an MPA was an area of coastline or ocean specifically protected for the benefit of people and nature.
“They help manage part of the marine environment to rebuild fisheries populations, keep marine ecosystems working properly, and protect the range of species living there. MPAs are divided into controlled and restricted zones to allow for both protection and use of resources.”
She said the 1,127km² Addo MPA protected a wide range of ecosystems, including sandy beaches, rocky shores, reefs, an estuary and islands.
“The protection of the estuary and reefs are important for the recovery of valuable fisheries resources such as abalone and kob. It also protects important feeding areas for the 9000 pairs of endangered African penguins breeding at St Croix Island and the 60000 pairs of endangered Cape gannets breeding at Bird Island.”
Because the Addo MPA was located close to Port Elizabeth, it would facilitate nature-based tourism and serve as an outdoor classroom for educational activities.
Ludick said the new network of MPAs increased the conservation footprint of South Africa’s oceans from 0.43-5% and was a major achievement for conservation.
The planning towards some of the MPAs, such as the Addo and Sanbi offshore MPAs, started as far back as in 2006.
Hundreds of planning and stakeholder meetings and negotiations with communities and industries such as oil and gas, mining, fisheries, and aquaculture took place.
Conservation planners and lawyers spent five years developing the shape, size and regulations for these MPAs with many compromises on all sides, she said.
Addo MPA information meetings
Algoa Bay marine protected area declared
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