1 May 2007
The marine protected area (MPA) of the Table Mountain National Park is a good example of a "zoned" reserve area that is successfully managed to allow some fishing, says the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
It was responding to the latest critical reaction to its proposal to reopen three sections of the Tsitsikamma National Park to fishing.
Yesterday the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa added its voice to opponents of the Tsitsikamma proposal, in an unusually tough statement.
It said rational, transparent and science-based decision-making had to determine the future of the reserve, rather than a closed-shop decision by the government to "appease highly vociferous locals".
It also said it was "particularly disappointing" that the government appeared to be moving backwards on commitments on MPAs made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, and that the department had not followed due process.
Asked to respond, the department's chief director of communications, Blessing Manale, said scientific advice had been sought and provided.
"Then a management decision was taken after weighing all the issues at play. It must be noted that the type of scientific advice used to establish the MPA (marine protected area) was only on ecological importance of the area, but what was lacking was the social aspects.
"Hence the proposal to go for the experimental approach to assess all aspects."
The department's approach to coastal management was to integrate all the interests and needs of users and try to find the "middle road" on areas of conflict, Manale said.
"The same has happened in this case. If one notes that Tsitsikamma is one of only three 'no-take' MPAs out of 19, we're trying to look at a model that is in line with other MPAs that are zoned for specific uses. The Table Mountain National Park MPA is a good example of where we've done this successfully and with MPAs such as this one the department has embarked on a public consultative process first before declaring the MPAs - a process which was lacking before."
Environment And Science Writer
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