Coast KZN

South Africa can lay claim to an incredible 41 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), valuable ocean spaces that- much like game reserves- protect the region’s biodiversity and support surrounding communities with improved environmental health and livelihoods. However, without the proper public awareness, care and management of MPAs, the goal of protecting the vulnerable species, habitats and ecosystems, and benefiting communities simply cannot be achieved. That’s why addressing the challenges outlined in the recent Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) report, produced by WWF South Africa, is critical to the oceans’ health.

According to the METT report, South Africa is recognised globally as a marine biodiversity hotspot, with close to 13, 000 marine species. Moreover, almost a third of all these species recorded are endemic to South Africa, ranking it the third highest in terms of marine species endemism in the world. Considering the wealth of ocean life found in these waters, effective management and protection of the MPAs is critical.

The six areas of management effectiveness:

Entitled ‘The SA MPA METT 3 report: State of marine protected area management effectiveness in South Africa’, the report tracks six key areas.

Context. Where are we now?

Planning. Where do we want to be?

Inputs. What do we need?

Processes. How do we go about it?

Outputs. What were the results?

Outcomes. What did we achieve?

For the first time this year, the METT report has adopted a ‘traffic light’ system for MPA managers to evaluate governance through a standardised questionnaire. The various focus areas are allocated a colour-coded score, green for those that are well-managed, orange for those that need some attention; and red for those of grave concern.

According to the latest report, South Africa’s 27 coastal and island MPAs are facing five major challenges that managers are seeking to address. These include:

Insufficient funding, staffing and resources: The report indicated that over half of South African MPAs have inadequate capital budgets, 64 percent have insufficient human resources, and 45% have inadequate operational budgets.

A great need for the implementation or improvement of monitoring to track MPA management.

Insufficient effective law enforcement at MPAs.

A need to improve the management of cultural heritage at MPAs such as identifying spiritual sites and other cultural aspects that would provide value to communities and tourists.

Finally, there is simply not enough public awareness of MPAs, their role in the environment and value to local communities.

The METT report states, “According to the results, 56 percent of South Africa’s MPAs do not have an education, awareness and interpretation programme that is fully integrated into the MPA management plan. A partnership between government and NPOs is required to shift public perception regarding the value of MPAs, to promote them as the foundation for the long-term health of our marine ecosystems and the ecosystem services providing socio-economic benefits that many communities rely on.”

To highlight the challenges facing MPAs, as identified in the report, Dr Judy Mann, conservation strategist at the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR), explained that MPA Day- an annual celebration of these important areas of biodiversity- would be celebrated for the first time on Sunday, August 1.

“This is one way to address the challenges outlined in the METT report, by creating greater public awareness of the role on MPAs in protecting valuable marine resources, and safeguarding the economic, cultural, educational and spiritual benefits of the ocean,” she shared.

She explained that in addition to this, MPA Day will also shine a spotlight on the tireless efforts of those entrusted with MPA protection.

“We will use this opportunity to celebrate the amazing work done by our marine rangers, individuals who play a vital role in the management of MPAs. It is absolutely critical that they are supported and provided with the necessary resources to enable them to do their work properly,” she concluded.

Dr Bruce Mann, a senior scientist at SAAMBR, stated that the METT report, which evaluates the MPA management effectiveness is crucial.

“Without such analysis, these important areas stand the risk of simply becoming ‘paper parks’- simply a map on paper but with no real conservation value. Although there will always be certain biases and weaknesses associated with using this evaluation tool, it does serve to highlight the main challenges that MPA managers are facing. The idea to hold the first MPA Day in South Africa will contribute greatly to improving public awareness about the value of our MPAs and hopefully engender greater support for their existence and management,” he said.