Between the 2nd and 4th of March 2026, teams from SANParks, French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) came together to support Namaqua National Park MPA’s journey towards archiving Green List status. The week brought together SANParks’ management and science teams, the recently appointed park manager and section rangers…
Along much of South Africa’s coastline lie small, dynamic water bodies known as temporarily open/closed estuaries (TOCEs). To the untrained eye, these systems can appear “problematic” when their mouths are close to the sea, with water level, chemistry, and aesthetic changes being noted. Yet decades of research show that this opening and closing is not…
From 6 – 10 October, teams from SANParks and the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) met at the Iroise Marine Nature Park, in France, for a collaborative workshop that was focused on improving the design and use of indicators in the management of protected areas. The workshop took a comparative and interactive format where the two…
South Africa’s marine realm, including its marine protected areas, are facing increasingly intense heatwaves and cold spells, threatening the biodiversity they were designed to protect. Our study reveals that SANParks-managed MPAs like Robben Island, Table Mountain, and Addo are among the hardest hit marine protected areas in South Africa. However, the ecological impacts of these…
There is something special about a secluded spot nestled between hills, surrounded by bushveld, wildlife, and crisp mountain air to get the creative juices flowing to focus on some deep work without distraction. In November 2025, the Savanna Research Unit convened at Pullen Farm, on the outskirts of Mbombela, for a focused knowledge synthesis workshop…
On 10–11 April 2025, Dr Alison Towner (South African International Maritime Institute) and Dr Alison Kock (South African National Parks) led a collaborative expedition with marine biologist Don Marx (Southernmost Apnea) aboard White Shark Africa’s research vessel to deploy Mini-PAT (pop-up archival) satellite tags from Wildlife Computers on white sharks in Kleinbrak, Mossel Bay. Over…
You may be asking yourself, “What is a TILLie?” and that’s the first question I had when I heard about the programme. Well, TILL stands for Transdisciplinary International Learning Lab, and the TILLies were a group of international students conducting their studies in Germany, Canada, and South Africa and participating in a six-week immersive course…
SANParks co-hosted the successful 7th Garden Route Interface and Networking (GRIN) meeting, from 30 September to 2 October 2025, at Villa Castollini near Brenton-on-Sea in the Garden Route. GRIN provides a practice-oriented space for practitioners, scientists and students to co-learn about human-nature connections in conservation. This year, 85 participants contributed to more than 50 stimulating…
We’ve all heard the word sustainability. It’s about not using up everything today so that future generations still have something tomorrow. It’s a wise idea—but let’s be honest, it can sometimes feel like a very serious word. Sustainability sounds like holding back, make do or using less. Important, yes. But is “just surviving” really the…
During the week of the 14th of June 2025, SANParks engaged in a series of focused meetings with three teams from the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) on the development of indicators within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These discussions built on earlier themes in the SANParks–OFB partnership and were aimed at sharing practices for conservation monitoring…
At the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, global ocean stakeholders came together to discuss urgent marine challenges. Representing South African National Parks (SANParks), I had the honour of contributing to three official side events focused on marine governance, international cooperation, and ocean innovation. The first event, Marine Protected Areas: Success Stories…
As an early-career marine researcher, I recently had the privilege of participating in an immersive deep-sea training workshop hosted by the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (NRF-SAIAB), under the umbrella of the South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) – a Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) programme. The workshop focused on developing hands-on…