A year down the road: Estuary Management Plans in National Parks
SANPARKS HAS EMBARKED ON A PROCESS OF DEVELOPING 12 ESTUARY MANAGEMENT PLANS OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS FOR ESTUARIES FALLING WITHIN ITS JURISDICTION
SANParks has 36 estuaries under its jurisdiction and as some of these can be combined in terms of management, needs to develop 12 Estuary Management Plans.
Although estuary management within National Parks is broadly addressed within Park Management Plans, there is a specific legislative requirement for Estuary Management Plans (EMPs). The EMP development process is detailed in the National Estuarine Management Protocol (NEMP) and governed by the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act. This facilitates coordinated management by government departments and agencies whose activities may affect estuary functioning and use, or whose mandate requires co-management of a specific estuary. Additionally, extensive public participation must be undertaken throughout the planning process before the EMP is approved by the relevant provincial or national department or ministry responsible for the environment.
Of the approximately 300 functional estuaries in South Africa, 36 are under the jurisdiction of SANParks. These vary greatly in size and complexity, with some requiring little to no management whereas a few, mostly larger systems close to urban areas, require a range of management interventions. Since the NEMP makes provision for smaller, adjacent, similarly functioning estuaries to be combined within one EMP, 12 EMPs need to be developed for SANParks over a 10-year planning cycle.
Work began on both the Sout (East) and Knysna EMPs in the Garden Route National Park in 2021. The process consists of three phases: scoping, objective setting, and implementation and monitoring. The scoping phase commences with the collation of an estuary-specific Situation Assessment Report (SAR), providing background information to inform the management planning process and highlighting gaps in existing knowledge. During the objective setting phase the draft EMP is compiled. Stakeholders, members of the public and all relevant government agencies are involved in the drafting of a vision and objectives, institutional arrangements and responsibilities are agreed upon, zonation is addressed, and a monitoring plan is developed.
The SAR and EMP for Sout (East) Estuary were completed in 2022 and the draft EMP submitted for technical
review to DFFE, while the EMP process for Knysna Estuary is still underway. After Knysna SAR compilation,
multiple stakeholder and focus group engagements were undertaken due to the social and ecological complexity of the system, culminating in a draft EMP that captures both the values of the stakeholders and management objectives. The final round of public participation on the draft EMP will be completed in 2023, with submission due in early 2024.
The EMP process for Groot (West) Estuary in Tsitsikamma commenced with the drafting of the SAR in late 2022. Likewise, an early start has been made with the updating of an existing draft SAR for the upcoming development of an EMP for Addo’s Sundays Estuary in the Eastern Cape.
The process of drafting an estuary management plan consists of three phases; scoping (during which a situation assessment report provides background information), objective setting, and
implementation/monitoring (Photo: Jessica Hayes).
Work has started on the Sout (East), Knysna, Groot (West) and Sundays Estuary Management Plans.
This article was originally published in the 2022/2023 Research Report.
