Mainstreaming freshwater and estuarine ecosystem conservation into South African National Parks
Contribution of South Africa’s National Parks to Freshwater and Estuarine Conservation Targets (2023)
This report contributes to an overarching aim to mainstream the conservation of aquatic ecosystems – rivers, inland wetlands (fresh or saline) and estuaries – within the national parks of South Africa. Specifically, it provides statistics of the status of aquatic ecosystems and explores options for improvement, guided by two objectives:
Objective 1: To quantify the extent to which the network of national parks in South Africa contributes to achieving national aquatic ecosystem conservation targets and priorities. Statistics are provided at two levels of governance – for the SANParks estate as a whole and for each of its parks individually.
Objective 2: To assess/analyse strategic options for increasing the current contribution, based on explicit criteria that seek to improve representation of a broader range of aquatic ecosystem types, or improve ecosystem functioning (e.g. small boundary adjustments that can enable improved ecological connectivity).
Mainstreaming freshwater and estuarine ecosystem conservation into South African National Parks
