STATE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The 2018 assessment of 27 South African MPA sites reveals systemic deficiencies in funding, staffing, and law enforcement. While South Africa significantly expanded its MPA network to 5.4% of its exclusive economic zone in 2019, the report finds that many sites fail to meet biodiversity targets due to inadequate resources and a lack of approved management plans. It introduces a three-phase approach to move sites from priority (red) to basic (orange) and finally optimal (green) management levels, emphasizing the need for intra-agency and network-wide collaboration.

• South Africa significantly increased its marine protected area (MPA) coverage from 0.5% of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in 2019 to 5.4% by declaring 20 additional MPAs.
• Financial and human resource constraints are widespread, with 73% of MPAs lacking an adequate capital budget and 64% suffering from insufficient human resource capacity or vacant positions.
• Biodiversity management is hindered by a lack of data and planning; 50% of MPAs fail to meet all biodiversity targets, and 45% lack an updated, approved management plan with measurable objectives.
• Public awareness and boundary demarcation are major weaknesses, with 56% of MPAs lacking an integrated education, awareness, and interpretation programme and 64% lacking fully demarcated boundaries.
• Law enforcement is severely limited by capacity gaps, with 73% of MPAs showing some deficiencies and 23% facing major deficiencies in their ability to enforce rules.
• Cultural heritage management is largely neglected, as 90% of studied sites have not formally identified cultural heritage assets and 86% of those with informal identifications lack formal site management plans.
• The South African MPA network currently lacks a climate change mitigation plan, despite the role of MPAs in increasing resilience to climate change.

APA

Adams, R. J., & Kowalski, P. (2021). STATE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN SOUTH AFRICA. WWF South Africa. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/state_of_marine_protected_area_management_effectiveness_in_south_africa.pdf

Chicago

Adams, Robin Jon, and Peter Kowalski. STATE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN SOUTH AFRICA. WWF South Africa, 2021. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/state_of_marine_protected_area_management_effectiveness_in_south_africa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Adams |first1=Robin Jon |last2=Kowalski |first2=Peter |title=STATE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN SOUTH AFRICA |publisher=WWF South Africa |date=2021 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/state_of_marine_protected_area_management_effectiveness_in_south_africa.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{adams2021state, author = {Adams, Robin Jon and Kowalski, Peter}, title = {{STATE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS IN SOUTH AFRICA}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2021}, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/state_of_marine_protected_area_management_effectiveness_in_south_africa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }