South Africa fulfils Promise of Sydney for marine conservation
Five years after making a commitment at the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014, South Africa had fulfilled its promise by establishing 20 new marine protected areas. The South African National Biodiversity has set up a new website to explain that these new protected areas not only fully represent the marine biodiversity of South African waters in both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, but also are designed to support economic and social development.
Photo: IUCN/Trevor Sandwith
For a quick overview of the new marine protected areas, please go to this link: 20 new MPAS
To gain further insights into the conservation planning process, and the manner in which these designations were accomplished, access the new website here
The original commitment made in the Promise of Sydney was:
South Africa committed to:
- More than triple its ocean protection over the next ten years, from less than 0.5% to 5% of our Exclusive Economic Zone within Marine Protected Areas, to ensure environmental sustainability as MPAs deliver ecosystem services which underpin South African livelihoods, food security and ecotourism.
- Use South Africa's unique geographical position to encourage the African region to create a network of marine protected areas to increase ecosystem resilience, maintain genetic biodiversity and the ability to cope with climate change.
A full set of the commitments made in Sydney can be obtained here, along with links to all of the other outputs of the IUCN World Parks Congress 2014
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