Estuarine management plans

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The public is invited to give input on 29 estuary management plans (EMP) developed for estuaries in the Western Cape. This is in terms of the national estuarine management protocol.

Comment must be submitted before 4 March. In the Garden Route, among the EMPs available for comment are the Goukamma, Kaaimans, Hartenbos, Keurbooms, Maalgate, Klein Brak, Piesang and Keurbooms rivers.

The Western Cape province has numerous critically endangered and vulnerable ecosystems. Estuaries and wetlands provide ecological infrastructure functions that are important in delivering ecosystem services.

"It is important to ensure that any development that takes place is situated outside of the Estuarine Functional Zone, to allow estuaries to flourish and function effectively," said Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) Anton Bredell.

In a statement on Monday 21 February he said that it is essential to balance the protection of these natural ecosystems with the economic potential that can be derived from them.

"Estuaries can only be of value to us if we value them appropriately."

The department is responsible for 15 of the 29 draft EMPs that have been published for comment, with CapeNature responsible for 14 of the draft EMPs published.

These plans set out to coordinate and manage the various activities and impacts that occur within the estuarine functional zone. For prioritised estuaries, this could ultimately lead to declaring them protected areas or special management areas to protect specific habitat types found in these ecosystems.

Marlene Laros, director for biodiversity and coastal management at DEA&DP said, "The protection of our estuaries is not only important for conserving the many fish, bird and animal species that call it their home but also from mitigating the effects of climate change.

"They are also of immense economic and social value, being essential to fisheries, recreation and ecotourism."

Estuary habitats, such a salt marshes, peatlands and wetlands, are considered 'blue carbon' habitats and sinks.

"So when these ecosystems are damaged, an enormous amount of carbon is emitted back into the atmosphere which exacerbates global warming," said Laros.

There are 54 estuaries and 38 micro-estuaries in the Western Cape. Estuaries have a high diversity of species, and according to the National Biodiversity Assessment (2018), 27% of the 66 species assessed are threatened with extinction and a total of 265 000 waterbirds have been lost from South African estuaries since the 1980s.