Moosa to announce new marine protected areas

THE minister of environmental affairs and tourism, Mohammed Valli Moosa, will be hosting a media briefing at Johannesburg International Airport on Monday (February 16, 2004) at 12h30 to announce newly proclaimed marine protected areas for South Africa. A parallel media briefing will be hosted at the same time in Cape Town by the department's head of marine and coastal management, Horst Kleinschmidt. The Cape Town briefing will be held in The Ngwenyama Room, 120 Plein Street, Parliament at 12h30. The announcement follows the commitment made by South Africa at the World Parks Congress held in September last year to expand the country’s marine protected areas. The congress recommended that by 2012 a global system of effectively managed marine protected areas (MPAs) be implemented. The accepted target is to protect 20% of each habitat. South Africa currently has 19 Marine Protected Areas, covering 11% of the coastline. The proposed additional MPAs will bring SA considerably closer to meeting the World Parks Congress recommendation. Marine Protected areas are important as they fulfill a commitment to conserve natural environments, but equally importantly, they assist in the management of fisheries by protecting and rebuilding economically important stocks. In addition, many of the new MPAs will be used to further develop and regulate coastal eco-tourism opportunities. (Miguel de Sousa)