New MPA to boost iSimangaliso conservation efforts

iSimangaliso, South Africa's only UNESCO marine World Heritage Site, will now be the country's second largest protected area behind the Kruger National Park.

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He said officials will now be revisiting the Integrated Management Plan for the park.

"This Marine Protected Area expansion is going to provide even more protection to the species that are out there. We have the world's oldest fish species that was discovered in the Sodwana area, the coelacanth. If it was not for this expansion, we would always worry because the fish do not know the borders. They might go beyond the protected area," said Sibiya.

"But with what we have now,  we are more comfortable that the protection of such species has been increased."

Emphasising the important of the park, Sibiya says, together with Mozambique, iSimangaliso's coastal dunes comprise the southernmost breeding grounds of two endangered sea turtle species, namely the leatherhead and loggerhead turtle.

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Sibiya continued to say one of the world’s top ten scuba diving reefs is found at Sodwana Bay, where more than 1,000 species of fish and 100 types of warm water coral are found.

"Migrating whales, whale sharks, sharks and dolphins find refuge in these waters, as does the world’s oldest known fish species, the ancient coelacanth," explained Sibiya.

"The more we learn about the imminent dangers to our oceans and fish stocks, the more urgent the need to conserve and wisely manage what we still have, for the benefit of everyone, and in particular those who rely on the ocean as a source of economic activity. It is our privilege to do so on behalf of the global community.”

The new protected areas will see some five percent of South Africa's waters now being protected, up from 0.4 percent.

The proclamation comes into effect on 1 August, 2019.