MPAs. In the Right Circumstances of Course They Are Necessary. Indispensable, of Course Not!

By
Jack Walsh
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False Bay is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcated by Cape Point to the west and Cape Hangklip to the east. The north side of the bay is the low-lying Cape Flats. Much of the bay is on the coast of the City of Cape Town, and it includes part of the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area and the whole of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area. This photo is Cape Point is situated within the Table Mountain National Park, within a section of the Park referred to as Cape of Good Hope. This section covers the whole of the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula.

I am writing this in response to Professor Doug Butterworth’s article (20 November 2024). In it he takes issue, clearly correctly, with Acting Director-General for Ocean and Coasts, Radia Razack, at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), now headed up by Minister Dion George, representing the Democratic Alliance in the Government of National Unity.

I have criticised South Africa’s propensity for creating continually so many a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in written articles for more than 40 years. So, let’s try again.

There’s more to read here…

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