National Protected Area Expansion Strategy for South Africa 2008.

This National Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES) for South Africa is a sectoral policy document. The goal of the NPAES is to achieve cost-effective protected area expansion for ecological sustainability and increased resilience to climate change. It sets targets for protected area expansion, provides maps of the most important areas for protected area expansion, and makes recommendations on mechanisms for protected area expansion.
The NPAES indicates that protected areas are vital for ecological sustainability and adaptation to climate change, and South Africa has an unique opportunity to take a global lead in giving protected areas a central role in the climate change response strategy. Over the next five years, South Africa will add more than 2 million hectares to the land-based protected area network and more than 80 km to the inshore marine protected area network in order to achieve its 20-year protected area targets. Large areas need to be added to the offshore marine protected area network in South Africa’s mainland Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as well as to the offshore marine protected network in the Prince Edward Islands EEZ which forms part of South Africa’s territory. The focus for marine protected area expansion in the next five years should be predominantly on offshore marine protected areas and the Namaqua inshore bioregion. In addition, there is a need to increase the extent of no-take zones within existing marine protected areas, and to reduce the impact of exploitation in controlled zones within marine protected areas.
According to the NPAES, protected areas can support rural livelihoods and local economic development. Especially in marginal agricultural areas, evidence to date suggests that conservation-related industries have higher economic potential than regular agricultural activities such as stock farming. Scope exists for protected area expansion to work in partnership with land reform for mutual benefit, actively supporting the land reform agenda and the diversification of rural livelihoods.
Contract agreements are a key mechanism for expanding the protected area network. They are often much more cost effective than acquisition of land, and are used increasingly as part of biodiversity stewardship programmes. Contract agreements, in which landowners maintain ownership of their land but enter into a contract with a protected area agency in return for formal protected area status, are facilitated by provisions in the Protected Areas Act. New fiscal incentives for landowners who have entered into contract agreements are likely to provide a significant boost to protected area expansion. Further innovative financial mechanisms that should be piloted include a revolving land fund and payments for ecosystem services in cases where protected areas contribute to, for example, catchment management and water supply.
The establishment and management of a representative and effectively managed system of protected areas is a key strategic approach in the conservation of South Africa’s biodiversity and in the mitigation of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. The NPAES identifies 42 focus areas for land-based protected area expansion. These are large, intact and unfragmented areas suitable for the creation or expansion of large protected areas.
In terms of governance, protected area agencies, including provincial conservation authorities, South African National Parks (SANParks), World Heritage Site Authorities and the Marine and Coastal Management Branch of DEA (MCM), are the primary implementers of the NPAES, and should each develop an agency specific protected area expansion implementation plan based on the NPAES targets and focus areas.