South Africa sets the bar high with new offshore Marine Protected Area – An inspiration for Canada

Two days ago, the South African government announced its first offshore marine protected area after years of work by the government and our friends at WWF- South Africa, who are ‘elated’ by the news.  The Prince Edward and Marion Islands, located almost 2,000 kilometres south of South Africa in the Southern Ocean, will form one of the world’s largest MPAs, covering an area  of 180,000 sq. km,  the combined size of the Free State Province, Lesotho and Swaziland.

Black-browed Albatross, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. (C) Peter Chadwick, WWF-Canon

This global biodiversity hotspot is a breeding ground for albatrosses, penguins, and killer whales and provides breeding and moulting grounds for vast populations of seals and other seabirds, including 29 species of breeding birds, 22 species of vagrant seabirds and 28 species of non-marine vagrant species .
According to UNESCO, the area is justified for inclusion on the World Heritage site list, as it “harbors a significant percentage of the world population of breeding seabirds – in the case of some species up to 30% and even 40% of the world population. In view of the very limited breeding habitat available for these species and their small global population sizes, their populations on the island group are of universal value to biodiversity conservation.”
Patagonian toothfish , otherwise known as Chilean Sea bass, are also found here in high numbers. These fish were subject to rampant poaching during the late 1990s. The MPA is designed to reduce this threat through its zones: the MPA will include a 12-nautical-mile “no take” zone, four restricted zones (where fishing is limited) and a controlled zone linking the four restricted zones. The designation will add teeth to protection from past illegal and unsustainable fishing practices.
This new MPA will greatly expand South Africa’s network of  21 marine protected areas . The concept of “no take” is important in South African MPAs. Eight of the 21 MPAs are completely “no take” areas.
Here in Canada, we are working hard to expand our MPA network for the same reasons noted by South Africa’s Environment Minister Molewa in her historic announcement:  to contribute significantly towards national and international commitments to biodiversity protection, support integrated and ecologically sustainable management of marine resources and help better understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean. We applaud South Africa for this historic achievement.