African Wildlife and Environment Issue 66

Uvongo Beach, KZN South Coast (Photograph: John Wesson)

Green Coast AWARD South Africa is blessed with an incredibly diverse coastline that stretches over 2,500 kilometres from our border with Namibia, in the west to the Mozambique border in the east. The coastline boasts around 200 swimming beaches, 24 Marine Protected Areas and three World Heritage Sites.

A ‘biodiversity hotspot’ is defined as a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation. Thirty four of these hotspots have been identified around the world and South Africa’s coastline represents three of those: The Succulent Karoo of the west coast, the Cape Floristic Region of the south-west coastline and the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot found along the east coast of the country.

The recognition of these three global biodiversity hotspots are a reminder of what is at stake, and never before has our entire coastline been under the spotlight as it has been over the last 24 months. The National Development Plan (NDP) outlines South Africa’s strategy to tackle socio-economic development in the country. It provides a framework for Government, private sector and citizens to work together to stimulate and accelerate economic growth and provide solutions to the challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality. In an attempt to fast track the objectives of the NDP, Operation Phakisa was developed in 2014 as a

Vincent Shacks

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49 | African Wildlife & Environment | 66 (2017)