Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

1. a.There are no formal criteria to guide decision making about whether specific nature areas should be managed by the provincial or national government. When specific nature areas are evaluated for protected area status, criteria are used to evaluate whether or not the specific nature area would qualify as protected area in the first place, and whether or not it complies with Section 7 of NEM:PAA; (National Environmental Management Protected Areas Act) that is, if it satisfies/meets the purpose of protected areas. The decision on whether it is managed by local, provincial or national government depends largely on which of these authorities initiate the process, and/or negotiations whether or not the specific nature area should be managed in the national or provincial interest. The Agulhas National Park is an example where the ultimate decision was for SANParks to manage it because of the unique setting (southern tip of Africa; where two oceans meet, etc).

The Western Cape Protected Area Expansion Review Committee meets on a quarterly basis to review and make recommendations on properties that have been site assessed for a Stewardship / Protected Area status. Relevant partners (incl. SANParks & Municipalities) also present their earmarked properties to this committee where roles and responsibilities are also considered and negotiated.

2. b.The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) guides nature conservation in the country and flows from an obligation South Africa agreed to by signing and ratifying the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 1995.  The Western Cape Government responded to and aligned with the NBSAP by developing a Provincial Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP 2016) which coordinates the conservation priorities and required actions of the Department and its public entity, CapeNature. Further structures are in place in order to coordinate and align conservation actions between the national Government and the Provinces. This includes structures like DEFF’s MINTECH and MINMEC (WG1/WG8), - National Outcome 10 indicators relating to protected area expansion and the governance of nature conservation (marine and terrestrial conservation). These are further bolstered by collaborative approaches like the Western Cape Protected Area Expansion Review Committee, stewardship forums (e.g. Peer Learning and the Protected Area Expansion Knowledge Exchange between Northern and Western Cape) and National biodiversity and conservation planning forums and symposia. Lastly the Provincial Biodiversity Spatial Plan (BSP) which is in alignment with the National Biodiversity Framework guides the priorities in the Province related to critical biodiversity areas (CBAs), ecological support areas, conservation/climate change corridors and threatened ecosystems. The BSP is a key informant to the Western Cape Protected Area Expansion Strategy objectives and the spatial biodiversity conservation priorities for the Province.