South African estuaries in the decade of ecosystem restoration: UN 2021-2030

Abstract

South Africa’s National Biodiversity Assessment of 2018 defines an estuary as “a partially enclosed permanent water body, either continuously or periodically open to the sea Figure 1. The spatial distribution of South African estuaries, where green is used to indicate a “low” pressure, while red is used to indicate a “high” pressure from a water quality perspective. (Source: WRC Report No. TT 748/18) St Lucia is a hugely diverse ecosystem with biodiversity services that support, for example, ecotourism, fisheries, businesses, carbon sequestration or climate mitigation and many more. Estuaries and marine ecosystems contribute between R4.2 and R10 billion per annum to the South African GDP (WRC Report no. TT 805/19). This emphasises the need for strategic interventions across multiple sectors to restore estuarine health and protect benefits to people (WRC Report no. TT 748/18). Estuaries are under-protected in South Africa, with only 1% of estuarine areas being well protected.

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