GROWING A SUSTAINABLE
OCEANS ECONOMY IN
SOUTH AFRICA, WHILE
EXPANDING MARINECONSERVATION
2022
LESSONS FROM SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITYTABLE OF CONTENTS
Summary: Key Findings

Page
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1. Introduction: Economic opportunities and challenges provided byocean and coasts

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2. Case study approach

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3. Saldanha Bay Port and Industrial Development Zone, Fisheries andAquaculture, West Coast National Park, and Saldanha Bay Municipality
3.1 Saldanha Bay Port and Industrial Development Zone
3.2 Fisheries and aquaculture
3.3 Langebaan Lagoon and the West Coast National Park
3.4 Saldanha Bay Municipality
4. Opportunities for optimising conservation and the Oceans economy in
the Saldanha Bay Municipality

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©Gina Arena

SUMMARY: KEY FINDINGS©Gina Arena1

In the Saldanha Bay Municipality, the contribution of ocean and coastal ecosystems
to local industry and economic growth is significant, but the protection of theseresources is not a key priority for all stakeholders who are dependent on thelong-term sustainability of marine resources.

2

Without sustainable biodiversity conservation of Langebaan Lagoon andSaldanha Bay and their ecosystems, the economic, social, and cultural value of thearea would be greatly diminished.

3

There is no explicit link between the development of South Africa’s Oceans
economy and conservation of marine resources in the area.

4

Climate smart economic growth that protects and/or restores natural
ecosystems while supporting sustainable production is key for unlocking economic
opportunities from the marine natural resource base. For example, renewableenergy from oceans (wave, tidal, thermal), could enable a switch from, orcompliment, the current and largely coal-based sources.

5

Innovative Financial Instruments could unlock new financial investments,
improved planning and increased integrated environmental monitoring andimplementation, for example, conservation levies generated from tourism in the
area.

6

Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) for Saldanha Bay Municipality’s marine
resources that is integrated into national accounts and budgets will enhanceplanning for the area and help unlock future funding.

7

The Integrated Development Zone is one of the biggest opportunities in the
Saldanha Bay Municipality since it is still under development and could provide
sustainable economic development opportunities that are environmentallysound.

8

Building a skills base premised on climate smart careers, maritime
industries and marine protected areas is critical for sustainable economic
development for the area and to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. For
example, the fishing community who are dependent on a depleting resource
could be re-skilled for a more diversified Oceans economy.

9

Perceived threats and real threats in the larger area need to be assessed andcommunicated widely to guide the way forward for the area. A few examples ofsuch threats include air pollution from red dust, green ship recycling impacts,
power ships, and invasive species.

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1. INTRODUCTION: ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES PROVIDED BY
OCEANS AND COASTS
Healthy oceans provide food security, sustain economic
growth, regulate the climate, and provide livelihood
opportunities for coastal communities. South Africa’s
oceans and coasts¹ offer huge opportunities for
economic development, which could reduce poverty
and unemployment. However, this must be done in an
integrated way that allows for management ofcompeting resources but also conserves, protects andrestores ocean health to ensure a sustainable ocean
economy where the opportunities and benefits areavailable in the long-term. So far, the country has nottaken full advantage of this untapped vast ocean
resource and the immense potential it presents.
South Africa is party to both the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and theConvention on Biological Diversity which includes
commitments for both terrestrial and oceans
protection. South African’s Ocean Policy objective is todevelop the Oceans economy while protecting the
integrity of marine ecosystems (Republic of South Africa
2014a). Successful implementation of this objective
could allow a complete shift from sectoral tocoordinated management of oceans and coasts,
optimising sustainable economic and environmental
investment opportunities (ibid). Operation Phakisa,
launched in 2014 by the president, is the South African
government-led
blueprint
programme
for
operationalising and bringing the Oceans economy intoplay.

The programme estimates that the oceans and coasts
have the potential to contribute up to R177 billion to thecountry’s gross domestic product (GDP) and to create up
to one million new jobs by 2033. Through proper
planning and public-private partnerships, potential
exists for unlocking investment into the Oceans economy
based on the sustainable management and protection ofthis natural and cultural heritage.
Unfortunately, the unsustainable use of South Africa's
oceans and coasts is undermining ocean health andlong-term economic viability. Some of the observed
threats include unsustainable fishing levels andmethods, diamond mining, mining of coastal dunes, andclimate change (Wepener and Degger 2019; Breetzke etal. 2016). In addition, oceans and coasts are spaces
where policies and regulatory frameworks areinterconnected and overlap, and where use and user
conflicts are increasing. Conflicts could, for example,
arise due to fisheries and tourism being put under stressfrom increased shipping in the same area. Conflicts also
arise where, for example, small-scale fishers’ economic
activity is limited within Marine Protected areas. Suchchallenges frustrate all stakeholders, ultimately limiting
the ambitions of ocean economy objectives and theconservation of the marine resources on which they
depend.
Climate change is also a further limiting factor for the
Oceans economy, indeed the number of climate-related
disasters has tripled in the last 30 years². In South Africa,

climate change is already affecting fish species andtheir availability in certain areas and storm surges havealso created a lot of coastal damage (Jarre et al. 2013;
Watermeyer et al. 2016). The United Nations
Environment Programme also estimates that, by 2030,
adapting to climate change and coping with damages
will cost developing countries $140-300 billion per
year³. This has further potential economic effects in acountry that is already experiencing high poverty andlevels of inequality.
Integrated Marine spatial planning and implementationof Marine Protected Areas can however safeguard
South Africa's important marine biodiversity andcontribute to a sustainable blue economy. For example,
by protecting essential fish habitat, contributing tocoastal tourism, protecting coastal development
against storm damage, and creating alternative or
more sustainable livelihoods.
Long term plans for Ocean and Coastal economic
growth in South Africa must continue to prioritize
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)⁴ andMarine Spatial Planning (MSP)⁵ with a strong emphasis
on unlocking opportunities for innovative finance andcollaboration in areas of competing/overlapping
interest, and the promotion of equity and sustainabilityof benefits across generations. The Department ofForestry, Fisheries and the Environment is also
developing future strategic plans for Oceans and Coasts
which can provide further policy and strategic guidance
for the Oceans Economy.

1
South Africa has a coastline of 3,900 km long (Antarctic islands included) that translates into an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.5 million km² - a 200 nautical mile area of a country’s coastal waters and seabed, to which the country has claimed exclusive rights for exploitation of marine resources underthe 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Republic of South Africa 2014a).

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2. CASE STUDY APPROACH
The Objectives of this case study are to:
1. Explore ideas for recognising the blue economy
opportunities while protecting the marine andcoastal ecosystems and species upon which suchopportunities depend.
2. Identify key stakeholders whose collaboration
and approach will ultimately define the outcomesof opportunities and threats in this space.
The choice of Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon as
the case study area was based on its uniquecharacteristics as a microcosm of broader trends andopportunities in the Oceans and Coasts sector.
The area is a site where tourism, shipping, mining,industry, aquaculture, fishing, fish processing andconservation co-exist alongside globally recognised
areas of marine and terrestrial biodiversity. It is an area
where a thriving and sustainable Oceans economy
intersects directly with conservation, poverty, andunemployment.
Therefore, the issues, opportunities, and challenges ofworking in the oceans and coasts arena come together
in this small geographic and social-ecological area andare representative of some of the broader issues facing
South Africa.
ci-green-gray-practical-guide-v08.pdf (conservation.org)
Oxfam International (2020). 5 natural disasters that beg for climate action: https://www.oxfam.org/en/5-natural-disasters-beg-climate-action
4
Dynamic, multi-disciplinary and iterative process for promoting inclusive sustainable management of coastal zones which covers information collection, planning, decision-making, management, and implementation monitoring by all stakeholders (Banica et al. 2003; Cicin-Sain & Knecht 1998):
https://www.eea.europa.eu/help/glossary
5
Public process of analysing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives that have been specified through a political process (IOC-UNESCO 2017; Republic of South Africa 2014b):https://ioc.unesco.org/our-work/marine-spatial-planning
2
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3. SALDANHA BAY PORT AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE, FISHERIES AND
AQUACULTURE, WEST COAST NATIONAL PARK, AND SALDANHA BAY
A description of the Saldanha Bay Port and Industrial
Development Zone; local fisheries and aquaculture
activities; the West Coast National Park and the
Saldanha Bay Municipality are used to present the casefor sustainable use of oceans and coasts biodiversity
and to illustrate the opportunities and challenges thatthe use of marine biodiversity present for economic
development in South Africa.
The Transnet Youth Employment Services (YES) Hub(Box 1) and the Saldanha Bay Water Quality Forum Trust(SBWQFT; Box 7) are also showcased as examples oforganisations whose roles and activities provide key
support and ancillary activities towards theoperationalisation of the Oceans economy and theconservation of marine biodiversity. Other boxes
provide additional information on the area, or
programmes outside the area, that provide learning.

were direct because of the activities of the Saldanha
Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ), and a further
898 from indirect and induced effects in the province.
As a result, Saldanha Bay is declared an Industrial
Development Zone (IDZ)⁶.
South Africa’s Ocean economy planning also confirmed
Saldanha Bay as an economic development node
(Government of South Africa, 2014b). Thesedevelopments have created expectations for job
creation and business opportunities within thecommunity, which could be achieved by identifying
opportunities for local empowerment that the IDZ andthe development node can offer. The SBIDZ mission is‘Fostering responsible investment, and catalyzation ofinclusive and sustainable economic development’. Its
vision is to become a ‘World-Class Oil and Gas andMaritime Services Centre and Shipyard in Africa’.

3.1. SALDANHA BAY PORT AND INDUSTRIAL
DEVELOPMENT ZONE
Saldanha Bay Port is the largest and deepest natural
port in the Southern Hemisphere (with berthing depths
up to 21.5m) and is the only Freeport in South Africa.
For the 2020-21 year, the port contributed R1.1 billion to
South Africa’s GDP (and R893 million to the Western
Cape Province’s gross geographical product). The port
supported 1,644 jobs in the Western Cape (contributing
to 1,960 jobs throughout South Africa), of which 745

Box 1 The Transnet Youth Employment Services
Hub
The Transnet Youth Employment Services Hub (TheYES Hub) is a facility used for facilitating skills
development for youth (ages from 18 to 34), andprovides access to innovation and technology.
The Hub offers training in:• commercial drone pilot and repair;• chef training and entrepreneurial incubation withlive restaurant running;• hydroponic and aquaponic farming and produce
marketing; and• specialised digital learning programmes.
It also offers training in marketing, financial
accounting, and business plan development forsmall business owners. Since the trainees are paid awage, the Hub is making a positive impact not only
on these youth, but also their extended families,
since most of them are bread winners. In April 2022,
the Hub hosted 62 youth. The Hub also offers free
training to the community in Microsoft, digital literacy,
entrepreneurship (Siyazakhela) and financial focus.
Visit their website: https://yes4youth.co.za/hubs/©Yes Employment Services

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SBIDZ has:• created 2,911 jobs over the last 5 years;• attracted over R21 billion in investments;• leased approximately 18% of its gross area;• signed a Labour Charter with the Congress ofSouth African Trade Unions (COSATU) and The
National Union for Metal workers South Africa(NUMSA) for equitable labour relations;• offered skills training to over 2,300
beneficiaries in 4 years;• spent over R200 million (~35%) on local
subcontractors; and• initiated a High Schools’ Development
Programme with the Western Cape Education
Department (WCED) and the universities ofStellenbosch and the Witwatersrand.

3.1.1. THREATS• Currently the SBIDZ is operating under a 4-year
grant/loan from provincial government. This period willend in March 2023. As a result, the SBIDZ is underincreasing pressure to expand its operations andsource private funding.
• The SBIDZ has attracted significant investment but isonly operating at 18% capacity and can expect asignificant ramp up in activities. This presents
opportunities for job creation, but the local skills baseis not directly aligned to the opportunities being
created.

This potential mismatch could result in social unrest if
labour is brought in from elsewhere to meet the needsof enterprises in the port.
• The SBIDZ is still working on ways to integrate
environmental considerations into its growth plans aswell as consideration of how to incorporate theprotection or restoration of the surrounding terrestrial
ecosystems into the individual plans of the enterprises
housed within the SBIDZ.
• Proposed activities, such as ship recycling, could
involve the generation of a huge amount of waste
whose disposal could threaten the very ecosystem on
which the SBIDZ depends for long-term growth⁷.
• Climate change is already impacting the industries
located within the SBIDZ. Therefore, additional
considerations are needed for the design of green-grey
infrastructure, and long-term climate projections forthe area.
• More than 95 alien marine species have been brought
into South Africa. Whilst over half are contained inharbours, there are many that are spreading into
natural habitats. Langebaan lagoon has been identified
as having the highest number of alien species of all the
MPAs along the west coast (nine species⁸). Theirlong-term impact on local ocean and coastal
ecosystems is not yet fully understood.

• There is an urgent need to ensure that newly
developed port related activities contribute positively
to the overall economy of the area and do not cause
harm to the ecosystems on which the Tourism andFisheries sectors depend.

©Saldanha Bay Municipality

3.1.2. OPPORTUNITIES• As a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) the SBIDZ offers aplatform for global exports through the attraction ofboth foreign and local investment.
• Being strategically located in the deep-water port of
Saldanha Bay, the IDZ allows easy access to worldwide
shipping routes and road linkages to the
Saldanha-Northern Cape Logistics Corridor and beyond.

As a way of repositioning the country, the South African government established the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) programme (of which the SBIDZ is one) (Government of South Africa 2014), which represents geographically designated areas set aside for specifically targeted
economic activities that are supported through special arrangements related to ‘ease of doing business’. The programme activities are closely linked to Operation Phakisa.
7
The proposed ship recycling activity planned in the IDZ is aimed to be a “green” facility, complaint with the EU Regulations for Green Ship Recycling and the Southg African Department of Environmental Management Act No 59 of 2008 but the impact of this process still needs
to be assessed for this area.
8
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3_9#Sec5 (Robinson et al. 2020)
6

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• As a Freeport and SEZ, it offers various incentives,
including custom control area benefits to all qualifying
investors.
• With 356 hectares of secure and serviced industrial
land, SBIDZ offers investors sites ready for immediate
occupation, or tailor-made infrastructure solutions withflexible lease and utility options.
• It has a dedicated business unit and offers a Marine
and Energy Sector Innovation Ecosystem.
• Waste from industrial activities could provide
business opportunities through ‘Wastepreneurs’
programmes. For example, small businesses can be
developed to help reduce/recycle/collect/reuse waste
and work collaboratively with municipalities to build
entrepreneurs.
The SBIDZ offers one of the biggest economic
opportunities in the Saldanha Bay Municipality since it
is still under development. In this context, there is stillchance to influence the way that the incentives are
structured. Specifically, incentives should aim toincrease and protect marine biodiversity in the SBIDZ bystimulating sustainable investment and funding, andpromoting jobs through collaboration with surrounding
youth and skills development programmes. To date, the
SBDIZ has sourced more than R60 million for skills
development from SETA (Sector Education and Training
Authority), the DTIC (Department of Trade, Industry andCompetition) and the private sector. These haveenabled the SBIDZ to create 2450 training
opportunities.
9©Prideel Majiedt

3.2. FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE
The Benguela ecosystem on the west coast of South
Africa is one of the most productive ocean ecosystems
in the world in terms of biomass production and fisheryresources per unit area due to the upwelling of cold,
nutrient rich water. This has enabled the establishmentof a well-developed industrial fishery (South Africa was
the third largest capture fisheries producer in
Sub-Saharan Africa after Mauritania and Nigeria in
2018⁹) mainly based on the exploitation of small
pelagics (sardine - Sardinops sagax and anchovy Engraulis capensis) and hake (Merluccius capensis). As
a result, most of South Africa’s canning and fishmeal
factories were built in the Saldanha Bay Municipality.
Until the promulgation of the small-scale fisheries
Policy in 2012 and the formal recognition of the sector
through the 2014 inclusion in the Marine Living
Resources Act through an amendment10, small-scale
fisheries was not a legally recognized sector. This has
had severe impact on some of the inshore high value
species such as Abalone and West Coast Rock Lobster asa result of rampant poaching by disgruntled small-scale
fishers.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ER.FSH.CAPT.MT?locations=ZG
Act No. 5 of 2014: Marine Living Resources Amendment Act, 2014, To amend the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998,

Fisheries (industrial and small-scale) are managed
through quotas. While these have been annual quotas,
government has shifted to medium and long-termrights, which has improved planning for the rights
holders. The inequitable allocation of rights between
industrial and small-scale fishers remains an issue.
Although sardine and anchovy have a migratory life
history pattern between the Agulhas Bank on the South
coast (to breed) and the West coast (to grow), there
appears to be a change in this stable cyclic life history
pattern (Watermeyer et al. 2018) as a result of heavy
fishing pressure on the west coast, and/or
environmental changes such as increased upwellingeast of Agulhas and additional climate related changes
in the system (Watermeyer et al. 2016, 2018). The
relative abundance of the two species has
subsequently declined on the west coast and increasedon the south coast (ibid).
The West Coast has also been the main production area
for the West Coast Rock Lobster (Jasus lalandii). Mussel
farming in South Africa is principally conducted in
Saldanha’s Big Bay. Established in 1985, the species
being cultured are the non-native Mediterraneanmussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and the indigenous
black mussel (Choromytilus meridionalis) using raft
culture techniques. There are plans for expansion ofthese farms.

3.2.1. THREATS• The ecological system appears to be in a very badstate, to the extent that its resilience to large-scalechange appears to have been critically compromised(Jarre et al. 2013).

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Box 2 ABALOBIOne of the challenges faced by small-scale fishers is
the problem of adding value to their catches andlinkage to more lucrative markets and value chains.
ABALOBI is a South African-based, global social
enterprise which aims to contribute towards thriving,
equitable, Climate Change resilient and sustainable
small-scale fishing communities through the joint
development of technology for a good cause. An
Information and Communication Technology
company,
ABALOBI’s
modulartechnology
ecosystem, including fisher-to-marketplace andmonitoring solutions, are packaged as a software
service. This approach is based on a suite offisher-driven Electronic Catch Documentation andTraceability (eCDT) technologies that relate to dataempowerment,
seafood
traceability,
full
documentation of fisheries, fair and transparent
supplychains,community
cohesion,entrepreneurship, and promotion of digital andfinancial inclusion of communities. Many of the local
fishers are being integrated onto this platform,
including those from Langebaan Lagoon. Suchtechnological inclusion and empowerment ofcommunities is expected to result in a transition
towards
ecological,
economicandsocialsustainability for fishing communities that are part ofthis platform.
Visit their website: http://abalobi.org• In the last five years, the total biomass of sardine has
nearly crashed overall, with the Total Allowable Catchhas reduced to as low as 12,500 tonnes in 2019 fromthe normal year averages of over 140,000 tonnes. This
has resulted in a loss of jobs both among vessel
crewmembers and factory workers.

• Until 2012 when the Small-scale Fisheries Policy was
promulgated, capture fisheries had only two distinct
sectors – industrial/commercial fisheries andrecreational fisheries. Thus, the distribution of rights
has largely remained skewed against small-scale
fishers. A problem arising from dissatisfaction with theallocation of rights among small-scale fishers and alack of involvement in distributive and management
decision-making is that, generally, small-scale fishers
tend to ignore the regulations and resort to poaching.
• Some of the main target species for small-scale
fishers, for example West Coast Rock Lobster andHarders, are heavily depleted due to overfishing andadverse environmental conditions including theimpacts from climate change. West Coast Rock Lobster
is estimated at less than 1.5% of the population(biomass) of its 1910 pre-fished levels (DFFE 2021).

• Small-scale fishers believe that if they were included
and genuinely involved in decision-making processes
concerning fishing rights and management of (their)marine resources, they would practice sustainablefishing and improved fisheries management. This isevident where they are using platforms such as
www.abalobi.org (Box 2).
• The skills levels in the fishing industry are higher thanin many primary sectors, with the majority of those
employed (including onshore support) occurring in theskilled (21%) or semi-skilled (71%) categories.
Opportunities for use of these skills in other sectors canbe assessed and integrated into additional enterprisedevelopment opportunities that supports the sector.

3.2.2. OPPORTUNITIES• The small pelagic industry has dealt with thevariability in fisheries by consolidation, diversification,and range expansion (Jarre et al. 2013; Watermeyer et
al. 2016).
• The decline in sardine in South African waters has
resulted in raw fish being imported for canning, which
has enabled the maintenance of the canning industry inSouth Africa.

©Prideel Majiedt

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Box 3 Summary Status on Saldanha Bay andLangebaan Lagoon ecosystem
Marine ecosystems off the West Coast are in ahighly threatened state due to lack of formal
protection (DEADP 2016). The entire Saldanha Bay
area (i.e., Big Bay, Small Bay, and Langebaan
Lagoon) is classified as Vulnerable (DEADP 2021),
which is attributed to human activities such as
diamond and petroleum mining, pollution, trawling,
coastal developments, and introduction of alien
invasive species mainly through shipping activities.
Langebaan Lagoon (including the inshore islands
Marcus, Malgas and Jutten) was declared a Ramsarsite in 1988, particularly for the protection ofwaterfowl. It supports thousands of Palaearctic
migrant birds seasonally, is an international birdarea, and has been identified as the most important
wetland for waders on the West Coast of Southern
Africa. The near shore islands are important for Red
Data listed seabirds. At least 11 species are known tobreed there, including the African Penguin (a Red
Data species), and the rare and endemic AfricanBlack Oystercatcher. The Lagoon has a rich marine
fauna of more than 400 species, of which six havebeen classified as Vulnerable and seven as Rare. It
is one of the only two known habitats for South
Africa’s most endangered marine mollusc(Siphonaria compressa) which occurs in theeelgrass (Zostera capensis) beds. The Langebaan
Lagoon and Saldanha Big Bay provide habitat for
white stumpnose (Rhabdosargus globiceps), an
endemic species to Southern Africa, which is undersignificant fishing pressure.
Visit their website:
https://www.westerncape.gov.za/eadp/files/atoms/fi
les/GreaterSaldanhaRSIFDraftEMFApril2017.pdf

3.3. LANGEBAAN LAGOON AND THE WEST
COAST NATIONAL PARK
Langebaan Lagoon is the only non-estuarine tidal
lagoon in South Africa and contains 32% of South
Africa’s saltmarshes. Most of the lagoon has been
zoned and declared a Marine Protected Area (MPA)11
and a Ramsar site. The MPA is part of the West Coast
National Park (WCNP). The Lagoon supports
recreational fishing and a subsistence fishery12. Locatedbetween Saldanha Bay and the WCNP is Langebaan
Town, which has flourished in the last two decades
owing to the tourism linked to the lagoon and economic
growth linked to the Port and the IDZ. The town has
experienced a huge increase in residential or holiday
homes, hotels, and guest houses, sunbathing onbeaches and water sports.
The key conservation areas of WCNP are the Langebaan
Lagoon MPA and the MPA islands (Jutten, Marcus andMalgas) offshore of Saldanha Bay, altogether which
form the Langebaan Ramsar site. The lagoon has a richdiversity of marine invertebrates and seaweeds andsupports approximately 10% of the coastal bird wader
population in South Africa. The offshore islands provide
important nesting areas for several red-listed seabird
species. The lagoon also contains important salt
marshes and sea grasses (30% of the country’s
seagrasses) with important blue carbon
opportunities13, as well as algae and mussels thatprovide significant economic opportunities.

Small-scale fishers that have historically and traditionally fished in the lagoon had successfully challenged the prohibition of fishing in the MPA as a ‘no-take zone’.
Mariculture (for mussel and oyster farming) is practiced in the Saldanha Bay.
13
Climate Change and South Africa's blue carbon ecosystems. Water Research Commission Report No K5/2769 (Adams et al. 2019).

The WCNP is the centrepiece of the ecologicalbiodiversity-driven economy of Saldanha Bay andLangebaan Lagoon. Therefore, managing the lagoon is
key to the economy of the area. Without the lagoon andits quality and quantity of water being maintained tosupport marine life and human activities, the value ofthe area as a tourist destination and human settlement
would be greatly diminished.

3.3.1. THREATS• Pollution from industrial activities and humanactivities, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU)
fishing, and uncontrolled growth of activities on andaround the Lagoon and Bay are directly impacting themarine ecosystems on which they depend (Box 3).
• SANParks experiences a number of challenges
regarding management of the WCNP, including
inadequate staff, high staff turnover and a lack ofequipment.
• Inadequate funding for management of the WCNP is
one of the major threats which means that monitoring,
control and surveillance, and park development
activities are not adequately undertaken.
• The lagoon’s water is fed and replenished by aquifers,
specifically the Elandsfontyn Aquifer. Municipalities andfarmers are increasingly abstracting water fromaquifers which could negatively impact the lagoon.

11

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3.3.2. OPPORTUNITIES• Involving the surrounding stakeholder community
would enhance the link between conservation andbiodiversity (offered by both the WCNP and the MPA)
and economic growth. The Greater Kruger Strategic
Development Programme is an example of where andhow this has worked (Box 4).
• If a similar strategic programme was implemented, it
could link park planning to Saldanha Bay Municipal
planning and economic development. This can leverage
finance for the ecological and biodiversity benefits
accruing from the WCNP to the municipality and ensure
the long-term sustainability of local tourism andproperty sectors. The assumption and understanding
would be that the WCNP is a key driver of economic
development for the municipality and, therefore, needs
to benefit from economic development in an integrated
fashion.
• Computation of the Natural Capital Accounting (Box5) for the area could further clarify the value that thearea has to offer in terms of potential economic
investments.
• Conservation finance opportunities can generate
income for the area, such as via blue carbon
opportunities and conservation levies (Box 6).
Seagrasses are increasingly being recognized as having
higher carbon storage potential than Mangroves.

Box 4 The Greater Kruger Strategic Programme
The Greater Kruger Strategic Development
Programme (GKSDP) is a replicable, regional land
use planning and management model, providing amethodology to better direct programmes and toleverage strategic partnerships in support ofsustainable conservation economy outcomes.
The GKSDP brings together government,
communities, civil society, and the private sector to
unlock a collective vision for the Greater Kruger
landscape. This involves addressing challenges
outside of the Protected Area that impact on its
integrity, such as unemployment, provision of basic
services, and crime while protecting the natural
capital within the Protected Area. Through thisintegrated landscape-based approach, the GKSDP
ensures that important environmental services are
secured and support associated economies. Thisapproach requires co-operative multi-sectoral
partnership approaches in pursuit of sustainable
environmental and socio-economic outcomes.

3.4. SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITYThe Saldanha Bay Municipality’s vision is ‘to enable afuture of prosperity for all through effective andobjective promotion of service excellence’ throughrendering of superior service, effective and efficient
execution of its mandate, responding to peoples’ needs
and promotion of a consolidated and team approach
when addressing challenges. The municipality has
witnessed an economic and property boom in the last
decade. The former as a result of increase in tourism
linked to the Langebaan Lagoon and West Coast
National Park as well as the industrial development in
the area (e.g., the Saldanha Steel and the IDZ).

The property boom is related to tourism (guesthouses,
hotels, and holiday homes) and retirement homes. An
increase in remote working, brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic, has also led to an increase insemi-permanent to permanent migration by people
from the cities into the area.
Box 5 Natural Capital Accounting
Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) refers to the use ofan accounting framework to provide a systematic,
reliable, and comparable way of measuring andreporting on stocks and flows of natural capital. The
stocks and flows are of individual environmental
assets or resources (e.g., water, minerals, energy,
timber, fish), as well as ecosystem assets andecosystem services. StatsSA and SANBI havedeveloped and published a 10-year strategy foradvancing NCA. The strategy’s purpose is to focus ondeveloping priority natural capital accounts that
could inform South Africa’s sustainable development
policy objective and to ensure that NCA is widelyused to provide credible evidence for integrated
planning and decision-making. NCA uses the ‘System
of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA)’,
which is an internationally agreed accounting system,a global standard developed by the United Nations
Statistics Division for measuring a country’s natural
assets and resources and tracking their state overtime. This could provide decision-makers with aclearer picture of the extent and condition of acountry’s natural assets and the benefits that flowfrom them, and provide evidence of the links
between the economy, people and the environment.
The SEEA Ecosystem Accounting constitutes anintegrated and comprehensive statistical frameworkfor organising data about habitats and landscapes,
measuring the ecosystem services, tracking changes
in ecosystem assets, and linking this information toeconomic and other human activities.

OCEANS | 9

The municipality facilitates investment and economic
development in the area through execution of its
mandates and responsibilities, such as by conducting
Environmental Impact Assessments, evaluating andapproving Land Use Applications and approving
Building Plans. The municipality is also responsible fordrafting environmental policies, public education andawareness raising. The municipality has the mandate
to support an integrated approach to sustainable
development.

3.4.1. THREATS• COVID-19 resulted in a drop in visitors to the area,
thereby negatively impacting tourism (a key sector) andthe general local economy.
• The closure of Saldanha Steel (which resulted in theloss of about 1000 jobs) and the decline in fish
productivity on the west coast (the most productive
fishing area) has negatively impacted the local
economy.
• Increased unemployment has resulted in an increased
prevalence of robberies, alcohol, and drug abuse.
• The municipality mainly gets its water supply from theWestern Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS), whichobtains its water from the Berg River. Water scarcity inthe Berg River system is now at an alarming level due toincreased abstractions and utilisation by different
sectors. Climate modelling indicates that declining
rainfall in the Western Cape over the longer term(30-50 years) will generally increase scarcity ofavailable surface water in the region.
• Although Further Education and Training (FET)
colleges offer courses in technical training(e.g., hospitality, mechanics, welding), these do notmatch with industry needs and requirements in thearea, resulting in higher levels of skill-trained young
people who cannot find jobs.
• Cumbersome building regulations, and alternative
energy regulations are hampering economic
development.
Box 6
Conservation Finance ideas for the
Saldanha area
Direct revenues for conservation:
1. Providing Climate finance through Blue carbon
in terms of Seagrass, Algae and Kelp. The lagoon,for example, is home to 30% of the country’s
seagrass biomass.
2. Generating conservation levies from adventure
sports using the lagoon (kites, fishermen, divers).
3. Increasing the Park revenues throughimproved advertising and the sale of ecofriendly
items in a Park shop.
4. Increasing linkages between the booming
residential property market and a potential“destination protection fund” for the lagoon.
Indirect economic opportunities for conservation:• Opportunities for upskilling youth from the local
community while improving infrastructure and cost of
doing business in the park. For example, placing the
YES Hub youth into a range of work experiences
every year that support maintenance and restorationof the park is one such solution.
• Skills further developed into enterprisedevelopments that sustain the conservation ofnatural resources in the area, e.g., alien clearing
teams or tourism enterprises.
• Enterprises can additionally be supported by loan
facilities such as through Conservation International
Ventures (CIV).
https://www.conservation.org/projects/conservationinternational-ventures-llc

3.4.2. OPPORTUNITIES• COVID-19 has resulted in many people working from
home, which has caused a residential property boom in
the area.
• People are utilising alternative energy sources,
particularly due to the expensive and unreliablenational electricity supply (i.e., loadshedding).
• There is an intergovernmental task team to promoteand facilitate joint decision-making, problem-solving
and synergistic intergovernmental relations.
• The Saldanha Bay Water Quality Trust (Box 7) is an
excellent platform for integrated marine and terrestrial
planning that ensures environmental integrity that canbe linked further with economic development
opportunities.
Box 7 Saldanha Bay Quality Forum Trust
The Saldanha Bay Water Quality Forum Trust(SBWQFT) is an NGO, governed by a board of trustees,and voluntarily funded by industries operating within
the Saldanha Bay Municipality. The SBWQFT promotes
and assumes responsibility for maintaining the health,diversity, sustainability, and productivity of the marine
and coastal ecosystems of Saldanha Bay andLangebaan Lagoon. The organisation was establishedto implement a comprehensive and overall water
quality monitoring programme, to implement planningfor coping with potential environmental disasters, toco-ordinate and uphold the environmental integrity
and well-being of Saldanha Bay and Langebaan
Lagoon, and to promote full compliance with national
environmental legislation by all parties. In this context,
the organisation receives and evaluates monitoring
information from the Saldanha Bay and Langebaan
Lagoon on effluents, marine water quality, avifauna,
sediments, and ecosystem health. Using thisinformation, it creates platforms for discussion andmutual consent on the limitation and remediation ofnegative impacts on water quality and the marine
ecosystem.
Visit their website: https://sbwqft.org.za

OCEANS | 10

4. OPPORTUNITIES FOR OPTIMISING CONSERVATION AND THE OCEANS ECONOMY
IN THE SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY

The operationalisation of a sustainable Oceans economy assumes that a healthy marine ecosystem is good for business, and conversely, that robust economies can be good for naturewhen managed in harmony with each other. Therefore, growth would only be sustainable and optimal if practiced and undertaken within the limits that nature can sustainably withstandin terms of direct and indirect utilisation. The key question is: ‘How do the threats and opportunities affect or influence the municipality’s ability to guide spatial planning tosupport economic development and conservation objectives within the area?’. The municipality could use currently available planning tools to guide their strategy and build
resilience. It is also up to stakeholders including individual companies, cooperatives, and fishers to take up and use opportunities for their benefit. These could involve working together
to drive forward and achieve their goals. In this context, some ideas that could be pursued are as follows:
1 Investment incentives
4 Alternative economic activities
Fishing and fish processing have been the mainstay of the west coast economy. The
The SBIDZ is still in the early stages of growth, providing an opportunity to influence
decline in the fishery in the last decade is projected to become a permanent
investment incentives in such a way that they align to ecological biodiversity,
phenomenon. This has resulted in a loss of jobs and/or a transformation of theenvironmental protection, and climate change. This also provides an opportunity for
workforce from permanent to casual, or short-term, employment. It is time to look atenvironmental protection stakeholders (e.g., SBWQT, Box 7) to influence the SBIDZ’sother economic activities and move away from the area’s over-dependency on theenvironmental policies and growth path.
fishing industry. Therefore, the consideration of other economic opportunities that the
2 Economic development
oceans could offer beyond fisheries is required, such as in the tourism or renewable
The SBIDZ has great potential for contributing towards economic development,
energy sectors.
employment creation, and catalysing and empowering subsidiary local climate smart
5 Climate smart development
businesses. Firstly, it can do this by working together with Saldanha Bay Municipality
Climate smart economic growth that protects and/or restores natural ecosystems
to align and integrate its growth trajectory with the Municipality’s local development
while supporting sustainable production is key for unlocking economic opportunities
plans, and secondly by working together with the YES Hub, the Future Education andfrom the marine natural resource base in the area. Renewable energy from oceans
Training colleges and High Schools’ Development Programme to ensure that these(wave, tidal and thermal), for instance, could enable a transition away from, or
provide the skills that are/will be required by the SBIDZ as it grows and attracts newcompliment, the current largely coal-based sources.
investments and industries.
6 Innovative finance3 Business opportunities
The West Coast National Park is struggling due to poor funding. Yet, sustainable
Some of the opportunities in the SBIDZ could be realised by turning threats into
management and enhancement of biodiversity are key for the realisation of theopportunities. For example, entrepreneurship in waste management could not only
marine resource-based economic growth path for the area. The WCNP needs tocreate jobs, but also realise business opportunities that could otherwise be
establish innovative ways of improving its funding and financial sustainability. One
environmentally unacceptable. For example, one of the concerns that has been raised isway could be to look into improving the integration of the park into the local andship recycling as one of the industries that the SBIDZ is trying to attract into the Zone.
regional economy as, for example, the Kruger National Park has done under theThis type of industry produces significant amounts of waste, which could pose potential‘Greater Kruger Strategic Development Programme’. Such a strategy could link park
environmental hazard (even though “green” recycling guidelines will be adhered to).
planning to Saldanha Bay Municipal planning and economic development in order to‘Wasterpreneurs’ could create a business opportunity by dealing with hazardous waste,
leverage finance for the Park from economic benefits that the municipality gains fromwhile enabling ship recycling as an industrial business opportunity for SBIDZ.
existence of the Park within the Municipality.
©ABALOBIOCEANS | 11

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https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100853-9.00006-3©Conservation International