The second-generation Western Cape Provincial Coastal Management Programme (WC:PCMP) 2022 – 2027 is out for comment until 31 May 2022. The Programme aims to optimise the economic potential of the coastal zone in the Western Cape, underpinned by improved protection, access, spatial planning, land use management and sustainable development of our coastal assets, particularly in the context of the impacts of climate change.
The WC: PCMP provides a uniform approach to coastal management within the province, ensuring consistency with the National Coastal Management Programme and National Estuarine Management Protocol. The WC:PCMP maintains synergy with national goals and objectives in the provincial outcomes, provides guidance on the alignment of municipal outcomes and sets out priorities for the next five year period..
The first WC:PCMP (2016-2021) was adopted by Minister Bredell in 2016 and achieved numerous successes, one of which is the establishment of South Africa (and the Province’s) first Coastal Management Line in terms of the NEM: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008 for City of Cape Town. Coastal Management Lines help manage risk and encourage sustainable and resilient coastal development as reflected in the Western Cape Provincial Coastal Management Programme. The new draft Programme continues to prioritise the establishment and implementation of coastal management lines.
Coastal access and its implementation by municipalities will continue to be prioritised over the next five years. Access to the coastal zone and its assets requires redress informed by completed Coastal Access Audits for the West Coast, Overberg and Garden Route District Municipalities.
More recently, the Department, in partnership with CapeNature, published 29 draft Estuary Management Plans (EMP’s) for public comment. These set out to co-ordinate and manage various activities and impacts that occur within the estuarine functional zone.
This second-generation WC:PCMP builds on the strengths and successes its predecessor and is informed by inputs received through stakeholder engagement and a gender analysis that has incorporated a human rights-based approach.
Marlene Laros, Director for Biodiversity and Coastal Management at DEA&DP said: “Human rights and gender lenses have informed the review, enabling improved mainstreaming within the programme. It has surfaced a range of redress priorities, including in the coastal economy and in coastal access.”
Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning: “Our coast is a key economic differentiator but an asset that must be carefully managed in the context of climate change. It is thus essential to balance the protection of natural ecosystems, including coastal and estuarine systems, with the economic potential we can derive from them.”
Draft WC:PCMP can be viewed/downloaded online on DEA&DP website:
https://tinyurl.com/WCPCMP22
All comments can be made in writing and emailed to wccmp@westerncape.gov.za
Closing date for comments is 31 May 2022.
