Abstract
Activities and developments in the coastal zone, and in adjacent catchments, pose an increasing threat to the sustainability of the natural and socio-economic goods and services supplied by marine ecosystems. Governing authorities have had to develop new policies to promote environmentally responsible and sustainable development practices, either through legislation and/or incentive mechanisms. These, in turn, created the need for holistic and integrated frameworks within which to design and implement environmental management programmes. A structured ecosystem-scale approach for the design and implementation of marine water quality management programmes developed by the CSIR (South Africa) in response to recent advances in policies and legislation pertaining to sustainable utilisation of Southern Africa's marine environment is discussed. The framework provides an integrated scientific base within which to set, for example, wastewater emission targets, taking into account ecosystem process complexity. It also aims to support and stimulate local stakeholder empowerment and involvement. Water SA Vol.32 (4) 2006: pp.535-542
Highlights
Agriculture, industrial and residential developments in the coastal zone and in adjacent catchments pose an increasing threat to the sustainability of the natural and socio-economic goods and services supplied by marine ecosystems, even where such developments may create other socio-economic benefits
Scientific assessment studies are required to determine whether the marine environment is able to support important ecosystems and designated beneficial uses in addition to being subject to waste inputs and other modifications associated with activities and developments in the study area
The management framework has been recommended as the preferred approach and method for the management of marine water quality in the broader Southern African context (Taljaard, 2006) through a project undertaken as part of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) Programme
Summary
Agriculture, industrial and residential developments in the coastal zone and in adjacent catchments pose an increasing threat to the sustainability of the natural and socio-economic goods and services supplied by marine ecosystems, even where such developments may create other socio-economic benefits.Historically marine water quality was managed on an individual or case-by-case basis, which did not necessarily take into account possible cumulative or synergistic effects as a result of multiple activities or developments within a specific area. In response to these new legislative requirements, and taking into account international trends and advances in ecosystemscale complexity and processes and science and technology (e.g. the application of numerical models), the CSIR (South Africa) developed a generic framework within which to design and implement marine water quality management programmes.
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