Last year the WILDTRUST launched the uThukela Marine Protected Area (MPA) Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Project in KwaZulu-Natal, funded by the Blue Action Fund and in partnership with multiple partners including the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), Nelson Mandela University (NMU), and the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR), to name a few.Nestled in northern KwaZulu-Natal and named after the uThukela River that flows from the Drakensberg mountains, intertwined by nine estuaries that connect the freshwater river catchments with the Indian Ocean, is the site for the newly ordained uThukela MPA EbA Project. The designated Management Authority for this MPA is Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife who share in the vision of the project which seeks to improve the natural environment in and around the uThukela MPA, through a series of interventions that will make the region more resilient in the face of the devastating impacts that come with climate change.
Over the course of the 5-year project WILDTRUST will hand over several assets to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife including three 4x4 vehicles and a Kawasaki side-by-side 4x4, as well as a Ski Boat (Karambizi) and a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (Makaira) both quipped with GPS, a VHF Marine Radio and Gantry.
The home base for the three vehicles namely, an Isuzu D-MAX, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Toyota Hilux, will be the Umlalazi Nature Reserve, while the two ski-boats, Karambizi and Makaira are stationed at the Richards Bay Port and uThukela MPA. The Karambizi will specifically be used for offshore compliance work such as spotting fishermen and the Makaira for closer inshore work and has also been kitted to take divers out to sea for research purposes.
“This asset donation from WILDTRUST will make a positive impact in our daily activities and effectiveness at the MPA," commented Ezemvelo's Richard Schutte, District Manager King Cetshwayo and Ilembe and uThukela MPA.
This partnership between WILDTRUST and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife aims to fulfil, with these vehicles and boats, interventions including infrastructure preservation, training, surveillance, and enforcement which will help ensure the restoration of the uThukela MPA's biodiversity while delivering benefits to communities living along the stretch of coastline.
“We are excited to see all the amazing work we know Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife will carry out with these vehicles and boats," commented WILDTRUST uThukela MPA EbA, Senior Project Manager, Nonhle Mngadi. "The WILDTRUST is incredibly appreciative to both KEY Pietermaritzburg and Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Pietermaritzburg for affording us such
significant discounts on the vehicles, which means we will have more funding to do even more conservation work on the ground.”
significant discounts on the vehicles, which means we will have more funding to do even more conservation work on the ground.”
Photo credit: Mnqobi Zuma
Supplied.
