NRF Community of Practice:
Algoa Bay Marine Spatial Plan 2017-2023
Towards South Africa's first Marine Spatial Plan
The project consists of two phases. Phase 1 collected data on and modelled the biophysical and governance systems in Algoa Bay.
Phase 2 aims to address the socio-economic system, and tie all three systems together in an overall model that can inform marine spatial planning decisions in the Bay.
MEET THE TEAM
Amanda Lombard (NMU)
Janine Adams (NMU)
Bernadette Snow (NMU & SAMS)
Patrick Vrancken (NMU)
Kennith Liu (UFH)
Jacques Mahler-Coetzee (UFH)
Thomas Bornman (SAEON; NMU)
Shaun Deyzel (SAEON; NMU)
Shirley Parker-Nance (SAEON; RU)
Francesca Porri (SAIAB; NMU)
Angus Paterson (SAIAB)
Hayley Cawthra (Council for Geoscience; NMU)
UPDATES AND OUTPUTS
Phase 1 Outputs 2017-2019
Project Outreach
· 15 + Journal Articles
· 1 Policy Brief
· 13 International Conferences
· 8 National Conferences
· 2 Technical Reports
· 7 Science Communications
Engagement
· 6 membership meetings & workshops
· 9 Algoa Bay Project workshops, including stakeholder meetings
Capacity Development
· 9 Female and 9 Male Team leaders
· 10 Postdoctoral and Emerging Researchers
· 16 PhD Candidates
· 15 MSc students
Relevance to MSP Framework
· Understanding stakeholder landscape
· Conservation Plan for Algoa Bay
· Working within the legal framework
· Testing context driven co-development process
New discoveries and advances
· 2 distinct epibenthic communities not currently defined.
· Several new species of benthic macrofauna in rocky reef habitats 35-55m deep (Fig 2); incl. the sponges Tsitsikamma michaeli (Fig 3) and Tsitsikamma nguni (Parker-Nance et al. 2019).
· Several new bioactive compounds discovered from sponges collected in the Bay (Kalinski et al. 2019).
· Phyto– and zooplankton sampling for Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) monitoring & biodiversity database updates.
· Important nutrient input sites identified (e.g. Swartkops & Sundays Rivers, sewage outfall sites, coastal islands, Alexandria dunefield and upwelled water).
· 5 manuscripts addressing the legal landscape of the Marine Spatial Planning Act (Act 16 of 2018).
· Systematic Conservation Plan for Algoa Bay.
Phase 2 Outputs and updates 2020-2023
Approved from July 2020 - Dec 2022
· Develop a fine-scale socio-economic plan and associated spatial data for Algoa Bay
· Draft a regional Marine Spatial Plan for Algoa Bay which includes:
· Continued bio-physical research
· Assess impacts of climatic and anthropogenic challenges to a growing blue economy (HABs, sea level rise, plastic pollution etc.).
Asset research
The economic valuation of the Bay presentation (2 March 2022) and final report to follow soon!
Marine Spatial Planning
Development from spatial database to spatial plan presentation
(2 March 2022)
