Marine protected areas (MPAs) play a vital role in conserving vulnerable and important ocean species, habitats and ecosystems. Ensuring effective management of these protected coastal areas is just as crucial. Working closely with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, WWF initially introduced the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) for MPAs in South Africa. It
This case study focuses on the main issue of artificial breaching of the freshwater Goukamma River during periods of high back‐flooding, which
causes erosion and increased salinity of drinking water. The candidate provides a historical overview of artificially breaching the river mouth and
details the actions taken to address the increasing pressure from local communities to artificially open the sand bar across the river mouth to
facilitate floodplain farming.
In 2005, the Western Indian Ocean Certification of Marine Protected Area Professionals Programme (WIO-COMPAS) was an embryonic concept sprung from the joint capacity-building efforts of the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA). These organisations are partners in the Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).1 The programme was conceived as a response to the pressing need to protect the region’s valuable marine assets by ensuring those entrusted with the conservation and management of those assets have the requisite skills to do so. The approach of one-off trainings to try to attain this goal had long proven insufficient as a strategy. Hence the turn to a model of certification — a model in which individuals participate in a rigorous process of professional assessments to prove they have the skills and can meet accepted standards in a range of necessary competence areas. An effectively managed marine protected area (MPA) requires staff with the skills and knowledge to carry out that management.
Today, WIO-COMPAS is a functional, rigorous, highly respected, first-in-the-world certification programme for marine MPA professionals. With no precedents on which to draw, it has overcome conceptual and practical challenges.
By May 2012, WIO-COMPAS had completed a full cycle of its design: piloted all levels of the programme; assembled a skilled cadre of assessors; certified 42 MPA professionals/advocates for the programme; and secured endorsement of well-respected international organisations involved in protected area management (IUCN — WCPA, GRAA, WWF-SA).
