DLIST Benguela - Newsletter No.1 - Marine Litter
http://www.dlist-benguela.org/Newsletter_No.1_-_Marine_Litter/
NEWSLETTER NO.1 - MARINE LITTER
In this edition:
Main feature
Marine litter - becoming part of
the solution.
Featured partner
The BCLME programme
In the News
- Environmental Engineering
course kicks off
- The Standloper Guide
"
- The new integrated coastal
We are the first generation with
management bill
tools to understand changes in
- Angolan biodiversity: the new
the Earth's system caused by
NBSAP
human activity, and the last with
the opportunity to influence the
Recent Discussions on DLIST
course of many of the changes
Read discussion summaries
now rapidly under way"
New to the document library
Read document summaries
Peter Vitousek, Stanford University 1997
Welcome to the first edition of the DLIST-Benguela newsletter!
Website Shortcuts
- DLIST Home Page
The newsletter presently goes to all registered DLIST users, as well as
- About DLIST
many people who may be new to the platform. If you are an old
- Contact DLIST
DLIST hand, you're likely to recognise some of the issues
summarised here - we've all been discussing these over the last
few months . If you've never heard of DLIST, you can find out more
here. We're pleased you are interested enough in the sustainable
management of our coast to have read this far.
Best regards
The DLIST-benguela Team
admin@dlist-benguela.org
MAIN FEATURE
Marine Litter - Becoming part of the solution
action plans and legislations. It is also a cultural problem, thus
calling for changes in behaviour. That was the goal of a recent pilot
project aimed at showing schools and communities what the
problem of marine litter is and how they can be part of the solution.
With funding from the BCLME Programme, schools in Walvis Bay
M
(Namibia) and Buraco and Mabunda (near Luanda, Angola)
arine litter is a problem worldwide and
participated in beach cleanups, poster competitions and school
our Benguela coastline is no exception.
dramas. While these activities may seem like a drop in the ocean,
Litter has serious impacts on marine life
and coastal communities. Yet marine litter
their replication effect was by no means insignificant--they have
is more than an environmental problem
already led to a wider programme in Walvis Bay, and will hopefully
that needs to be addressed by
serve as examples for further action elsewhere.
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[ find out more ]
FEATURED PARTNER
The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) Programme:
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DLIST Benguela - Newsletter No.1 - Marine Litter
http://www.dlist-benguela.org/Newsletter_No.1_-_Marine_Litter/
functions as one large system ecologically interlinked, actions taken
in one country will affect the other countries flanked by the same
ecosystem. Should Angola, Namibia and South Africa not join
hands to manage and protect our marine environment then?
It was to implement the idea of a regional management system
that the BCLME Programme was developed and the Benguela
We have one common marine
Current Commission (BCC) formed. The BCC will strengthen regional
environment endowed with rich fish stocks
cooperation on regulatory, institutional, decision-making and
that move across political borders, and
scientific aspects relating to the Benguela region. Its decisions and
faced with common environmental
results will trickle down to the coastal populations, the fishers,
problems. Because the Benguela Current
diamond miners, tourist operators, and everybody that uses our rich
Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME)
coast.
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[ find out more ]
IN THE NEWS
The DLIST-CPUT Environmental Engineering course kicks off:
The Strandloper Guide to the Namaqua
This year, the course on Environmental
Coast
Engineering--Sustainable Development in Coastal Areas
Strandlopers Visitor's guide to the
welcomes sixteen distance learners, fifteen of which hail from
Namaqua coast" is a brochure that was
Namibia. Through the DLIST-Benguela portal, they will join the
born out of the need for an eco watchdog
students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) on
body for the Northern Cape's coastal
this semester course that covers core environmental concepts
areas. Widely distributed and publicised on
with a focus on the coastal areas of South Africa and Namibia.
the media, the brochure addresses the
issue of ORVs (Off-Road Vehicles), litter,
The course material, a dynamic pool of information and a
fireworks and others relating to the
forum for discussion are accessible on the DLIST portal to all
destruction of flora and fauna and the
students--as well as to anyone interested to learn and
disruption of peace and quiet during the
exchange views about coastal development. This year CPUT's
season time.
Environmental Resource Centre (ERC) will provide additional
support to contact students through the Library, and to
But more than a brochure, the Strandlopers
distance learners through the online portal.
came to mean the like minded "people" or
carers of the coast. Its tentacles spread
north and south. DLIST-Benguela can
hopefully remain the vehicle for
Strandlopers to keep up the
momentum...so that when the next
"season" arrives we will be at the ready!!
[ find out more ]
[ find out more ]
The new integrated coastal management bill in South
A new phase in the protection of
Africa towards effectively managing our coast.
Angolan biodiversity: the new NBSAP
A new piece of legislation in South Africa--the Integrated
Angola has marked a new phase in the
Coastal Management Bill--is about to replace the 1935 Sea
protection of its natural heritage with the
Shore Act. But why should all of us care about this new Bill? The
approval of the National Biodiversity
coast is a huge economic asset to the country. It provides
Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). The first
coastal communities with an opportunity to improve their
step in developing this document was a
livelihoods and way of life, but it also attracts investment that
series of studies to investigate the state of
can quickly lead to uncontrolled development. The new Bill
the country's biodiversity on land and in
attempts to promote integration, community participation and
the sea, what laws protect it, and how
coordination of efforts for the protection and sustainable
communities have been using it ...
management of the coast.
There are various notable points that need to be made about
the new Bill. Firstly, the Bill provides public access of the coast to
[ find out more ]
all citizens, thus making it "coastal public property". Secondly,
the Bill provides for a "coastal buffer zone" in which certain
activities are prohibited in order to protect coastal ecosystems
and communities. The new Bill also brings added responsibilities
for municipalities, who must draw up coastal management
plans. All in all, it is a much needed and long awaited piece of
legislation.
[ find out more ]
RECENT DISCUSSIONS
Environmental ethics: quad biking in the dunes
A quad biking competition was recently proposed for the coastal dunes of Elands Bay in the Western Cape
Province of South Africa. This cause some disbelief among coastal stakeholders and brought to the fore the
age old debate of quick economic gain vs. environmental protection. For more details see:
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DLIST Benguela - Newsletter No.1 - Marine Litter
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visit thread
The Topnaars and a sequence of misleading events
A news article from the Namibian posted to the DLIST-Benguela discussion forum evoked response from a local
Topnaar community representative. The discussion is around a cleanup campaign along the Kuiseb River
promoted by the Gobabeb Training and Research Centre (GTRC) and the community's participation.
visit thread
A question of lobster
DLIST members discuss the complexities of lobster fishing, harvesting regulations, and ghost trapping, and
community spin offs
visit thread
Walvis Bay
Is that fishy smell that characterizes Walvis Bay a hindrance to visitors and the local community or is this part
and parcel of what sets this unique town apart from the rest?
visit thread
NEW IN THE DOCUMENT LIBRARY
Our Coast Our Future: A New Approach to Coastal Management in South Africa
see details
Ship-board abalone aquaculture project is a success
see details
The Richtersveld Community Conservancy eNewsletter - Feb 07
see details
Changes in Ecological and Socio-Economic Conditions in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park Since
Implementation of the Regulations for the Control of Vehicles in the Coastal Zone
see details
Policy for the Allocation and Management of Medium Term Small Scale Commercial Fishing Rights: 2006
see details
Planning and Managing Sustainable Off Road Routes: A Guide for Route Planners and Operators
see details
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