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The Prince Edward Islands, South Africa’s only overseas possession, have been accorded the country’s highest state of formal protection, that of Special Nature Reserve in terms of the then Environmental Conservation Act of 1989, now superseded by the national Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, No. 57 of 2003 (NEMPA).
In terms of NEMPA, entry into a Special Nature Reserve is restricted for research and conservation management activities only. One consequence of this high level of protection is that commercial tourism may not be permitted. A management plan was adopted in 1996 and is currently being revised.
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Greatest risk from alien species
As with other sub-Antarctic islands, one of the largest threats to the Prince Edward Islands’ ecosystem is the introduction of alien animal and plant species and disease-bearing agents by visiting expeditions. The warming and drying of the island due to climate change has created an environment that appears to be more conducive to the introduced alien flora and fauna species establishing themselves. In addition, alien species already present may become more of a problem as the islands’ climate changes.
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Marion base under construction |
Some alien species that have been introduced in the past have been eradicated. The feral cat (Felis catus), for example, was removed from Marion Island after a long campaign. The remaining alien mammal, the House Mouse (Mus musculus), is proving harder to eradicate. Introduced plants have spread so far that their removal is now considered impractical. The Prince Edward Islands Management Committee (PEIMC) now places much emphasis on activities designed to reduce the risk of introducing new alien species, with a stringent set of quarantine protocols in place that are regularly reviewed and enhanced.
 A commercial longline fishery for Patagonian Toothfish ( Dissostichus eleginoides) around the islands and on nearby sea rises and mounts has led to large numbers of seabird deaths since the fisheries inception in the mid-1990s. The adoption by South Africa of mitigation measures set out by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and its National Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries, following guidelines set out by the Committee on Fisheries of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is helping to reduce this bycatch to low levels. Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has done much to harm the stock itself. A new fisheries patrol vessel commissioned in late 2004, the Sarah Baartman, is capable of reaching the islands and should help alleviate this situation.
The islands are also affected by environmental issues such as human disturbance, pollution and litter. Regulations in the management plan, coupled with a permitting system operated by the PEIMC, appear sufficient to address these impacts, although a more codified system supported by a best-practice manual, operated by professional environmental management staff employed within SANAP has been recommended. |
Exciting developments down under
Several initiatives are underway to enhance the formal level of protection of the Prince Edward Islands. Internationally, South Africa has prepared nominations to register the islands as natural sites under the World Heritage Convention and as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.
Domestically, South Africa is working towards the proclamation of large Marine Protected Area around the islands that will encompass territorial waters and at least parts of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), extending out to 200 nautical miles. The first stage in this process has been the declaration of territorial waters (out to 12 nautical miles) a no-fishing zone from the beginning of 2005.
In addition to the above initiatives, South Africa is a founder member of the international Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, which offers scope for the enhanced protection of the islands’ threatened albatrosses and larger petrels. |