HERITAGE HIGHLIGHTS BY FIONA WAKELIN
South Africa
Home To 8 World Heritage Sites
Sometimes when we feel there is only a faint glimmer of light at the end of the Covid tunnel,
it helps with the malaise that constant anxiety and stress bring with them, to remind ourselves of how rich we are as a country in terms of natural and cultural heritage. This article looks at our 8 World Heritage Sites – and hopefully provides some armchair travel.
ISIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK On 1 December 1999 the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park - now known as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park - was declared South Africa’s first Natural World Heritage Site. “iSimangaliso” means “miracles” and this, South Africa’s third largest park, stretches from Mapelane (Cape St. Lucia) in the South, to Kosi Bay Nature Reserve in the North. A Ramsar Site is a wetland which is considered to be of international importance; South Africa currently has 27 Ramsar sites and iSimangaliso contains four of them: • • • •
Turtle Beaches/Coral Reefs of Tongaland (Ramsar Site # 344) St. Lucia Lake System (Ramsar Site # 345) Kosi Bay Lake System (Ramsar Site #527) Lake Sibaya (Ramsar Site # 528)
The Park comprises 8 interlinking ecosystems with a 220 km coastline and ancient 25 000-year-old coastal forests.
18 | Public Sector Leaders | September 2021
The interlinking ecosystems of grasslands, swamps, lakes, beaches, coral reefs, woodlands, wetlands, and coastal forests, results in a myriad of flora and fauna which people travel from all over the world to enjoy. These include hippopotami, elephant, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, kudu, hyena and water buck on land - and Nile crocodiles, whales, dolphins, turtles and a plethora of fish species in the water. It is also a bird watchers’ haven with over 520 bird species to tweet home about. Lake St Lucia is one of the most important breeding areas for water birds in South Africa The six settlements in the Park are in the Kosi Bay Coastal Forest Reserve and management at the provincial level is by KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation, working with the provincial administration in accordance with national and provincial legislation. The Park is also protected by the World Heritage Convention Act, 1999.