NORMS AND STANDARDS: PROTECTED AREAS IN SA
Title: Norms and Standards for Protected Areas in South Africa
Government Notice: GN 382 in GG 39878 of 31 March 2016
Date of commencement: 31 March 2016
In terms of section 11 of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003 (NEMPA), the Minister may prescribe norms and standards for any of the objectives of this Act, including the management and development of protected areas as well as indicators to measure compliance with those norms and standards. The purpose of these norms and standards is to ensure the South Africa’s protected areas fulfil the purpose for which they were declared as set out in section 17 of NEMPA; to ensure that human induced disturbance within or originating outside of protected areas is avoided, and where such cannot be achieved is minimised and the impacts remedied; to provide a goal for protected area management authorities to strive for in managing their protected areas; to ensure protected areas are managed efficiently and effectively.
These Norms and Standards and their indicators apply to all protected areas declared in terms of sections 18 (special nature reserve), 20 (national park), 23 (nature reserve) and 28 (protected environment) of NEMPA.
Twenty norms, together with relevant standards and indicators, have been identified, as well as reporting obligations of management authorities.
“So what” for my operation?
Management of protected areas must be in accordance with the prescribed norms and standards. As these norms and standards impose obligations on the management authority of a protected area, this update has only been included for information purposes.
