Advocacy and Policy

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WE HAVE TAKEN LEGAL ACTION TO PROTECT THE AFRICAN PENGUIN FROM EXTINCTION

We will not accept extinction as the fate of the African Penguin.

SANCCOB, together with BirdLife South Africa (BLSA), have taken a bold and crucial step to legally challenge the decision taken by the office of the Minister of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), who has implemented no-take fishing zones for a period of 10 years around six key African penguin breeding colonies. 

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African penguin Biodiversity Management Plan (AP-BMP)​

The first Biodiversity Management Plan for the African penguin (BMP-AP; Biodiversity Management Plan for the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) was gazetted in 2013 by the South African government, highlighting the current threats to the species and necessary conservation actions to halt the decline of the species.

SANCCOB is a key player in the implementation of these actions, ranging from the rehabilitation of oiled African penguins, hand-rearing abandoned eggs and chicks to assisting in the monitoring of breeding African penguins in the wild and the protection of breeding habitat and at-sea foraging areas. SANCCOB works closely with the South African government and managing authorities and is active in several working groups under the AP-BMP. Despite the successful implementation of many of the actions listed in the plan, these aims were not attained, and African Penguins in South Africa have continued to decline.

Therefore, it is necessary that the plan is revised and extended to operate over a second five-year period, from mid-2022–2026. The main reason for the ongoing decline of African Penguins in South Africa has been linked to a scarcity of prey, which has led to mortality of adult birds. For the second AP-BMP to succeed, it is crucial that this matter is addressed.

The second (draft) BMP prescribes that, fishing of its main prey items should be precluded around all prioritised colonies and seasonally at feeding grounds while fattening before and after a moult. Further, colonies along the south coast should be maintained and, if shown to be safe and viable through Risk Assessments, bolstered through the release of hand-reared abandoned chicks and captive-bred penguins. In addition, the risk of oil spills must be strictly minimised through, for example, the zoning of shipping and bunkering activities. Given the present small size of the population, colony-specific interventions, such as the management of predation on African penguins, are likely to play a major role.

SANCCOB is committed to continuing its work along with our partners to achieve the goal of the plan, the halt of the decline of the species and a recovery of African penguin breeding numbers in the wild. 

INCIDENT MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION (IMOrg)

SANCCOB participates in national IMOrg engagements, designed to improve South Africa’s preparedness and response capabilities in the event of an emergency incident.

Effective oil spill preparedness and response is based on emergency organisation procedures, trained personnel, oil spill response equipment, and logistical support. An oil spill contingency plan is the primary tool used to provide assurance that a country’s oil spill response capability is managed, organised, assessed, and improved upon as needed. Regular oil spill exercises initiated and managed by the interim IMOrg utilising the Incident Management System (IMS) bring together accountable designated representatives from government, government entities, industry, conservation agencies as well as non-profit organisations.

Environmental protection and wildlife response has received the required attention in recent years. Preparedness and planning for wildlife casualties must be fully integrated in national oil spill contingency planning. Responding to oiled seabirds affected by oil spills since 1968 has placed SANCCOB in good stead to be the named response organisation in South Africa’s National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. SANCCOB’s participation in the interim IMOrg is crucial; seabird populations are struggling, and SANCCOB must ensure our level of readiness and ability to respond is aligned with designated stakeholders to be as effective as possible.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

SANCCOB is a proud member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is actively engaged in two IUCN initiatives; the IUCN South African National Committee and the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group (PSG), which provides scientific advice that informs policy and engages people (including government agencies) in effective conservation action.

To achieve this, members are supported by:
  • furthering knowledge of the life history and ecology of penguin species
  • providing a forum for discussion of conservation issues to identify conservation priorities
  • facilitating information exchange and cooperation among penguin specialists
  • promoting long-term conservation throughout the species’ ranges
  • assisting in the development and distribution of conservation action plans
  • Regularly reviewing the status, threats and conservation needs of penguin species through completion of Red List assessments for all penguin species
  • promoting management programs (governments or conservation organisations)
  • determining data gaps where information is needed for policy decisions
  • increasing the public’s awareness of the penguin conservation challenges