Presenter
Mr. Bramley Jemain Lemine, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and University of the Western Cape (dual)
Co-author(s)
Professor Mahabubur Chowdhury, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Sub-theme
6. Innovation for Water Governance and Management
Topic
6-3. Adaptive water management
Body
The 85% loss of the planet’s wetlands is the failure to adequately manage them. Many countries provide examples of how they aim to better manage wetlands, including promulgating wetland policies, passing legislation and strategies to direct enforcement measures. South Africa is in the process of developing its own wetland-specific policy, to be published in the year 2024. With the view of improving the management of wetlands, this research aims to discern what this term means as it is presented in various environmental, non-environmental and related literature. Adjectives related to management include, amongst others, "environmental management", "integrated water resources management" and "adaptive management". They do not offer much substance unless we understand what management is within the context; here, specifically for wetlands. The primary aim of this note is, through a synthesis, to discern the embodiment of what ‘management’ can represent for wetlands in the policy. The reason for this is to understand the multifaceted approach to what it could mean but to create legally binding measures for this as "management" as stated in the other science versus how it is represented in South Africa's legislation pertaining to wetland regulation cannot create the outcome as best as it is synthesised. The central argument is that without this synthesis, the meaning of management does not offer its full potential for wetlands protection and conservation, for example. The selected literature has an elaborate meaning, but there is a meaning in the legislation which has bearing on wetlands protection and conservation too. The qualitative study is underpinned by a document analysis of a selected sample of data to be applied to synthesise a more nuanced understanding of management. The result is that the synthesis provides a broader but more specific and workable meaning of management of wetlands for institutions that bear the duty to perform such.