St Lucia is at a ‘tipping point’. It will soon change from an estuarine system into a freshwater wetland. When this happens, half of South Africa’s estuarine habitat will be lost. This is a natural trajectory for the system. But it has been accelerated by human-caused degradation of the catchment, the loss of wetlands and the canalisation of the uMfolozi River. The people and the ecosystems in the uMfolozi catchment suffer from severe water shortages during dry periods.
This session will communicate and investigate these changes and their implications, and will describe possible management interventions that could be taken.
Convenors: Dr Ricky Taylor, Prof. Alan Whitfield, Ms Jenny Longmore
The session will have 4x 20-minute invited presentations, followed by a 90-minute workshop that will have 3x 30-minute sessions each having a relevant topic.
The session presenters will be:
- Prof Alan Whitfield: St Lucia system at an ecological tipping point from an estuarine into a freshwater lake system – causes and consequences (20 min)
- Dr Ricky Taylor: Adaptive management of St Lucia – should we care? And if so, what interventions and essential monitoring are needed (20 mins)
- Invited iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority representative: Recent monitoring and management of the St Lucia system (20 mins) (To be Confirmed)
- Ms Jenny Longmore: Changes in the Mfolozi catchment – the water and sediment problems. (20 mins)
The workshop topics will be:
uMfolozi Catchment management – the way forward (Chair Jenny Longmore)
Monitoring of the St Lucia system – the way forward (Chair: Prof Alan Whitfield)
Management of the St Lucia system – the way forward (Chair: Dr Ricky Taylor)
