Background

The WWF Nedbank Green Trust, in partnership with Nature’s Valley Trust and the Nelson Mandela University’s Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, has launched a project called Developing and Assessing Sustainable Boat-based Marine Tourism. Wildlife tourism provides economic benefits to many countries. In the marine environment whale and dolphin watching is the fastest growing tourism sector in the world, creating economic, social and environmental benefits. This project aims to measure these benefits in a South African context. The South African boat-based whale-watching industry is globally perceived as one of the most sustainable of its kind due to the early development of permit regulations and operating protocols to minimize disturbance to the target species. The project investigates the effectiveness of these regulations and will make recommendations for how compliance and enforcement can be improved.

For more information visit https://www.naturesvalleytrust.co.za/programmes/ecological-research/sustainable-marine-tourism/