20 new MPAs, and two expanded MPAs were identified through Operation Phakisa‚ a presidential project to fast-track the development of South Africa’s Ocean Economy. The new MPAs will secure protection of marine habitats like reefs‚ mangroves and coastal wetlands which are required to help protect coastal communities from the results of storm surges‚ rising sea-levels and extreme weather. Offshore‚ these MPAs will protect vulnerable habitats and secure spawning grounds for various marine species‚ therefore helping to sustain fisheries and ensure long-term benefits important to food and job security.
The Browns Bank Complex Marine Protected Area in the Western Cape is an offshore Marine Protected Area in the 100m to 200m depth range lying approximately 100 nautical miles southeast of Cape Agulhas.
The purpose for declaring this Marine Protected Area is:
(a) To contribute to a national and global representative system of marine protected areas by providing protection to offshore benthic and pelagic ecosystems of this region;
(b) to conserve and protect offshore gravel, sandy, rocky and open ocean habitats; (
c) to conserve and protect threatened ecosystems;
(d) to conserve and protect the biodiversity and ecological processes associated with these ecosystems;
(e) to contribute to the conservation and protection of a fish spawning area;
(f) to conserve and protect threatened seabird species that forage in this area; and
(g) to protect and provide an appropriate reference environment for research and monitoring particularly research on ecosystem impacts and recovery.