SANPARKS REVISED DRAFT PLAN FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE TOKAI AND CECILIA AREAS IN THE TABLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

The EMS Foundation provided comments on the 19th of June 2023, the revised draft of the SANParks plan for the management of the Tokai and Cecilia areas will determine how SANParks and its “stakeholders” will manage these sensitive areas over the next five years.

The revised draft claims to incorporate issues raised during the public-participation process in May of 2021 and also be informed by the outcome of follow-up consultations with various stakeholders from August 2021 to January 2022.

The area is described as a complex and contested space and finding a solution that is holistic and inclusive is complicated. The EMS Foundation concern for the ancestral residents of the Table Mountain National Park, the Chacma baboon, is highlighted throughout the submission.

Ubuntu and harmonious co-existence within Nature should be promoted with a focus on how nature conservation will be undertaken in the future. An emphasis on applying ethics such as Ubuntu should be encouraged to change how humans view and relate to Nature. Humans should be able to co-exist with wild species, such as the baboons, so that life in all its diversity can be sustained and protected.

Image Credit: Parkscape

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