from FUTHI MBHELE in Durban
KwaZulu Natal Bureau
DURBAN, (CAJ News) – THE newly appointed board of iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority has committed to the vision of maintaining the park a renowned World Heritage facility where conservation, sustainable tourism and benefits sharing prevail.
Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, has appointed the board.
Creecy said that the newly appointed board must look at the long term vision of the park and the financial sustainability linked to that vision, progress on implementing the commercialisation strategy, infrastructure maintenance upgrades and sustainable energy, finalisation of land claims, community beneficiation strategy amongst others.
The minister also praised the previous board for ensuring iSimangaliso is well managed, achieved 100-percent on its annual performance targets during their term of office as well as implementing programmes that provided more than 240 opportunities to Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), and created about 3 675 jobs.
INkosi Mabhudu Tembe is the new board chairperson, having served as the deputy in the previous administration.
Mabhudu applauded the minister for officials with different skills, which will assist the entity in overcoming issues that may arise from time to time.
Sibusiso Bukhosini, Chief Executive Officer of iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, expressed his gratitude and that of the executive management to the outgoing board.
The outgoing board received accolades for making the facility as one of the leading conservation and tourism destinations in the world, as well as an entity that is truly responsive to the plight of the communities living adjacent to the park.
The United Nations, Educational and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) describes the iSimangaliso Wetland Park as one of the outstanding natural wetland and coastal sites of Africa.
Covering an area of 239 566 hectares, it includes a wide range of pristine marine, coastal, wetland, estuarine and terrestrial environments.
– CAJ News