Mkambati Nature Reserve, a protected area located at Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape on South Africa’s Wild Coast has been officially designated as Eastern Cape’s first Ramsar wetland site, recognising the reserve’s wetlands for their unique ecological, cultural, and socio - economic values.
The announcement was made by Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Narend Singh, who described the designation as a significant achievement for both conservation and international collaboration.
Official Ramsar site certificates of achievement were received from the Ramsar Secretariat in Switzerland and with Eastern Cape Parks, Tourism Agency and local community, and stakeholders credited for their ongoing stewardship and collaboration.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, established in 1975, is the world’s first international treaty dedicated to wetland conservation, and Mkambati Nature Reserve’s inclusion on the list reflects findings that its waters remain exceptionally clean and its wetlands in optimal condition, a rare status given the widespread degradation of wetland ecosystems across South Africa.
Mkambati Nature Reserve is a 7.720 - hectare coastal wilderness famed for its unique combination of tumbling ocean - facing waterfalls that cascade directly into the ocean, including Horseshoe Falls, multiple estuaries, pristine sandy beaches, scenic rugged cliffs, and vast, rolling grasslands.
The Reserve protects diverse ecosystems, including swamp forests, Pondo coconut forests, indigenous forests, and offers exceptional biodiversity hosting over 290 bird species, and species found nowhere else on the Earth.
The Nature Reserve, Biodiversty & Marine Life serve as a birdwatcher’s paradise, while the adjancent Pondoland Marine Protected Area protects diverse marine life,, dolphins, sharks, often visible during the sardine run.
Popular activities at Mkambati Nature Reserve include hiking along the Mkambati River to the waterfalls, canoeing in the Mtentu Estuary, and exploring the coast.
The government’s Environmental Programme have already restored 1.467 hectares across 37 wetlands in the Eastern Cape.
Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment acknowledged that wetlands and estuaries are among the most threatened and least protected ecosystems in South Africa, and aoonounced that R17 million will be allocated to improving infrastructure and visitor access within Mkambati Nature Reserve, strengthening its potential for sustainable tourism and community engagement.
The designation also aligns with the Wild Coast Conservation and Development Initiative, a collaborative effort to integrate conservation with local economic development.
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