The Coastal Management Office acts as the government's national co-ordinating coastal management agency, empowering coastal users, decision-makers and the public to manage the coastal zone and its resources wisely, in order to ensure its continued well-being.
Vision
We celebrate the diversity and richness of our coast and seek an equitable balance of opportunities and benefits throughout our coast.
We strive for sustainable coastal development involving a balance between material prosperity, social development, spiritual fulfilment and ecological integrity, in the interests of all South Africans.
We strive for a time when all South Africans feel that the coast is ours to enjoy in a spirit of community.
We look forward to a time when all South Africans take responsibility for the health and sustainability of our coast in a spirit of stewardship and caring. We seek to guide the management of our coast in a way that benefits current and future generations, and honours our obligations and undertakings from local to global levels.
Mission
Within the framework of the constitution and national environmental policy, the national Coastal Management Office (CMO) acts as lead agent for coastal management. The CMO realises people's vision for the coast of South Africa through the formulation and implementation of a national coastal policy.
Function
In order to fulfil our national vision, the Coastal Management Office is responsible for:
Formulating and implementing a new national policy for coastal management
Drafting legislation required for effective coastal management
Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of management functions undertaken by coastal authorities
Developing environmentally based decision-support systems and management guidelines to inform and support coastal decision makers
Through its Coastcare programme, enabling effective information exchange throughout the country, to ensure the sustainable use of the coast
Maintaining its existing advisory and coordinating service to decision makers, communities and the broader public, to promote sound coastal management
Facilitating joint responsibility between users and relevant authorities in the management of coastal resources
Fulfilling its international obligations and conventions concerning coastal management.
Structure
The department consists of four branches, namely, Biodiversity and Conservation, Marine and Coastal Management, Office of the Chief Operations Officer and Tourism. Recently, a major restructuring of the Chief Directorate: Marine and Coastal Management (based in Cape Town) occurred. The new branch, Marine and Coastal Management, consists of the Chief Directorates: Resource Management; Research, Antarctica and Islands and Monitoring, Control and Surveillance.
The Coastal Management Office (for which this Programme Portfolio was compiled) now resides within the Directorate: Integrated Coastal Management and Development, illustrated in the figure below. Other sub-directorates in the directorate include, Marine and Coastal Pollution Management, Subsistence Fisheries, and a newly created Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods and Socio-economic Development sub-directorate.
