- Coastal Management - A Case Study from Ilembe District in South Africa    158 kb by    Govender, Dhanalakshmi (Pravina) | pravina@ilembe.org.za    Short Outline The Ilembe District Municipality is located in South Africa, within the Province of KwaZulu Natal. It is one of the four spheres of governance within the Province - from grass roots up are the local municipality, the district municipality, provincial and then national government.The Ilembe Coastal Working Group was recently established to co-ordinate coastal management activities more effectively and to strengthen communication between coastal role-players in the District. Abstract Introduction : The author, Dhanalakshmi (Pravina) Govender was born on the 14 August 1970, and lives in Durban, South Africa. She completed her secondary and tertiary education locally and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 and later a Master of Town and Regional Planning degree in 1994. She began working as a Town Planner in March 1994 in the Provincial Government and is presently by the Ilembe District Municipality since May 2000. She now has 10 years of experience in the planning and development field, predominantly in the public sector. In between, she was married in March 1995 to Ravi with 2 girls Priyanka (6 yrs) and Perushka (20 mnths). She is a corporate member of the South African Council of Town and Regional Planners (SACTRP) and the South African Planning Institute (SAPI) - Committee Member for the KZN Branch, responsible for the Membership Portfolio. Abstract : The paper has its origin from the Coastal White Paper (soon to be an Act). In KwaZulu-Natal, the Department of Environmental Affairs, Coastal Management Unit, with the support and funding from Provincial Government, National Government and DFID is leading the way in terms of the establishment of a Provincial Coastal Management Programme. The programme, which is part of Coastcare, focuses on integrated and co-operative governance of our coast and its resources. The overall goal of the programme is to “provide increased social, environmental and economic benefits to society on an equitable and sustainable basis through effective co-operative governance by Civil Society and the State”. A key aspect of this is the development of appropriate institutions to support coastal management in the Province. Via this programme, support has been provided to the Ilembe District Municipality to establish an institutional structure at District Level to engage various roleplayers within the District and to “promote and preserve values” on the environment, and more specifically on the coast. The paper will talk about this structure, its form, function and benefits derived. A brief outline will be provided on some of the projects being run jointly between the National and Provincial Government and the District Municipality and other service providers/the community within the Ilembe District. Examples are ; Blue Flag Campaign, Interpretive Signage; Adopt-a-Beach, Working for the Coast and the Coastcare Induction Programme for Coastal Managers. The paper will draw on some of the lessons learnt and challenges for the future. Interest to other participants: In-keeping with the theme of the Conference, the paper will provide insight into the various strategies/programmes being undertaken in a recently democratised country in order to encourage or promote interaction, co-operation and partnerships in the coastal environmental field. The long-term vision being ''to construct a sustainable urban environment'' and to better inform the ''management of urban regions''. The paper's specific focus on institutional arrangements will encourage discussion around locally based solutions, applicably in a global context and provide an opportunity to share and learn from the more ''first world'' strategies employed. Keywords Coastal Working Group Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2004: Management of Urban Regions   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper