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Export of ivory
During the 1800s wildlife such as hippos and elephants were extensively hunted for export. Thousands of hippos were killed for ivory which was used to make false teeth and mathematical instruments. Elephants tusks were used to make billiard balls and piano keys (van der Walt, 2011). Wild areas were regarded as places to gather fish, forest and game products and were also used for sport hunting.
Hippo hunting
In 1852 Robert Briggs Struthers, an ivory hunter and his party sailed into St Lucia Bay. During the next few years, the hunters shot over 1000 hippos in almost every river and lake in the Zulu Kingdom (van der Walt, 2011).
St Lucia proclaimed as a game reserve
During the late 1800s it was realised that game numbers were becoming exhausted. As a result, in 1895 parts of St Lucia was proclaimed as a Game Reserve (Perissinotto, Stretch & Taylor, 2013).
``Dorothea`` wreck
Gold smuggled from Johannesburg by Dr R Kelly was packed and covered under 6 inches of concrete on a barque named “Dorothea”. Dorothea set sails in 1898, but was abandoned due to a severe leak in the ship. It sank just off the coast of Cape Vidal. After nearly 100 years and many unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the treasure, a group of South Africans finally retrieved some undisclosed items 1980 (van der Walt, 2011).
St Lucia bay assessed for harbour suitability
In 1902, a detailed survey was undertaken of the area and was found unsuitable for harbour development due to the mouth of the estuary being unlikely to maintain consistent water depths (Methven, 1903). This process resulted in the first detailed map of St Lucia and Mfolozi mouth area by Crofts in 1905.
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Sugar farming on Mfolozi floodplain
Sugar farming started on the Mfolozi floodplain in 1911 (Dobeyn, 1987). Floods in 1918 and 1925 damaged sugar cane fields and a newly constructed sugar mill. The sugar mill was rebuilt, which is still there today.
Photo credit: Nydia Britz
St Lucia-Mfolozi mouth closed
In 1932, the St Lucia-Mfolozi mouth closed and water from catchment areas backed up behind this barrier to 4.3m above mean sea level. This phenomemon flooded low-lying areas around St Lucia and the Mfolozi flood plain (Perissinotto, Stretch & Taylor, 2013). To solve the problem, the mouth was manually breached by a local farmer and his workers. Accumelated sediment deposits washed out to sea and St Lucia bay was rejuvenated.
Photo credit: Van Niekerk, L. and Huizinga, P. (2011).
Taming the Mfolozi River
In response to the closed mouth flooding, farmers cooperatively excavated two drainage points along the Mfolozi river during the mid 1930s. From this time, the natural deposits of sediments were shifted by about 30km to around 6km from the St Lucia-Mfolozi mouth.
Photo credit: Whitfield, A.K. and Taylor, R. (2009).
Decline in fishing
During this time, St Lucia became a popular fishing destination, but with the area experiencing a severe drought in the late 1930s, conditions changed. Due to the canalization of the Mfolozi river, sediments accumulated at the mouth, beds of macrophytes (aquatic plant) formed and fishing declined (Perissinotto, Stretch & Taylor, 2013).
Photo credit: Nydia Britz
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World War II
During World War II, the Japanese, Germans and Italians went to great lengths to destroy ships in South African shipping lanes to prevent allies to obtain fuel, food and other goods. As a result, submarine attacks sunk 163 ships off the South African coast during the war (van der Walt, 2011).
Photo credit: Charles Ross (The Observation Post, s.a.).
Catalina Flying Boat base
In 1943 the Catalina Flying Boat base was established to combat the enemy U-boat attacks. The base was called “Eastern Shores”, the present day Catalina Bay (van der Walt, 2011). Many people lost their lives during this time, including those on board the Catalinas and the U-boats.
Photo credit: Jeff Gaisford (The Catalinas of Lake St Lucia, 2011).
Catalina tradegy
On the night of 7 June 1943, Catalina E FP275 returned from an operational flight. On final approach over the lake, the flying boat suddenly stalled and crashed into an unusually deep area of the lake, killing all but one of its crew (The Catalinas of Lake St Lucia, 2011). The wreck was discovered during a severe drought in 2003 (van der Walt, 2011). Due to the wreck being used for target practice at the time as well as exposure to elements over the years, not much remains of it today.
Photo credit: Jeff Gaisford (The Catalinas of Lake St Lucia, 2011).
Catalinas move to Richards Bay
Due to lake levels dropping, Lake Mzingazi in Richards Bay was chosen as the new base for the Catalinas. The last Catalina took off from St Lucia on 13 October 1944 (The Catalinas of Lake St Lucia, 2011).
Photo credit: Dr. JC van der Walt (van der Walt, 2011).
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Ecological survey to address silting of St Lucia estuary
In 1948, the first comprehensive ecological survey was conducted by Professor Day and his associate zoologists. He suggested the sediments were a result of the canalization of the Mfolozi river and supported a previously recommended idea that the Mfolozi river be given a new mouth flowing into the ocean.
St Lucia-Mfolozi mouth closed
In 1951, the St Lucia-Mfolozi mouth closed again due to the prolonged drought and accumulation of sediment. The sediment and low lake levels caused shallowing of St Lucia estuary and the operations of the pont, which operated at the time to get people in and out of St Lucia town, was disrupted. An earth causeway was placed across the estuary, blocking water flow between the lake and the sea.
Photo credit: Nydia Britz
New Mfolozi mouth near Maphelane
A new Mfolozi mouth was dug through the sand dunes near Maphelane and was opened to sea in 1952. An attempt to open St Lucia mouth to the sea was successful, but closed again 8 days later. Realising that the connection to the lake was needed to open St Lucia mouth, the causeway was breached and a bridge was constructed.
Photo credit: Nydia Britz
Keeping the 2 mouths seperated
The problem, however was keeping St Lucia mouth and Mfolozi mouth separated. The solution was to build a ridge between the two. Many years of work to widen the narrows up to the bridge and to clear sediments accumulated at the mouth during the late 1950s, resulted in piles of dredged spoil on the banks of St Lucia estuary.
Photo credit: Nydia Britz
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Kriel Commission
The development of forestry on the Eastern and Western Shores and the plan to build a storage dam on the Hluhluwe River, provoked a public outcry in the 1960s. A Commission of Enquiry (Kriel Commission) was appointed in 1963 to look into the alleged treat to animal and plant life in St Lucia. The report was tabled in parliament in 1966. It recommended that the protected area be increased, that forestry be phased out and that the area be managed by a single body.
Pine plantations
The Kriel recommendations were all ignored by the state and by 1968, the state aggressively implemented plantation forestry on the Eastern Shores and Western Shores.
Millitary activities
The South African Defense Force established a small missile testing facility in the area in 1968. During the 1970s and 1980s, missiles were dropped on the land and the lake. During this time, the lake was closed to tourism.
Hypersaline lake conditions
The Kriel commission led to the appointment of SCADCO, the St Lucia Scientific Advisory Council, through which many studies were undertaken to understand the St Lucia ecosystem. Many of their recommendations were implemented including dredging operations to keep the St Lucia mouth open, with an absence of an environmental impact assessment. It resulted in huge inflows of saltwater, which with evaporation, created hypersaline lake conditions and loss of animal and plant life as the drought continued.
Natal Parks Board
In 1977, certain areas were assigned to Natal Parks Board in which they would jointly manage conservation and recreation duties with the Department of Forestry. St Lucia Marine Reserve was proclaimed in 1979 and the Natal Parks Board was also appointed as management authority of that area.
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The phasing out of forestry
Government cutbacks on budgets to several state departments to increase the military budget, led to the transfer of several state forests to Natal Parks Board in 1986. By 1991, the plantations were no longer commercially viable and the Department of Forestry decided to phase out forestry.
Wetlands of International Importance
The Department of Environmental Affairs supported the Natal Parks Board in submitting two sites (St Lucia System and Turtle Beaches and Coral Reefs of Tongaland) to the Ramsar Convention as Wetlands of International Importance. The submission of the sites were accepted in October 1986.
Possible mining on the Eastern Shores
Richards Bay Minerals indicated in 1989 that they would exercise their right to mine titanium ore on the Eastern Shores as a mining lease was granted by the state in the 1970s already. Although the Department of Environmental Affairs supported the designation of the area as Wetland of International Importance, the threat of mining remained, forestry was still ongoing and the lake system was under pressure due to droughts, dredging and missile testing.
Greater St Lucia Wetland Park
On 9 February 1990, the government announced that they would assist the Natal Parks Board to establish a major protected area, namely the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park and in 1992, management of the Eastern Shores was transferred from the Department of Forestry to the Natal Administration.
A call to refuse mining
In 1991, the Natal Parks Board submitted a development plan for the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park. It was a formal alternative government policy to mining in St Lucia and this allowed for the comparisons of the two alternative land uses, namely tourism and mining. At that time, Ramsar was aware of the mining threat, a site visit was conducted in 1992 and a report was released in 1993 with recommendations to the government that mining should be refused.
Environmental Impact Assessment
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was undertaken by the CSIR and a report was released in March 1993 for public comment. Written comment was widely received opposing mining in St Lucia. These individuals and organizations joined forces and formed the “Campaign for St Lucia”. By July 1993, communication by the media resulted in 1155 media reports. The EIA report entered a review process that concluded that no mining should be allowed in the Greater St Lucia area. The government reviewed the review panel’s report and decided that a final decision be made after the 1994 elections.
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The 1994 elections
In 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections and marked the end of the apartheid government. The problem for St Lucia, however was that the nomination dossier for the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park to be listed as a natural World Heritage Site was witheld by the Department of Environmental Affairs until the first meeting of the South African World Heritage Committee in 1997. It was then decided that several nomination dossiers (St Lucia, Robben Island and Cradle of Humankind) be jointly submitted for World Heritage Status in 1998.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
Following the 1994 elections and scraping of Apartheid laws, a new conservation authority was amalgamated in 1997, namely Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
South Africa's first World Heritage Site
At the meeting of the World Heritage Convention Committee in 1999, the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park became South Africa’s first World Heritage Site to be accepted and listed by UNESCO as iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Regulations were published in 2000 in the Government Gazette No. 2177 under the World Heritage Convention Act of 1999, that individual protected areas be consolidated into a single proclamation of 325 000 ha land that extends from the Mozambican border southwards for 230km.
Land claims
One of the many challenges the new managing authority faced was land claims against 60% of the park by people forcibly removed from their land by the Apartheid government to allow for forestation and military activities over the years. An agreement ensured that the claimed areas would remain protected and the claimants compensated.
Removal of plantations
Phased removal of alien tree plantations were implemented on the Eastern and Western Shores. The recovery resulted in the reappearance of freshwater wetland systems.
Finding balance
An Integrated Management Plan was compiled and implemented in iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The current approach has achieved balance between biodiversity protection and ecosystem rehabilitation; and a commitment to social equity and economic development (ref).
REFERENCE LIST
GC Bate, G.C., Whitfield, A.K. & Forbes, A.T. 2011. A review of studies on the Mfolozi Estuary and associated flood plain, with emphasis on information required by management for future reconnection of the river to the St Lucia system. http://www.wrc.org.za/Knowledge%20Hub%20Documents/Research%20Reports/KV%20255-10.pdf
Gaisford, J. 2011. The Catalinas of Lake St Lucia. https://saafmuseum.org.za/tag/flying-boat/
Perissinotto, R. Stretch, D.D. & Tylor, R.H. 2013. Ecology and Conservation of Estuarine Ecosystems: Lake St Lucia as a Global Model. Cambridge University Press: New York.
The Observation Post. s.a. U177 and the worst maritime loss just off Durban’s coast … the SS Nova Scotia. https://samilhistory.com/2016/01/09/u177-and-the-worst-maritime-loss-just-off-durbans-coast/
van der Walt, J.C. 2011. Zululand True Stories 1780-1978: Child Slavery in South Africa 1837 to 1877. Impress Printers: Durban.
Whitfield, A.K. & Taylor, R. 2009. A review of the importance of freshwater inflow to the future conservation of Lake St Lucia. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 19. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229970749_A_review_of_the_importance_of_freshwater_inflow_to_the_future_conservation_of_Lake_St_Lucia
St Lucia is a small town on the East coast of South Africa. Surrounded by an UNESCO World Heritage Site, this town is at the heart of magnificent natural coastal forests, wild animals, majestic bird life, breathtaking beaches and hospitable people.
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