SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY

ENVIRONMENTAL

MUNICIPALITY RESPONDS TO COMPLAINTS OF SPILLAGE AT HOEDJIESBAAI AND LACK OF ABLUTION FACILITIES

Saldanha Bay Municipality unconditionally wishes to apologise to any beachgoer who may have experienced discomfort due to unforeseen spillage into...

LITTER TRAP INSTALLATION AT HOEDJIESBAAI, SALDANHA

The theme for World Oceans Day 2022 is “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean” The ocean connects, sustains, and supports us all. Yet its...

ALL PLANTS ARE NOT EQUAL: Echium plantagineum

Scientific Name: Echium plantagineum L. (= E. lycopsis L.) Family: Boraginaceae Common names: Patterson's curse, salvation Jane, Pers-Echium (Afr),...

Not all plants are equal: Salsola sp

Salsola sp. Family: Amaranthaceae Common names: Russian thistle, rolypoly, saltwort, windwitch, tumbleweed, common saltwort, and prickly...

The Western Cape Government, through the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP), implements systems and provides an oversight role in the province with respect to air quality management. In line with Section 15 (1) of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (Act 39 of 2004) (NEM: AQA) Provinces and Municipalities are required to develop Air Quality Management Plans to manage air quality in their regions. For it to be effective, the AQMP needs to be reviewed every 5 years to establish whether the identified goals and targets have been effectively implemented.

UPGRADING OF MIDDELPOS STORMWATER: PHASE 2 AUDIT REPORTS

DEA & DP Ref No. 16/3/3/1/F4/18/3031/19

The audit reports are in compliance with Conditions 14.1  and 14.2 of the EA where it is stated:

14.1 The holder must undertake an environmental audit within 3 (three) months of the commencement of the development/construction activities and submit an Environmental Audit Report to the Competent Authority upon the completion of the environmental audit. 

14.2  A final Environmental Audit Report must be submitted to the Competent Authority 1 (one) month after the completion of the development activities. 

Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM), recognises the intensifying consequences of climate change and has developed the SBM Climate Change Response Plan. This plan, based on the National Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) Framework, provides a standardised approach to assess climate risks and vulnerabilities across sectors and regions. Projections for SBM indicate temperature increases, more frequent droughts, and heat stress, with a consistent drying trend. The findings provide valuable information for developing a targeted Climate Change Response Strategy (CCRS) that addresses specific challenges and builds resilience in SBM.

Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

Heritage Survey

Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

Environmental Policies

Protected Areas

Z

Biodiversity MANAGEMENT

Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

ALL PLANTS ARE NOT EQUAL: Echium plantagineum

13 May 2022

Commonly referred to as Paterson’s or Patterson’s curse (Echium plantagineum), this lilac-flowering invasive weed is flourishing across the Western Cape. Not many people are aware that it is an invasive weed, and because of its beautiful purple flower they think it is harmless.

Bees love it. Horses and cattle get sick if they eat it and may even die. Commonly referred to as Paterson’s or Patterson’s curse (Echium plantagineum), this lilac-flowering invasive weed is flourishing across the Western Cape. Not many people are aware that it is an invasive weed, and because of its beautiful purple flower they think it is harmless.

Patterson’s Curse which was introduced to South Africa as an ornamental species has become a significant threat not only to the natural diversity but also to cultivated crops and pasture species of the area by out-competing them for space, water and sunlight. A dense population of echium can produce a seed bank of up to 30,000 seeds per square meter.

    NOT ALL PLANTS ARE EQUAL: SALSOLA SP

    04 May 2022

    As Salsola sp rolls down the road, tumbleweeds do what they do best, disperse seeds, which typically number 250,000 per plant! It is  a highly problematic, tough, unpalatable plant that clogs up storm water channels and competes with native species. It can rapidly colonise new areas, especially overgrazed, bare and eroded soil. The plants are unpalatable leading to selective grazing by domestic stock which exacerbates existing overgrazing and opens the way for further tumbleweed invasion.

    NOT ALL PLANTS ARE EQUAL: AGAVE AMERICANA

    20 April 2022

    Century plants are popular ornamental plants that are native to Central America, southern North and northern South America. Agave americana is no exception and as a result of its widespread cultivation, has become naturalised in many regions globally, including South Africa. Although it is often called the ‘American aloe’, it is not at all related to members of the genus Aloe, many of which are indigenous to South Africa.

    Agave americana is a suckering, evergreen monocarpic, multi-annual, with very large, succulent leaves arranged in a rosette, often reaching a height of 2 m. The long lanceolate (sword-shaped) leaves, 0.8–2.0 × 0.15–0.25 m, are borne on a short stem thickened by the prominent leaf bases. Leaves are grey-green, sometimes with a pale central stripe or yellow leaf margins, and a waxy coating. Leaf margins are nearly straight to crenate, creamy white and armed with variable teeth of up to 10 mm long and 10–40 mm apart. The apices of leaves bear sharp, dark brown, conical or subulate spines of mostly 20–60 mm long.

    MYOPORUM INSULARE BROWN – MANATOKA (ZA)

    11 April 2022

    The silent invasion by Johan West

    Myoporum is a genus of about 30 species, of which sixteen are found in Australia. M. insulare has a variable growth habit and may be a dense or open shrub or small tree to about 6 metres tall. M. insulare, commonly known in South Africa Manatoka and as Common Boobialla or Native Juniper in Australia is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of southern Australia. It is a shrub or small tree which grows on dunes and coastal cliffs, is very salt tolerant and widely used in horticulture.

    Manatoka varies in form from a prostrate shrub to a small, erect tree growing to a height of 6 m (20 ft). It has thick, smooth green leaves which are 30–90 mm (1.2–3.5 in) long and 7–22 mm (0.28–0.87 in) wide with edges that are either untoothed or toothed toward the apex. The leaves are egg-shaped, and the upper and lower surfaces are the same dull green colour.

    COASTAL MANAGEMENT

    SOUTH AFRICAN WHALE DISENTANGLEMENT NETWORK (SAWDN) – 219-529 NPO

    08 February 2022

    The South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) is a nonprofit organization, collaborating with local and international organizations to reduce the suffering of entangled cetaceans, by releasing entrapped cetaceans in active fishing gear (including abandoned, lost or discarded gear).

    Releasing stressed entangled whales is a dangerous operation and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) have provided SAWDN with a permit to disentangle cetaceans based on their international training and success since their establishment 15 years ago.

    PUBLIC LAUNCH SITES

    Saldanha Bay municipality approved the Jacobsbaai/bay and Paternoster operational management plans for the approved Public Launch sites in terms of the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 24 0f 2005.

    Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

    Coastal Access Audit

    Western Cape Provincial Coastal Access Audit -West Coast Municipal District

    The Western Cape Provincial Coastal Access Strategy and Plan (WC PCASP) requires an audit of all coastal access sites along the provincial coastline to provide an inventory of what sites exist, their conditions, any conflicts and improvements required. Such an audit of coastal access sites and nodes in the West Coast District Municipality was conducted in January and February 2019.

    The audit took the form of detailed site inspections using the checklist developed in the WC PCASP as a basis combined with workshops held with stakeholders to obtain additional information.

    Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

    Greater Saldanha Bay Strategic Environmental Assessment

    The Department of Environmental Affair and Development Planning has embarked on creating the Greater Saldanha Bay Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Monitoring and decision support system– phase 1 Risk and resilience assessment of natural capital in the greater Saldanha Bay Municipality.

    AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT

    The Municipality’s monitoring network consists of two fully automated ambient air quality monitoring stations and seven dust fallout monitoring sites. These sites are designed to measure criteria pollutants including sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide(NO2), oxides of nitrogen(NOX), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), dust fall out and meterological parameters (weather conditions). Ambient air quality monitoring must include current weather conditions.

    Please contact René Toesie at rene.toesie@sbm.gov.za to request the air quality monitoring and dust fallout reports for 2014 to 2020.

    CAWS – CLEAN AIR WARRIORS OF SALDANHA BAY

    DUST FALL MONITORING

    Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

    QUARTERLY REPORTS

    MONTHLY REPORTS

    AMBIENT AIR QUALITY MONITORING

    Click on a link below to access a PDF version.

    We would like to acknowledge the value and support that we receive from these organisations:

    The Saldanha Bay Water Quality Forum Trust (SBWQFT) is a registered non-government organisation (NGO) that is voluntarily funded by large, medium and small industries operating within the area. This NGO creates a platform for discussions and mutual consent on the limitation and remediation of impacts on water quality and the marine ecosystem.

    The SBWQFT acquires, receives and evaluates monitoring information effluents, marine water quality and ecosystem health. For over a decade the trust has collated scientific data, from the Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon ecosystems. The monitoring includes avifauna, many forms of marine life and sediment sampling at various points within this unique ecosystem.

    The Trust was established on July 13, 2000 (letter of Authority No.IT2049/2000).

     To assume shared responsibility for maintaining the health, diversity, sustainability and productivity of our own coastal environment. Establish and implement a comprehensive overall water quality monitoring programme in St Helena Bay, endorse proper planning to cope with potential environmental disasters in the dedicated area, in general support, uphold and co-ordinate the environmental integrity and well-being of the West Coast coastline as a whole, and to promote full compliance with National environmental legislation by all parties.

    From 2000, the West Coast stretching from the Milnerton Diep River in the South to the Berg River in the North became a Biosphere Reserve; this new status requires us that live here and those that visit to participate actively in the process to reach the objectives that all Biosphere Reserves must fulfill.

    Biosphere reserves are territories with beautiful landscapes, a considerable abundance of species of fauna and flora, its own and unique culture, where harmony between development and the natural surrounding is promoted. 

    They are like specific areas where models of sustainable development, that seek better living conditions based on environmental principles, are tried and proven.