Piloting a culturally significant areas framework for spatial planning and management in the coastal environment of South Africa

The identification and mapping of culturally significant areas are key inputs to Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and the design and implementation of protected and conserved areas or other place-based management measures. Despite the recognised importance of coastal and marine cultural values, they are often missing from MSP processes and management measures, leading to mistrust, biased trade-offs, and inequitable management outcomes, undermining cultural ecosystem benefits, ecosystem services and the people who rely upon them. There are few African examples where cultural heritage has been considered in coastal and marine spatial planning and management. This study pilots an existing Culturally Significant Areas (CSA) framework in a South African context to demonstrate proof of concept in a new setting and contributes to progress in identifying and including cultural heritage and values in MSP and coastal management. We identified eight categories of CSA, drawing from literature, orature and expert knowledge. These included tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage, including iconic seascapes, traditional fishing grounds, sites of spiritual and ceremonial importance and oral tradition. We assessed a range of sites (4−14) per category for relative importance at a national scale based on five established CSA criteria: 1) cultural uniqueness, 2) broad cultural reliance, 3) degree of tradition, 4) importance to the resilience of the social-ecological system, and 5) impact of dramatic cultural change. This facilitated national-scale mapping of a preliminary set of 60 CSA. Challenges included nation-wide participation, conceptual difficulties and terminology, spatialisation of intangible heritage, scale and implementation challenges. Key enabling factors and recommendations are distilled and discussed.