Bernado's story encapsulates the shift occurring across SA's protected areas under SANParks' Vision 2040, an ambitious plan to move from 'fortress conservation' to where people and nature coexist in harmony.
At SANParks’ Tsitsikamma Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Garden Route, Eastern Cape, Edward Bernado represents a new chapter in conservation – one where communities are partners, not adversaries.
Bernado has been casting his line into South African waters for more than 40 years, but for much of that time, the sea that sustained his family was legally off limits.
At 72, this third-generation angler from Storms River has witnessed the transformation of Tsitsikamma MPA from a symbol of exclusion to a model of inclusive conservation that could reshape how Africa protects its natural heritage.
“Some fishermen cannot come to the sea and catch fish, they sit at home and do nothing,” Bernado says, his weathered hands demonstrating the casting technique he’s been teaching local youth.
“I must go down there and catch fish so that I can feed my family at home,” he says, adding that most days he shares his catch with those who are unable to fish for themselves.
Bernado’s story encapsulates the dramatic shift occurring across South Africa’s protected areas under SANParks’ Vision 2040, an ambitious plan to move from “fortress conservation” to what officials call “convivial conservation”, where people and nature coexist in harmony.
A history of exclusion
Proclaimed in 1964 as Africa’s first marine protected area, Tsitsikamma initially represented the classic conservation model: exclude people, protect nature.
The area where Bernado’s ancestors once launched their boats in front of what is now the park’s restaurant became forbidden territory.
“Before the proclamation of the park in 1964 our ancestors used to launch their boats there,” says community representative Henrico Bruiners, part of the Tsitsikamma Angling Forum who has fought for fishing access for decades. “With the proclamation of the park, they ceased to be able to do that.”
The restrictions intensified over time. By 1978, fishing access was reduced to just one small area.
In 2000, responding to concerns about declining fish stocks, the entire MPA became a no-take zone, completely excluding the communities that had depended on these waters for generations.
Marine ecologist Kyle Smith from SANParks notes the profound impact: “There’s been a long history of conflicts. You’ve had decades of frustration in communities. The time periods between increased frustration had decreased and there was a substantial breakdown in trust and relationships between conservation bodies and local communities.”
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The turning point
The transformation began in earnest in 2014 when a new task team was established to re-evaluate the MPA’s regulations.
After extensive community consultations and negotiations that reached ministerial level, new regulations were gazetted in 2016, opening 20% of the MPA to controlled community fishing.
The change wasn’t just about access – it represented a fundamental shift in philosophy. “We are moving from fortress conservation to inclusive conservation,” said SANParks spokesperson JP Louw.
“We want to make sure that as we do successful species management interventions, both people and nature thrive.”
Under the new system, residents of Koukamma local municipality can register for permits that allow them to fish in three designated zones up to four times a month, with specific regulations governing species, sizes and bag limits.
Conservation that works
The results have been encouraging. Smith’s monitoring data indicate high compliance rates, with only 1.39% of law enforcement patrols recording violations in the controlled access zones, significantly less than the 4.3% rate in adjacent areas outside the MPA.
Over eight years, 601 individual anglers have registered for access permits, with most fishing fewer than five times a year.
Catches are dominated by smaller, faster-growing species rather than vulnerable, slow-growing fish, suggesting sustainable harvesting patterns.
“The anglers are very aware of conservation because they also want to fish sustainably,” notes park manager Pat Bopape. “They want to be able to ensure that the generation that comes after them can still benefit from the MPA.”
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Transforming lives and communities
For Bernado, the reopening of zones represents more than just access to fish, it’s about cultural continuity and community development.
He’s become one of the trainers in SANParks’ youth development programme, passing traditional fishing knowledge to a new generation.
“I teach young people to fish because I might die and something must stay behind. [I teach so] that the young people can do the same thing that I do,” Bernado says.
The programme has trained 22 youth members, with 10 now working toward ski boat skipper’s licences.
The initiative addresses a critical social challenge identified by community members. Without access to traditional livelihoods like fishing, many young people turn to drugs and crime.
“Some people don’t have work, they stay at home, break into other people’s homes, smoke drugs,” Bernado said.
“So we people want SANParks to open the sea for us so that people can go and catch fish for a living.”
Vision 2040: A national blueprint
Tsitsikamma’s transformation is central to SANParks’ Vision 2040, which aims to establish “mega-living landscapes”, large interconnected conservation areas that integrate protected zones with surrounding communities and productive landscapes.
Rather than isolated islands of conservation, these would function as regional conservation ecosystems where national parks serve as anchor points for broader sustainable development.
According to Bopape, the approach recognises that traditional fortress conservation, while successful in species protection, created unsustainable tensions with surrounding communities.
The vision encompasses six strategic pillars: conservation area management, inclusive economic growth, regenerative tourism, sustainable social systems, organisational development and climate resilience.
Ongoing dialogue and adaptation
Regular engagement maintains the relationship between SANParks and the community.
Bopape described the mechanisms: “We’ve got several platforms that we have already put that are already existing, like the Power Forum, where we communicate with our stakeholders. When any decisions are made, we make those decisions jointly with them.”
Quarterly meetings offer opportunities for feedback and monitoring. However, the community continues to advocate for additional access.
Bruiners noted: “From a pragmatic approach, now we are in 2025. We’ve come to realise we need to review the regulations since 2016. We actually submitted for five zones, but only three zones were granted for us. We still want the other two areas.”
Additionally, Bruiners acknowledged the progress while noting ongoing challenges.
He said that the community originally requested five fishing zones but received three and they continue advocating for additional access points closer to some communities to reduce travel costs for low-income families.
Bernado echoed similar sentiments. He said that the community needed SANParks to open safer zones for them, as some they currently have access to are cliffy and pose dangers to older people.
“That’s why we have asked SANParks to open places for us from the ocean to the waterfall so that young people and old people can go fish there because it’s flat,” he said.
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Economic opportunities and community benefits
Success is measured not just in species numbers but in community outcomes.
According to Bopape, at the Garden Route MPA in Tsitsikamma, 85% of park staff come from surrounding communities and approximately 350 households benefit from direct employment or business opportunities.
Local community members can start business enterprises involving activities in the park.
Service providers from local communities now carry bags for hikers on the popular Otter Trail and provide shuttle services from airports.
“This idea of this initiative came about for us as locals through SANParks, who listened to our needs and tried to help and sustain, and develop a relationship between SANParks and the community. So that we as a community can benefit from the opportunities,” said one of the entrepreneurs, Burton Mlandu.
Mlandu added that SANParks has helped them create sustainable jobs, which have led to poverty relief.
Bopape also said that a partnership with Sanlam provides interest-free loans to small, medium, and micro enterprises in local communities.
A new restaurant, expected to open by October, will employ local community members and source from local suppliers, extending the economic benefits.
A model for Africa
The Tsitsikamma experience offers lessons for conservation across Africa, where protected areas often exist as islands surrounded by impoverished communities.
By demonstrating that conservation can be both ecologically effective and socially inclusive, the model challenges the assumption of inevitable trade-offs between environmental protection and human development.
For Bernado, now training the next generation of fishermen while the area’s marine life continues to thrive, the transformation represents hope realised.
“SANParks opened the sea for us people so that anyone can go and catch fish for a living,” he reflects, watching young trainees practice their casting technique against the backdrop of the pristine Tsitsikamma coastline.
