We need you to sign a petition so that we can use this as a mandate when attending public meetings.Please take a peep see at this petition then consider signing it and sharing it further
The purpose, aims and objectives of the 4u2gofishing project have changed, due to the dramatic impact within the tourism industry of the hibiscus coats that we saw when the idea of the MPA or Marine Protected Area for the Hibiscus coast was first brought to the attention of the public.
Tourism numbers, dipped and many within the hibiscus coast tourism industry are now making plans, or at least considering the idea to step out of the main stream tourism industry as associated with recreational use of the South Coast beaches.
Now that being said I was shocked when I did a little personal research by asking folks on the street in Shelly Beach, asking what they actually knew about this PROPOSED MARINE PROTECTED AREA and what they knew about the South African Governments OPERATION PHAKISA
I will need to do some follow up and properly document some research around this issue, is it is more serious than I first thought. In our view this freeing up of the oceans resources, as discussed in operation Phakisa's documentation, means that there will be some form of exploitation of the oils and gas reserves within the ocean bed, and that this will necessitate some form of drilling and associated pipelines, or shipping platforms to be put in place for the oil and / or gas to be transported from the riggs to the shore, then further to the refineries or storage facilities so that this resource may be exploited in a more organized manner.
There is no way that this exploitation of our ocean resources will be stopped, so the next best option is to ensure that it is done as best possible to ensure minimum negative impact on our lives, and maximum impact on our local economy. The only way that this will happen is if the people on the ground attend the PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS MEETINGS mandated by the many laws and associated legislation that are in place to protect both people and the environment.
Our primary tool will be the ICMA or the Integrated Coastal Management Act or 2008 and associated
legislation. For us to succeed we require your help in many different ways, and signing our online petition with AVAAZ.ORG will be the first step. This will show us that at least a few folks out there care, and give us the encouragement to do the other stuff....
We need you to sign a petition so that we can use this as a mandate when attending public meetings.
