The North Coast Courier - 11 Jul 2008
BY SHANNON HOPKINS
Due to it being one of the most drastic examples of coastal erosion
in the world, the damage caused by the March 2007 storm
got global attention at a United Nations conference in Salt Rock
this week.
As the sea is the main subject of the United Nations Environment
Programme's (UNEP) environmental lawmaking and
diplomacy course held from June 30 to July 11, about 35 participants
from around the world visited Salt Rock from July 4
to 6 to discuss the damage of the March 2007 storms.
South African guest speaker, eThekwini Municipality coastal
policy project executive Andrew Mather told the participants in
his speech that the storm had winds of 450 kilometres per hour
and 14 metre high waves, which caused about R1 billion of
damage on the North Coast. He said the storm was a result of
global climate changes and that global warming conditions
have led to a two to three-millimetre rise in tides over the last
forty years.
Mather said Ballito was the worst hit by the storm because
the beaches are very sandy, gently sloped and have buildings
much too close to them, which makes them vulnerable to erosion.
As a solution he suggested the gradual removal of buildings
away from the beaches and soft engineering options, such as
large sandbags, for re-establishing dunes and reducing further
erosion in the event of another storm.
“Similar storms have already occurred in 1984 and in 1997,
so we know it will happen again and we need to be prepared,”
said Mather.
Mather also said municipalities were slow to respond to the
disaster and were not geared up for it.
“Most municipalities do not take climate changes into
account at all and are unwilling to spend money on long or
short term plans for coastal management,” said Mather.
Another speaker, Bohlweki SSI environmental unit manager
Tandi Breetzke said people do not take the situation seriously
enough.
“People just don’t seem to realise we are in a dangerous position.
Increased coastal erosion will lead to higher and continual
risk to human life and to natural and man-made environments.
We really need to work together and monitor the coasts all the
time,” said Breetzke.
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