What we are doing

The overall strategic intent of the Safeguard our Seabed project is to secure the long-term ecological integrity of South Africa’s offshore marine habitats through pursuing the establishment of a moratorium on bulk marine sediment mining in the short-term and the longer-term development of effective marine spatial planning mechanisms.

The three key objectives of the project are:

1. Securing a moratorium on bulk marine sediment mining (short-term)
2. Supporting the creation of a representative network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) (medium-term)
3. Support the development of an effective Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Framework in South Africa (longer-term)

In pursuit of a moratorium for bulk marine sediment mining, the Centre for Environmental Rights is following a multi-pronged approach that includes the following activities:

1. Building a coalition of support
2. Legal strategy
3. Engagement strategy
4. Communication strategy
5. Developing legal and scientific arguments