01
Protect, conserve and present the Park
Safeguard the Outstanding Universal Value that earned iSimangaliso its World Heritage status, and make it accessible to the public who own it.
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Conservation with the people,
for the people
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a place of miracle and wonder — South Africa’s first World Heritage Site, and a living demonstration that protecting a landscape and uplifting the people who share it are the same job.
Our purpose
A World Heritage Site managed for its people as much as its species
Inscribed by UNESCO in 1999 and stretching along the KwaZulu-Natal coast from Maphelane in the south to Kosi Bay on the Mozambique border, iSimangaliso is managed by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority — a public entity established under the World Heritage Convention Act, 1999.
Everything the Authority does answers to a single idea. Conservation here is not a fence around a wilderness: it is a working partnership with the communities of the uMkhanyakude District, whose land claims, enterprises and young people are built into how the Park is run.
Our vision
A renowned World Heritage Park where conservation, sustainable tourism and benefit-sharing prevails.
Our mission
To protect, preserve and present iSimangaliso’s World Heritage values for current and future generations, while benefitting the communities living in and adjacent to the Park by facilitating optimal tourism and related development.
Our mandate
Three objectives, set in law
The World Heritage Convention Act, 1999 sets out the objectives of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority. They are not aspirations — they are the statutory tests against which the Authority reports to Parliament each year.
02
Empower neighbouring communities
Deliver real economic benefit to the historically disadvantaged communities living in and adjacent to the Park, through jobs, enterprises, skills and land claim settlements.
03
Facilitate optimal tourism
Promote and enable tourism and related development inside the Park at a scale its ecosystems can carry, so that visitor spending funds conservation and local livelihoods.
Our values
How we work
iSimangaliso subscribes to the Batho Pele principles of public service — putting people first. Alongside them, six core values govern how the Authority conducts itself with communities, partners, visitors and the public purse.
- Integrity — decisions that hold up to scrutiny, inside and outside the Park.
- Honesty — straight answers to communities, partners and visitors.
- Transparency — open reporting on plans, tenders, awards and performance.
- Accountability — answerable to Parliament, and to the people who live here.
- Performance — measured against the objectives set in law.
- Professionalism — expertise applied consistently, from the gate to the boardroom.
See the mandate at work
The Authority’s programmes turn a World Heritage Site into bursaries, small businesses, classrooms and jobs across the uMkhanyakude District.