Poverty among a wealth of natural resources

South Africa became a State Party to the World Heritage Convention in 1997. It was the first engagement with international heritage law after the dawn of democracy in 1994. In 1999, dedicated legislation was adopted, the World Heritage Convention Act (Act 49 of 1999), which incorporates the principles and values of the World Heritage Convention into South African law.

The Act brings a South African perspective to the management of World Heritage sites by acknowledging the urgent national need for development and poverty alleviation. It requires the government to find effective ways of combining the conservation of South Africa's unique endowment of natural resources with job-creating sustainable economic development (Porter et al., 2003). This integration of conservation and development in South African environmental legislation is unique to the World Heritage Convention Act, and makes iSimangaliso Wetland Park a ‘new model in protected area management’.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park was listed as South Africa's first World Heritage site for its outstanding universal value under three criteria of the ten recognized by the Convention. This case study shows that in the context of South Africa, as a developing country, it is crucial to both conserve the site's values and address the high levels of poverty and inequality.