The Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team (JTT), mandated with drafting a Baboon Strategic Management Plan for the Chacma Baboons in the Cape Peninsula, concluded its work for the year at meetings held on December 8 and 12.
The JTT will reconvene early in the new year to finalise the draft management plan for public comment. Senior representatives of SANParks, CapeNature and the City of Cape Town were in attendance at both meetings.
The draft Baboon Strategic Management Plan (BSMP) was further work-shopped at the meetings, as was the draft Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the three parties.
The JTT reported that, despite its best efforts, the draft BSMP is not yet ready for public participation and input from residents, stakeholders, and interested and affected parties.
The JTT is committed to publishing the draft BSMP for public comment as early as possible in 2023. All stakeholders will have sufficient time to submit their comments and a stakeholder workshop will be hosted by the JTT to receive comments.
Dr Luthando Dziba, SANParks managing executive of conservation services said in a media release that “all the members of the JTT are heartened by the progress made and the spirit of working together to consolidate the partnerships needed to implement the MoA and the draft BSMP. We are all keen to get public inputs and finalise the BSMP so that we can start to implement it for the benefit of both people and baboons.”
CapeNature’s executive director for conservation operations, Dr Ernst Baard said: “While the JTT is satisfied with its progress, we recognise the importance of engaging with the public and look forward to the draft BSMP being enhanced by these contributions.
“We are eager to circulate the draft plan so that all stakeholders, in particular our residents, can digest the content and submit their comments. I want to applaud the commitment from all three authorities in devising a plan that is more sustainable in the long term.”
The City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews said: “In this sense we have already made great strides in fostering a relationship that will carry us into the future.”
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