ARBU seeks a mandate - south coast live

The ARBU or Association of recreational Beach Users needs a public mandate and is thus advertising all over the place requesting the public to take a look at our mandate request

The South Coast of KZN  South Africa has a marketing platform at http://southcoastlive.co.za and the ARBU has opted to use this platform, amongst many others.

You can see our social request for your mandate  here

to read the latest request by the minister for comment on the 4x4 ban issue see this page

This new draft legislation is not that vastly different from the current legislation, and it still has no clauses for public access to the Elephant Coast beaches, and no mention is made of the vast job losses associated with this legislation as in this report by KZN Tourism

These issues are very complicated and the government is trying to side step many thorny issues which include

• lost economic opportunities  as a result of the 4x4 ban
• environmental impacts of the 4x4 ban on the IWP (iSimangaliso Wetland Park)
• the tourism impact of the 4x4 ban on the domestic tourism market of the Elephant Coast
• non compliance of the ICMA by the minister of Environmental affairs
• non compliance of the ICMA by the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority)
• Inability of the local municipalities within Umkhanyakude district municipality to comply with the ICMA as a result of the non co-operation of the IWPA (iSimangaliso wetland Park)

ICMA = Integrated Coastal Management Act   act no 24 vof 2008

We will be looking a bit deeper into these matters and be posting more indepth posts soon.  in the mean time we still need your mandate

If you do decide to sign our mandate with AVAAZ.ORG thrn please also ask others to do the same. the more signatures we get the better the influence your mandate will have when we need to use it at public meetings and in our court applications.

many thanx for reading, please comment and ask others to visit our pages to.

The ARBU needs a mandate to take up the 4x4 ban issue

The association of recreational beach  users ( #ARBU)  has been around for some time, but has never really got popular with the masses because we were seen as "ECO TERRORISTS" who wanted to invade the beaches of the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa and destroy all the sand dunes by driving where no person should.

help us fix the problem : view our petition and then decide

It is just not true that our members are "ECO TERRORISTS" , and we as responsible naturalists and environmentalists  understand that our beaches need protection from hooligans and irresponsible people. Unfortunately there are some who just do not understand reason, or are not connected with the true spirit of conservation through sustainable utilization.

Most of the people who have supported the closure of all beaches to reasonable motor vehicle access are city dwellers who have no perception of the vast open spaces of the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa, nor the huge tourism potential of this region. The closure of the Elephant Coast beaches has resulted in Huge job losses in the region of 20 000 (twenty thousand) way back in 2004, as outlined in a report by KZN Tourism found here 

These job losses associated with the decline in domestic tourism numbers along the Elephant Coast have put an awful lot more pressure on the environment, as the rural people affected by these job losses are now more reliant on the environment to supply their daily needs, and so use more local natural resources in inappropriate ways to feed their families and pay their daily bills. These impacts are very extreme in some areas where the rural people involved in the manufacture and sales of arts and crafts to the domestic tourism industry have congregated due to the tourism flow patterns which have been established over time.

For us as the management of the Association of Recreational beach users to take up the fight and rectify these issues we need the support of the general public.  To get the support of the public we have established this blog, a web site at http://arbu.info4u.co.za and some social media profiles. 

These issues are not just about physical driving on beaches with 4x4 vehicles, but about access to remote areas in a sustainable manner to benefit the largest portion of the South African public, and the sustainable tourism that is associated with the use of the Elephant Coast beaches tourism potential as a natural resource as well.

The 4x4 ban put a stop to this use of the Elephant Coast beaches as a natural tourism resource, and the consequences are very evident with the large drop in domestic tourism numbers and the associated job losses which the 4x4 ban has caused.

Please view our petition and consider signing it

visit our web site at http://arbu.info4u.co.za

see our social media links at social.me/arbu