What's at stake?
On the north-eastern coast of KwaZulu-Natal, this UNESCO World Heritage Site protects an exceptional mosaic of estuary, coastal lake systems, forests, wetlands and marine protected areas. These connected habitats sustain critical nursery grounds, migratory species, turtles, fish and birds, alongside culturally significant coastal communities. Conservation here is well established, but long-term monitoring of aquatic biodiversity still needs strengthening.
Communities involved
Local youth, schools, and communities around the site.
Science plan summary
Main scientific question: How does biodiversity vary across the four localities and with distance, how does the Agulhas Current shape seasonal diversity and connectivity, and how effective is citizen-science eDNA collection?
Localities sampled (4): St Lucia estuary mouth, Sodwana Bay, Bhanga Nek, Kosi Bay estuary mouth
Why there: Covers the north–south distance and the estuarine-to-marine gradient; St Lucia and Kosi Bay are Ramsar sites, and Sodwana has long-term reef monitoring
Sampling dates: Quarterly: Jul/Aug, Oct/Nov, Jan/Feb, Apr/May
Why then: The Agulhas Current is stronger in summer (Sep–Mar) and weaker in winter (Apr–Aug). In summer they expect more similar communities across sites and more frequent detection of tropical species. In winter they expect more differences between sites.
About our site
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the north-eastern coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Park protects an exceptional mosaic of ecosystems, including the St Lucia Estuary, Kosi Bay lake system, coastal forests, beaches, wetlands, freshwater lakes and marine protected areas. These connected landscapes and seascapes support high biodiversity, important nursery habitats, migratory species, turtles, fish, birds and culturally significant coastal communities.
The Park is managed to protect its Outstanding Universal Value while supporting research, monitoring, restoration, education and sustainable community participation. Ongoing conservation work includes estuarine and marine monitoring, ecosystem restoration, species protection, water quality monitoring, and stakeholder engagement to strengthen long-term biodiversity management.
“We mobilize eDNA and citizen science to monitor biodiversity across estuarine, coastal and marine ecosystems in iSimangaliso Wetland Park.”
What we plan to achieve
Through eDNA Expeditions, iSimangaliso aims to establish a three-year citizen science biodiversity monitoring programme from 2026 to 2028 across four priority localities: St Lucia, Kosi Bay, Sodwana Bay and Bhanga Nek. Sampling will be undertaken quarterly, beginning with a launch event in August 2026 at St Lucia, where all sampling kits will be used to train participants and collect the first baseline samples.
The programme will help detect biodiversity patterns across estuarine, freshwater, coastal and marine environments, while also strengthening local participation in conservation science. The results will support management questions linked to ecosystem condition, seasonal biodiversity change, species occurrence, connectivity between systems, and long-term monitoring needs for World Heritage, Ramsar and protected area reporting.
The project will also build local capacity by involving communities, youth, schools and conservation partners in field-based biodiversity monitoring.