High Court Victory For African Penguins!

‘Happy Feet’ by © Dan Callister/Penguins & Sharks

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and BirdLife South Africa , represented by the Biodiversity Law Centre, today secured a historic victory for South Africa’s Critically Endangered African Penguin when a hard-won settlement agreement – reached by the conservation NGOs with the commercial sardine and anchovy purse-seine fishery– was made an order of the Pretoria High Court.

The court order provides for the delineations of no-take zones – for the next ten years – for the commercial sardine and anchovy fishery around six key African Penguin breeding colonies that lie within coastal areas where this commercial fishery operates. Six closures work together to secure biologically meaningful foraging areas for African Penguins in each of the west coast, southern Cape and Algoa Bay regions to help bring the species back from the brink of extinction.

Thank you to everyone who signed the Blue Marine Foundation’s #saveafricanpenguins petition!