Mountain woman
She has the formidable task of caring for one of the seven new wonders of the world
Making the Table Mountain National Park a great place by working with other people is what most excites conservationist Megan Taplin as she tackles her complex role.
She is the new manager of the popular 256km² park, which has a high profile as a Unesco Cape floral region world heritage site. In 2011 Table Mountain was voted one of the new seven natural wonders of the world. It generates the most revenue of the 19 parks operated by South African National Parks (SANParks).
Just over a month into her new post, Taplin tells the FM she is casting a fresh eye over the park and seeing possibilities for working with various sectors to improve biodiversity conservation, tourism and socioeconomic development. She grew up in Cape Town and is well aware of how passionate people are about “their” mountain.
Taplin studied nature conservation and zoology at Stellenbosch University, and joined SANParks in 2003. She has worked as communications manager for the frontier region parks (Addo Elephant Park, Mountain Zebra Park, Camdeboo Park and Karoo National Park) and as manager of the Mountain Zebra National Park and the Garden Route National Park’s Knysna section.
She also holds a master’s degree in environmental science from Wits University, which she obtained while working full time.
With Table Mountain National Park’s high profile comes high usage and competing interests more than 4.2-million people visit it each year.
“Sometimes people focus on issues such as safety and security, or are concerned about whether trails are in a good state. But we need to remember that we’re here to protect a unique area. It’s also one that’s very important, not just for Capetonians but for the whole of South Africa, in terms of the tourism business it brings and the heritage it is protecting actually, it is important for the whole world.
“It’s a big responsibility to have this area, and we all need to work together to conserve it.”
Taplin says there are passionate people who want to get things done and who are able to raise funds through various mechanisms. “It’s great to be able to work together and say: ‘Let’s tackle this area, because you’re interested in it. You bring your resources and we’ll put in ours, and let’s see what we can do.’”
The private sector is already involved in running tourism facilities, for example at Cape Point and Boulders on the Cape peninsula.
The park will later this year run roadshows about the way small businesses and previously disadvantaged communities in the area can get involved.
“If they don’t support the park and benefit from it [now],
they’re not going to support it in future,” says Taplin.
A new way of doing conservation is to sign a contract with landowners to conserve parts of their land. The landowners keep the title deeds and can carry on running their businesses for example game farms or guesthouses and at the same time receive tax and rate rebates. They also benefit from the marketing value attached to the partnership with SANParks.
The model works well in a critically endangered area of Knysna sand fynbos and in the corridor between the Mountain Zebra and Camdeboo parks.
The primarily open-access Table Mountain National Park is in an urban area. It has only four managed pay points. Problems arise when humans intrude on conservation areas, or vice versa. About baboons on the mountain, safety concerns and land invasions, Taplin says: “These are not necessarily park issues. They’re urban issues that are spilling over into the park.”
Addressing challenges takes time and collaboration. A draft Cape peninsula baboon
management plan recently published for comment (by March 31 2023) was put together by SANParks, CapeNature and the City of Cape Town following extensive consultations. It is bound to elicit fierce debate.
Other challenges Taplin and her team have to face include threats to the African penguins at Boulders, poaching in the park’s marine protected areas, bark stripping in Newlands forest for medicinal purposes and the clearing of alien vegetation.
SANParks is a government agency. Provincial and local governments, other tourism agencies and myriad lobby groups have interest in the management of Table Mountain National Park. But Taplin is not daunted by the politics involved.
“That’s not what I’m here for. It’s always good to remember our mandate, and that goes for any stakeholders that we work with.
“I’ve got a job to do. I need to fight for conservation and the tourism which goes along with that [as] an enabling mechanism to fund conservation.”