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The Maputaland Coastal Plain (MCP) is on the north-eastern seaboard of the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It hosts a variety of wetlands and mire types that range from rare tropical swamp forest and calcareous fens to various inter-dune settings with groundwater-fed to surface water fed fens and floodplains. The MCP peatland areas are important not only for biodiversity (e.g. many endemic species) and supporting subsistence cultivation but they also host the largest and thickest peat deposits found in South Africa. The peatlands on the MCP developed in a drowned dune landscape and the peat thickness vary from 0.5 to 11 m. Threats and future challenges on the peatlands in Maputaland include the effects of land-use practices: plantations, agriculture and urbanization. Attempts to conserve swamp forests are often frustrated by the different management frameworks of provincial conservation agencies and the national government.

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