“…As a result of growing numbers of MPAs, questions have been asked worldwide about their effectiveness in mitigating anthropogenic impacts and allowing recovery of depleted populations (Benedetti-Cecchi et al, 2003;Garcıá-Charton et al, 2008;Abecasis et al, 2015;Coppa et al, 2015). In South Africa, critical examination of the performance of MPAs has often focused on particular species and specific reserves, such as Langebaan Lagoon in the West Coast National Park (Kerwath et al, 2009), Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve (Lasiak, 1993a;Lasiak, 1993b;Lasiak, 1998, Lasiak, 2006, Branch and Odendaal, 2003Nakin et al, 2012;Nakin and McQuaid, 2014;Nakin and McQuaid, 2016), Tsitsikamma (Buxton and Smale, 1989;Buxton, 1993;Cowley et al, 2002;Brouwer et al, 2003), de Hoop (Bennett and Attwood, 1991;Bennett and Attwood, 1993;Attwood and Bennett, 1994;Attwood and Bennett, 1995), Goukamma (Kerwath et al, 2008;Götz et al, 2009a;Götz et al, 2009b;Kerwath et al, 2013), Pondoland (Maggs et al, 2013;Mann et al, 2016) and Maputaland (Currie et al, 2012;Floros et al, 2012;Floros et al, 2013;Nel et al, 2013). In addition, two recent overviews of the effectiveness of all South African MPAs in terms of their ecological and socio-economic performances have been undertaken (Kirkman et al, 2021;Mann-Lang et al, 2021).…”