{"id":6482,"date":"2018-03-08T09:49:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T09:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isibindi.co.za\/?p=6482"},"modified":"2023-04-03T05:39:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T05:39:10","slug":"thonga-beach-lodge-site-significance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thongabeachlodge.co.za\/thonga-beach-lodge-site-significance\/","title":{"rendered":"Thonga Beach Lodge: A site of significance"},"content":{"rendered":"
Thonga Beach Lodge: A site of significance<\/strong><\/p>\n Article and photographs by Dr George Hughes, 7 March 2018<\/p>\n Very few visitors give thought to the site to which they are hoping to visit and in most cases there are simple choices to be considered: Is the site value for money? Is there a nice beach and has it special attractions worth seeing? However, the background to the very presence of these desirable features receives little consideration and should be both understood and appreciated.<\/p>\n Thong Beach Lodge sits in the very heart of 55 years of intense effort by conservationists and the benefits of all that effort is available for the sheer joy and enjoyment of every visitor.<\/p>\n Take the beaches for example. The golden silica sand beaches of Maputaland, which stretch for 100 kilometres both north and south of the Lodge, are absolutely pristine and guests are faced with almost a wilderness experience with no other beach development within dozens of kilometres. To ensure that this idyllic situation would be possible the conservation bodies of the region, starting with the Natal Parks Board in 1963, began to press to have the area proclaimed a protected area. The government of the day was not too enthusiastic so it took 23 years before the state proclaimed the first stretch of coast as the St Lucia Marine Reserve. Another three years was required to badger the state to extend the protected area further north to the Mozambique border. With approach of the new democratic South Africa the Natal Parks Board prepared and submitted a proposal that that entire region be considered as a World Heritage Site (Natural) and in 1998 Board staff entertained the team from the World Heritage Convention who members of which gave it their blessing. Shortly afterwards the Isimangaliso Wetland Park was established to ensure that the pristine values of this area would be permanently protected.<\/p>\n It should be considered too that the beaches are not simply a pretty site. They are home to an enormous range of biodiversity from the high forested dunes that form the beautiful backdrop to the beach to the wide and spectacular silica sand beaches that host an astonishing range of animals including millions of ghost and mole crabs that skitter before the feet of the adventurous visitor.<\/p>\n