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Good practice Imported

D'MOSS — Durban's Metropolitan Open Space System

South Africa · Durban · See the South Africa profile · See the Durban profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 14% 60/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 1982, Durban's eThekwini Municipality has protected a statutory open-space network now covering roughly 940 km2 of the city; a 2017 World Bank-commissioned valuation put the ecosystem services it provides at R4.2 billion a year and its natural-capital asset value at R47.8 b

~940 km2
Protected open-space area
R4.2 billion
Annual ecosystem-service value (2017)
R47.8 billion
Total natural-capital asset value (2017)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
eThekwini Municipality — Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department
Period
1982-present
Keywords
open space planning, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services valuation, urban ecology, watershed protection

Context

D'MOSS, established in 1982 by eThekwini Municipality, is a statutory spatial layer protecting an interconnected network of natural and semi-natural open spaces across Durban.

Activities

The system has grown to roughly 940 km2 (about a third of the municipal area), including named reserves and thousands of smaller wildlife corridors, sheltering threatened species and ecosystems such as KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld grassland and Pickersgill's Reed Frog.

Results

A 2017 World Bank-commissioned valuation estimated D'MOSS delivers ecosystem services worth roughly R4.2 billion per year, with a total natural-capital asset value of about R47.8 billion.

Conclusions

A peer-reviewed 2018 PeerJ study found protection is uneven: many high-value ecosystem-service areas fall outside the formally protected layer and remain exposed to development pressure, so the valuation reflects the system's potential rather than a guarantee of effective management everywhere.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
eThekwini Municipality Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department

Conditions for success

  • statutory spatial layer written into town-planning and land-use schemes

Common failure modes

  • highest-value ecosystem-service areas often fall outside the formally protected layer, exposed to informal settlement and development pressure

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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