Samenvatting

This assessment was conducted in order to enhance the knowledge on ecosystem services for this unique environment as well as to provide the City of Gold Coast and other relevant authorities with information as to why this unique natural area should be managed and conserved, hence ensuring that future generations can enjoy the beauty that it holds today. The socio-economic assessment was guided by set frameworks generated by the IEEP and expressed as a toolkit for practitioners. The toolkit includes a rapid assessment where important benefits per ecosystem service (provisioning, cultural, regulating and supporting) are rated on their significance followed by detailed valuation where quantitative, qualitative and monetary values are given; the values and significance have been determined by using the toolkit, literature review, communication with experts in the field and the researcher’s own estimates. Data have been processed through set frameworks given in the toolkit.