In 1989, a mining company proposed to bulldoze dunes along the eastern peninsula in order to remove titanium and other metals. Using strong mining laws, conservationists convinced the government to have an environmental assessment prepared. The results of this assessment showed that mining would damage the St. Lucia area. The company had not demonstrated an ability to restore the biological diversity of other mining areas or the movement of water through the dunes to nearby bodies of water. Further, mining would have disrupted the aesthetic and spiritual values that visitors to the area seek. 

The Government of South Africa carefully weighed the potential economic benefits of allowing the mining with the disruption and further degradation of an area greatly in need of restoration. Late in 1993, the panel conducting the environmental assessment advised against the mining proposal.

In March 1996, the government announced that it would not allow mining on the eastern shore of Lake St. Lucia. At the same time, the government also announced its intent to prepare an integrated development and land-use planning strategy for the entire region. Under the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative, the governments of South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique aim to create jobs in the area, using the St. Lucia Park as the core. Already, KwaZulu-Natal attracts nearly three-quarters of South Africa’s tourism, but too few jobs have been created as a result. Although the luxury safari resource Phinda, north of Lake St. Lucia, has created more jobs than the proposed mine operations would have generated, still more jobs must be created. Disputed land claims, squatting in protected areas, uncontrolled fishing practices, and the spread of exotic plants all present challenges to achieving sustainable development of the area. 

With coordination by the Wilderness Foundation, local, national, and international conservation organizations are working with the park authority of KwaZulu and Natal to replace the 150 jobs that would have been generated by the mining project. (The Wilderness Foundation is based in South Africa, with international branches in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.) Among other things, these groups are helping local communities take advantage of their location along the lake to provide lodging and other services to tourism. They also are aiding in finding new markets for local crafts.

In March 1998, South Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism announced the government’s intent to ask the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization to consider the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park for designation as a World Heritage Site.