Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

INTENDED USERS
The maps and accompanying text are intended first and foremost
for technical users in MTPA and DALA, and for
development planners. The target audience includes
all stakeholders in the development and environmental
planning profession. This is referred to as the ’primary user
group’. It includes:
MTPA officials and relevant landowners;
DALA officials, including EIA regulators;
Planning and environmental assessment specialists;
Town and regional planners in municipalities and
provincial government;
Biodiversity and conservation scientists in the private
and NGO sectors.
For the local conservation agency (MTPA), the MBCP
includes a review of the Protected Areas (PA) network, both
on public and private land, identifying the relative contribution
of each type of PA. The plan also informs land-use and
development planning throughout the Province to ensure the
persistence of biodiversity and the delivery of vital ecosystem
services. This is the responsibility of the provincial environmental
authority, which is currently DALA. In spite of the
intended users being largely technical people, trouble has
been taken to produce products, especially the map, meaningful
to the general public. Widespread public
understanding of MBCP is vital for its effective implementation
in the long run. A separate technical report, with details of
all the data layers and analyses, is held by the Scientific
Services division of the MTPA (see page iv).
SCOPE OF MBCP
The MBCP covers the whole Province, including all crossboundary
municipalities whose final delimitation is still
unresolved. In terms of scale, MBCP uses relatively small,
118 ha hexagonal planning units which provides a scale that
can be used at both local municipal and provincial level.
M P U M A L A N G A
Biodiversity
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
The MBCP planning domain is flanked by two existing
provincial biodiversity plans, those for KwaZulu Natal and for
Gauteng. The KZN and GP planning teams have been
consulted and the data sets harmonised as far as possible.
Since inception of this work two additional bioregional
planning projects that will overlap with MBCP have been
initiated and/or proposed: the National Grassland
Biodiversity Programme, which is in the project design
phase; and the North Eastern Escarpment Bioregional Plan,
which is still in the preliminary discussion phase. MBCP will
feed into these two projects as and when required.
A broader aspect of the scope of the MBCP is its
intended contribution to public understanding of biodiversity
conservation. This assessment and, more importantly, any
subsequent ‘Strategy and Action Plan’ that results from Phase
2 need to be widely understood and accepted by decision
makers and the public. Public awareness is therefore a focus
of both phases. In Phase 1 we target key leaders, decision
makers and planners; a limited but very important audience
whose support is needed to pave the way for a much wider
public education effort in Phase 2.
IMPLEMENTATION (PHASE 2)
Phase 1 of the MBCP project has produced this handbook
and its accompanying map and CD Rom. Phase 2 will deal
with implementation and capacity building. This is often
referred to as ‘mainstreaming biodiversity’ - into the main
sectors of the economy. Implementation will provide
capacity-building for the agencies mainly responsible for
MBCP, namely MTPA, DEDP and DALA. This will also be
provided more widely to those involved in development
planning, especially planners in local government at district
and local municipalities. As mentioned above, there will also
be a substantial public awareness and education component.
CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
3
INTRODUCTION