Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

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PROTECTION LEVELS OF VEGETATION TYPES (Refer to Appendix 2 for values for each vegetation unit.) The analysis measures the extent to which the biodiversity targets for each vegetation type have been met within the current formal PA network. The results for the Province are mapped in Figure 5.1 and summarised in Table 5.1 below. The main source of the savanna bias in the current PA network is obviously the presence of such a large part of the Kruger NP within the Province (it makes up >70% of formal PA total). Protected areas comprise 14.8% of the Province but only 4.4% without the Kruger contribution. Figure 5.1 shows the protection levels for each vegetation type. It is obvious from the map that the savanna vegetation types are well protected while the grassland and highveld vegetation types are very inadequately protected. Overall, only 2.3% of grasslands are protected, while 34.2% of savannas and 35.4% of the forest biome are protected within formal protected areas. TABLE 5.1: Protection levels of vegetation types, based on the proportion of the biodiversity target included in a formal protected area % OF BIODIVERSITY TARGET PROTECTION LEVEL NUMBER OF VEGETATION TYPES INCLUDED IN A FORMAL PROTECTED AREA 0% zero protected 20 0-5% hardly protected 5 5-50% poorly protected 15 50-100% moderately protected 10 > 100% well protected 18 EXPLANATION: Example of vegetation type ‘x’ with a biodiversity target of 22% of its original area. If 22% or more of ‘x’ is protected, the biodiversity target has been met and vegetation type ‘x’ is classified as well protected. If 11% to 21.9% of ‘x’ is protected, then ‘x’ is classified moderately protected. If 1.1% to 10.9% of ‘x’ is protected, it is classified poorly protected. If < 1.1% of ‘x’ is protected, it is hardly protected. If none of ‘x’ is protected, it has zero protection. M P U M A L A N G A Biodiversity CHAPTER 5 - PROTECTED AREA ASSESSMENT CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK 35 PROTECTED AREA
MPUMALANGA BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK FIGURE 5.1: Protection level classes of Mpumalanga’s vegetation types, based on the proportion of the biodiversity target for each vegetation type that is included in formal protected areas. COMPARATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTED AREAS Mpumalanga currently has 160 protected areas (Appendix 3 Aix), classified into three broad groups, based on their legal and administrative status. These groups are subdivided into into 12 types, from state lands and conservancies all the way through to provincial nature reserves and national parks (Table 5.2). This subdivision assists in the finer-scale interpretation of this assessment, as it quantifies the biodiversity or conservation importance of each of these areas. It also enables a template of 36 M P U M A L A N G A biodiversity priorities to be created against which the MTPA may then review its short- and longer-term conservation strategy. It Biodiversity is likely that there are areas conserving a great deal of biodiversity but that have uncertain futures due to their informal status. Other studies have identified where gaps exist in PA networks in terms of species diversity or how representative the network is. The exciting aspect of the the approach used here, namely measuring each individual PA’s contribution to meeting biodiversity targets, is that it provides a new method of assessing the biodiversity contribution of individual protected areas. CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
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Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

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