Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

MPUMALANGA BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
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Palm Dove
Streptopelia senegalensis
Birds are major
contributors to the
maintenance of
ecosystems and bio-
diversity. They disperse
seeds, remove and recycle
dead animals, control
insect and rodent pests,
pollinate plants, create
habitat and food supplies
for other species and in
some cases even
contribute vast quantities
of nutrients to soils.
environmental goods and services across the landscape. Although these areas contribute least
to the achievement of biodiversity targets they have significant environmental, aesthetic and
social values and should not be viewed as wastelands or carte-blanche development zones.
Development options are widest in these areas. At the broad scale, these areas and those
where natural habitat has been lost (see 7, below) serve as preferred sites for all forms of
development (Land-Use types 5 – 15). Land-use planners are still required to consider other
environmental factors such as socioeconomic efficiency, aesthetics and the sense-of-place in
making decisions about development. Prime agricultural land should also be avoided for all
nonagricultural land uses.
Land-use and administrative options for positive biodiversity outcomes include:
Where this category of land occurs close to areas of high biodiversity value, it may
provide useful ecological connectivity or ecosystem services functions, e.g.
ecological buffer zones and corridors or water production. In these situations
encouragement needs to be given to biodiversity-friendly forms of management
and even restoration options where appropriate;
Develop incentives to reverse lost biodiversity for selected parcels of land where buffer
zones and connectivity are potentially important;
Standard application of EIA and other planning procedures required;
Along with Category T7. below, these areas to serve as preferred sites for all forms of
urban and industrial development (Land-Use Types 10 – 15).
T7. NO NATURAL HABITAT REMAINING – 35.8% of the Province
This category has already lost most of its biodiversity and its ecological functioning too. In the
remnants of natural habitat that occur between cultivated lands and along riverlines and
ridges, residual biodiversity features and ecological processes do survive. But these disconnected
remnants are biologically impoverished, highly vulnerable to damage and have
limited likelihood of being able to persist. The more transformed a landscape becomes, the
more value is placed on these remnants of natural habitat. (In Australia and England rural
land authorities are promoting the protection and re-establishment of these remnants in
‘industrialised’ agricultural landscapes, including even hedgerows.)
The most widespread cause for terrestrial biodiversity loss in Mpumalanga is crop and timber
cultivation. All forms of production agriculture (Types 5 – 9) will benefit from applying codes
of best practice, such as have been developed in the timber growing industry, to reduce
impact on biodiversity.
A different set of factors apply to biodiversity losses in aquatic or riverine systems (see Aquatic
Ecosystems below). The remedies for riverine impacts need to be considered separately, as the
links between cause and effect are not limited to the immediate locality. Both direct and indirect
impacts (including dispersed impacts such as acid rain) result from urban-industrial and
agricultural sources. Management must be considered on a catchment or subcatchment basis
M P U M A L A N G A
as well as applying common-sense conservation practices in the terrestrial landscape.
Biodiversity
Areas with no natural habitat remaining are preferred sites for development, even more so
than for 6, above. However, in selecting sites for urban and industrial development, planners
need to make a special effort to avoid building on areas of high agricultural potential. Prime
agricultural land is coming under the same pressures as land with high biodiversity value and
needs to be protected for its ability to produce food and fibre sustainably.
CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK