Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

MPUMALANGA BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
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1 – 4 BIODIVERSITY-FRIENDLY LAND USES
BOX 6.1: DEFINITIONS OF LAND-USE TYPES
(This box relates to Table 6.2)
The first four types of land-use activities have least environmental impact, subject to good management. All are more-or-less
positive in protecting biodiversity assets and ecosystem functioning, i.e. they have least detrimental effect compared with the
conservation ideal or benchmark, Conservation Management. Land-Use Types 2 and 3 represent production-orientated land
uses with proven and profitable economies. They provide an economic focus on which to concentrate efforts to improve
biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.
Land-Use Type 1. Conservation Management
Includes: formal and informal Protected Areas managed for biodiversity, wildlife production and recreational and
educational tourism, conducted in natural habitats on extensively managed landscapes on public or private
land;
Assumes: specified management objectives to maintain or enhance current biodiversity; controls or guides the
use of resources only at sustainable rates (consumptive and non-consumptive); controls all administrative and
management developments, including zoning, minimal size, facilities carefully dispersed or clumped to achieve
least impact; ecologically and sociologically sensitive practices and processes throughout.
Land-Use Type 2. Extensive Game Farming
Includes: game production and related tourism activities on extensive land portions of natural land cover; includes
sustainable commercial hunting along with other consumptive and non-consumptive use of wild natural
resources;
Assumes: application of similar minimum size criteria for economic sustainability as are applied to rangeland livestock
farming; strictly limited development for revenue generating purposes such as intensified tourism or
sectional ownership.
Land-Use Type 3. Extensive Livestock Production
Includes: mainly cattle and sheep production off extensive areas of natural (unimproved) veld; mixed livestock/wildlife
options; tourism;
Assumes: ecologically and economically sustainable management applied to farm portions above a certain minimum size,
based on ecological and economic viability.
Land-Use Type 4. Rural Recreational Development
Includes: development for ‘lifestyle’ or investment-type recreational ownership such as share-block schemes,
multi-ownership reserves and eco-estates etc, but only for extensive land portions with limited development
(NB: excludes golf estates);
Assumes: maintenance of a large measure of natural land cover and biodiversity friendly management must be
maintained; the development footprint should be limited to