Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

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Box 6.2 continued M P U M A L A N G A Biodiversity CHAPTER 6 - LAND-USE GUIDELINES density of structures and users increases. Importantly, it excludes intensive recreational developments such as golf and polo estates. These latter involve a high proportion of habitat loss and very high investments in infrastructure. They are in effect urban developments outside the urban edge and fall more appropriately into land-use type 10. Land-Use Types 5 – 9 are rural and farming activities that have serious impacts on biodiversity. They are mutually incompatible with biodiversity conservation, often accelerating degradation by causing extensive habitat loss, soil erosion and hydrological changes. Their impacts vary from moderate to severe depletion of natural biota and associated distortions of ecosystem functioning. Irrigated Crops and Timber Production impose particularly heavy impacts on environmental services such as water production. Their actual impact can be considerably reduced by factors such as small scale, dispersed and sensitive placement and general good land husbandry. Land-Use Types 10 – 15 comprise urban and industrial developments which pave over and otherwise destroy natural vegetation and soil. In the metros whole landscapes are modified in this way. Where biodiversity exists or is deliberately protected, such as in urban nature reserves, it is distorted by its small scale and ecological isolation. As such, urban biodiversity is largely symbolic, primarily serving social and environmental management needs. An artificial urban biodiversity is created with the planting of ornamental and fruit trees and a large variety of ‘domestic’, mostly alien, garden plants. Although there are attractive aspects of this local abundance of trees and birds (for instance) this should not be confused with natural biodiversity; they can be mutually antagonistic, as when a garden plant becomes an alien invasive, spread by birds. Urban land uses also have important secondary and cumulative negative impacts over the long-term, such as water pollution, acid mine drainage, and increased run-off. CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK 51 LAND-USE GUIDEINES
MPUMALANGA BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK 52 Lowveld Largescale Yellowfish Labeobarbus marequensis Some species of fish provide a clear indication of the quality of the aquatic system in which they live and many species are under threat. Many of Mpumalanga's river systems are seriously threatened by toxic industrial and agricultural run-off, and water extraction. Properly managed fish populations could provide abundant opportunities for job creation through sport fishing tourism. AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS These guidelines will assist in planning the location of public sector developments and in granting or withholding planning permission for private sector development applications. They particularly apply to all developments that have consequences for water supply and the generation of effluent and hence the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. As land-use guidelines, they are broadly stated and intended to supplement, not replace, the application of normal EIA procedures. They are intended to: Help protect aquatic ecosystems; Define norms and standards to avoid or minimise the negative impacts of development; Support the EIA process in land-use and development planning. RIVERS AND WATER USE General description of the nature and sensitivity of river systems is presented in Chapter 3. Protecting river systems and, therefore, water can seldom be achieved by taking action only at a specific site. In deciding on protection measures, it is crucial that we recognise that, without catchment-wide controls, rivers will be exploited to the point where they lose their ability to sustain the quantity and quality of water they deliver. This has already happened to many rivers in Mpumalanga. Understanding the natural state and functioning of rivers and their response to development impacts and water extraction is essential for wise decision making. The biodiversity of river ecosystems is inseparable from their environmental health and their ability to deliver fresh water. The presence or absence of key indicator species is used to measure river health and therefore environmental impact. The flow-related connectedness of rivers means that the effect of an impact may be felt many kilometres from its source. Being successful in managing rivers and their water is essential for livelihoods and is the foundation stone of sustainable development. The most common development impacts on river systems include: Water extraction: cumulative reduction of river flow; Open-cast and strip mining (especially of coal): destruction of water table, acid mine drainage, toxic ground-water discharge; Planting high water-demand crops (e.g. timber and sugar cane): lowers water table, stream flow reduction, complex soil changes; Industrial-scale agriculture: causes widespread changes to soil and vegetation cover with major impacts on soil erosion, infiltration of rainfall, water-table recharge and sedimentation of rivers; Atmospheric pollution: changes the chemistry of rain water (acid rain); Hard paving and built structures (urban development): reduced infiltration and water- table recharge, enhanced flooding, erosion and sedimentation of river beds, pollution and changes to overall river ecology; M P U M A L A N G A Point-source pollution from sewage, industrial and mining discharges: toxic to Biodiversity biodiversity and humans, damages ecosystem health; Dams and weirs: change downstream hydrology, flow characteristics, water temperature, turbidity and dissolved nutrients, provide a physical barrier to fish; Non-point-source pollution (e.g. groundwater and seepage): from dumps (mine, industrial and rubbish), surface runoff (agricultural, mine, industrial and urban), irrigation seepage; CONSERVATION PLAN HANDBOOK
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Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan Handbook - bgis-sanbi

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