Download AgriProbe - Department of Agriculture: Western Cape

Land use on the
Agulhas Plain
Hennis Germishuys
Landcare
HennisG@elsenburg.com
AgriPROBE September 2007
Partnerships to
preserve
biodiversity
“Cape Agulhas!” Another busload of tourists disgorges at the candy-striped lighthouse,
jostling to have their photographs taken at the southern tip of the continent of
Africa. In recent years, the list of reasons why people choose to visit the Agulhas Plain
has been growing steadily: whale watching, shark cage diving, the fynbos, local history,
culture and crafts. Both directly and indirectly, biodiversity is proving vital to the
local economy. Eco-tourism is growing rapidly and the harvesting of fynbos wildflowers
is currently one of the largest industries on the Agulhas Plain. In this predominantly
rural area with up to 50% unemployment, the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI)
is investigating how to use the region’s biodiversity in a sustainable manner so that it
can benefit local communities in the long term.
The Agulhas Plain stretches from the Klein River in the west to the Breede River
in the east, covering 270 000 ha of coastal lowlands and hills that stretch northwards
towards the mountains. The diversity of indigenous fynbos and Renosterveld plants is
enormous: of the 2 500 species that occur here, 100 are endemic to the Agulhas Plain
and about 112 are found on the Red Data list. Originally, the Agulhas Plain supported
large herds of game, and 72 of the 81 species of terrestrial mammals that occurred in
the Cape Floristic Region were found here. Some species like blue buck, quagga and
Cape lion are now extinct and today many species are found only in protected areas
like De Hoop Nature Reserve and Agulhas National Park.
Programmes like the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative rely on the cooperation and effective
participation of a number of stakeholders. Similarly, provincial and local authority
initiatives require integrated planning across a number of sectors. In the Overberg,
role players have come up with a strategy to help them operate in a more integrated
and efficient way.
The Department of Agriculture and SANParks have entered into a Memorandum
of Co-operation, which is currently being expanded to include CapeNature. One of
the outcomes of this agreement is the establishment of the Bredasdorp Multipurpose
Centre, a “one-stop shop” that can potentially house stakeholders from a number
of government departments, including the Department of Agriculture, SANParks,
Cape Nature, DEADP, DWAF, Department of Land Affairs, local authorities and social
welfare organisations.
Establishing the Agulhas National Park
In the early 1990s, SANParks started investigating the establishment of a National
Park on the Agulhas Plain. In 1996, the SANParks Board approved the declaration of
the Agulhas National Park (ANP), which incorporated conservation priority areas that
had been identified in the IPC study. SANParks planned to purchase 26 000 ha of
land outright and to enter into contractual arrangements with landowners to incorporate
a further 44 000ha. The consolidation of the Agulhas National Park is proceeding
as planned.
The Department of Agriculture – A key partner
Trust is at the heart of all successful negotiations, especially when they involve
landowners and government. On the Agulhas Plain, attempts to get farmers to sell
their land to SANParks resulted in some landowners feeling uneasy about the
intentions of State conservation agencies. In an area where most of the land is
zoned agricultural, the Department of Agriculture has become a significant roleplayer
in biodiversity conservation efforts, in particular through its LandCare:
Area Wide Planning (AWP) programme.
LandCare is a programme of the Department of Agriculture that aims to
maintain and restore healthy, productive agricultural land through integrated
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