the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

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Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 73 Karoo, of which the Richtersveld Community Conservancy is a core area, is one of only 34 Biodiversity Hotspots worldwide, as recognized by Conservation International. It is one of only two to exist in a desert. It is one of only two to be based entirely on high floral richness, endemism and degree of threat. It is a cold mountain desert adorned with thousands of succulents which, under spring blossom, turn an arid expanse into a multi-coloured wonder. Endemic to the Richtersveld, almost all of the world’s population of Aloe pillansii, a flagship species for the region growing up to ten metres high, exists inside of the Richtersveld Community Conservancy. It is a threatened species and one of few species believed to be decreasing as a direct result of climate change. But the most significant ecological feature of the Richtersveld is its succulent species numbers and endemism. It is well documented that the Gariep Centre of Plant Endemism has the richest variety of succulent plants (primarily the Mesembryanthmaceae family) on earth and the Conservancy is considered a central part of the Centre. 60% are known to be endemic just to the region, and estimates of species numbers and endemism rates are regarded as conservative, since new species are being found and large areas remain unstudied. In years to come, it is certain that new species will be uncovered. The Gariep Centre and the Richtersveld are also considered important to science in regard to evolutionary processes, with many succulent groups in states of active speciation. According to the IUCN’s report entitled, “The World Heritage List. Future priorities for a credible and complete list of natural and mixed sites (April, 2004)”, there are major gaps in the World Heritage List in the Cold Winter Deserts category. The number of natural / mixed sites by Udvardy Biomes shows alarmingly that there is not one cold winter desert included in the World Heritage list, and the Succulent Karoo is specifically discussed as a notable Udvardy Biogeographical Province not included on the list. More specifically, IUCN/SSC Global Habitat Analysis determined that of 10 main habitat types suggested to be priorities for World Heritage inclusion, one is the Succulent Karoo. Of World Wildlife Fund’s Global 200 Ecoregions not represented, one is the Karoo Desert (another being the Benguela Current, as a marine site, which borders the Karoo and Namib deserts and determines much of the climate of the Succulent Karoo). Regarding Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspots, the Succulent Karoo is one of
Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 74 only three of the world’s designated 25 hotspots not to have World Heritage Site status. The Succulent Karoo is also a Centre of Plant Diversity not included as a World Heritage Site. The “Global Overview of Protected Areas on the World Heritage List of Particular Importance for Biodiversity (November, 2000)” highlights species richness, endemism, threatened species as crucial areas of focus for conservation and World Heritage status, specifically to “natural criteria iv”. The report identified the Succulent Karoo as one of four deserts in the world which should be considered for World Heritage Site inscription and one of only fourteen specifically named areas which demand attention for inscription as a World Heritage Site. Since it highlights as an emphasis “Representation” (of ecosystems, landscapes, habitat, and species conservation through effective Protected Area systems and ecological networks), then the Richtersveld Community Conservancy becomes a logical inscription. In summary, most literature regarding gaps in the World Heritage Site list, make direct reference to the Succulent Karoo as a priority. With the Richtersveld Community Conservancy as arguably the richest component of the Succulent Karoo Biome, the Conservancy will well represent the World Heritage Convention as a fully justifiable site. From a cultural standpoint, the Richtersveld Community Conservancy is the last refuge of Nama people living a transhumance lifestyle. This occurs no place else in South Africa. It is also one of the few places in South Africa where the language of Nama remains widely spoken. It is the only place remaining where the Nama still reside in intricately constructed portable rush domehuts called |haru oms. It is also the only place left in South Africa where pastoral people reside in large communal traditional lands. What exists in the Richtersveld Community Conservancy is an outstanding representation of human interrelationships with the environment, in this case a fiercely harsh environment, and a lasting testimony to a way of life – transhumance. The Nama’s pastoralist lifestyle is one of the earliest forms of livelihood where humans have control over the environment. The traditional management systems have over two thousand years conserved through sustainable use of the grazing resource a large area of Succulent Karoo vegetation.
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