the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 90
4. State of Conservation and Factors Affecting the Property
4.a. Present State of Conservation
The Succulent Karoo is poorly protected in South Africa in formally gazetted parks
and reserves with only 2.5% included in national parks. It is also home to high
numbers of threatened species, many of which are under threat because of their
limited and confined microhabitats.
However, where sustainable grazing is practiced, the Succulent Karoo can be
effectively conserved, as opposed to places where there is irreversible damage by
other land uses such as human settlement, mining, unsustainable livestock farming
and agriculture which pose the largest threats to the Succulent Karoo. In the
Conservancy, one finds an in tact and floristically well representative area with no
agriculture, mining and with sustainable grazing practices. Details on the
Conservancy’s conservation status and future plans are outlined in Section 5.
Details of the Succulent Karoo Biodiversity Hotspot
Original extent of the Succulent Karoo
Biodiversity Hotspot
102,691 sq. km
Vegetation Remaining in the Succulent
Karoo Biodiversity Hotspot
29,780 sq. km.
Area Protected 2,567 sq. km.
Total known plant species 6,356
Endemic Plant Species 2,439
Human population density 4 per sq. km.
4.b. Factors Affecting the Property
4.b (i) Development Pressures
There is very little development in the Core Area with most people residing in the
two towns along its boundary: Kuboes and Eksteenfontein. These two towns have
limits preventing them from growth, such as availability of water, employment
opportunities and limited options for land use. Development in the region is mainly
occurring in the larger urban centres, such as Port Nolloth, but in the interior of the