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new freshwater ecosystem ATLAS shows which rivers and wetlands to keep in a natural condition In brief South Africa’s freshwater ecosystems are under increasing pressure and cannot all be kept in a good condition. In this project, the CSIR and a number of partners carefully mapped those which should be protected. Experts believe that if the rivers and wetlands that have been identified as priority areas are kept in a good condition, it will help support the sustainability of the entire network of freshwater ecosystems in South Africa. The challenge Water is South Africa’s lifeblood. It influences the well-being of the country’s people and water shortages or a decline in water quality will hamper economic development. Water is intrinsically linked with the ecosystems through which it passes, and deteriorating ecosystems will adversely affect the quantity and quality of water. In recent years, numerous studies have found that more than half of the ecosystems associated with rivers are classified as threatened. While there is widespread agreement on the importance of sustainable water resource development and freshwater biodiversity conservation as a national priority, the question remains: How many and which rivers and wetlands do we have to maintain in a natural condition to sustain economic and social development and still conserve our freshwater biodiversity The National Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas project (NFEPA) addressed this question. CSIR research One of the most important considerations in tackling this challenge was that of cooperation: No single entity is responsible for decisions on freshwater-related matters; progress in managing and conserving freshwater ecosystems is dependent on cooperation. Many different players were therefore involved, including government departments and their regional and provincial counterparts as well as conservation groups and universities. In addition to the project team and reference group, the project also relied on the participation of well over 150 stakeholders, representing approximately 1000 person years of collective experience in either aquatic science or biodiversity planning. What makes an area a priority The criteria for identifying freshwater priority areas were based on earlier work in which government departments had agreed on a vision for managing and conserving freshwater ecosystems. These criteria were reviewed during regional expert review workshops. The underlying principle is that by conserving habitat, species are conserved, so a representative part of all river, wetland and estuary ecosystems has to be conserved. Other criteria included: • Areas where populations of threatened or near-threatened freshwater fish occurred • Areas that are considered high water yield or high groundwater recharge areas • Free-flowing rivers, which are rivers that have not been dammed and of which there are very few left globally • Connectedness, as ecosystems that are connected are most likely to support biodiversity. Once the criteria had been established, the process of collecting data sets began. The team used the best existing and available data sources. This typically included data from the river health programme, the reserve determination data of the then Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, as well as the ecostatus data for the present ecological status of rivers. These data Conservation scientist and GIS specialist, Dr Jeanne Nel of the CSIR, pictured in the Upper Berg river with Dean Impson of Cape Nature, one of many contributors in this project. sets were converted to a spatial format, and taken to freshwater experts in six different regions of the country for review. Refinements were made to these input data and priorities were determined using a conservation planning algorithm that seeks to find the most spatially efficient solution to achieving all the criteria. These priority areas were then taken to a national review workshop in which the same experts from the different regions, and managers, gathered to review the priority outputs. Refinements, with appropriate reasons, were made to the priority areas to produce Freshwater Ecosystem Priority Areas maps (‘FEPA maps’) for the 19 different Water Management Areas of South Africa. Key findings • Only 35% of the length of SA’s mainstem rivers is in a good condition, compared to 57% of the tributaries. • 57% of river ecosystems and 65% of wetland ecosystems are threatened. • Only 22% of South Africa’s river length has been identified as freshwater ecosystem priority areas and this puts conservation and development aims within reach. 54
natural environment • South Africa has only 62 free-fl owing rivers, which constitutes only 4% of our river length. • The priority areas identifi ed in the atlas protect over 50 fi sh species that are on the brink of extinction. Outputs In the process of creating a strategic intervention that will help South Africa conserve its freshwater ecosystems, numerous products were delivered. The most prominent of these was an atlas which visually summarises the location of areas which should remain in a healthy and wellfunctioning state. The atlas contains 19 priority area maps, one for each water management area in South Africa. In addition, the technology package includes a DVD with data and GIS viewer, an implementation manual, and a look-up table listing ecosystem types, species and special features recorded in priority areas. A technical report describing the scientifi c approach applied to identify priority areas was also produced. The work has also led to numerous research papers that have been published in reputable international journals. These include Biological Conservation, Freshwater Biology as well as Ecology and Society. Outcomes The Department of Water Affairs indicated that it has already used the maps in water resource classifi cation endeavours as well as for ecological reserve determination. The Endangered Wildlife Trust has used the maps as input in defi ning its priority areas for its relatively new involvement in freshwater conservation through the Healthy Rivers Programme, while Cape Nature says it is using the maps to determine the priorities around invasive plant clearing, and deciding on where alien fi sh may be stocked. Funding and collaborators In addition to CSIR funding through its parliamentary grant, direct fi nancial support was received from the Water Research Commission (WRC), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI); the Department of Water Affairs (DWA), the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Invaluable in-kind contributions were received from the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), the South African National Parks (SANParks), and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). Limpopo Water Management Area Participants at one of six national workshops gave input and reviewed priority areas for freshwater ecosystems. Legend Town Sub-quarternary catchment Water Management Area Sub-Water Management Area River Wetland River FEPA & associated sub-quarternary catchment Wetland or Estuary FEPA Wetland Cluster Fish Support Area & associated sub-quarternary catchment Fish Sanctuary: critically endangered & endangered Fish Sanctuary: other threatened Phase 2 FEPA & associated sub-quarternary catchment Upstream Management Area 55 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
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