Lekwa Local Municipality 2013/14 - Co-operative Governance and ...

“To be the leading, people centered municipality excelling in economic growth, development and governance”The wetlands in the municipality are under a threat because of agricultural land use, soil erosion, and thedraining of wetlands which disturb the hydrological functioning of these wetlands (SDF, 2008).There are several important koppies in the area, which should be kept free from development, as theyrepresent important ecological habitats. The most important is Standerskop, situated in Standerton, and isalso recognised as a conservation area. Other koppies that were identified during the status quo analysisinclude:• Spioenkop – to the east of Thuthukani.• Potberg – south west of Standerton.• Joubertskop – south west of Standerton.Figure 7: Hydrology & TopographyBiodiversity Sites and Conservation AreasLekwa is located in the WWF Highveld grassland eco-region.The Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan (MBCP) classifies, prioritises and identifies allnatural areas in Mpumalanga. The natural areas of the Province were divided into six categoriesranked according to ecological and biodiversity importance and their contribution to meeting thequantitative targets set for each biodiversity feature. The categories range from Protected andIrreplaceable Areas to Areas with no Natural Habitat Remaining.According to the MBCP there are no ‘Protected’ or ‘Irreplaceable areas’ within the municipality.There are however ‘Highly Significant Areas’ and ‘Important and Necessary Areas’ present in themunicipality. These are spread through the area, mostly on the borders of the Municipality andmake up 20% of the total area of the municipality. There are also ecological corridors which are55 | P a g e - D r a f t i n t e g r a t e d D e v e l o p m e n t P l a n 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4