Appendix O2 - Biophysical Report.pdf - Zitholele.co.za

February 2011 90 126199 SENSITIVE AND PROTECTED AREAS9.1 Data Collection and MethodologyAs part of the approval of the Scoping Report and the PoSEIA the DEA requested that theprotected and sensitive areas along the routes be identified and avoided through the impactassessment. This section aims to satisfy that request.Data was obtained from the Draft National List of Threatened Ecosystems (Gazette No32689, November 2009). This was supplemented with the SANBI and DEAT publication,Draft Threatened Ecosystems in South Africa: Description and Maps, May 2009. These tworeports provided a list of the threatened ecosystems as per the National EnvironmentalManagement: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004).Furthermore the SANBI National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy database was alsoused to identify focus areas for protected areas for future expansion as well as the existingformal and informal protected areas encountered along the alternative corridors.9.2 Site DescriptionThreatened EcosystemsThe following threatened ecosystems where found along the routes with the route segmentindicated in brackets:• Critically Endangered - none• Endangered;o Bivane Montane Grassland (KD);o Chrissiesmeer panveld (AP, AM);o Ngome Mistbelt and Forest (MN, PO); ando Wakkerstroom/Luneberg Grassland (BK, BC).• Vulnerable;o Bivane Sour Grassland and Bushveld (PO);o Eastern Temperate Freshwater Wetlands (Various);o Imfolozi Savanna and Sourveld (SIJ, SOI, OI);o KaNgwane Montane Grassland (AP, SAM, AM);o Low Escarpment Mistbelt Forest (BK, KD); ando Paulpietersburg Moist Grassland (AM, MP, AP).Unfortunately the spatial database is not yet available electronically and therefore a GIS mapof the areas could not be produced.ZITHOLELE CONSULTING