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

February 2011 65 12619Swaziland Sour BushveldThe Swaziland Sour Bushveld is located in the Mpumalanga province, Swaziland and marginally inKwaZulu-Natal. It occurs from Badplaas, Tjakastad east to the Piggs Peak area in the north,southwards through valleys around Manzini and slopes around the Grand Valley, with someisolated mountain outcrops in the lowveld plains, for example the Nkambeni Hills and the BulunguMountains.The vegetation is characteristic of an open to closed, medium to tall tree layer with a closed welldevelopedgrass layer. The landscape is very hilly with moderate to steep slopes. The unit isconsidered vulnerable with a conservation target of 19%. Only about 6% is statutorily conserved inmainly the Songimvelo, Ithala and Malalotja Nature Reserves, and a further 0.5% is conserved inthe Mlilwane Game Sanctuary in Swaziland. Approximately 21% of this unit has been transformedby cultivation and plantations.Zululand LowveldFigure 7-14: Swaziland Sour Bushveld.The Zululand Lowveld occurs in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Swaziland and Mpumalanga provincewith the main extent occurring from around Big Bend south of Mkuze, Hluhluwe, Ulundi to justnorth of the Ongoye Forest. An isolated patch is found in the Swaziland-Mpumalanga border.The landscape is extensively flat or only slightly undulating supporting a complex of variousbushveld units ranging from dense thickets of Dichrostachys cineria and Acacia species, throughpark-like savanna with flat topped A. tortilis to tree dominated woodland with broad-leaved openbushveld with Sclerocarya birrea subspecies caffra and A. Nigrescens. Tall grassland types occurZITHOLELE CONSULTING