Grasslands of the World.pdf - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

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Grasslands of the world
The grasslands support a high proportion (70–80 percent) of the total sheep
and wool produced. The main breeds of sheep are fine-wool Merino , the South
Africa n mutton Merino, Dohne Merino, Dormer, Dorper (the last-named two
are locally developed breeds) and the Karakul . The Nama-karoo , a steppe like
vegetation of the central and western regions, supports both sheep and goat
enterprises. The Karakul industry is limited to the dry northwestern regions of
Northern Cape Province.
WILDLIFE
South Africa possesses a rich and diverse wildlife resource, with many
unique and interesting mammals, birds , reptiles and amphibians, providing
a wide range of products, including tourism opportunities, meat , hides,
curios, recreation and trophy hunting. There are 338 large and small mammal
species (Smithers, 1983) and 920 bird species (Maclean, 1993). Four families
(Elephantidae, Equidae, Bovidae and Suidae) contribute most of the large
mammal taxa and represent the largest biomass of primary consumers. During
the last thirty years, the large mammal fauna has begun to make a significant
contribution to the economy of rangeland through increasing ecotourism and
the development of private game farms and nature reserves . About 10 percent
of the country is designated as National Parks and formal conservation
areas, but a considerable proportion of the wildlife exists outside formally
proclaimed conservation areas. Many livestock farmers derive some or all
of their income from hunting or ecotourism. In 1997, approximately 8 000
private game ranches , covering some 15 million hectares, had been established
(Grossman, Holden and Collinson, 1999). This figure has continued to
increase rapidly since then, with many farms being enclosed by game-proof
fencing . The issuing of a certificate of adequate enclosure by the various
provincial nature conservation authorities permits the landowner to exercise
rights over the wild herbivores that would otherwise only exist during the
so-called “hunting season” in May–July each year. Individual landowners
are now able to capture, transport, hunt and introduce any wild animal for
which a permit has been provided and for which there is a certificate of
adequate enclosure. Although this has had some positive consequences for the
protection of certain rare species (e.g. mountain zebra, blesbok), where the last
remaining populations were on private land, it has had some negative impacts.
These include the large-scale introduction of common and freely available
native species (e.g. impala, nyala, warthog) to regions where there is no record
of their historical occurrence. The full consequences of these introductions
on other species (e.g. nyala on kudu; impala on bushbuck) are not properly
understood and further research is required. Conservation agencies have
themselves been guilty of transgressions of this nature, re-introducing species
such as warthog in the Eastern Cape Province, which have proliferated and are
now regarded as a problem animal by graziers.