CapeNature Protected Area Expansion Strategy and Implementation Plan

2010 2015

September 2010

Authors: Kerry Purnell, Donovan Kirkwood, Kerry Maree

The CapeNature Protected Area Expansion Strategy addresses the formal proclamation of priority natural habitats as Protected Areas to secure biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Western Cape; it is aligned with the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy.

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INDEX

HEADING

PAGE

NUMBER

ACRONYMS

3

KEY DEFINITIONS

4

LIST OF FIGURES

6

LIST OF TABLES

6

LIST OF APPENDICES

7

CONTENTS

8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

10

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

13

CHAPTER 2: CAPENATURE PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION STRATEGY

27

CHAPTER 3: CAPENATURES FIVE-YEAR PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (JULY 2010 MARCH 2015)

36

CHAPTER 4: FINANCIAL MODEL

52

CHAPTER 5: MANAGEMENT OF DECLARED PROTECTED AREAS

55

CHAPTER 6: MONITORING, REVIEW AND REPORTING

56

3

CHAPTER 7: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

58

CHAPTER 8: REFERENCES

58

APPENDICES

60

ACRONYMS

BWI Biodiversity and Wine Initiative

CAPE Cape Action for People and the Environment

CEPF Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund

CBA Critical Biodiversity Area

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

CCRS Western Cape Climate Change Response Strategy and Action Plan

CFR Cape Floristic Region

CoCT City of Cape Town

DEADP

DEA

Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Western Cape

Department of Environmental Affairs

EPWP Expanded Public Works Programme

EWT Endangered Wildlife Trust

FSP Fine Scale Planning

GCBC Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor

GI Gouritz Initiative

GEF Global Environment Facility

HA Hectares

IDP Integrated Development Plan (Municipal)

MDG Millennium Development Goals

MEC Provincial Member of the Executive Council

MEDS Micro-Economic Development Strategy

MINTEC Ministerial Technical Committee

MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework

NBF National Biodiversity Framework

NBSAP National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

NEMA National Environmental Management Act

NFDS National Framework for Sustainable Development

NGO Non Government Organisation

NPAES National Protected Area Expansion Strategy

NR Nature Reserve

NSBA National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment

NSDP

PFMA

National Spatial Development Plan

Public Finance Management Act (Act No.1 of 1999)

PA Protected Area

PAES Protected Area Expansion Strategy

NEMPAA National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act

NPAES National Protected Area Expansion Strategy

PSDF Provincial Spatial Development Framework

SANBI South African National Biodiversity Institute

SDF Spatial Development Framework (Municipal)

SKEP Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Project

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STEP Subtropical Thicket Ecosystem Project

TMF Table Mountain Fund

WCDA Western Cape Department of Agriculture

WfW Working for Water

WWF-SA World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa

WoF Working on Fire

Threatened Ecosystem acronyms

CR Critically Endangered

EN Endangered

VU Vulnerable

LT Least Threatened

KEY DEFINITIONS

Biodiversity Biological diversity, or biodiversity refers not only to species of plants, animals

and micro-organisms, but also their range of genetic diversity, and the

landscapes, ecological and evolutionary processes that allow the diversity of

life to persist over time.

Biodiversity therefore includes the diversity of all living organisms, the

diversity within species and of the ecosystems that contain them.

Biodiversity

Threshold

Also known as the Biodiversity Target. The proportion of the original extent of

an ecosystem that must be retained in a functional natural state to conserve

most of the biodiversity of the original system. For Western Cape terrestrial

ecosystems the average Biodiversity Threshold is 26% with a range from 16

40%. Ecosystems with higher diversity and variability require higher

Biodiversity Thresholds. These thresholds are based on science rather than

an arbitrarily defined threshold such as 10%. The threshold is a pragmatic

conservation compromise, and does already accept some biodiversity loss

and species extinction.

Biodiversity

Stewardship

Landowners voluntarily participate in biodiversity conservation by formally

agreeing (through a biodiversity stewardship agreement) to secure the

conservation status of their land to (i) protect important ecosystems; (ii)

enable the more sustainable use of natural resources and (iii) effectively

manage threats to natural systems and biodiversity. Incentives may be offered

to the landowner.

Biodiversity

Stewardship

Agreement

A biodiversity stewardship agreement is a voluntary agreement that may be

informal or legally binding, and which commits a landowner and a public

conservation agency to mutually agreed conservation management

objectives. In the case of Protected Areas declared under the NEMPAA a

contract is also signed between the landowner and the MEC for Environment

in the Province. Incentives may be linked to the stewardship agreement. The

CapeNature Biodiversity Stewardship Programme offers the choice of four

types of stewardship agreement:

Conservation Area: a flexible agreement that is not legally binding and

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has no defined period of commitment.

Biodiversity Agreement: a negotiable, legally binding agreement to

conserve biodiversity in the medium term.

Contract Nature Reserve: a negotiable, legally binding contractual

agreement to protect biodiversity in the long term.

Protected Environment: a negotiable, legally binding contractual

agreement to protect biodiversity in the long term with less restrictive

land uses.

Biodiversity

Stewardship

Programme

A programme that pursues biodiversity stewardship and seeks to encourage,

build and sustain a stewardship ethic in landowners through the negotiation

and maintenance of biodiversity stewardship agreements.

Incentives Incentives are financial or non-financial factors that motivate individuals to

take a specific course of action, in this case the action is to conserve (protect

and manage) biodiversity and natural systems on their land. The primary

reason for offering incentives is that the landowner incurs a potential

opportunity cost while providing a public good.

Sustainable

development

Development that meets the needs of the current generation without

threatening the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and

choose their own life-style. This requires for environmental protection,

economic growth and social justice to be reconciled with one another.

km2 An area of 1 kilometre x 1 kilometre or 100 hectares

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Vegetation diversity and habitat loss in the Western Cape

Figure 2 Conservation planning in a biodiverse landscape

Figure 3 Comparison of percentage area actually conserved vs. national conservation

threshold for SA Vegetation types.

Figure 4 Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) in the Western Cape

Figure 5 Illustration of logic and strategy used in site selection for protected area

expansion priorities

Figure 6 Portfolio of targeted priority sites for CapeNature 5 year protected area

expansion by Biodiversity Stewardship

Figure 7 Biosphere Reserves, World Heritage Sites, Ramsar sites, Mountain Catchment

Areas and Wilderness Areas of the Western Cape

Figure 8 Proposed organogram for the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Quick reference to terrestrial Protected Areas in the Western Cape.

Table 2 Categorisation of Protected Areas as per the National Protected Area

Expansion Strategy

Table 3 The Legislative Framework for Protected Area Expansion in South Africa and

the Western Cape

Table 4 The Policy Framework for Protected Area Expansion in South Africa and

Western Cape with reference to CapeNatures Biodiversity Stewardship

Programme (adapted from Jackalman et. al. 2008)

Table 5 Summary of the suite of options that may be employed to secure priority

biodiversity in the Western Cape (adapted from Morris and Corcoran, 2009).

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1a

Logic used to select the very highest priority sites for Protected Area Expansion by

Biodiversity Stewardship in the Western Cape.

Appendix 1b Data and method for selection of CapeNature five year Biodiversity Stewardship priorities

Appendix 2

Planning for Biodiversity Conservation in the Western Cape

Appendix 3

Biodiversity Stewardship Categories

Appendix 4

Comparison of Stewardship Categories employed in the CapeNature

Biodiversity Stewardship Programme (Cadman, M. et. al. 2010)

Appendix 5

Flow diagram outlining the process required to secure Stewardship Agreements

(Stewardship Operational Procedures Manual updated version 2009)

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CONTENTS

HEADING PAGE

NUMBER

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

10

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

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1.1 Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Area Expansion in South Africa

and the Western Cape

1.2 The Legal Mandate and Legislative Framework for Protected Area

Expansion

1.2.1 Legal mandate for Protected Area Expansion

1.2.2 Legislative framework for Protected Area Expansion

1.3 The Policy Framework for Protected Area Expansion

1.4 Mechanisms for securing priority biodiversity

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20

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CHAPTER 2: CAPENATURE PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION STRATEGY

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2.1 Approach taken and Principles applied

2.2 Targets for the twenty-year Protected Area Expansion Strategy and five-

year Implementation Plan

2.2.1 The twenty-year target

2.2.2 The five-year target

2.3 CapeNature Spatial Priorities for Protected Area Expansion

2.3.1 Applying the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy to the

Western Cape

2.3.2 Western Cape Provincial Biodiversity Framework

2.3.3 Focal Areas

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CHAPTER 3: CAPENATURES FIVE-YEAR PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (JULY 2010 MARCH 2015)

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3.1 Biodiversity Stewardship as the primary mechanism for Protected Area

expansion

3.1.1 Incentives

3.1.2 Extension Staff

3.1.3 Provincial and Inter-Provincial Working Groups

3.1.4 Biodiversity Stewardship and Land Reform

3.2 Land Acquisition through willing seller

3.2.1 Land Acquisition through purchase in partnership with WWF

3.3 Other means of Land Acquisition

3.3.1 State-owned land

3.3.2 Donations

3.3.3 Forestry Exit Areas

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43

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3.4 Integrated Environmental Management and Environmental Authorization

Processes as a tool for Protected Area expansion

3.5 Protected Area Support Mechanisms

3.6 Inter-Institutional Arrangements

3.6.1 South African National Parks

3.6.2 City of Cape Town

3.6.2 Non-Governmental Organisations

3.7 Additional Institutional Capacity for Protected Area Expansion in the

Western Cape

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CHAPTER 4: FINANCIAL MODEL

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4.1 Financial Requirements of Protected Area Expansion

4.1.1. Biodiversity Stewardship Programme

4.1.2 Protected Area Management Fund

4.1.3 Land Acquisition Fund

4.2 Alternative Mechanisms for funding Protected Area Expansion

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CHAPTER 5: MANAGEMENT OF DECLARED PROTECTED AREAS

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CHAPTER 6: MONITORING, REVIEW AND REPORTING

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6.1 Biodiversity Stewardship Programme Performance Monitoring, Review

Processes and Reporting

6.2 Updating of Spatial Informants

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56

CHAPTER 7: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

58

CHAPTER 8: REFERENCES

58

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This CapeNature Protected Area Expansion Strategy (PAES) addresses the formal

proclamation of priority natural habitats as Protected Areas to secure biodiversity and

ecosystem services for future generations. The Western Cape includes two globally

recognised Biodiversity Hotspots, with many threatened ecosystems and exceptional

numbers of threatened plant species. The historical protected area network does not

adequately protect the majority of ecosystems and biodiversity. Establishment of

additional protected areas in the most threatened and under-conserved habitats in the

Western Cape are thus essential. This strategy is aligned to the concepts and goals of

the 2008 National Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES), but does identify some

different spatial priorities.

To make best use of limited resources, this CapeNature PAES is primarily a Biodiversity

Stewardship-based implementation plan. It identifies explicit spatial goals for the

establishment of Contract Nature Reserves achievable with available agency resources.

The selected sites are:

o locations where habitat loss would result in the highest immediate globally

significant biodiversity loss;

o located within broader priority corridors, to support ecological function and

landscape-scale features and process, now and in the face of climate change;

o where large areas of this habitat are held by individual landowners who can be

targeted in a cost-effective manner;

o the most extensive property holdings of large, intact, Critically Endangered or

Endangered habitats. These sites are the last remaining places from these

ecosystems that shelter close to a full spectrum of the original biodiversity;

o where the habitat remains under significant threat of loss.

All identified sites are ideal anchor locations for future consolidation of priority clusters,

or contribute to consolidation of existing priority sites. Every site is located to provide for

ecological persistence, and most are part of broader climate change adaptation

corridors. Crucially, for the first time, sites account for the unpredictable nature of

achieving protected area targets in a privately owned landscape, and are explicitly

chosen so that even if no further adjacent sites can be protected, every individual site

still represents an excellent investment of conservation funding.

Even with limited resources, this approach allows for a relatively ambitious 5 year

Biodiversity Stewardship target of formally conserving 1,477.4 km2 of highest priority

habitat. Together with the 221 km2 planned by other conservation agencies, this

represents 69% of the NPAES five year target to conserve 2,510 km2 of threatened,

under-conserved ecosystems of the Western Cape.

CapeNature currently reviews opportunities for outright acquisition of protected areas on

an ad hoc basis against known biodiversity priorities. Typically this land comes at no cost

to CapeNature by transfer from other agencies, or by donation. However, with no budget

allowance for expanded conservation management, evaluating whether to take on these

areas can be difficult. This document identifies the need to develop a Land Acquisition

component for the CapeNature PAES that should identify funding sources and budgets

for the additional ongoing costs of managing any new reserves. An optimal spatial

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configuration for land acquisition can then be added to current spatial targets to achieve

a greater proportion of the NPAES target.

This Protected Area Expansion Strategy and Implementation Plan is a response to the

National Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES) (SANBI & DEAT, 2008) which calls on

provinces to develop implementation plans in support of the NPAES and in support of

provincial conservation efforts and priorities. The NPAES, which provides a broad national

framework for Protected Area expansion in South Africa, also identifies areas of importance

to be targeted for Protected Area expansion in the country, and mechanisms to achieve this.

Table 1 Quick reference to terrestrial Protected Areas in the Western Cape. Note that targets are linked to specific habitats in the landscape to represent previously under-conserved biodiversity and ecological processes and should not be interpreted as simple area targets from province size or the theoretical 13% of the Western Cape mentioned in the NPAES

Area

Percentage of total terrestrial area of

Western Cape Province

Western Cape Province - total area 129,400 km2 100%

Remaining Natural & Near Natural habitat (2008) 97,300 km2 75%

Likely total Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) for Western Cape (excluding existing Protected Areas)

39,000 km2

44,000 km2

30 34%

Existing CapeNature Provincial Reserves (Formal A)

7,447 km2 5.8%

Existing Protected Areas Other Agency (Formal A)

3,229 km2 2.5%

Existing Mountain Catchment (Formal B) (little active management and no specific control of land-use not considered protected for PA gap analysis)

6,166 km2 4.8%

Existing Protected Areas Other Agency (Formal B)

294 km2 0.2%

NPAES Western Cape 20 year target new formal PAs (equivalent to formally conserving 60% of the Biodiversity Threshold for all Vegetation Types)

10,040 km2 7.8%

NPAES Western Cape 5 year target new formal Protected Areas ( of 20 yr target above)

2,510 km2 1.9%

CapeNature 5 year target new formal Protected Areas (excludes 552.8 km

2 of the recently

established but not yet proclaimed Knersvlakte Nature Reserve)

1,477.4 km2 1.14%

All other agencys combined 5 year target natural habitat in new Protected Areas (Formal A & B)

220.6 km2 0.17%

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Table 2 Categorisation of Protected Areas as per the National Protected Area Expansion

Strategy

Formal A Protected Areas

Forest Act Protected

Area

Specially protected forest areas, forest nature reserves and forest wilderness areas

declared in terms of the National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No. 84 of 1998)

Island Reserve A sub-set of provincial nature reserves, which are islands administered by provinces in

terms of provincial legislation

Marine Protected

Area

An area declared as a marine protected area in terms of section 43 of the Marine Living

Resources Act, 1998 (Act No. 18 of 1998)

National Park

An area declared in terms of the National Parks Act, 1976 (Act No. 57 of 1976), or in terms

of Section 20 of the Protected Areas Amendment Act, 2004 (Act No. 31, 2004), including

private areas declared under this legislation

Other national

protected area

A nature reserve other than a national park or special nature reserve, managed by a

national organ of state or which falls under the jurisdiction of the Minister for any other

reason

Provincial Nature

Reserve

An area declared in terms of section 23 of Protected Areas Act, 2003 (No. 57 of 2003), or

declared in terms of provincial legislation for conservation purposes, and which is

managed by a provincial organ of state, including private areas declared under this

legislation

Special nature

reserve

An area which was a special nature reserve in terms of the Environment

Conservation Act, 1989 (Act No. 73 of 1989), or an area declared in terms of section 18 of

Protected Areas Act, 2003 (No. 57 of 2003)

World Heritage Site A world heritage site declared in terms of the World Heritage Convention Act, 1999 (Act

No. 49 of 1999)

MPA Marine Protected Area usually associated with an adjacent terrestrial protected area and

managed by the same agency.

Formal B Protected Areas

Mountain Catchment

Area

An area declared in terms of the Mountain Catchment Areas Act, 1970 (Act No. 63 of

1970)

Local Nature

Reserve A nature reserve which is managed by a municipality, potentially of undefined legal status

National Botanical

Garden A reserve managed by the South African National Botanical Institute

Informal Conservation Area System:

Unproclaimed Private

Nature Reserves Unproclaimed Private Nature Reserves, Game Reserves or Game Farms

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION IN SOUTH

AFRICA AND THE WESTERN CAPE

The Western Cape includes nearly the full extent of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), the

Worlds most diverse non-tropical flora. Although most famous for the fine-leaved, fire-prone

Fynbos vegetation, the CFR also includes the core of the Succulent Karoo, undoubtedly the

richest desert flora on Earth. With nearly 70% endemism, the uniqueness of the CFR is such

that the area is recognized as an entirely separate Floral Kingdom, one of only 6 globally.

With less than 0.1% of the Earth's land surface, the Western Cape is custodian to well over

9,000 higher plant species, perhaps 3% to 4% of the World total. Recent work suggests that

terrestrial and aquatic invertebrate diversity and endemism may be as exceptional. Although

not rich in vertebrates, the CFR includes priority areas for endemic amphibians and

freshwater fish, and encompasses diverse, productive marine ecosystems.

Figure 1 Even the very coarse-scale mapping of the South African Vegetation Units (SA Veg 2006)

shows the massive diversity and complex distribution of biodiversity in the Western Cape. The figure

top right shows areas where no natural habitat remains within the Western Cape in pale grey, with

remnant natural habitat coloured by 2009 Ecosystem Status. With up to 94% habitat loss in certain

ecosystems, more are considered highly threatened in the Western Cape than anywhere else in

South Africa. This diversity and threat together mean that the Western Cape is considered a global

Biodiversity Hotspot. Dark grey indicates areas outside the Province.

The natural systems of the CFR and Western Cape are however under serious threat from a

range of factors including historical patterns of unsustainable natural resource use, extensive

alien species infestations and recent rapid infrastructural development. Many areas,

particularly the lowlands, have been reduced to a fraction of their original extent and little of

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what remains is protected. As a result, 74% of the province is included in of 2 of 34 global

Biodiversity Hotspots1 highest priority locations globally, where exceptional biodiversity is

under severe pressure from habitat loss. Most (80%) of the Cape Floristic Region Hotspot is

inside the Western Cape, and the 31% of the Succulent Karoo Hotspot in the province

includes the highly diverse and endemic winter rainfall flora of the Little Karoo. The

importance and urgency of better conserving the province was emphasized by the 2009

SANBI National Ecosystem Status assessment. With 21 Critically Endangered (CR), 13

Endangered (EN) and 22 Vulnerable (VU) ecosystems listed from the Western Cape, this is

by far the highest concentration of threatened ecosystems countrywide (of the 53 CR, 64 EN

and 108 VU in South Africa). Virtually all of the provinces main stem river ecosystems are in

a Critically Endangered state. The 2009 Red List of South African Plants further emphasises

the extent and severity of ongoing permanent biodiversity loss. With 67% of all South African

threatened plant taxa occurring in the Fynbos Biome, and the Little Karoo and Namaqualand

habitats of the Succulent Karoo having the second highest concentration of threatened plant

species in South Africa, urgent conservation action is clearly required. Once lost, species

and other regional elements of biodiversity are gone forever.

The natural landscapes of the Western Cape not only support exceptional threatened

biodiversity, but also provide an irreplaceable source of goods and services for people and

the economy (Jackelman et al., 2008). The total economic value of these services flowing

from the natural resources and biodiversity in the CFR, known as ecosystem services2, has

been estimated to be at least R10 billion per year, equivalent to more than 10% of the Gross

Domestic Product of the Western Cape (Turpie et al., 2003). Most of these ecosystem

services we take for granted, such as the provision of water, clean air, crop pollination,

medicines and grazing for livestock. As importantly, intact natural systems mitigate the worst

impacts of climate change, particularly in buffering flood events and unpredictable water

supply.

In addition to habitat loss and direct impacts, climate change and global warming are

predicted to further threaten the natural ecosystems of the Western Cape. Within this

century, the climate is likely to become warmer and drier, with less winter rainfall and more

irregular and intense rainfall events (Midgley et al., 2005). This will have various

consequences for the provinces economy, ecological integrity and livelihoods including: i)

reduced water quantity and quality through negative impacts on rivers, wetlands and

estuaries; ii) detrimental effects on biodiversity, including significant species losses in the

CFR; iii) increased fire danger and frequency; iv) threats to livelihoods, especially of the poor

who are most vulnerable; and v) impacts on economic sectors such as fishing, forestry,

agriculture, insurance, banking, infrastructure and construction (Midgley et al., 2005).

As the provincial conservation authority, CapeNature is the lead agency responsible for

conserving the Western Capes biodiversity and resources for future generations. From at

least the early 1900s, State Forest and other land was set aside for conservation by the

authorities. Typically these were the least economically productive sites: dry, remote, steep

or inaccessible mountain areas not suited to agriculture, mining, industry or human

1 Sites identified by conservation scientist Norman Myers and Conservation International, see

www.biodiversityhotspots.org 2 The benefits that people get from nature (ecosystems), such as a regular supply of clean water, flood control,

prevention of erosion, pollination (important to the fruit industry, for example), carbon storage (to counteract global warming), stone and sand for building, and clean air vital for our survival. In other words, ecosystem services are what nature does for us.

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settlement. The historically conserved habitat that makes up our current protected area

network does have great value as the backbone for landscape scale connectivity, for

ecological functioning of adjacent habitats, for water production, and as the core of an

expanded conservation network. However, as a result of this strong tendency to conserve

only economically unimportant land, most of the ecosystems currently conserved are more

than adequately protected, whereas nearly 75% of terrestrial ecosystems in the Western

Cape are poorly, hardly or not protected at all (See Figure 3 overleaf). Many under-protected

ecosystems are unlikely to suffer biodiversity loss without further protection, but habitats in

productive landscapes are typically both very under-conserved and under pressure.

Responding to this historical imbalance in the highly heterogeneous, sensitive and locally

unique ecosystems of the CFR is a huge challenge. A complete conservation network must

not only represent the full range of plant and animal species in large enough habitats to

support them, but must also include landscape-scale natural systems and processes,

aquatic and marine habitats and be ecologically functional and resistant to the impacts of

climate change. This must also be achieved in a reasonable amount of space without

impacting negatively on livelihoods or economic production. As an early adopter of

systematic conservation planning, the South African conservation community now has the

tools and data to identify areas to best conserve a representative, ecologically viable and

resilient network of natural habitat. Increasingly this work is coupled to a practical and clear

implementation framework to make the best use of very limited resources. Within the last

five years, CapeNature, with other provincial partners, has developed Critical Biodiversity

Areas (CBA) Maps showing areas that must be retained in a natural state to meet

biodiversity pattern and process thresholds (see Appendix 2 for more information on

systematic conservation planning concepts in the Western Cape).

Figure 2 Representing the full spectrum of biological diversity in a conservation plan requires mapping either the

features themselves or surrogates for those features at a fine enough scale to capture the range of local

variation. At the core of current Western Cape conservation plans are the fine scale vegetation or habitat maps,

with targets for every ecosystem aligned to national standards. Targets are also set for populations of threatened

and endemic species, aquatic habitats and systems like wetlands, rivers and the catchments that support them,

and for areas that meet identified ecosystem process targets.

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Figure 3 Comparison of percentage area actually conserved vs. national conservation threshold for all South African Vegetation Types in the Western Cape. Note the heavily skewed representation, with almost the entire extent of some major ecosystems formally conserved, while the majority are poorly conserved or not conserved at all. Threatened ecosystems are typically amongst the most under-conserved. The few threatened ecosystems that are also well protected (toward the right of the graph) are those systems listed under the species criterion rather than because of habitat loss.

(Please note that this diagram will be printed in an A3 fold in, zoom in to read vegetation types)

17

Although conservation planning algorithms require efficiency meeting conservation targets

in as little space as possible typically around 34% of the landscape is identified as Critical

Biodiversity Area in the biodiverse Western Cape. These areas must be retained in a natural

state into perpetuity to prevent mass extinction, loss of ecological resilience and critical

ecosystem services. This area is in addition to the existing 13% or 10,993 km2 of legally

recognised protected areas, and equates to 44,000 km2 of the remaining 97,300 km2 of

natural habitat in the province. However not all CBAs require the highest security and

management standards provided by land purchase and Protected Area status and other

complementary mechanisms can be applied (see Chapters 2 & 3).

Figure 4 Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) as identified in the Western Cape Biodiversity Framework. These are the areas identified by systematic fine-scale conservation plans that must be maintained in a natural state to conserve a reasonable proportion of all biodiversity in a representative, ecologically functional configuration, resilient to the impacts of global climate change.

For the least conserved and most threatened habitats in productive and densely settled

landscapes, the biodiversity of identified priority habitats continues to erode rapidly as a

result of illegal activities, poor land-use practices, lack of active management of invasive

alien plants and unnaturally frequent or unseasonal wildfires. Formal protection with active

management is the only way to provide long-term security for priority conservation sites.

CapeNature already directly manages its own Nature Reserves and supports contract

Nature Reserves on 5.8% (7,447 km2) of the 129,430 km2 Western Cape land surface, and

provides limited support to another 4.8% of declared private Mountain Catchment Areas.

SANParks and Local Authority Reserves together manage a further 2.7% of the province in

formal protected areas. Although all of these protected areas comprise 17,139 km2 or 13.2%

of the land area of the province, 39% of ecosystems (64 of 163) and many key biodiversity

18

features are entirely or almost entirely unprotected. A further 33% of ecosystems (54 of 163)

must be considered poorly protected3.

It is therefore crucial that CapeNature continue to pursue an active Protected Area

expansion plan and the identification of an achievable, priority subset of CBAs and the

mechanism to conserve them is the purpose of this document. To place the CapeNature

strategy in context it is important to consider what is already protected and what an ideal

Protected Area network might look like.

Protecting the entire currently unprotected 39,000 44,000 km2 extent of a final provincial

CBA network or the lower 20,000 km2 of additional habitat required to represent the full

conservation threshold for every vegetation type would be expensive. To establish a near

comprehensive Protected Area network might cost as much as R15.3 billion to establish with

R400M per annum ongoing costs (Frazee et al 2003, adjusted to 2010 Rands). While the

value of ecosystem services, particularly water production, from this network would exceed

the ongoing costs, this level of investment has not yet been considered for implementation.

However, South Africa does recognise the essential role of biodiversity and intact natural

systems in our countrys wellbeing. As a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity,

we have given effect to this with the National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan4 that outlines

the principles of representing and conserving the full range of biodiversity in the country and

the mechanisms to achieve this. Arising from this, the 2008 National Protected Area

Expansion Strategy (NPAES) identifies Protected Area priorities for immediate

implementation. This focuses on ecologically functional areas of poorly protected, threatened

habitats that will experience severe biodiversity loss unless protected. It also prioritises

opportunities for cost-effective conservation of underrepresented habitats that are currently

not threatened, but likely to come under pressure in future (Figure 3). The NPAES provides

a defensible absolute minimum goal for the Western Cape of 854 km2 over the next years

and an additional 10,040 km2 after 20 years to protect the most urgent priorities in the

Western Cape.

The NPAES does not provide for a funding mechanism to implement its goals. CapeNature

currently has no explicit budgetary provision for implementing the NPAES. However as a

lead partner of the C.A.P.E. programme5, CapeNature had already begun to implement

Protected Area expansion by working with private landowners from 2003 as part of the

mandate of the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme. To date this has formally proclaimed

183 km2 of priority private land (0.14% of the Province) as Provincial Nature Reserves with

full conservation servitudes and audited management plans. Further sites are already in

negotiation or close to formal proclamation and we expect that even with existing capacity,

an additional 906 km2 (0.70% of the Province) of priority habitat will be added within the next

two to three years.

3 Of 163 W Cape ecosystems 33 are entirely unconserved, and a further 31 have less than 5% of their

Biodiversity Threshold conserved (typically

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This CapeNature Protected Area Expansion Strategy document describes an

implementation plan and explicit spatial targets for the next 5 year period for the established

Biodiversity Stewardship programme. It also describes the current approach to land

acquisition, and how explicit spatial targets and a funding and implementation strategy will

be developed for this mechanism. The CapeNature Protected Area Expansion Strategy and

Implementation Plan therefore provides a provincial framework for an integrated and

coordinated approach to:

the expansion of Protected Areas to allow for the protection of biodiversity and

persistence of ecological services; and

the securing of landscape corridors to facilitate climate change adaptation.

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1.2 THE LEGAL MANDATE AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTED

AREA EXPANSION

1.2.1 Legal mandate for Protected Area expansion

The Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Developmental Planning

hereafter referred to as (the Minister) is responsible for the environmental mandate within

the province, including the conservation of biodiversity.

The Western Cape Nature Conservation Board (trading as CapeNature and hereafter

referred to as CapeNature) acts as the implementing agency on behalf of the Minister and

is delegated with the responsibility for biodiversity conservation within the Western Cape,

including Protected Area management. This delegation includes biodiversity planning and

biodiversity conservation outside of Protected Areas.

The legal mandate for Protected Area Expansion thus vests with the Minister and

CapeNature acts as the implementing agency on behalf of the Minister in the declaration of

Provincial Nature Reserves in terms of National Environmental Management: Protected

Areas Act (Act No. 57 of 2003) (NEMPAA). In the Western Cape, NEMPAA is also

supplemented by the Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1974, the Western Cape Nature

Conservation Board Act of 1998 and the Western Cape Nature Conservation Laws

Amendment Act (Act No. 3 of 2000). However it must be noted that all terrestrial Protected

Area declaration is now done in terms of the NEMPAA.

The Minister is also delegated to implement the National Environmental Management:

Biodiversity Act (Act No. 10 of 2004) (NEMBA). However the National Minister of Water and

Environmental Affairs is empowered to sign Biodiversity Management Agreements (under

NEMBA) with landowners and as of yet has not delegated this responsibility to the

provinces. Thus in the Western Cape, CapeNature signs Biodiversity Agreements with

Private Landowners under the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board Act (Act No. 15

of 1998), these areas are not necessarily fixed on the title deeds of a property and are

therefore not considered sufficiently secure to be formal Protected Areas.

1.2.2 Legislative framework for Protected Area Expansion

The NEMPAA distinguishes between several categories of Protected Areas: Special Nature

Reserves, National Parks, Nature Reserves, and Protected Environments. It also recognises

World Heritage Sites declared in terms of the World Heritage Convention Act (Act No. 49 of

1999); Marine Protected Areas in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act (Act No.18 of

1998) and/or the NEMPAA; specially protected Forest Areas declared in terms of the

National Forests Act (Act No. 84 of 1998); and Mountain Catchment Areas declared in terms

of the Mountain Catchment Areas Act (Act No. 63 of 1970). This can include privately-owned

areas if they have been formally declared as National Parks, Nature Reserves or Protected

Environments under NEMPAA, (Maree and Vromans, 2010) (see Table 3 below).

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Table 3 The Legislative Framework for Protected Area Expansion in South Africa and the Western Cape

Legislation Provisions for formal biodiversity protection on land outside of the state-owned protected areas system

National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act (Act No. 57 of 2003) (NEMPAA)

One of the objectives of the NEMPAA is to provide for a representative network of protected areas on state land, private land and communal land (Chapter I, Section 2). NEMPAA recognises a streamlined set of categories for Protected Areas and details the legal procedure for declaring Special Nature Reserves; Nature Reserves; National Parks; and Protected Environments (Chapter 3). The protection of private and communal land is specifically catered for under these categories. It requires the mutual agreement of landowners and the National Minister or MEC (depending on the category of Protected Area).

National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act No.10 of 2004) (NEMBA)

NEMBA provides important spatial and strategic planning instruments that enable conservation outside of formally declared Protected Areas, including:

the publishing of bioregional plans that identify Critical Biodiversity Areas outside of the protected areas system;

the listing of threatened or protected ecosystems and species; and

the development of biodiversity management plans and biodiversity management agreements (e.g. with landowners other than the state).

The Western Cape Nature Conservation Board Act (Act No. 15 of 1998)

The Act provides for CapeNature to negotiate and cooperate with any other party in order to achieve its objectives for conserving biodiversity. (Chapter II, Section 9: 1c, d, f) CapeNature may therefore enter into biodiversity stewardship agreements with private and communal landowners as well as the state.

Nature and Environmental Conservation Ordinance, (No. 19 of 1974)

The Ordinance provides for the establishment of nature reserves on private land (see Chapter II, Section 12, 13, as amended in the Western Cape Nature Conservation Laws Amendment Act 3 of 2000). However this mechanism has now been replaced in practice by the use of NEMPAA.

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1.3 THE POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION

Table 4 The Policy Framework for Protected Area Expansion in South Africa and the Western Cape with reference to CapeNatures Biodiversity Stewardship Programme (adapted from Jackelman et. al., 2008) Policy Name Type

(Agreements, Strategies, Programmes and Plans)

Relevant goal, objective or intervention

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

International agreement

The CBD provides the framework, norms and standards for the conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit-sharing of South Africas biological resources. The Biodiversity Stewardship Programme contributes to the aim of significantly reducing the current rate of loss of biological diversity by the year 2010 (Conference of Parties, COP, 2002) by developing an effectively managed and ecologically representative system of national and regional protected areas (COP, 2004) across South Africa. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (DEAT, 2005), has been developed as a requirement of South Africa being a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA)

National Policy The NSBA highlights the fact that the National Protected Area System is biased towards particular ecosystems and species and does not conserve a representative sample of biodiversity within the country, and excludes some key ecological processes. The NSBA identifies the CFR as one of nine key priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the country.

National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)

National strategy The NBSAP provides a 20-year framework for the conservation and management of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity in order to ensure sustainable and equitable benefits to the people of South Africa. The Biodiversity Stewardship Programme is closely aligned with activities under Strategic Objective 5: A network of conservation areas conserves a representative sample of biodiversity and maintains key ecological processes across the landscape and seascape. Outcome 5.2: The protected area network is secured, expanded and managed to ensure that a representative sample of biodiversity and key ecological processes are conserved. Outcome 5.3: Biodiversity is effectively managed in key ecological corridors and in high priority fragments of natural habitat across the landscape and seascape, using tools such as incentives.

National Biodiversity Framework (NBF)

National strategy The National Biodiversity Framework (NBF) (DEAT, 2007) is an explicit requirement of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act No.10 of 2004). The NBF is informed by and draws together key elements from both the NBSAP and the NSBA. The NBF focuses attention on the immediate priorities, both spatial and thematic, for the next five years within each of the Strategic Objectives of the NBSAP. The NBF identifies the following four top priority actions for Strategic Objective 5 (see NBSAP above) for the period 2008 to 2012:

Finalise the twenty-year protected area expansion strategy, underpinned by the national biodiversity targets in the NSBA, refined for biomes, provinces and marine biozones;

Implement Phase 1 of twenty-year protected area expansion strategy;

Establish and strengthen provincial stewardship programmes; and

Establish National Botanical Gardens in unrepresented provinces (Mpumalanga PAES, 2009).

National Protected National strategy A National Protected Areas Expansion Strategy has been developed for South Africa (SANBI and DEAT, 2008), as a

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Areas Expansion Strategy (NPAES)

requirement of the National Biodiversity Framework. The strategy uses systematic biodiversity planning tools to identify and prioritise focus areas where Protected Area expansion will contribute to meeting national biodiversity targets. The NPAES is based on the premise that effective conservation in South Africa is best achieved through strategies that integrate the following two approaches across regions or landscapes: i) The establishment and management of a secure comprehensive, adequate and representative national protected areas system; and ii) The ecologically sustainable management of natural resources across the broader landscape and seascape for areas that are outside the national protected areas system. This is especially important in areas that have been identified as biodiversity priorities. Further, the NPAES explicitly identifies the negotiation of contractual arrangements with landowners as one of four key mechanisms for expanding protected areas by conservation agencies throughout South Africa.

National Stewardship Programme of South Africa (DEA)

National programme

The National Stewardship Programme provides a national coordinating framework for the implementation of biodiversity stewardship initiatives by provincial conservation agencies across South Africa. It sets out guiding principles and approaches for biodiversity stewardship.

Cape Action for People and the Environment (C.A.P.E.)

Bioregional programme

This bioregional partnership programme seeks to integrate biodiversity conservation in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) with developmental needs. It is a key programme contributing to the goals as outlined in the Western Capes Sustainable Development Plan. CapeNature is a key implementing agency of C.A.P.E.

National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS)

National strategy This strategy addresses priority issues for dealing with climate change in South Africa. A key action is to: Develop protection plans for plant, animal and marine biodiversity. Specific recommendations to which the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme is contributing are: Land use practices and land-use patterns outside conservation areas should be adapted to minimise the negative impacts of climate change on biodiversity conservation and future dispersal probabilities and Adaptation options for maintaining animal diversity could include the implementation of a conservation area network that would buffer the effects of climate change.

Western Cape Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCRS)

Provincial strategy The CCRS provides a strategic approach for the provincial government to minimise negative climate change impacts. A lead intervention in the proposed adaptation response is a Land stewardship and Livelihoods Programme (key outcome 3) with four focus areas: 1. Wetland conservation, Riverine and Estuary Integrity; 2. Integrated Invasive Alien Species Programme; 3. Extension of protected areas and 4. Fire risk management and control. The CCRS recommends under focus area 3: Increasing protected areas requires a focus on public land and privately owned land. The Biodiversity Stewardship Programme already plays a pivotal role in the extension of Protected Areas and contributes directly to the following action identified in the CCRS: Engage private land owners in conservation activities through facilitative actions

(Stewardship and LandCare programmes) accessing funds from the Adaptation Fund.

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1.4 MECHANISMS FOR SECURING PRIORITY BIODIVERSITY IN PROTECTED AREAS

The priority areas for conservation fall either within communal, private or state-owned land.

These different forms of land tenure may present different opportunities for Protected Area

Expansion. The main mechanisms are acquisition of land, contract agreements and

declaration of public land. Each one has an important role to play, with contract agreements

through the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme being the main operational tool for

CapeNature.

The full suite of mechanisms applicable for CapeNature is listed in Table 5 below. Some of

the mechanisms are also dealt with in more detail in the five year implementation plan in

Chapter 3.

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Table 5 Summary of the suite of options that may be employed to secure priority biodiversity in the Western Cape (adapted from Morris and Corcoran, 2009).

Mechanism Options Description Details of Mechanism

Consolidate and formalize existing Protected Area system

Provincial Protected Areas All Protected Areas in Western Cape managed or co-managed by CapeNature.

Undertake audit of all CapeNature Protected Areas to determine whether or not they are proclaimed and whether the boundaries have been adequately surveyed.

Private Nature Reserves All CapeNature private nature reserves, proclaimed or listed.

Undertake audit of all CapeNature private nature reserves falling in priority expansion areas to determine proclamation status and whether their status should be converted to S23 Contract Nature Reserves under the NEMPAA. All other Private Nature Reserves will continue to be considered as Voluntary Areas under the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme.

World Heritage Sites Currently submitting extension nomination

Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site Proclaimed in the Western Cape currently being expanded through an extension nomination.

Land Acquisition (and development of a financial model for the establishment of a land acquisition fund)

Acquisition through transfer of State-owned land (e.g. former DWAF State Forests; Western Cape Dept. of Public Works).

Identify State-owned land holdings (including existing Forest Reserves) and assess in relation to priority areas.

Guided by the Distribution and Transfer of Certain State Land Act (Act 119 of 1993 as amended). The Minister or MEC shall consult with the land distribution commissioner requesting the transfer of land for the purpose of declaration. Conduct evaluation, identify state properties for transfer and implement land acquisition process. Attempt to consolidate with adjacent Protected Area if possible.

Acquisition through purchase (willing seller)

Mechanisms to reduce transactions costs should be developed by National Treasury. The NPAES recommends that DEA engage with Treasury on this matter.

A partnership with WWF SA is currently being implemented regards land acquisition in the Western Cape and a Protected Areas Management Fund, for post acquisition management is being investigated.

Acquisition through lease agreements

Private land of high biodiversity value is leased from a land owner.

CapeNature currently has 99 year lease Agreements on certain portions of land owned by WWF-SA. These areas are declared as Nature Reserves in terms of the Nature Conservation Ordinance 19 0f 1974. In the future all land purchased by WWF-SA to be managed by CapeNature will be declared under NEMPAA and CapeNature will be the designated Management Authority. No other long term leases are currently being considered.

Acquisition through donations (gifts) and bequests

The establishment of Protected Areas through donations or bequests from deceased estates.

Assess biodiversity value of land in relation to priority areas; consider the gift provided that funding for management is available. Also consider an exchange option if the biodiversity value of land is unacceptably low.

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Negotiations through the IEM process

Offsets

Developers and decision makers negotiate the setting aside of land or funds (on the part of the developer) for the irreversible transformation of land with significant biodiversity. The funds are used to purchase other land for conservation.

Although there are draft Guidelines on Biodiversity Offsets for the Western Cape, these have not yet been finalised and approved, making them difficult to legally implement. There is also no agreed-on mechanism to manage financial offsets. Formalising and managing offsets can therefore be complicated and time-consuming and offsets are therefore only considered in exceptional circumstances with voluntary agreements being more readily used (pers. comm., S. Ralston, 2010).

Land exchange / swopping

Areas of low biodiversity value are exchanged in return for areas of high biodiversity value; the areas of low biodiversity value are then developed; the areas of high biodiversity value are secured for conservation.

Not recommended at this stage, not at least until an approved land exchange policy has been developed for the Western Cape. This option also requires a high level of cooperation between the government departments as the granting of development rights cannot be guaranteed. Generally not an attractive option, unless under exceptional circumstances.

Biodiversity Stewardship (Nature Reserve or Protected Environment are the two categories to be employed wart. priority biodiversity areas)

National Dept. of Land Affairs Land under the control of Land Affairs

Assess biodiversity value of land in relation to priority areas.

Public land (state land and non-state land)

Portions of land under Municipal control (non-state land), or alternatively under provincial and national control (state land, including communal land).

Assess biodiversity value of land in relation to priority areas; identify areas to be secured through declaration under the NEMPAA and provide support in the form of expertise and management.

Private Land Owners Expression of intent by private land owners to secure biodiversity on their properties for conservation.

Assess biodiversity value of land in relation to priority areas; assess level of biodiversity stewardship agreement in relation to the biodiversity value of land and commitment on behalf of the land owner. Provide support in the form of expertise and development of a management plan.

Existing Conservancies, Natural Heritage Sites

Investigate the status and contributions made by conservancies, natural heritage sites

Assess biodiversity value of land in relation to priority areas; assess the opportunities to incorporate these sites into stewardship agreements (as above).

Land reform (restitution and redistribution)

Investigate the potential interest on the part of the land claimants to manage their land for conservation and ecotourism.

Assess biodiversity value of land in relation to priority areas; assess the opportunities to incorporate these sites into biodiversity stewardship agreements (as above).

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CHAPTER 2: CAPENATURE PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION STRATEGY AND

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

2.1 APPROACH TAKEN AND PRINCIPLES APPLIED

National policy is underpinned by the principle of sustainable development that aims to

ensure that all development serves both present and future generations. Therefore it is vital

to safeguard critical natural services such as clean and adequate water supplies, nutritious

veldt for grazing livestock, and stable, healthy soils resilient to flood damage and erosion.

Therefore an important prerequisite for sustainability is the safeguarding of biodiversity (i.e.

the variety of local plants and animals, their habitats, and the natural processes that sustain

them) (Maree and Vromans, 2010). As custodians of globally important biodiversity and a

signatory committed to the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity, we also have a

moral obligation to preserve our rich natural heritage for all future generations.

The safeguarding of biodiversity is achieved through a suite of mechanisms. Only one of

these is the formal declaration of land as Protected Areas. A holistic approach to biodiversity

conservation (or safeguarding) should be comprised of formal declaration of Protected Areas

together with the complementary establishment of informal conservation areas, wise land-

use and management, and environmentally conscientious business practices. Although each

mechanism plays a vital role in safeguarding biodiversity, only the formal declaration of

Protected Areas and funded management of these areas can assure the retention of

biodiversity into the future. For this reason, the largest conservation mechanism should be

the formal declaration of Protected Areas.

The following principles have therefore been adopted by CapeNatures Protected Area

Expansion Strategy and Implementation Plan:

CapeNatures goal is to safeguard identified Critical Biodiversity Area6 (CBA) habitat

to ensure the persistence of at least accepted national Biodiversity Thresholds7 for all

ecosystems. The current Western Cape Biodiversity Framework identifies

approximately 34% of the landscape that must be retained in a natural state.

Safeguarding this habitat should be achieved by implementing the full suite of

mechanisms and not only the establishment of Protected Areas.

The Protected Area network of the Western Cape, including Mountain Catchment

areas, already comprises 17,159 km2. The National Protected Area Expansion

Strategy indicates that a further 10,040 km2 of land should be conserved within 20

years to protect a greater proportion of currently under-conserved ecosystems. If this

area target was located in the right areas, the resulting 27,299 km2 protected area

network could formally conserve approximately 60% of the Biodiversity Threshold of

most currently under-conserved SA Vegetation types.

6 These are terrestrial and aquatic features (e.g. vleis, rivers and estuaries), and the buffer areas along these

aquatic CBA features, that must be safeguarded to meet biodiversity pattern and process thresholds. They are identified through a systematic biodiversity planning approach (see below) and represent the most land-efficient option to meeting all thresholds. 7 Thresholds represent the absolute minimum of that ecosystem or species which is required in order to ensure

the continued persistence of the ecosystem or species. It can be represented by a number (e.g. 52 individuals of a species) or size (e.g. 102 hectares of an ecosystem type).

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CapeNature will aim to meet or exceed the NPAES target and formally protect at

least 60% of the Biodiversity Threshold of currently under protected ecosystems over

20 years, or the equivalent area of other under-protected and threatened CBA

features. This area equates to around 25% of a likely final CBA network, which

therefore requires that by the end of the 20 year strategy period that the remaining

75% of CBA be addressed through complementary conservation mechanisms.

Beyond the current 20 year strategy, CapeNature should aim to include at least half

of the CBA network in formal protected areas, or an approximate additional

10,000 km2 after the NPAES 20 year targets are met.

CapeNature will initially target sites that have exceptional biodiversity and are under

significant threat of loss, and that are located within CBA corridors for climate change

adaptation and ecological functioning, for formal declaration of Protected Areas.

Highest priority sites would have at least 500 to 5000 ha of threatened, under-

conserved habitat and should form key anchor sites or expand existing connectivity

corridors for ecological persistence and climate change adaptation. Sites are chosen

so that even if no further adjacent sites could be protected to protect planned

landscape corridors, the individual site would still represent a good investment.

An ideal Protected Areas network should represent as many threatened and under-

conserved biodiversity surrogates as possible. These would include vegetation types,

ecological process areas, endemic and threatened species locations, etc.

CapeNature will not target non-threatened habitat types for formal protection, unless

these are located within threatened essential process areas or areas contributing to

important and threatened landscape corridors. For under-conserved but largely intact

and non-threatened ecosystems, CapeNature will instead rely on complementary

mechanisms to safeguard this biodiversity.

CapeNature will work in partnership with SANParks and conservation NGOs to meet

combined provincial targets.

All departments and programmes within CapeNature will work within the same

priority areas to overlap energies and disciplines rather than dilute them.

CapeNature aims to mainstream8 biodiversity into all sectors ensuring that

biodiversity protection is adequately considered in land-use planning and decision-

making but to do so in a manner whereby sustainable development (social, economic

and natural) can be achieved. This implies that CapeNature will not aim to protect

more than that which is required, as this might be to the detriment of other sectors,

and that the sum of Protected Areas should never exceed the sum of the CBA

network.

8 Mainstreaming biodiversity means integrating biodiversity considerations into the policies, strategies and day-to-

day operations of a range of sectors whose core business is not biodiversity conservation. Mainstreaming biodiversity is essential for overcoming the "conservation versus development" mindset, and for ensuring sustainable development.

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2.2 TARGETS FOR THE TWENTY YEAR PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION STRATEGY

AND FIVE YEAR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

As mentioned in Section 2.1 above, the entire Critical Biodiversity Area network spatially

defined by the Western Cape Biodiversity Framework should be safeguarded. CBAs are

terrestrial and aquatic features (e.g. vleis, rivers and estuaries) that must be kept in a natural

state in order to retain a reasonable proportion of biodiversity pattern in an ecologically

functional and resilient landscape. They are identified through a systematic biodiversity

planning approach9 and represent the most land-efficient option to meeting all thresholds

(Maree and Vromans, 2010).

2.2.1 The twenty year target10 is to legally proclaim 10,040 km2 of currently under-

conserved ecosystems or features as formal Protected Areas (while the remaining

identified CBA network is addressed through complementary mechanisms as

mentioned in 2.1 above). This target is identical to the NPAES target and equates to

60% of the Biodiversity Threshold if each under-conserved national vegetation types

were targeted proportionally.

The reason for the relatively high target for the Western Cape despite having nearly

13% of the province already formally protected arises from the low levels of existing

protection for most ecosystems and the high Biodiversity Thresholds of very diverse

ecosystems. The result is that to achieve an overall NPAES South African target of

12% of the countrys area in a representative manner, the Western Cape must

protect another 7.8% of its total area.

2.2.2 The five year implementation target for the province should aim to formally declare

25% of the 20 year vision, i.e. 2,510 km2. Unfortunately, due to limited resources

available to CapeNature in this funding cycle, it is unlikely that the full target will be

reached. The CapeNature five year implementation targets have therefore aim to

make best use of current resource capacity and represent an achievable target for

CapeNature.

Year one and two will target only those sites that are currently under negotiation with

the CapeNature Biodiversity Stewardship Programme. Relationships have already

been built with the land owners and retracting from the areas would be

unprofessional and jeopardize the future of the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme.

These 37 Contract Nature Reserves and three Protected Environment sites amount

to 906 km2.

9 Systematic biodiversity planning is an approach to conservation that prioritises actions by setting quantitative

thresholds for biodiversity features (e.g. vegetation types). It is premised on conserving a representative sample of biodiversity pattern, including species and habitats (the principle of representation), as well as the ecological and evolutionary processes that maintain biodiversity over time (the principle of persistence). The configuration of priority areas identified in the plan is designed to be spatially efficient (i.e. to meet biodiversity thresholds as efficiently as possible in terms of the amount of land required) and where possible to avoid conflict with other land-uses where these are known to exist (principles of efficiency and conflict avoidance). It recognises that the whole landscape must be planned and managed strategically to ensure sustainable development. 10

A target represents the desired extent, the aim or goal. The target should not be confused with threshold which represents the bare minimum required for existence.

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Year three, four and five will be informed by an estimated budget of R 16 000 000.00

that the CapeNature Executive will aim to secure by such time (see Section 4.1

below). A three year cumulative budget of 16 million Rand will be sufficient to target

96 properties in the province. According to the current Conservation Action Priorities

(CAP) Map11, the top 96 properties amount to an additional 571 km2. The 96

properties can be chosen from a priority portfolio of 200 properties, as not all

negotiations are successful (see Appendix 1a).

Together, all CapeNature five year targets, plus the 220.6 km2 planned for Protected Areas

by other agencies in the province amounts to 69% of the NPAES five year area target. It is

important to note that these described targets are based on a current and conservative

expectation of resources to be availed to the province. In the event that a larger Protected

Area expansion budget is made available, this strategy will be realigned accordingly to meet

a higher percentage of the CBA network and the NPAES target.

11

The Conservation Action Priorities (CAP) Map is a spatial product which prioritises each cadastre in the province according to a set of biodiversity and pragmatic criteria. The CAP Map is revised annually according to new information and establishment of Protected Areas and forms the annual action plan for CapeNature Stewardship Programme. Because the CAP Map is linked to actual cadastres on the ground, it remains an internal product only.

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Figure 5 Logic used to select the very highest priority sites for protected area expansion by Biodiversity Stewardship in the Western Cape. Sites from within a number of identified priority corridors were filtered on the basis of several key criteria, with highest ranked sites being those that are within Climate Change corridors, with most extensive areas of remnant threatened habitat held by a single landowner, and adjacent to other extensive CR or EN properties, located close to an existing formal Protected Areas.

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2.3 CAPENATURE SPATIAL PRIORITIES FOR PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION

Figure 6 CapeNatures three to five year portfolio of priority sites for Protected Area expansion by Biodiversity Stewardship. Although the target is a total of 96 sites by end of year five, 200 alternatives are provided to allow for unwilling landowners and failed negotiations. Note that although sites are clustered mostly in threatened lowland habitats that they also fall within identified priority corridors. Wherever possible sites are close to existing Protected Areas.

2.3.1 Applying the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy to the Western Cape

The CapeNature PAES is aligned to the concepts and goals of the 2008 National PAES

(NPAES). There is some spatial overlap in priority sites, but we do identify many different

spatial priorities. This is required for a number of reasons. Most importantly, spatial planning

is based on finer scale informants than the NPAES, and CapeNatures primary

implementation mechanism is Biodiversity Stewardship. This allowed identification of sites

that meet all the key NPAES prioritisation criteria of highest biodiversity value, extreme

urgency, and cost-effective protected area establishment opportunities. A key additional

factor was that CapeNature planned specifically to mitigate the implementation risk inherent

in negotiation with private landowners. Selected sites can form the core of expansion nodes

in priority connectivity and climate adaptation corridors, but will still be excellent conservation

investments if no further adjacent sites are added. We feel this is a sound approach in

general, but particularly when the resources to implement this plan are limited.

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2.3.2 Western Cape Provincial Biodiversity Framework

The Western Cape Biodiversity Framework (WCBF) currently being finalised under the

auspices of C.A.P.E. is a compilation of all the current fine scale conservation plans across

the Western Cape. The WCBF provides a common Critical Biodiversity Areas framework for

all the different plans. Importantly where different plans overlap or disagree, the framework

identifies only the best current informants by consultation with all the planners involved.

Where fine-scale planning is not yet complete, the WCBF does identify those features

already known to be CBAs such as natural remnants of Critically Endangered ecosystems,

The CapeNature PAES is based on data derived from a preliminary version of the WCBF,

and the final version will be used to regularly update the spatial priorities to account for

progress, and to develop a spatial plan for land acquisition.

2.3.3 Focal Areas The following areas where identified as key site clusters within identified critical connectivity

and climate adaptation corridors (descriptions adapted from Pence 2009):

West Coast Cederberg Mountains

This area comprises the original Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor, and is a

high priority due to existing planning and implementation, plus acknowledged threats

(primarily agriculture, climate change and too frequent fires in the mountain areas),

high diversity of endemics and threatened plant species, and climate change

relevance.

The corridor runs from the West Coast, where Strandveld vegetation is dominant

(few threatened species), inland across the Sandveld (Sand Fynbos dominant; rich in

threatened species), and then up into the Olifants River Mountains, down into the

Olifants River valley, and up again into the high peaks of the Cederberg (rich in

threatened and endemic species). Altitude ranges from sea level to over 2000m, and

topographic diversity is exceptionally high (lowland, montane, upland lowland

gradients), especially in the eastern half of the corridor. The corridor includes the

Verlorenvlei and its catchments, the largest natural freshwater body on the Cape

West Coast, and a RAMSAR site. The Olifants River is one of the three largest

perennial rivers in the region, and is especially important for endemic fish (although

mostly outside the designated corridor). Numerous soil (edaphic) interfaces are

present, often on a small, unmapped scale. Primary threats are ongoing agricultural

expansion (mainly in the Sandveld, Olifants River Mountains, and Olifants River

Valley), alien plant invasion (relatively insignificant, except along rivers and in

wetlands), and too frequent fires (especially in the mountains east of the Olifants

River). The primary bottlenecks occur in the lowland areas of the Sandveld and in the

Olifants River valley, and in some of these cases rehabilitation of old lands may be a

real and worthwhile option.

West Coast Berg River

An entirely lowland corridor, with little topographic diversity. The corridor falls entirely

with the Sandveld bioregion, and passes through the Hopefield Flats centre of

endemism. The dominant soil type is acid sand, which supports Sand Fynbos with

surprisingly high small mammal densities, and a significant number of threatened

plant species. It also borders on the western edges of the Swartland, with its Shale

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Renosterveld, and vegetation along this ecotone is species rich, and very high in

threatened species. The corridor incorporates substantial Strandveld elements. The

relatively aridity and infertile soils mean that this is one of the largest remaining areas

of intact natural vegetation in the region, and it is thus also an obvious target for

expansion of the West Coast National Park, which currently conserves relatively little

Sand Fynbos (it is mostly Strandveld). The corridor also incorporates parts of the

Sout River, one of the very few Sandveld rivers. The Berg River and its associated

floodplains and salt marshes is an exceptionally important perennial wetland system,

especially for birds. Primary threats are agricultural expansion (potatoes and

rooibos), and alien invasive Acacias (severe in places).

Riverlands Pella Bokbaai

An entirely lowland corridor, although it does incorporate the Mamre Hills. Selected

for the very high numbers of local endemics and threatened plant species, and

anchored by Pella and Riverlands Nature Reserves both managed by CapeNature.

Existing conservation initiatives at Mamre commonage and on various private

properties. Atlantis dune fields property (south-western portion of corridor) managed

by City of Cape Town for water catchment. Riverlands is quite exceptional in the

CFR, and has the greatest concentration of threatened plant species of any

CapeNature reserve over 100 RDB species (Koopman & Helme pers comm. 2010).

Located within the south-western coastal lowlands, and borders on the southern

edge of the Swartland. Altitude ranges from sea level to about 300m. Incorporates

some of the best examples of acid sands in the region (all very poorly protected)

supporting Sand Fynbos, with Renosterveld (granite and shale) on the Mamre hills.

Many sites have long been known to be regional conservation priorities as identified

by Jarman in his 1986report and Killian in 1995. Major threats are alien vegetation

(severe in places), agricultural expansion, and urban development (Atlantis, Mamre,

and Chatsworth). Various bottlenecks notably just west of railway between Pella

and Riverlands (owned by Intersite (Transnet)), and southeast of Mamre.

Elandsberg Mountains Witsenberg Mountains

The obvious western anchor point is the large Elandsberg Contract Nature Reserve

(4000ha) at the western base of the Limietberg Mountains (south of Voelvlei dam),

which is the largest privately owned Renosterveld conservation area, with very high

levels of threatened species. This then links into the Sandstone Fynbos and shale

bands of the (relatively high altitude) Elandsberg and Limietberg Mountains, via

Waterfall State Forest, and then descends into the heavily transformed Tulbagh

valley, where key corridors have already been identified in the Renosterveld and

Alluvium Fynbos remnants (very high levels of endemism and threatened species).

To the east this connects with the high altitude (1600m) Witzenberg Mountains

(Sandstone Fynbos), which have important north south connectivity as well. The

bottlenecks are all in the Tulbagh valley, and rehabilitation of key corridors should be

considered. The primary threats are agriculture (in the lowlands), and alien invasive

plants (in the montane areas), along with too frequent fires (montane areas). An

extensive pine and gum plantation at the southern end of Waterfall State Forest

includes some important habitat remnants (on Silcrete).

35

Klein River Mountains Salmonsdam Mountains De Mond

Selected sites are key Elim Ferricrete and Renosterveld sites within a broader

corridor that could technically link with the Botriver Riviersonderend and

Babilonstoring corridors via the Klein River Mountains (Maanskynkop, Vogelgat

Nature Reserve and Fernkloof Municipal Reserve). Together they include a

significant chunk of the Sandstone Fynbos diversity of the southern Overberg, and

the area is home to many rare and localised species. The corridor is both montane

(Sandstone Fynbos) and lowland (Renosterveld and Sand Fynbos, with Dune

Strandveld and Limestone Fynbos in coastal areas), and ranges in altitude from

700m to sea level. The corridor is poorly conserved, apart from the Salmonsdam

Nature Reserve, and the CapeNature run De Mond reserve at the coast. Main threats

are alien vegetation (severe in places (such as the eastern Klein River Mountains),

and many areas in the early stages of serious invasion), and agriculture (especially

wine). Corridor includes the critical freshwater wetlands (floodplains and riverine) of

the Nuwejaarsrivier, which feeds the Agulhas Plain wetlands the largest remaining

lowland wetland area in the CFR, and partly within the Agulhas National Park.

Corridor connects to very important coastal strip from Agulhas National Park east to

Arniston and De Hoop. Bottlenecks include the Heuningnes river where it is crossed

by the Struisbaai road, and various other points in the Nuwejaarsrivier area in the

Elim area. Euston- Brown has previously identified the Salmonsdam range as an

important climate refuge, and this could in fact be applied to the entire south slope of

the mountains within this corridor, due to the abundant presence of summer

southeast cloud and associated precipitation.

Ruens Silcrete Hills - De Hoop Vlei

A Critically Endangered lowland corridor, with riverine elements connecting into the

important De Hoop vlei. Selected sites are in the most extensive remaining area of

totally unconserved Ruens Silcrete Hills (Renosterveld) to the coast, via the existing

De Hoop Reserve and its mix of Strandveld and Limestone Fynbos. The Reserve

currently protects very little Renosterveld, and one of the two highest priorities in the

region is the Silcrete hill area to the north (the other is the Potberg foot slopes in the

east). The Silcrete hills support many localised and threatened species, including a

number of undescribed species. In addition, some of the rare species are succulents

most closely related to Little Karoo and Worcester Robertson Karoo species,

indicating some sort of previous link in that direction (possibly via the Breede River

valley to the east). Main ongoing threat is agriculture (ploughing, and trampling by

livestock). Various bottlenecks and rehabilitation of old lands would be recommended

to restore or widen certain key links.

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CHAPTER 3: CAPENATURES FIVE YEAR PROTECTED AREA EXPANSION

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (JULY 2010 MARCH 2015)

The National Biodiversity Framework (NBF) (DEAT 2008) highlights the development of the

NPAES and the implementation of its first five years as two of the 33 priority actions for the

biodiversity sector to be carried out between 2008 and 2013.The NPAES, in response

includes both a 20-year strategy with 20-year targets and a five-year target which is to be

revised every five years. The Provinces were thus called to submit their Protected Area

Expansion Plans and CapeNatures response (this document) includes a 20-year strategy

and a five-year implementation plan, as discussed in this chapter.

As expressed in Section 2.1 CapeNatures five-year implementation plan will focus on those

areas comprised of Critical Biodiversity Areas which form the core corridors for climate

change adaptation and ecological functioning, have exceptional biodiversity and are under

significant threat of loss. The sites should be comprised of threatened habitat which act as

key anchor sites capable of surviving, even if secured only in isolation.

The CapeNature five-year implementation plan will make use of Biodiversity Stewardship as

its main mechanism to secure these sites as formally declared Protected Areas. Its second

mechanism will be land acquisition through partnership agreements and alternative funding

mechanisms will also be investigated and considered during this first implementation phase.

The five-year implementation plan will endeavour to:

Negotiate and contract Stewardship Agreements identified for the first two years

and source funding for further negotiation of sites in year three to five.

Revise CapeNatures Land Acquisition Policy.

Formalise an MOU with WWF-SA regards land acquisition and management.

Undertake an assessment on all state-owned land which has been identified as a

Critical Biodiversity Area.

Determine which Forestry Exit areas are available for conservation and negotiate

for the areas which are Critical Biodiversity Areas.

Investigate the options of a financial biodiversity offset mechanism and if possible

mobilize its formation and operations.

Re-evaluate the interpretation of the Ramsar Convention and declaration of

Ramsar sites, outside of existing Protected Areas.

Evaluate unproclaimed Mountain Catchments for declaration and investigate the

promulgation of regulations as well as the assignment of management authorities

for Mountain Catchment Areas.

Establish a Protected Area Management Fund.

Establish a Land Acquisition Fund.

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3.1 BIODIVERSITY STEWARDSHIP AS THE PRIMARY MECHANISM FOR PROTECTED

AREA EXPANSION

Biodiversity Stewardship is the practice of effectively managing biodiversity outside of the

existing state-managed Protected Area system. It achieves this by placing the responsibility

into the hands of the private landowners to conserve biodiversity on their own land through a

variety of contractual agreements.

The Biodiversity Stewardship Programme was formally launched in CapeNature in 2003

after a successful two-year pilot phase and has since secured 38 Contract Nature Reserves

agreements amounting to 49 081ha which contribute to the formal Protected Areas of the

Province. The Programme has also concluded a further 19 Biodiversity and 28 Conservation

Area agreements which do not have formal conservation status but contribute to the

improved ecological management of the landscape (see Appendix 3: Biodiversity

Stewardship Categories).

The institutional motivation for adopting Biodiversity Stewardship as a core strategy for

CapeNature is that 80% of conservation-worthy biodiversity is located on private land in the

Western Cape and that Biodiversity Stewardship is widely regarded as one of the most cost-

effective and feasible mechanisms for protecting important natural systems across the world

(Jackelman et al., 2008).

CapeNatures investment into the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme is of paramount