The Draft National List of Threatened Ecosystems (Notice 1477 of 2009, Government Gazette No 32689, 6 November 2009) has been gazetted for public comment. Comments on this document should be sent to Wilma Lutsch at DEA (wlutsch@deat.gov.za). Closing date for comments: 7th December 2009
Sections
The Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) provides for listing threatened or protected ecosystems, in one of four categories: critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN), vulnerable (VU) or protected. The purpose of listing threatened ecosystems is primarily to reduce the rate of ecosystem and species extinction. This includes preventing further degradation and loss of structure, function and composition of threatened ecosystems. The purpose of listing protected ecosystems is primarily to preserve witness sites of exceptionally high conservation value.
It was agreed early on in the listing process that a phased approach should be taken, given the complexity of the process. The current (first) phase of listing deals with threatened ecosystems in the terrestrial environment. Future phases will deal with threatened ecosystems in the freshwater, estuarine and marine environments, and with protected ecosystems in all environments.
Threatened terrestrial ecosystems make up 9.5% of the country, with critically endangered and endangered ecosystems together accounting for 2.7% and vulnerable ecosystems a further 6.8%. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the original and remaining extent of the ecosystems respectively. Click here for the table providing the list of threatened terrestrial ecosystems and click here for the interactive map. Please note that the maps below are for information purposes only and are not interactive.
Figure 1: Original extent of identified threatened ecosystems
Figure 2: Remaining extent of identified threatened ecosystems
Principles for identifying threatened or protected ecosystems
As a starting point, the following principles were established for identifying threatened or protected ecosystems:
- The approach must be explicit and repeatable
- The approach must be target-driven and systematic, especially for threatened ecosystems
- The approach must follow the same logic as the IUCN approach to listing threatened species, whereby a number of criteria are developed and an ecosystem is listed based on its highest ranking criterion
- The identification of ecosystems to be listed must be based on scientifically credible, practical and simple criteria, which must translate into spatially explicit identification of ecosystems.
How have listed ecosystems been defined?
The purpose and rationale for listing ecosystems as well as the legal implications were considered when deciding on the appropriate spatial scale to list ecosystems. These considerations combined require that listed ecosystems be defined at the local rather than the regional scale. For the current phase of listing, threatened terrestrial ecosystems have been delineated based on one of the following: the South African Vegetation Map, national forest types recognised by DWAF, priority areas identified in a provincial systematic biodiversity plan, or high irreplaceability forests patches or clusters systematically identified by DWAF.
Criteria for identifying threatened terrestrial ecosystems
All listed ecosystems have been identified based on carefully developed and consistently applied national criteria. There has been strong emphasis on the use of best available science as well as on the realities of implementation, to ensure that the list of threatened ecosystems is both scientifically rigorous and implementable.
Six criteria were developed for threatened terrestrial ecosystems. Of these six criteria, four (A, C, D and F) were used and the remaining two (B and E) are dormant owing to lack of data. Two of the criteria (A and D) were split into sub-criteria. The six criteria for threatened terrestrial ecosystems are:
Criterion A1: Irreversible loss of natural habitat
Criterion A2: Ecosystem degradation and loss of integrity
Criterion B: Rate of loss of natural habitat
Criterion C: Limited extent and imminent threat
Criterion D1: Threatened plant species associations
Criterion D2: Threatened animal species associations
Criterion E: Fragmentation
Criterion F: Priority areas for meeting explicit biodiversity targets as defined in a systematic biodiversity plan
The criteria and thresholds for critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable ecosystems and explained in more detail in the document on Threatened Ecosystems in South Africa: General Information.
Implications of listing threatened ecosystems
There are four main types of implications of listing an ecosystem:
- Planning related implications, linked to the requirement in the Biodiversity Act for listed ecosystems to be taken into account in municipal IDPs and SDFs;
- Environmental authorisation implications, in terms of NEMA and EIA regulations;
- Proactive management implications, in terms of the Biodiversity Act;
- Monitoring and reporting implications, in terms of the Biodiversity Act.
In terms of the EIA regulations a basic assessment report is required for the transformation or removal of indigenous vegetation in a critically endangered or endangered ecosystem i.e. the threshold falls away. It is important to note that while the original extent of each listed ecosystem has been mapped, a basic assessment report in terms of the EIA regulations is only triggered in remaining natural habitat within each ecosystem and not in portions of the ecosystem where natural habitat has already been irreversibly lost.
Further information on these implications can be found in the document on Threatened Ecosystems in South Africa: General Information.
Relationship to the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2004
The National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA) 2004 included early attempts to identify threatened ecosystems. However, the identification of threatened terrestrial ecosystems for the current phase of listing has been much more detailed and comprehensive, using additional criteria and data. This means that the list of threatened terrestrial ecosystems presented here supersedes the information regarding terrestrial ecosystem status in the NSBA 2004.
Additional information
The following documents are available:
These documents provide background information on the listing of threatened or protected ecosystems. The first document provides information on the listing process including the purpose and rationale for listing ecosystems, the criteria used to identify listed ecosystems, the implications of listing ecosystems, and summary statistics and maps of listed ecosystems. It is accompanied by the second document, Threatened Ecosystems in South Africa: Descriptions and Maps, which gives detailed information on each listed ecosystem.
The Draft National List of Threatened Ecosystems (Notice 1477 of 2009, Government Gazette No 32689, 6 November 2009) has been gazetted for public comment. Comments on this document should be sent to Wilma Lutsch at DEA (wlutsch@deat.gov.za). Closing date for comments: 7th December 2009
