Overview

Sited within the Succulent Karoo - one of only two semi-arid biodiversity hotspots in the world, and exhibiting by far the highest plant diversity of any arid ecosystem - the Namakwa District Municipality (NDM) is located in the North West of South Africa. It covers both Succulent Karoo (winter rainfall) and Nama Karoo (summer rainfall) arid systems as well as a small part of the Mediterranean-climate Fynbos in the extreme SW of the District. Having both summer and winter rainfall arid zones in the DM means that it is an area containing an exceptional variety of biodiversity.

Spanning approximately 12.686M ha, the NDM is the biggest District in South Africa and spans from the Lower Orange River in the North to the border of the Western Cape in the South. This area includes Namaqualand, which comprises of approximately one third of the Succulent Karoo biome, and lies within four of the six Local Municipalities within the NDM (namely, the Richtersveld, Nama Khoi, Khai Ma and Kamiesberg local municipalities). The lower two municipalities (Hantam and Karoo Hoogland) are characterized by Nama Karoo vegetation.

Purpose

The Namakwa District Biodiversity Sector Plan is intended to help guide land-use planning, environmental assessments and authorisations; and, natural resource management in order to promote sustainable development. It has been developed to further the awareness of the unique biodiversity in the area, the value this biodiversity represents to people and promote the management mechanisms that can ensure its protection and sustainable utilisation.

The purpose of this document is to ensure that biodiversity information can be accessed and utilized by local municipalities within the Namakwa District Municipality (NDM) to inform land use planning and development as well as decision making processes within the NDM. To achieve this, this biodiversity profile information has been incorporated into the environmental planning section of the Spatial Development Frameworks (SDF's) for each of the six local municipalities in the district. This information includes maps and land use guidelines, which form part of the Integrated Development Plans (IDP’s) of the municipalities. Thus, it is hoped that environmental considerations will be better taken into account within land use planning processes, especially within the identified Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) – which are areas that have been identified through conservation planning processes as irreplaceable, as well as key to the maintenance of ecosystem services.

In terms of the National Environment Management Act (NEMA) 107 of 1998, all organs of state are obligated to take biodiversity considerations into account and to ensure decisions are informed by the most up to date information. NEMA also states that, although the environment is a functional area of concurrent national and provincial legislative competence, all spheres of government and all organs of state must co-operate with, consult and support one another. Use of the CBA map and associated land use guidelines will support municipalities and other sectors as they provide a common reference point of Critical Biodiversity Areas in the NDM for incorporation into multi-sectoral planning processes.

Intended Users

Users of this document and map products should include all sectors involved in land-use planning and decision-making, as well as other multi-sectoral planning processes. The products provide a common point of reference for municipal officials, planning and environmental professionals, National and Provincial Environmental Departments, National & Provincial Agricultural Departments, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Department of Minerals and Energy, Department of Land Affairs, Department of Local Government & Housing, Department of Public Works, Catchment Management Associations; and all organs of state preparing guidelines in terms of section 74 of the Environmental Impact Assessment regulations. Programmes such as Working for Water, Working for Wetlands, LandCare, CoastCare; private landowners, estate agents, the general public and conservation NGOs are also recommended users. This document covers the six local municipalities in the Namakwa District, excluding the two District Municipality Areas.

Project document 

The final Namakwa Biodiversity Sector Plan has yet to be gazetted. The project document presented here is the second version of the draft document. The final biodiversity plan is due to be gazetted in October, and the document will be released subsequently.