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Waterberg Biosphere Reserve 2001 - 2012

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Waterberg Biosphere Reserve 2001 - 2012 WATERBERG BIOSPHERE RESERVE 2001 - 2012 APPLICATION FOR EXPANSION OF RESERVE TO UNESCO MAB COMMISSION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY September 2012 1 INTRODUCTION Some years ago renowned conservationist Clive Walker predicted that the Waterberg would yet emerge as one of the most important and significant conservation areas in South Africa. With a great potential for tourism, game ranching, hunting and environmental awareness, together with the richness and abundance of biodiversity in both plant and animal life, the Waterberg is an incredibly important area for conservation in the South African context. Recent conservation plans at both the provincial and national levels recognise the importance of the Waterberg Mountain Complex ecosystem and with this support the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve’s next step to ensure good governance of the area is to expand the current biosphere to include all of the Waterberg Mountain Complex to provide ecosystem and land use planning integrity. A biosphere reserve is a designated area of importance that falls outside the confined protected areas network such as provincial game reserves and national parks. It is also an area where people live and work. The area can include villages, towns, farming and agriculture, tourism, hunting, businesses and services. The main aim of the biosphere reserve is to ensure that while people utilise the area for their livelihoods and produce a strong economy, negative impacts on the environment and the area‟s reputation as a tourism destination are kept to a minimum and ecosystems remain intact and in good health. There are specific criteria that an area must have to qualify for biosphere reserve status. The criteria include the following: habitat or ecosystem diversity; high species numbers or high biological diversity; the area should be suitable for sustainable development; and it should be of a suitable size to include different land use types and to fulfil all biosphere functions. For an area to be chosen as a biosphere reserve is an honour but also a great responsibility. There are three main functions which, while applicable to all biospheres, are interpreted by each one according to their individual locations and circumstances as articulated in their own specific aims and objectives. Broadly speaking, these fall into three categories - conservation, development and logistic support, where the latter is essentially the development, encouragement and facilitation of education, learning and training, including skills training. Biosphere reserves are organised through the Man and Biosphere Programme (MaB) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Currently the world network consists of 580 biosphere reserves in 114 countries. In South Africa there are six biosphere reserves in all, three in Limpopo (Kruger to Canyons (2001); Waterberg (2001) and Vhembe (2009)) and three in Cape Province (Kogelberg (1998)1; Cape West Coast (2000);); and Cape Winelands (2007)). WHY THE WATERBERG BECAME A BIOSPHERE RESERVE The Waterberg has a sparse human population and wilderness quality. The area is mostly unspoilt with important habitats. The area has superb biological diversity including some rare and endangered species. It is extremely rich in birdlife, wildlife and plants and hosts an amazing array of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrate life. The Waterberg has numerous seasonal streams, rivers and wetland areas and the whole area comprises of an important water catchment area in a notoriously water scarce province. An area of 14,500 km2 supports a greater area of 42,500 km2 in 1 Date proclaimed by UNESCO. 2 terms of water. The Waterberg area also contains important San rock art paintings, some probably still undiscovered, as well as other historical and cultural sites, and is home to a number of population groups with strong cultural links to the past. THE WBR VISION & MISSION Vision To maximise this unique area‟s considerable potential for not only conservation, sustainable development and social upliftment, but also research and education Mission To build a conservation and sustainable-use ethic, by establishing and facilitating the implementation of a code of good practice which can then be effectively monitored To promote appropriate and sustainable development, ensuring that the wilderness character and conservation value of the Waterberg as an important water catchment, natural resource and nature-based tourism destination is retained to the benefit of its people To actively spread benefits and opportunities to poorer members of the community To facilitate relevant research, education and skills training in the area. THE WBR FROM 2001 TO 2012: WHY THE WBR IS EXPANDING AND REZONING Map 1: The WBR as mapped and zoned in 2001. In common with all biosphere reserves, the WBR area is divided into different zones. This allows for the identification and promotion of suitable land uses over the area. The zones are called “core” (conservation areas), “buffer” (low intensity land uses) and “transition” (medium to high intensity land uses). When the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve concept was first being developed during 1997 to 1999, the layout (boundaries and zones, map 1) were developed in coordination with participating government departments, private landowners and rural communities. An important organisation in the creation of the WBR was the Waterberg Nature Conservancy (WNC). This organisation had members that were landowners who were orientated to conservation practices and who actively supported the formation of the WBR. As a consequence the zoning system was produced around these participating landowners, whereby formally protected state land, such as provincial nature reserves and national parks, constituted the core areas of the Reserve while private land belonging to WNC members became the buffer zone. Little regard was given to important habitats or ecosystems, river catchment areas nor biodiversity hotspots in the development of 3 the original WBR. The Reserve was determined to be 654,000 ha in size and to cover a swathe, but not all, of the Waterberg Plateau. This spatial arrangement (Map 1), while adequate during the establishment phase of WBR, has proved increasingly problematic over the intervening years as development pressures and threats to the environment and the area‟s sense of place have intensified. In particular, applications by prospective developers to establish dense residential settlements throughout the landscape, as well as development pressures associated with the expansion of the mining sector and the development of the Waterberg Coal Field (and associated distribution networks and infrastructure), have exposed the necessity for a more scientifically based, strategically minded zonation system. Furthermore, many important areas fall outside the existing WBR, and therefore the WBR cannot encourage conservation and sustainable development in these areas. This situation could lead to irreparable damage to the ecological systems and natural resources required for the continued protection and sustainability of the unique biodiversity in the area as well as further repercussions on the economy which, on the Waterberg Plateau, is driven mostly by the wildlife industry and nature-based tourism businesses. At the same time, the need for development, particularly in the face of high levels of unemployment and poverty, cannot be ignored. Rather, suitable trade-offs should be made between conservation and development and such development should be correctly planned and managed, to ensure that development takes place in appropriate locations and in a sensitive manner, thereby allowing for both conservation and development goals to be met. Critically, one of the most promising drivers of development, namely nature based tourism, is dependent upon the conservation of the WBR‟s environment, species diversity and unfettered visual landscapes. It is with this purpose in mind that a Management Plan was developed for the WBR in 2011. In addition, it was determined that the WBR request approval from UNESCO to expand the boundaries of the Reserve and rezone it in line with the challenges at hand. The groundwork for this process has been greatly assisted by the development of a formal spatial planning scheme done for the entire Waterberg District Municipality, and adopted by national government in 2012, namely the Waterberg District Environmental Management Framework. THE WATERBERG DISTRICT ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK (WDEMF) Map 3: Waterberg District’s EMF map showing the zonation for the WBR area. 4 THE WBR FROM 2012 During the development of the WDEMF, the Waterberg Complex was identified as a unique conservation area in the South African context. The WDEMF states that the Waterberg escarpment is an important feature of the area and is an asset that should be protected. The work done and maps produced for the WDEMF were used to determine the most logical boundaries for the expansion and rezoning of the WBR. THE WBR ZONATION The zonation of the WBR was based upon the evaluation of three criteria. The first being the status of the ecology; the second being conservation priorities; and the third, development pressure. Status of the Ecology The status of the ecology forms an important consideration in deciding on the zonation of the WBR, as the least disturbed or transformed areas are valuable conservation assets, whilst the highly disturbed and transformed areas are unlikely to be of great conservation value. It is important
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