INTEGRATED RESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN ZANDVLEI ESTUARY NATURE RESERVE June 2011 AUTHORIZATION PAGE This Integrated Management Plan for the Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve was drafted by the Area Manager and recommended by the Reserve Planning Team, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of: Reserve Planning Team: Branch Manager, Regional Manager, Area Manager, Biophysical Specialist, Biodiversity Coordinator, Sustainable Resource Specialist and Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator _____________________________________ Casandra Sheasby – Area Manager Biodiversity Management Branch Environmental Resource Management Department City of Cape Town Name and Title Signature and Date Mr Jacob Hugo Executive Director: Economic, Environment and Spatial Planning Directorate Approved by: Name and Title Signature and Date Mr Anton Bredell Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning DOCUMENTED Integrated Reserve Management Plan This management plan replaces any previous versions Document Version: Prepared by: Adele Pretorius Version.02: June 2011 Responsibility: Reserve Management plans Document reference: Approved by: Mr Anton Bredell (DEA&DP reference to be Position: Minister of Local Government, Environmental inserted) Affairs and Development Planning Date of approval: Date of implementation : Immediate Distribution: Distribute as Reserve Management Plan to relevant staff in the City of Cape Town for immediate implementation. Date for Revision: June 2016 INTEGRATED RESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN Compiled by Dalton Gibbs, Vaughn Thompson and Cassandra Sheasby Biodiversity Management Branch Environmental Resource Management Department City of Cape Town ZANDVLEI ESTUARY NATURE RESERVE June 2011 ISBN NUMBER TABLE OF CONTENTS PART SECTIONS AND SUBSECTIONS PAGE NUMBER NUMBER List of maps ii List of figures ii List of tables ii List of appendices iii List of abbreviations used iv Part 1 1. Introduction 1 Description 1.1 Aim of the Integrated Reserve Management Plan 3 1.2 Location and extent 6 2. Description of landholdings and ownership 9 2.1 Property details and title deed information 9 2.2 Landscape perspective 12 2.3 Physical environment 13 2.4 Biological environment 18 2.5 Socio-political context 23 2.6 Protected-area expansion 24 3. Purpose, vision/mission, significance/value 24 3.1 Purpose of the protected area 24 3.2 Vision and mission 25 3.3 Significance of property (biodiversity, heritage and social) 26 Part 2 4. Administrative and legal framework for the management 28 Management authority policy 4.1 Legal framework 28 framework 4.2 Administrative framework 35 5. Protected-area policy framework &guiding management 36 principles 5.1 Management objectives 36 5.2 SWOT analysis 45 5.3 Protected-area policy framework and guiding 47 managementprinciples 5.4 Sensitivity analysis of Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve 53 5.5 Zoningplan of Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve 54 6. Development plan 57 7. Costing plan 58 Part 3 8. Monitoring &auditing 60 Monitoring &auditing 8.1 Annual audit procedure 60 8.2 Management plan review 61 8.3 Biodiversity monitoring 61 Part 4 9. References 63 References Part 5 10. Appendices 65 Appendices Integrated Reserve Management Plan | i List of maps Page numbers Map 1: Reserve location in Cape Town 7 Map 2: Reserve boundaries 8 Map 3: Reserve erven 11 Map 4: Catchments, including rivers and wetlands 16 Map 5: Nature reserve and biodiversity network 17 Map 6: Reserve zoning 56 List of figures Page numbers Figure 1: The Zandvlei estuary, comprising the channel, vlei, marina and wetland, with the 1-in-100-year floodline shown 2 Figure 2: Elements of the IRMP 4 Figure 3: Legal and planning framework for the IRMP 5 List of tables Page numbers Table 1: Erf numbers for Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve 9 Table 2.1: Average monthly rainfall as measured at Muizenberg weather 13 station Table 2.2: Actual monthly rainfall as measured at Park Island, Zandvlei 13 Table 3: Legal framework 28 Table 4: Current staffing complement of Zandvlei Nature Reserve 35 Table 5: Management objectives for Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve 36 Table 6: Socio-economic objectives for Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve 41 Table 7: Preliminary SWOT analysis 45 Table 8: Broad costing management plan for the reserve 58 Table 9: Current monitoring arrangements at Zandvlei Estuary Nature 62 Reserve Integrated Reserve Management Plan | ii List of appendices A. Legal Documents Appendix 1 Surveyor-general diagrams for Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve B. Species checklists Appendix 2 Plant species list Appendix 3 Mammal species list Appendix 4 Bird species list Appendix 5 Reptile species list Appendix 6 Amphibian species list Appendix 7 Invertebrate species list Appendix 8 Fish species list C. Other documents, as required Appendix 9 Historical aerial photographs of Zandvlei Appendix 10 Comprehensive security audit of the Biodiversity Management Branch of the City of Cape Town Appendix 11 Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve fire management plan Appendix 12 Sensitivity-value analysis and zoning Appendix 13 Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool South Africa Integrated Reserve Management Plan | iii List of abbreviations used APO annual plan of operations C.A.P.E Cape Action for People and the Environment CDF Conservation Development Framework CFR Cape Floristic Region EIA environmental impact assessment IDP Integrated Development Plan IMEP Integrated Metropolitan Environmental Policy IRMP Integrated Reserve Management Plan IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature LBSAP Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan METT-SA Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool South Africa MOU memorandum of understanding RPC Reserve Planning Committee SANBI South African National Biodiversity Institute SWOT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats TOR terms of reference Integrated Reserve Management Plan | iv PART 1 DESCRIPTION 1. INTRODUCTION Zandvlei is an estuary located in the south-western corner of the Cape Flats, near Muizenberg, a small coastal town on the False Bay coastline. The reserve was started when 22 ha along the northern shore of the vlei was proclaimed the Zandvlei Bird Sanctuary in 1978. This was enlarged to 204 ha with the proclamation of the Greater Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve (the expansion of the boundaries) on 26 October 2006 in terms of Provincial Gazette 6389/27, October 2006 (PN 344/2006). The reserve lies some 20,4 km from Cape Town. The catchment for the Zandvlei estuary falls entirely within the boundaries of the City of Cape Town, and is bordered by the Muizenberg mountain, Silvermine plateau, Constantia mountain, Cecilia Ridge, Wynberg Hill and a less conspicuous watershed along the eastern boundary. It is a relatively small catchment, comprising an area of 92 km2, or 9,655 ha, and is drained by a number of rivers and streams, of which the main ones are the Little Princess Vlei stream, Westlake stream, the Keysers river, Langvlei canal and the Sand river canal/Diep river. These rivers converge on Zandvlei, with the Keysers river and Westlake stream entering it through an extensive reed bed on its north-western margin, while the Sand river canal enters the vlei west of Wildwood Island. The wetland area covers some 60 ha, while the main body of the vlei is 56 ha. In addition, the system includes a marina of 31 ha along its eastern margin, and an outlet channel of 9 ha, which links to the sea on the north-western shore of False Bay. Both the northern and lateral boundaries comprise the 100-year flood line, as shown in figure 1. Integrated Reserve Management Plan | 1 Figure 1: The Zandvlei estuary, comprising the channel, vlei, marina and wetland, with the 1-in- 100-year flood line shown Integrated Reserve Management Plan | 2 Although the catchment as a whole has a relatively low population, the eastern parts together with lower reaches of the river – including the estuary – fall within a highly urbanised environment. The 1996 census data put the population figure at 10472 for Muizenberg, Lakeside and Marina da Gama alone, while the projections from Thornton and colleagues (1995) suggest that the population for the catchment as a whole could be of the order of 100000. There is also an increased understanding of the need to maintain the environmental health of Zandvlei in order to optimise the recreational and conservation benefits. In addition, Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve has a strong environmental education programme, which involves both students from local schools and a number of environmental clubs. Local residents are actively involved in the management of the area. The strategic management planning process that resulted in the development of an Integrated Reserve Management Plan (IRMP) for Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve began with the definition of the vision followed by the purpose of the reserve. This purpose is then supported by desired states for the reserve. The reserve objectives contribute to realising the purpose and desired states. For each desired state, a number of management objectives are identified. These management objectives are then implemented through the identification of outputs. Objectives for each desired state are prioritised for the five-year time horizon of the plan. Time frames, deliverables, performance indicators and targets are then allocated to each objective, or a group of linked outputs contributing to the desired state. In context, this IRMP is a dynamic document, and the detailed subsidiary plans should be updated on an annual basis or as soon as new information comes to light