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ZIRCO ROODE HEUWEL (PTY) LTD, NORTHERN CAPE KAMIESBERG PROJECT, NAMAQUALAND, SOUTH AFRICA BOTANICAL BASELINE AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT Prepared for: Prepared by: Zirco Roode Heuwel (Pty) Ltd Coastal & Environmental Services 25 Mark Street P.O. Box 934, Stellenbosch, 7600 Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa South Africa 18 September 2014 Coastal & i This Report should be cited as follows: N Helme, Martin, T and Davenport, N. September 2014: Zirco Roode Heuwel Kamiesberg Project, Northern Cape, South Africa. Botanical Assessment Report, Coastal & Environmental Services (CES), Grahamstown. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION This document contains intellectual property and proprietary information that is protected by copyright in favour of Coastal & Environmental Services. The document may therefore not be reproduced, used or distributed to any third party without the prior written consent of Coastal & Environmental Services. This document is prepared exclusively for submission to Zirco Roode Heuwel (Pty) Ltd, and is subject to all confidentiality, copyright and trade secrets, rules intellectual property law and practices of South Africa. Coastal & Environmental Services ii Zirco Roode Heuwel (Pty) Ltd Botanical Assessment Report – October 2014 AUTHORS Nic Davenport, Senior Environmental Consultant. Nic holds a BSc (Env Sci and Zoology), BSc (Hons) and MSc (with distinction) in Environmental Science from Rhodes University. His MSc dealt with valuing the tangible contributions of natural resources to urban households’ livelihoods from the surrounding municipal commonage of three different towns in South Africa. Nic’s experience in the consulting field relates to ecological and land use studies throughout southern Africa, but also incorporates facilitating sustainable development, public participation and budget management. He is also competent with GIS particularly with ArcGIS 9. His interests include natural resource management, ecological studies dealing with indigenous fauna and flora, particularly terrestrial, wetland, and avifaunal studies. Werner Conradie, Herpetologist Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld) Werner holds a Masters in Environmental Science (M.Env.Sc), specialising in Herpetology and Zoology in general with 8 years of experience in southern African herpetofauna. Main research interests focus on the taxonomy, conservation and ecology of amphibians and reptiles of southern Africa. Co-author of ‘Field Guide to the Frogs and Toads of the Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site’ and numerous scientific papers. Research expeditions include countries like Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola and Malawi. Nick Helme, Botanist Nick holds a BSc (Botany & Zoology) and BSC (Hons) in Botany from the University of Cape Town. He has worked as a botanical consultant since 1998, specialising in the diverse flora of the greater Cape Floristic Region. During this period he has undertaken over 1200 site assessments, has contributed to various publications, including the Red List of South African Plants, the SA Vegetation Map, and the Conspectus of Cape Plants, has published various scientific papers on new plant taxa that he has discovered, and undertook the fine scale vegetation mapping for four large regions for CapeNature. Dr A.M (Ted) Avis - Reviewer Ted Avis is a leading expert in the field of Environmental Impact Assessments, having project- managed numerous large-scale ESIAs to international standards (e.g. International Finance Corporation). Ted has worked across Africa, and also has experience in large scale Strategic Environmental Assessments in southern Africa, and has been engaged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on a number of projects. Ted was instrumental in establishing the Environmental Science Department at Rhodes University whilst a Senior lecturer in the Department of Botany, based on his experience running honours modules in EIA practice and environmental. He was one of the first certified Environmental Assessment Practitioner in South Africa, gaining certification in April 2004. He has delivered papers and published in the field of Vegetation Science, Plant Ecology, EIA, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Integrated Coastal Zone Management and has been a principal of CES since its inception in 1990, and Managing Director since 1998. Ted holds a PhD in Botany, and was awarded a bronze medal by the South African Association of Botanists for the best PhD adjudicated in that year, entitled “Coastal Dune Ecology and Management in the Eastern Cape”. Ted is a professional member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professionals (since 1993). Coastal & Environmental Services iii Zirco Roode Heuwel (Pty) Ltd Botanical Assessment Report – October 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Objectives........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Terms of reference .......................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Assumptions and Limitations ........................................................................................... 1 2. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 The assessment .............................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Species of Conservation Concern ................................................................................... 3 2.3 Vegetation mapping ......................................................................................................... 4 2.4 Sensitivity Assessment .................................................................................................... 5 3. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA ............................................................................ 7 3.1 Location of the site .......................................................................................................... 7 3.2 Topography ..................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Surface Hydrology ........................................................................................................... 7 3.4 Geology and soils ............................................................................................................ 7 3.5 Climate .......................................................................................................................... 10 3.6 Land use ....................................................................................................................... 11 4. VEGETATION OF THE STUDY AREA ................................................................................. 12 4.1 Regional Vegetation ...................................................................................................... 12 4.1.1 Namaqualand Strandveld (SKs7) ............................................................................... 12 4.1.2 Namaqualand Heuweltjieveld (SKn4)......................................................................... 13 4.1.3 Namaqualand Klipkoppe Shrubland (SKn1) ............................................................... 13 4.1.4 Namaqualand Sand Fynbos (FFd1) ........................................................................... 13 4.1.5 Namaqualand Riviere (AZi1) ...................................................................................... 14 4.1.6 Namaqualand Coastal Duneveld (SKs8) .................................................................... 15 4.1.7 Namaqualand Seashore Vegetation (AZd2)............................................................... 15 4.2 Vegetation and floristics of the project area ................................................................... 15 4.2.1 Prospecting areas ...................................................................................................... 15 4.2.2 Coastal Area .............................................................................................................. 27 4.3 Alien Plant Species ........................................................................................................ 31 4.4 Floristics and Species of Conservation Concern in the region ....................................... 31 5. CONSERVATION AND PLANNING TOOLS ........................................................................ 36 5.1 Protected Areas ............................................................................................................. 36 5.2 Protected Areas Expansion Strategy ............................................................................. 36 5.3 Namaqua National Park Management Plan (NNPMP) ................................................... 36 5.4 Namaqua District Biodiversity Sector Plan ..................................................................... 37 5.5 Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Plan (SKEP) ..................................................................... 37 5.5.1 SKEP Priority Areas ................................................................................................... 39 5.5.2 Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust Priority Areas ......................................................... 39 6. SENSITIVITY .......................................................................................................................