Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality Biodiversity Sector Plan Handbook 2018
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BA-PHALABORWA LOCAL MUNICIPALITY BIODIVERSITY SECTOR PLAN HANDBOOK 2018 11/01/2016 © 2017 The Association for Water and Rural Development BA-PHALABORWA LOCAL MUNICIPALITY BIODIVERSITY SECTOR PLAN HANDBOOK 2019 Supporting land use planning and decision-making in Critical Biodiversity Areas & Ecological Support Areas for sustainable development Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality: Biodiversity Sector Handbook | 2 Handbook Compiled By This handbook was prepared as part of the RESILIM-O Project (Resilience in the Limpopo River Basin- Olifants Catchment Program) by the Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD). The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Handbook complied by Deborah Vromans, Stephen Holness, Derick du Toit and William Mponwana for the RESILIM-O Project. AWARD. Hoedspruit. South Africa. Collaborators of this handbook Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, other stakeholders to be included. For Further Information The Geographical Information System (GIS) maps used to prepare the Ba-Phalaborwa Critical Biodiversity Areas Map, plus electronic versions of this handbook and JPEG maps, are available on DVD. Copies of the DVD can be obtained from (1) Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD) (Contact details - Tel: 015 793 0503 / 0145; Email: [email protected]; Website: www.award.org.za). Acknowledgements Data from the Mopani District Bioregional Plan (LEDET, 2016a) and the Limpopo Conservation Plan version 2 (Desmet et al., 2013) was used to prepare this handbook and the associated statistics and maps. The Waterberg District Bioregional Plan (LEDET, 2016b) informed certain sections of this handbook. The Biodiversity Sector Plans for the Garden Route Initiative (Vromans et al., 2010), Addo Mainstreaming Project (Vromans et al., 2012) and the Guideline Regarding the Determination of Bioregions and the Preparation and Publication of Bioregional Plans (DEAT, 2009) were used extensively to guide the report structure and content. Ba-Phalaborwa CBA Map Compiled By The Ba-Phalaborwa Critical Biodiversity Areas Map was developed as part of the Mopani District Bioregional Plan. NuLeaf Planning and Environmental (Pty) Ltd) developed the map for the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), in collaboration with the LEDET, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South African National Parks (SANParks) and various stakeholders within the Mopani District (including the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality). The protected area layer was updated and integrated into the CBA Map for the biodiversity sector plan based on the latest protected area data. Citation AWARD. 2018. Biodiversity Sector Plan Handbook for the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality. Supporting land use planning and decision-making in Critical Biodiversity Areas and Ecological Support Areas for sustainable development. Report compiled by Deborah Vromans, Stephen Holness, Derick du Toit and William Mponwana for the RESILIM-O Project. AWARD. Hoedspruit. South Africa. Design and Layout By Lizl King Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality: Biodiversity Sector Handbook | 3 Contents List of Tables ......................................................................................................... 6 List of Figures ........................................................................................................ 7 Preface…. ............................................................................................................. 8 1 Introduction & Objectives ................................................................................ 10 1.1 The Ba-Phalaborwa Biodiversity Sector Plan & Mopani District Bioregional Plan (LEDET, 2016a) ........................................................................................................ 11 1.2 Intended uses & users of the Ba-Phalaborwa Biodiversity Sector Plan............................ 13 1.3 Limitations of the Ba-Phalaborwa Biodiversity Sector Plan ......................................... 18 1.4 Ecosystem services, ecological infrastructure, the economy & poverty alleviation ............ 19 1.5 Biodiversity & climate change ........................................................................... 24 2 Biodiversity profile for the Maruleng municipality ................................................... 29 2.1 What is biodiversity? ....................................................................................... 30 2.2 Why is Ba-Phalaborwa’s biodiversity so important? .................................................. 32 2.3 Terrestrial (land) ecosystems ............................................................................ 35 2.4 Freshwater ecosystems .................................................................................... 42 2.5 Species of special concern ................................................................................ 58 2.6 Ecological process areas & climate change ............................................................ 61 2.7 Protected Areas, Conservation Areas & Ecosystem Protection Level ............................. 63 2.8 Land cover in the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality: levels of modification and degradation ...... 67 3 Map of Critical Biodiversity Areas and ecological support areas for the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality .................................................................................................. 71 3.1 What is a Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) map? ..................................................... 72 3.2 The Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) map .......................... 73 4 Land use guidelines ........................................................................................ 81 4.1 Recommended biodiversity-compatible land use guidelines matrix ............................... 82 4.2 Descriptions of land use zoning categories & activities ............................................. 87 4.3 A comparison of the recommended land use guidelines for the Mopani district bioregional plan (2016) compared with the biodiversity sector plan .......................................... 101 4.4 Recommended land management guidelines ........................................................ 106 5 Additional measures for Biodiversity management in the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality ..... 111 5.1 Guide to integrating the Critical Biodiversity Areas map into Environmental Impact Assessments & land use change applications ........................................................ 112 5.2 Guide to integrating the Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) map into the spatial development framework ................................................................................................. 123 Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality: Biodiversity Sector Handbook | 4 5.3 Guide to integrating the Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) map into the Integrated Development Plan ........................................................................................ 124 6 Monitoring, reviewing & updating the Critical Biodiversity Areas map ......................... 142 6.1 Roles & responsibilities for monitoring, reviewing & updating ................................... 143 6.2 Performance indicators for monitoring, reviewing & updating .................................. 143 7 Glossary .................................................................................................... 145 8 List of abbreviations ..................................................................................... 154 9 References ................................................................................................. 156 Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality: Biodiversity Sector Handbook | 5 List of Tables Table 1. Intended uses of the BA-PHALABORWA Biodiversity Sector Plan (the municipal version of the Mopani District Bioregional Plan) ................................................................................. 14 Table 2. Intended users of the published Mopani District Bioregional Plan, showing mandatory and recommended uses (from the Waterberg District Bioregional Plan, 2016). The BA-PHALABORWA Biodiversity Sector Plan can be consulted for municipal specific data. ................................... 15 Table 3. Total area of Protected Areas (PA) and Conservation Areas (CA), includes the Kruger to Canyon Biosphere Reserve, for the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality (Figure 8 & 9) ................................... 64 Table 4. Provincial protection levels for ecosystems occurring in the Maruleng Municipality ............. 66 Table 5. Summarized land cover categories for the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality showing levels of modification and degradation, including natural or near-natural areas (DEA, 2013-2014). ........... 68 Table 6. Current threats to biodiversity ............................................................................. 69 Table 7. Description of Critical Biodiversity Areas, Ecological Support Areas and Biodiversity Targets .. 74 Table 8. Criteria used to define the CBA Map categories ....................................................... 75 Table 9. The extent (hectares and percentage) of Protected Areas, Critical Biodiversity Areas, Ecological Support Areas and other CBA Map categories in the Ba-Phalaborwa CBA Map .............. 79 Table 10. Land Management Objectives for the CBA Map categories ........................................... 83 Table 11. Recommended land uses per land use zone as per the Biodiversity Sector Plan (BSP).......... 84 Table 12.