National Environmental Management » Biodiversity
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
4 No. 39899 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 1 APRIL 2016 GOVERNMENT NOTICES • GOEWERMENTSKENNISGEWINGS Environmental Affairs, Department of/ Omgewingsake, Departement van DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTALAFFAIRS NO. 406 NO 01 APRIL 2016 406 National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (10/2004): Biodiversity Management Plan for the Clanwilliam Sandfish, Labeo Seeberi 39899 2016 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: BIODIVERSITYACT, 2004 (ACT NO. 10 OF 2004) BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE CLANWILLIAMSANDFISH, LABEO SEEBERI Bomo Edith Edna Molewa, Minister of EnvironmentalAffairs, hereby publish the Management Plan for the Clanwilliam Biodiversity Sandfish, Labeo Seeberi, interms of section 43(3) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (ActNo. 10 of 2004), set out in hereto. the Schedule BOMO E ' H WA MINISTER OF NVIRONMENTALAFFAIRS This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za STAATSKOERANT, 1 APRIL 2016 No. 39899 5 SCHEDULE BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN-‐SPECIES (BMP-‐S) FOR THE CLANWILLIAM SANDFISH LABEO ( SEEBERI) J 1CLANWILLIAM SANDFISH . 1._: . Biodiversity Management Plan h; ) ti.,v ¡ 1(+" ` - . ..rl'i `, . - _ , _, .... Bruce Paxton1, Peter Ramollo2, Mandy Schumann3, Martine Jordaan4 and Dean Impson4 1 The Freshwater Consulting Group (FCG) 2Northern Cape Department Nature and Environment Conservation 3Northern Cape Department Nature and Environment Conservation 4CapeNature This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za 6 No. 39899 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 1 APRIL 2016 TITLE : BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN-‐SPECIES (BMP-‐S) FOR THE CLANWILLIAM SANDFISH LABEO ( SEEBERI) Lead agencies : Northern Cape Department Nature and Environment Conservation, CapeNature Implementing Agents : CapeNature Northern Cape Department Nature and Environment Conservation Department of Water Affairs Nieuwoudtville Municipality Status of Report : Draft for Comment Key Words : Biodiversity Management Plan Date of this Issue : September 201 2 This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za STAATSKOERANT, 1 APRIL 2016 No. 39899 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Project Team would like to acknowledge the help of the following people and organisations. The financial support of the Table Mountain Fund (TMF) made this project possible. In particular we would like to thank Onno Huyser and Carla Wood of the TMF for their guidance and administrative support. Wilna Kloppers of the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) made their offices available for the second stakeholder engagement meeting held in Cape . Town Thank you to both Wilna and Francois van Heerden also of DWA for their support of this initiative. Dean Impson (CapeNature) provided invaluable support and assistance throughout the development of the Biodiversity Management Plan . (BMP) Bettina Koelle of Indigo Development and Change made the offices of her organization available for meetings and was key to the success of stakeholder engagement in Nieuwoudtville. JC van der Walt and members of the Rietkuil Trust made their property available to the monitoring team. Their support throughout the project has been much appreciated. To all the stakeholders who supported this process and provided their input, thank you. Thanks are also due to the following people who assisted with fieldwork and monitoring: Bentley Engelbrecht (DWA), Graeme Williams (DWA), Thembela Bushula (DWA), Klaus Menk, Lucy Kingsley, Wessel Pretorius (OKNR), Leon Koopman (OKNR), Koos Koopman (OKNR), Koos Cloete (OKNR), Nathan Kotze (OKNR), Riaan van der Walt (CapeNature). This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za 8 No. 39899 GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 1 APRIL 2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION The Clanwilliam sandfish Labeo seeberi is listed by the IUCN Red Data List and by the South Africa’s Threatened or Protected Species Regulations of the National Environmental : Management Biodiversity Act,2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) (NEMBA) as Endangered B2ab(iii,v) (IUCN 2010). This recognise hat t species facing an extremely high risk of extinction and is therefore subject to the restrictions imposed by national legislation on its removal from the wild, transport, trade and use. There are currently conservation initiatives aimed at protecting populations of the two larger cyprinids in the catchment (the Clanwilliam yellowfish and sawfin), but these initiatives will not secure populations of Clanwilliam sandfish, despite the fact that it ranks as one of the most ape threatened species in the Western C and has been identified as a high conservation priority by CapeNature. Adult populations of this species are restricted to the northern reaches of the Doring River and successfully recruiting populations are known to occur only in confined the reaches of Oorlogskloof-‐Koebee River system in the Northern and Western Cape. Responsibility for the conservation and management of the sandfish are shared by the conservation authorities in the two provinces – the Western and Northern Cape – in which it occurs, i.e. CapeNature and Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation. Responsibility also extends to municipalities, as well as to private landowners that fall both within and outside its distribution range where land-‐use practices impact n o downstream aquatic habitat. Private landowners, through conservancies and stewardship programmes are expected to manage land and water resources in a manner consistent with national environmental legislation and to adhere to the he restrictions imposed on t movement and introduction of alien invasive species. The following Vision and Desired State w for the Clan illiam sandfish BMP-‐S was agreed upon -‐ by the BMP S team and at stakeholder meetings: VISION AND DESIRED STATE To secure the long term the survival of Clanwilliam sandfish in the wild by: (i) elevating its status as an flagship species of the Doring and Oorlogskloof rivers – some of the last major free-‐flowing rivers in the country: (ii) consolidate extant populations by reducing the risks of further invasions by alien fish species, especially in the Oorlogskloof-‐Koebee Management Unit; (iii) reducing the risks posed by increasing water demand and unsustainable land management practices in all catchments that fall within its distribution range; (iv) increase knowledge of its biology and ecology and applying this knowledge to adaptive management strategies. (v) Identifying priority areas in its original distribution range which can be cleared of alien fishes, allowing for re-‐introduction of the species. The following five strategic domains for the -‐ BMP S are considered to be: (a) Advocacy and Awareness; (b) Alien Invasive Fish Management; (c) Land and Water Resources Management; (d) Research and Monitoring; (e) Re-‐introduction. This gazette is also available free online at www.gpwonline.co.za STAATSKOERANT, 1 APRIL 2016 No. 39899 9 SPECIES BACKGROUND Clanwilliam sandfish are endemic to the mainstem and tributaries of the Olifants and Doring Rivers, Western Cape, South Africa. They were formerly distributed throughout the catchment but now only occur in the middle and northern reaches of the mainstem Doring River and some of its tributaries, notably the Koebee River, called the Oorlogskloof in its upper reaches. Historical evidence suggests that their current distribution ranges have shrunk considerably from former ranges. They are one of only two indigenous id Labeine cyprin species to be found in Western Cape freshwater ecosystems; the other being L. umbratus which is found in the Gouritz River system. As a consequence of their rarity, conservation status and lack of research on the species, little is known regarding ife the l history of the Clanwilliam sandfish. They are more than likely rheophilic, requiring fast-‐flowing waters for spawning and deep pools -‐ for feeding, over wintering and over-‐summering. Surveys undertaken in 2001 suggested that although adults were present in the mainstem Doring River and appeared to be reproducing, very few recruits were surviving their first year of life due to alien fish predation. The main source of recruits appeared to be non-‐invaded tributaries, notably the -‐ Oorlogskloof Koebee catchment. Surveys by CapeNature and the Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation in 2010 showed that populations of sandfish are successfully recruiting in the Oorlogskloof River above the upstream limit of bass invasion, lapia but that banded ti had invaded from the Nieuwoudtville Municipal Dam upstream. THREATS TO THE CLANWILLIAM SANDFISH Alien invasive fish : species As with many of the other indigenous fish species in the Doring River, the primary threat to the persistence of the sandfish is predation and competition by alien invasive fish species, notably, smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), largemouth Micropterus bass ( salmoides) and bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) which were introduced as sport fish by the then Department of Inland Fisheries during the earlier half of the twentieth century. Water quantity: The sandfish is considered a synchronous rheophilic spawner requiring optimal flow and temperature conditions for successful reproduction. Natural hydrological variability, together with water regulation and abstraction is therefore likely to play -‐ a major role in year class strength. Water resources in both the Olifants and Doring Rivers are heavily exploited. This is especially true -‐ of the Olifants River where run of-‐river