Environmental and Social Baseline Report

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Environmental and Social Baseline Report Good Practice, Better Finance: Environmental and Social Baseline Report Report Prepared for ISEAL Alliance Report Number 539084/Baseline Report Prepared by December 2019 SRK Consulting: 539084:ISEAL Good Practice, Better Finance Page i Good Practice, Better Finance: Environmental and Social Baseline Report This project has been made possible thanks to a grant from the ISEAL Innovation Fund which is supported by: The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the ISEAL Secretariat, ISEAL and do not necessarily represent those of the ISEAL Secretariat, ISEAL members, or donor entities to the ISEAL Innovations Fund. SRK Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd. Bonsucro (SADC) Section A Second Floor, Suite 02/B1 PO Box 52197 Norfolk House Waterfront 8002 54 Norfolk Terrace, off Blair Atholl Drive Cape Town Westville 3630 South Africa South Africa Website: www.bonsucro.com website: www.srk.co.za Tel: +27 (0) 78 290 4034 Tel: +27 (0) 31 279 1200 Fax: +27 (0) 31 279 1204 SRK Project Number 539084 December 2019 Compiled by: Peer Reviewed by: Roanne Sutcliffe, Cand.Eng Wouter Jordaan, Pr.Sci.Nat. Bioresources Engineer Principal Scientist/Partner Email: [email protected] Authors: R. Sutcliffe; W. Jordaan SURO/JORD 539084_ISEAL_BaselineReport_Draft_rev01_SURO December 2019 SRK Consulting: 539084:ISEAL Good Practice, Better Finance Page ii Table of Contents Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background to the Project ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Scope of the Project ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2.1 Phase 1: Inception ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Phase 2: Scoping .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.3 Phase 3: Development ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2.4 Phase 4: Pilot .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.5 Phase 5: Sharing and Learning ............................................................................................... 2 1.3 Scope of this Report............................................................................................................................ 2 2 Environmental Baseline ............................................................................................... 3 2.1 Climate ................................................................................................................................................ 6 2.1.1 Rainfall..................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.2 Temperature ............................................................................................................................ 9 2.1.3 Relative Humidity .................................................................................................................. 10 2.2 Hydrology .......................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Catchments and Strategic Water Source Areas ................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Rivers and Wetlands within the Study Area .......................................................................... 15 2.2.3 Water Quality and Monitoring within the WMA ..................................................................... 25 2.3 Geology, Topography and Landcover............................................................................................... 29 2.3.1 Geology and Soils ................................................................................................................. 29 2.3.2 Ecoregions based on Topography and Vegetation ............................................................... 32 2.3.3 Land Use ............................................................................................................................... 35 2.4 Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................ 39 2.4.1 Mining Risks .......................................................................................................................... 39 2.4.2 Areas of Biodiversity Importance .......................................................................................... 41 2.4.3 Threatened Ecosystems........................................................................................................ 47 2.4.4 Cultural Heritage Sites .......................................................................................................... 56 3 Social Baseline ........................................................................................................... 57 3.1 Structure of the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area ............................................................. 57 3.2 Structure of the Nkomazi Local Municipality ..................................................................................... 59 3.3 Demographics of the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area .................................................... 59 3.4 Demographics of the Nkomazi Local Municipality ............................................................................ 59 3.4.1 Households ........................................................................................................................... 60 3.4.2 Education Levels ................................................................................................................... 61 3.4.3 Access to Basic Services ...................................................................................................... 62 SURO/JORD 539084_ISEAL_BaselineReport_Draft_rev01_SURO December 2019 SRK Consulting: 539084:ISEAL Good Practice, Better Finance Page iii 3.4.4 Agricultural Activities of Households ..................................................................................... 63 4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 65 5 References .................................................................................................................. 67 SURO/JORD 539084_ISEAL_BaselineReport_Draft_rev01_SURO December 2019 SRK Consulting: 539084:ISEAL Good Practice, Better Finance Page iv List of Tables Table 2-1: Drainage Regions Falling within the IU WMA ............................................................................ 11 Table 2-2: SWSAs with Areas Falling within the IU WMA (after Le Maitre et al., 2018) ............................. 13 Table 2-3: SWSAs with Areas Falling within the IU WMA that have Significant Baseflow Contributions to MAR (after Le Maitre et al., 2018) .............................................................................................. 13 Table 2-4: PES Score of Different Rivers within the IU WMA ..................................................................... 15 Table 2-5: River Systems within the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area (after Selepe et al., 2018) .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Table 2-6: Reported Water Quality Variables and ranges of TWQGs (Selepe et al., 2018)....................... 25 Table 2-7: Ecoregions within the IU WMA and the Nkomazi Local Municipality ......................................... 32 Table 2-8: Percentage of Total Land Use within the IU WMA and the Nkomazi Local Municipality ........... 36 Table 2-9: Areas of Biodiversity Importance ............................................................................................... 41 Table 2-10: Protected and Conservation Areas within Study Area ............................................................... 42 Table 2-11: Threatened Ecosystems within Study Area ............................................................................... 48 Table 3-1: Traditional Authorities within Pilot Area (after Nkomazi, 2019).................................................. 59 Table 3-2: Distribution of People Aged between 5 and 24 Years attending an Educational Institution (StatsSA Community Survey, 2016) .......................................................................................... 61 Table 3-3: Distribution of People Aged Older than 20 Years by Highest Level of Education Completed (StatsSA Community Survey, 2016) .......................................................................................... 62 Table 3-4: Main Source of Water for Drinking (StatsSA Community Survey, 2016) ................................... 62 Table 3-5: Main
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