INTEGRATED RESERVE MANAGEMENT PLAN BLAAUWBERG NATURE RESERVE June 2011 AUTHORIZATION PAGE This Integrated Management Plan for the Blaauwberg 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 _____________________________________ Ettienne Jacques Küyler – 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 Ettienne Jacques Küyler Biodiversity Management Branch Environmental Resource Management Department City of Cape Town Blaauwberg 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 2 1.2 Location and extent 5 2. Description of landholdings and ownership 7 2.1 Property details and title deed information 7 2.2 Landscape perspective 10 2.3 Physical environment 11 2.4 Biological environment 15 2.5 Socio-political context 23 2.6 Protected-area expansion 25 3. Purpose, vision/mission, significance/value 27 3.1 Purpose of the protected area 27 3.2 Vision and mission 28 3.3 Significance of property (biodiversity, heritage and social) 29 Part 2 4. Administrative and legal framework for the management 31 Management authority policy 4.1 Legal framework 31 framework 4.2 Administrative framework 38 5. Protected-area policy framework & guiding management 40 principles 5.1 Management objectives 40 5.2 SWOT analysis 49 5.3 Protected-area management policy framework and guiding 51 principles 5.4 Sensitivity analysis of Blaauwberg Nature Reserve 66 5.5 Zoning plan of Blaauwberg Nature Reserve 67 6. Development plan 70 7. Costing plan 71 Part 3 8. Monitoring & auditing 72 Monitoring & auditing 8.1 Annual audit procedure 72 8.2 Management plan review 73 8.3 Biodiversity monitoring 73 Part 4 9. References 75 References Part 5 10. Appendices 77 Appendices Integrated Reserve Management Plan | i List of Maps Page Numbers Map 1: Nature reserve location in Cape Town 6 Map 2: Nature reserve boundary 8 Map 3: Nature reserve erven 9 Map 4: Catchments, including rivers and wetlands 14 Map 5: Nature reserve and biodiversity network 16 Map 6: Nature reserve zoning 69 List of Figures Page Numbers Figure 1 : The elements of the IRMP 3 Figure 2 : Legal and planning framework for the IRMP 4 Figure 3 : Northern-region organogram 39 List of Tables Page Numbers Table 1: Erf numbers for the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve 7 Table 2: Legal framework 31 Table 3: Management objectives for the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve 40 Table 4: Socio-economic objectives for the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve 45 Table 5 : Broad costing management plan for the reserve 71 Integrated Reserve Management Plan | ii List of appendices A. Legal agreements Appendix 1 Business framework and business plan for Blaauwberg Nature Reserve Appendix 2 Surveyor-General’s diagrams for Blaauwberg Nature Reserve B. Species checklists and plans Appendix 3 Plant species list Appendix 4 Mammal species list Appendix 5 Management guidelines for larger wildlife and their habitats Appendix 6 Bird species list Appendix 7 Reptile species list Appendix 8 Amphibian species list C. Other documents, as required Appendix 9 Comprehensive security audit of the Biodiversity Management Branch of the City of Cape Town Appendix 10 Fire management plan of Mamre-Table View veldfire management unit Appendix 11 Invasive-species management unit clearing plan Appendix 12 Sensitivity-value analysis and zoning Appendix 13 METT-SA Integrated Reserve Management Plan | iii List of abbreviations used APO annual plan of operations BCA Blaauwberg Conservation Area (proclamation name of 2007) BotSoc Botanical Society of South Africa C.A.P.E Cape Action for People and the Environment CDF Conservation Development Framework CEPF Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund CFR Cape Floristic Region CIZ conservation interface zone CWAC coordinated waterbird counts CWCBR Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve FoBCA Friends of Blaauwberg Conservation Area ICC Implementation Coordination Committee IDP Integrated Development Plan IMEP Integrated Metropolitan Environmental Policy IRMP Integrated Reserve Management Plan LBSAP Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan METT-SA Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool South Africa MOU memorandum of understanding PCZ primary conservation zone RPC Reserve Planning Committee SAHRA South African Heritage Resource Agency SANBI South African National Biodiversity Institute TMF Table Mountain Fund TOR terms of reference WESSA Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa Integrated Reserve Management Plan | iv PART 1 DESCRIPTION 1. INTRODUCTION Blaauwberg Nature Reserve was proclaimed a local and provincial nature reserve in 2007. The reserve has a spectacular view down fynbos slopes, across the city, to seven kilometres of rocky and sandy coastline and the ocean and beyond. The reserve presents itself as one of the few viewpoints in the world from where you can see two proclaimed world heritage sites, namely Table Mountain and Robben Island. Blaauwberg Nature Reserve conserves three threatened vegetation types: Cape Flats dune strandveld (endangered), Swartland shale renosterveld (critically endangered) and Cape Flats sand fynbos (critically endangered). The rich biodiversity embraces a wetland, 559 plant species, 42 mammal species (including whales, dolphins and seals), 140 bird species, 28 reptile species and four amphibians. The reserve is one of the only City of Cape Town nature reserves where you can still find Mystromys albicaudatus (White-tailed Mouse) and Orycteropus afer (Aardvark). The holotype of Scelotes montispectus (Blaauwberg Dwarf Burrowing Skink) was collected within Blaauwberg Nature Reserve. There is also a healthy population of Mystromys albicaudatus (white-tailed mouse) listed as endangered in the latest Red List of mammals of South Africa, as well as a total of eight Red List fauna species. Within the current 1 445 ha, there is evidence of early human occupation, with shell middens dating back approximately 15 000 years. The reserve also conserves the site of the 1806 Battle of Blaauwberg, when the British took possession of the Cape from the Dutch for the second time and retained ownership until South Africa’s independance. On Blaauwberg Hill, several buildings were constructed during World War II, including a radar station, a lookout and a mess room. Since the then Blaauwberg Conservation Area’s (BCA) inception, conservation in the area has progressed rapidly. Simple bollards in the coastal parking areas have stopped 4x4s from accessing and ultimately driving on the beach, and, already, the endangered vegetation has recovered and the Haematopus moquini (African black oystercatcher) has since returned. Illegal vehicles had not only endangered the vegetation and Haematopus moquini, but had destroyed a number of the shell middens. Integrated Reserve Management Plan | 1 Partners of Blaauwberg Nature Reserve include, but are not limited to, CapeNature, the Western Cape Provincial Government, the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve (CWCBR), the Table Mountain Fund (TMF), the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), the South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA), the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), Cape Action for People and the Environment (C.A.P.E), the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and the Friends of Blaauwberg Conservation Area (FoBCA). The strategic management planning process – resulting in the development of an Integrated Reserve Management Plan (IRMP) for Blaauwberg Nature Reserve – began with the definition of the vision followed by the purpose for the reserve. This purpose is then supported by desired states for the nature reserve. The reserve objectives contribute to realising the purpose and the 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