MOPANI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY BIOREGIONAL PLAN DRAFT 3 COMPILED FOR REVIEW BY SANBI Complied by: Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) February 2016 Preface This is the first bioregional plan for the Mopani District and, therefore, does not replace any existing Bioregional Plan. The Mopani District Municipality falls within the Limpopo Province of South Africa; and is comprised of the Greater Tzaneen, Greater Letaba, Greater Giyani, Ba-Phalaborwa and Maruleng Local Municipalities. The Bioregional Plan for the Mopani District Municipality covers the extent of the district municipal boundaries. The Bioregional Plan serves as the primary biodiversity informant to a range of planning and land-use authorisation processes, although it is important to recognise that the Bioregional Plan does not replace any planning and decision- making processes, and does not grant, limit or remove land-use rights. NuLeaf Planning and Environmental (Pty) Ltd compiled the Mopani Bioregional Plan with support from the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South African National Parks (SANParks) and the various stakeholders within the Mopani District. This Bioregional Plan was developed in 2015 / 2016 and is based on data sets and information available at that time. The CBA’s and ESA’s forming part of the Limpopo Conservation Plan were discussed in terms of physical aspects (such as updated land cover) and various planning instruments and informants (including protected areas planning, multi-sectoral planning, environmental planning informants and various regional plans and programmes). During this process, real and potential threats and non-alignment between the Limpopo Conservation Plan and the assessed aspects as well as the various instruments and informants were identified. A detailed description of the alignment process is contained in the Process and Consultation Report included as Appendix 1. Resolutions were agreed upon with key stakeholders, specifically the Local and District Municipalities, in response to potential threats to biodiversity conservation within the district. No conflicts persisted after the consultation phase, so no revision of the Limpopo Conservation Plan was required. Key stakeholders accepted the Draft Mopani Bioregional Plan as proposed and presented. Bioregional Plan for the Mopani District Municipality i Acknowledgements Sections of the Mopani District Municipality Bioregional Plan are extracted directly or adapted from the draft Bioregional Plan for the Waterberg District Municipality, which was produced by Dr Philip Desmet, Ms Deborah Vromans, Dr Stephen Holness and Mr Andrew Skowno of ECOSOL GIS. These sections pertain specifically to the purpose, objectives, users, monitoring and review of Bioregional Plans. The Guideline Regarding the Determination of Bioregions and the Preparation and Publication of Bioregional Plans (DEAT, 2009) was also used extensively to guide the report structure and content. The Map of Critical Biodiversity Areas for the Mopani District Municipality is based on the provincial product developed in LCPv2 (Desmet et al., 2013). Acknowledgements are extended to all the stakeholders within the Mopani District who contributed to the alignment of this Bioregional Plan with the spatial plans, programmes and policies applicable to the Mopani District Municipality. Special thanks are extended to the following persons: Karen Steenkamp (LEDET) Errol Moeng (LEDET) M A Monoko (LEDET) Ntshaveni Mudau (Mopani District) Marisa Coetzee (SANParks) Eddie Riddell (SANParks) Steve Collins (USAID RESILIM Projects) Stephen Holness (USAID RESILIM Projects) Philip Desmet (Ecosol) Marie-Tinka Uys (Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve) Tammy Smith (SANBI) Sagwata Manyike (SANBI) Bioregional Plan for the Mopani District Municipality ii Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... ii Contents ....................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iv List of Appendices ...................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. vi Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. viii PART 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose and objectives ................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Need for a Bioregional Plan ........................................................................................... 2 1.3 Intended users and uses ................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Underlying Biodiversity Plan and limitations ............................................................ 5 1.5 Legislative context ........................................................................................................... 6 1.6 Physical context ................................................................................................................ 8 1.7 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 12 PART 2: BIODIVERSITY PROFILE .......................................................................................... 13 2.1 Physical environment ..................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Natural environment ..................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Man-made environment ............................................................................................... 34 2.4 Planning environment ................................................................................................... 40 PART 3: CRITICAL BIODIVERSITY AREAS ......................................................................... 71 3.1 Description ......................................................................................................................... 71 3.2 Interface with other biodiversity plans .................................................................... 74 3.3 Bioregional plan .............................................................................................................. 76 PART 4: GUIDELINES FOR DECISION MAKING ............................................................... 83 4.1 Overarching guidelines ................................................................................................. 83 4.2 Additional guidelines ..................................................................................................... 99 PART 5: ADDITIONAL MEASURES ....................................................................................... 99 5.1 Data collation and management ................................................................................ 99 5.2 Effective biodiversity management ......................................................................... 100 5.3 Building a biodiversity economy ............................................................................... 103 5.4 Awareness raising ......................................................................................................... 105 Bioregional Plan for the Mopani District Municipality iii PART 6: MONITORING AND REVIEW ................................................................................ 106 6.1 Monitoring and review ................................................................................................ 106 PART 7: GIS FILES ................................................................................................................. 109 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 111 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................. 115 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 118 List of Tables Table 1 : Overview of applicable legislation Table 2: Overview of the vegetation types found in Mopani District inclusive of the KNP Table 3: Summary of protection level status of vegetation in Mopani District Table 4: Overview of land cover classes in Mopani District inclusive of the KNP Table 5: Summary of land claims in Mopani District Table 6: Summary of Protected Areas and conservation areas in Mopani District Table 7: Description of Critical Biodiversity Categories Table