uMsonti Private Nature Reserve KwaZulu-Natal South Africa Protected Area Management Plan July 2018 Authorisation This Management Plan for uMsonti Private Nature Reserve is approved: TITLE NAME SIGNATURE AND DATE KwaZulu-Natal MEC: Mr Sihle Zikalala Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Recommended TITLE NAME SIGNATURE AND DATE Chief Executive Officer: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Chairperson Biodiversity Conservation Operations Management Committee Chairperson People and Conservation Operations Committee Chairperson: Mr Rob Hoatson uMsonti Private Nature Prepared by Endangered Wildlife Trust Citation uMsonti Private Nature Reserve: Management Plan. Version 1.0, (2018) [Endangered Wildlife Trust]. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Purpose of the plan ...................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Structure of the plan .................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 9 1.4 The values of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve.......................................................... 10 1.4.1 Protection of the values ..................................................................................... 12 1.4.2 Ecosystem-based management ......................................................................... 12 1.5 Adaptive management ............................................................................................... 12 2 DESCRIPTION OF UMSONTI PRIVATE NATURE RESERVE AND ITS CONTEXT ..................... 13 2.1 The legal context for the management of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ............. 13 2.1.1 Declaration status of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ..................................... 14 2.1.2 Boundary demarcation and deviations .............................................................. 14 2.1.3 Servitude register ............................................................................................... 17 2.1.4 Invasive species control in terms of the Biodiversity Act .................................. 17 2.2 Ecological context of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve.............................................. 17 2.2.1 Climate and weather .......................................................................................... 17 2.2.2 Topography ........................................................................................................ 18 2.2.3 Geology and soils ............................................................................................... 19 2.2.4 Geomorphology ................................................................................................. 19 2.2.5 Hydrology ........................................................................................................... 19 2.2.6 Vegetation .......................................................................................................... 20 2.2.7 Mammalian fauna .............................................................................................. 20 2.2.8 Avifauna ............................................................................................................. 21 2.2.9 Herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians) ........................................................... 21 2.2.10 Invertebrates ...................................................................................................... 21 2.2.11 Fire and herbivore management ....................................................................... 21 2.2.12 Invasive species .................................................................................................. 24 2.3 Cultural heritage context of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve .................................. 25 2.3.1 Newcastle Local Municipality ............................................................................. 25 2.4 Socio-economic context ............................................................................................. 26 2.5 The regional and local planning context of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ........... 26 2.6 Operational management within uMsonti Private Nature Reserve .......................... 27 2.6.1 Infrastructure ..................................................................................................... 27 2.6.2 Operational management .................................................................................. 28 2.7 Summary of management issues, challenges and opportunities .............................. 28 3 Strategic management framework ...................................................................................... 1 3.1 uMsonti Private Nature Reserve vision........................................................................ 1 3.2 Objectives and strategic outcomes .............................................................................. 1 4 Zonation plan ....................................................................................................................... 1 4.1 Conceptual development guidelines ........................................................................... 2 4.1.1 Limited Use Zone .................................................................................................. 2 4.1.2 Moderate use zone .............................................................................................. 3 4.1.3 Potential Tourism development node ................................................................. 3 5 Administrative structure ...................................................................................................... 4 6 Operational Management framework ................................................................................. 1 6.1 Legal compliance and law enforcement ...................................................................... 1 6.2 Business management and development .................................................................... 2 7 Monitoring and reporting .................................................................................................... 1 7.1 Annual monitoring ....................................................................................................... 1 7.2 Annual protected area management plan implementation review ............................ 1 8 uMsonti Private Nature Reserve annual plan of operation ................................................. 2 8.1 Implementation of the management plan................................................................... 2 8.2 Responsibilities in implementing the protected area management plan ................... 3 8.3 uMsonti Private Nature Reserve resource requirements ............................................ 3 8.3.1 Staff and equipment ............................................................................................ 3 8.3.2 Projects................................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1: Management challenges, issues and opportunities ................................................. 28 Table 3-1: Objectives and strategic outcomes for uMsonti Private Nature Reserve .................. 2 Table 6-1: Framework for legal compliance law enforcement and business management and development ................................................................................................................................ 1 Table 7-1: Annual monitoring schedule for uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ............................. 2 Table 8-1: Progress and goals set (APO) for uMsonti Private Nature Reserve .......................... 25 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Structure of the Management Plan ........................................................................... 8 Figure 1.2: Regional location of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ............................................... 9 Figure 1.3: Location within the Critical Biodiversity Areas of KZN (Data: EKZNW) ...................... 9 Figure 1.4: The adaptive management cycle (Management Strategy Evaluation, 2009) .......... 13 Figure 2.1: Survey information (page 1) .................................................................................... 15 Figure 2.2: Survey information (page 2) .................................................................................... 16 Figure 2.3: Topographic map of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ............................................ 18 Figure 2.4: Hydrology of uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ........................................................ 19 Figure 2.5 Vegetation types within uMsonti Private Nature Reserve (Data: EKZNW) .............. 20 Figure 2.6: uMsonti burning area .............................................................................................. 22 Figure 2.7: Year 1 of uMsonti burning plan ............................................................................... 22 Figure 2.8: Year 2 of uMsonti burning plan ............................................................................... 23 Figure 2.9: Year 3 of uMsonti burning plan ............................................................................... 23 Figure 2.10: Map showing the outline of the proposed uMsonti Private Nature Reserve ........ 27 Figure 4.1: Zonation map showing the uMsonti Nature Reserve