SA’s biodiversity at risk

[Klipspringer]

SA’s biodiversity is at risk despite commendable conservation laws
NEWS / 12 OCTOBER 2019, 12:18PM / SHEREE BEGA


Johannesburg - Dr Andrew Skowno started his career counting the Clanwilliam cedar, an iconic conifer tree species, found in the Cederberg mountains and nowhere else on earth.
The critically endangered species, which survived the last Ice Age, is being wiped out by climate change.


“It faces increasing pressures as temperatures rise, the environment dries out and fires become more frequent, “ explains Skowno, the lead scientist for the National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi).

“Unfortunately, across our assessments, climate change is emerging as a more apparent threat to our species and ecosystems.”

The NBA is a landmark outlook on the increasingly fragile state of SA’s biodiversity. “We live in a dynamic period of land use change and sea use change, affecting our environment and people, set against the backdrop of dramatic global climate change. To navigate this, we need good information,” says Skowno of the NBA’s importance.

The four-year project was undertaken by 480 scientists from 90 organisations. It reveals how almost half of all SA’s 1021 ecosystem types are threatened with ecological collapse and one in seven of the 23 312 indigenous species assessed are threatened with extinction. Major pressures include habitat loss, changes to freshwater flow, overuse of some species, pollution, climate change and invasive alien species.

However, efforts to protect biodiversity “are showing promising outcomes”, as over two-thirds of ecosystem types and 63% of species assessed are represented in protected areas.

Investing in ecological infrastructure, “is as important as investing in built infrastructure” and safeguarding the delivery of services from ecosystems can support service delivery from all spheres of government,” writes Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, in the forward to the NBA’s 214-page synthesis report.

But the report’s authors state that while biodiversity is a national asset and a powerful contributor to inclusive growth and job creation, its protection is, at times, “cast as a hurdle” to socio-economic development.

This is “unfortunate”, the authors assert. “Every decision taken, whether by the government or individuals, affects the future of biodiversity. By investing in the restoration, protection and management of our biodiversity assets and ecological infrastructure, we enhance social and economic development and contribute to human well-being.”

Skowno adds: “We may not ever know we’ve lost something crucial because we never discovered its particular value. There’s that old argument, that the cure for cancer becomes extinct before we’ve even noticed it ... And nature, too, has its own intrinsic value.”

Biodiversity provides jobs

Jobs directly related to biodiversity total more than 418000 “and this is likely an underestimate”, says the report, detailing how this is comparable to the mining sector. For each job dedicated to protecting biodiversity there are five that depend directly on using biodiversity.

Continued investment in managing and conserving biodiversity is essential. “In a context where employment in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture is declining, biodiversity-related employment is based on a renewable resource, that, if appropriately managed, can provide the foundation for long-term economic activity and sustainable growth,” says the report.

Healthy ecosystems = water security

Rivers, wetlands and their catchment areas are crucial ecological infrastructure for water security, often complementing built infrastructure, but their benefits are compromised by their poor ecological condition.

This is from the over-extraction of water, pollution from wastewater treatment works, agriculture and stormwater (nutrients, plastics and toxins), invasive alien species, habitat loss and degradation and climate change.

“Pollution of inland aquatic ecosystems from acid mine drainage, mining, industrial and urban wastewater, as well as agricultural return flows, negatively impact water quality. Protection and rehabilitation should be prioritised; particularly the rehabilitation of our malfunctioning wastewater treatment works and the management and eradication of invasive plants in Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSAs).”

SWSAs make up just 10% of SA’s land area but deliver 50% of all surface water, supporting half the population and nearly two-thirds of the economy. Only 12% of their extent fall within protected areas.

Climate change is impacting on people, ecosystems

The impacts are evident “across all realms and within most species groups” but biodiversity provides resilience against the worst effects of climate change.

“Restoring ecosystems and maintaining them in a good ecological condition means they are better able to support natural adaptation and mitigation processes, offering increased protection to human communities and reducing the economic burden of future climate disasters.”

Shifting migration times for species (Palaearctic migrant birds), declines in range sizes (Protea canary) and large-scale plant die-offs (Clanwilliam cedar) are being observed. Significant reductions in 70 species of amphibians’ range sizes are probable early impacts, too, according to the report.

Southern Africa has recorded nearly 500 climatic disasters impacting 140 million people in the past 40 years. Temperature increases of more than 1ºC in the past 50 years have been accompanied by the intensification of extreme events - droughts, heavy rainfall, coastal storm surges, strong winds and wildfires.

“Increases of 2-4°C are predicted for southern Africa by 2050, and confidence is therefore high that climate change will have dramatically escalating impacts on South Africa over the coming decades.”

Impacts are “triggering large-scale spatial, temporal and compositional shifts in biodiversity. Species’ population-level changes are being translated into community-level reorganisations, and even regime shifts (bush encroachment), which can impair ecological function”. Over the last few decades these changes have been noted in SA ecosystems from estuaries, coral communities, open savannas to montane streams, exerting pressure either directly or indirectly on all species within these habitats.

“Climate change is a key threat to sub-Antarctic ecosystems; mean annual air and sea temperatures have increased at twice the mean global rate at our Prince Edward Islands.”

It will not only increase the risks to estuary ecosystems under significant pressure at present “but also to the human communities and associated infrastructure and property surrounding them”.

Climate change, say the authors, is “widely considered as a multiplier of other pressures on biodiversity, both exacerbating the effects of these pressures and altering the frequency, intensity and timing of events.

“Many of these shifts are predicted to benefit the survival of invasive species over native species and increase the outbreak potential and spread of disease.”

Small high-value ecosystem types provide disproportionate benefits

Indigenous forests, inland wetlands, lakes, estuaries, mangroves, dunes, beaches, rocky shores, kelp forests, reef seamounts, pinnacles and islands take up less than 5% of the country’s territory but are “responsible for a disproportionally large number of benefits”, such as water purification, nutrient recycling, carbon storage, storm protection, recreation and harvesting of food directly from nature.

“They should be prioritised for planning, management, and protection and restoration efforts as such efforts will provide a high return on investment, both for biodiversity conservation and for benefits to society.” These ecosystem types are particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Benefits from fishing at risk

Estuarine and marine ecosystems provide food and livelihoods yet many fish stocks are overexploited and many fish species are threatened.

“The benefits provided by fishing, which include providing food for people and fodder for intensive animal farming, as well as thousands of jobs, are at risk from poaching, overfishing, unselective fishing practices (gill netting, trawling), habitat degradation (mining) and declining conditions of fish nursery areas (in estuaries).

“Fisheries stock status is not assessed for 90% of the more than 770 harvested marine taxa, and of those 10% that have been assessed, more than a third are overexploited or collapsed,” says the report.

Estuaries, inland wetland ecosystems highly threatened

About 99% of estuarine area and 88% of wetland area is threatened - less than 2% of their extent is in the well-protected category. They are essential for water security, food security, tourism and recreation and natural disaster risk reduction. “They are also important havens for many endemic species that are threatened. Restoring and protecting these ecosystems will secure the key benefits from these ecosystems and deliver a large return on investment.”

Freshwater fishes are the most threatened of all species groups that have been fully assessed with one in three threatened with extinction. Half of these species are found nowhere else on Earth.

Protected areas safeguard many species

They are generally providing good protection for species, with the proportion of threatened species increasing over the past 30 years for most taxonomic groups assessed.

But when considering threatened species alone, more than 85% of threatened birds, plants, freshwater fishes, amphibians, mammals and butterflies are under protected,” and continued expansion is needed.

60% of SA’s coastal ecosystem types are threatened

Pressures on coastal biodiversity include unsustainable harvesting of species, inappropriate infrastructure development, mining, decreased freshwater flow into the sea from rivers and pollution. “Proportionately, the rate of habitat loss in the coastal zone is twice that for the rest of the country,” says Linda Harris, of Nelson Mandela University, who led the coastal assessment. Some beaches are being eroded, putting one of SA’s most popular recreational activities at risk.

Invaders threaten biodiversity, well-being

Over 100 alien species have a severe impact on biodiversity and in some cases, on human well-being, impacting on water and food security. Invasive trees and shrubs reduce surface water resources by 3% to 5%, and threaten up to 30% of the water supply of cities like Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. “Invasive alien plants also reduce the capacity of natural rangelands to support livestock production, threatening rural livelihoods and food production,” states the report.

What needs to be done?

While SA has good policies and legislation for biodiversity conservation, implementation challenges remain. “Strengthening compliance and enforcement comes out throughout the NBA,” Skowno says.


https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/new ... s-34745670

[Richprins]

[Lisbeth]

Endangered Wildlife Trust: Media Release, 6 December 2021



Landowners Unite to Conserve a Mountain of Biodiversity: the Western Soutpansberg

A brand-new Nature Reserve is on its way to being declared in South Africa, a landmark moment for securing the future of the unique biodiversity and cultural heritage of the Soutpansberg Mountain Range.

Friday 3 December 2021 marked a pivotal moment for a visionary group of conservation-minded landowners, as a provincial Gazette Notice of Intent to Declare a Nature Reserve was published for the new Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve. This is a critical step towards formally securing the Soutpansberg Mountain Range as a Nature Reserve under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 57 of 2003 (NEM: PAA), the highest level of protection under the Act.

The Soutpansberg, situated in the north of Limpopo Province, contains many habitats, species diversity with high endemism (species that occur nowhere else), cultural heritage, water production, and communities that rely on the mountain. Despite being recognised as a Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA) Category 1 (highest conservation priority) by the Limpopo Conservation Authority, a priority area for conservation by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area by BirdLife South Africa, less than 2% of this mountain is currently formally conserved. However, this is now changing.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s (EWT) Soutpansberg Protected Area Programme (SPA) was established to kickstart the process of acquiring formal protection for a significant size of this mountainous landscape and has been working with Conservation Outcomes and ZZ2 to guide landowners in the Soutpansberg through the process of conserving their properties through biodiversity stewardship. During this process, properties are assessed to determine their biodiversity value and conservation potential, which informs the suitable category of protection for their property. Formal assessments showed that all of the properties included have sufficient biodiversity and ecosystem services value to qualify as Nature Reserves under the NEM: PAA, and through signing the Notice of Intent to Declare a Nature Reserve, this has now been supported by the MEC of the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment, and Tourism (LEDET). The publication of the Notice to Declare initiates a 60 day Public Participation process, where interested and affected parties are invited to comment.

The Soutpansberg landowners, including the EWT as the owner of Medike Mountain Reserve (within the proposed new Nature Reserve), decided to declare their properties, under one large Nature Reserve spanning the entire Western Soutpansberg, with one collective vision: to create a connected landscape under formal conservation, including priority species, habitats, hydrologically important areas, and cultural heritage, for the benefit of biodiversity, ecosystems, and people in perpetuity.

The proposed Nature Reserve consists of 31 properties spanning over 22,000 ha of pristine mountain and valley bushveld. The reserve will become a new icon for Limpopo Province, attracting nature and cultural heritage enthusiasts who wish to enjoy the spectacular environment, and at the same time, contribute to local economic development through tourism and new opportunities in the green economy.

The Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve is one of eight reserves included in the Limpopo Gazette notice, an important step forward for conservation in the province. Once declared, these new Nature Reserves will contribute towards South Africa’s Protected Area Estate and contribute towards international protected area targets as set by the Convention on Biological Diversity in the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework.

The work of the project team was made possible by the funding and support of The Rainforest Trust, The Coca-Cola Foundation’s Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), Fondation Franklinia, ZZ2, and Douglas Wilson.


The Gazette notice, published on 3 December 2021, is available on the Provincial Gazette web page: http://www.gpwonline.co.za/Gazettes/Pag ... mpopo.aspx. Interested parties are invited to send letters of support directly to the LEDET Protected Area Manager as advertised on the Gazette notice.

For more information on the EWT’s Soutpansberg Protected Area Programme, contact: Cath Vise (EWT Soutpansberg Protected Area Manager) at catherinev@ewt.org.za

[Richprins]

It is a magical place!

[Lisbeth]

South Africa’s rare plants are being poached to extinction, and the ecological nightmare is only getting worse


Aloe pearsonii in habitat (Asphodelaceae/Xanthorrhoeaceae) ǀAi-ǀAis/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, Helskloof Pass, Northern Cape, South Africa. (Photo: Dr Alexey Yakovlev)

By Caryn Dolley | 05 Apr 2022

It has taken suspected succulent smugglers just a few years to yank out of the ground more than 1.5 million rare plants with a cumulative age of more than 44,000 years. And illegal trade in wild flora and fauna continues to rocket, authorities say.
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Plant poachers, including fugitives, repeat offenders and crooks who operate internationally, are damaging critical ecosystems in South Africa and are probably behind the near extinction of some rare succulent species as they continue stealing hundreds of thousands of them.

To try to get a grip on the problem, police say they are trying to take down syndicates on many fronts, including from within. In the Western Cape they are recruiting and training more informers.

Farmers are also being told about what to look out for, to try to stop poaching.

Although plant theft is nothing new, several arrests of suspected succulent smugglers were made recently in the Western Cape, with thousands of plants, some about 100 years old, confiscated. It is believed, however, that this is a fraction of what is being ripped out of the ground.

South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) spokesperson Nontsikelelo Mpulo told DM168 that, over the past three years, the amount of material confiscated in such crimes had increased by more than 250%.

“By November 2021, there were [more than] 415,000 succulent plants confiscated,” she said. “While law enforcement and reporting of the poaching is proving valuable, we still suspect that less than 25% of the trade is intercepted by law enforcers. This means [it] is likely that over 1.5 million plants have been removed from the wild in the past three years…


In November 2020, police discovered 2,262 succulents during an undercover operation in Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape. Four suspects were arrested for dealing in protected succulents without a permit. (Photo: SAPS)

“It is very likely that some species have already been poached to extinction in the wild because the number of confiscated poached plants being housed at secure locations for court cases often exceed[s] the previously estimated total wild population size.”

Plants can be classified as rare, protected and indigenous. Different types of permits for activities relating to these are needed, without which it is illegal to remove the plants from the wild.

Succulents and some bulb species (known as geophytes) are being targeted to supply demand within special horticultural markets.

Mpulo said the succulent Karoo biome, which stretches from Lüderitz in Namibia, across South Africa’s West Coast and into the Western Cape’s Little Karoo, was “one out of just two arid hotspots in the world with many of the species found nowhere else on Earth”.

Collectibles

GroundUp reported this month that unemployment was driving poaching, with a poacher able to sell a plant to middlemen and buyers for about R30 to R100. It was not clear how much plants were then sold for, higher up the black-market chain, but a South African police officer was quoted in National Geographic in March as saying a single plant could fetch “a few hundred to thousands of dollars”.


Conophytum breve. (Photo: Dr Alexey Yakovlev / Flickr)


A macro photograph of a tiny Conophytum khamiesbergense flowering. (Photo: Martin Heigan / Flickr)

Mpulo told DM168 that the price of a plant was likely to be determined by how rare and “collectible” it was viewed as. She cautioned that it was risky for the media to put a value on a plant because this could tip off poachers and cause them to change their pricing.

Lieutenant-Colonel Johan Smit, the Western Cape commander for the Stock Theft and Endangered Species units, told DM168 there were several plans in place aimed at preventing plant poaching.

“Police members at stations affected by these crimes are made aware of what to be on the lookout for and to task their informers,” he said. “Members are constantly recruiting more informers regarding the illegal succulent trade.”

Smit said there was a push for plant poachers to face longer jail terms: “During trials, testimony in aggravation of sentence [is] being led in an attempt to secure heavier penalties in an attempt to send out a strong message to those who are considering getting involved with the illegal succulent trade.”


Conophytum minimum. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

If plants became extinct, it would have a ripple effect. For example, areas where succulents grew attracted tourists. “If these plants are extinct,” Smit warned, “it will have an impact on tourism, which will have a negative effect on the hospitality industry, which can lead to job losses.”

CapeNature, which manages nature reserves and wilderness areas in the Western Cape, says on its website that during the hard lockdown in South Africa there was “a minor slowdown” in plant poaching, but this had picked up again as lockdown levels were lowered.

“The succulent plant trade has thus changed into an operation much like that of rhino poaching, where the main roleplayers sit offshore, and the poaching is done by local people,” it says.

International syndicates

In a case that spanned several countries and which finally wrapped up in 2022, a succulent smuggler from South Korea was convicted in both South Africa and the US.


Police in the Western Cape made a series of arrests in May 2021 after several suspects were found trying to smuggle bags of poached succulents. (Photo: SAPS)

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Byungsu Kim, along with Youngin Back and Bong Jun Kim, drove from Los Angeles International Airport to Crescent City in California in October 2018.

“From October 14 to October 16, Kim and the co-defendants harvested numerous dudleya plants [succulent plants] from DeMartin State Beach in Klamath, California, and from Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park,” a statement said. “Kim knew the taking of the dudleya plants was unlawful. He had conducted internet searches on his smartphone for ‘poaching succulents’ and ‘dudleya’, and had read a press release regarding the arrest and convictions of three other dudleya poachers.”

On 22 October 2018, the trio travelled to a nursery in Vista, California, where they offloaded the stolen plants. The next day they made their way to Russian Gulch State Park in another part of California where, “wearing backpacks and using hand-held radios to communicate, they pulled additional dudleya plants out of the ground before returning once again to the Vista nursery”.


Police intercepted poached succulents being transported from Springbok to Cape Town on 1 March. (Photo: SAPS)

Kim, it was further alleged, had an appointment with an agriculture official at the nursery and lied, saying he had government-issued certificates to export the plants to South Korea. The poached plants were then moved to a commercial exporter in California.

When Kim and his associates left the exporter, law enforcement officers carried out a search and discovered 3,175 dudleya plants.

Kim’s passport was then confiscated because of the stolen plants. But the US Central District of California attorney’s office said he had “fraudulently obtained a new South Korean passport in January 2019 by falsely claiming to the South Korean Consulate in Los Angeles that he had lost his passport”.

In May 2019, Kim heard there were criminal charges pending against him. Two months later, his associate, Bong Jun Kim, pleaded guilty and spent four months in jail.

According to US officials, Kim and the remaining co-accused, Youngin Back, fled to Mexico on foot. Then Kim, using his fraudulent passport, flew to China. From there, he flew to South Korea. Back remained a fugitive.

Later in 2019, Kim popped up in South Africa, along with another man from South Korea, Young IL Sunwoo. Both were arrested that October for stealing plants, classified on the Sanbi red list of South African plants as “rare” and “critically rare”, in the Western Cape.


Cephalophyllum. (Photo: Supplied)

They were charged in the Cape Town Regional Court with possessing flora without documentation, picking protected flora without a permit, and picking flora without written permission of the landowner. Kim pleaded guilty.

In February 2020, both Kim and Sunwoo were sentenced to six years in jail, of which five years were suspended if they did not commit the same crime again.

Both were declared “undesirable persons in South Africa” and the court attached almost R2.5-million in cash from Kim, and R2.4-million from Sunwoo.

Sunwoo was deported. Kim was detained in South Africa because he still faced charges from his plant plundering in California and the US wanted him extradited.

Biggest and oldest

Aradhana Heeramun, a National Prosecuting Authority advocate, said during the South African court case against the duo that they were among at least 12 groups caught over five months for illegally collecting succulents in the Western Cape and the Northern Cape.

“Illegal trade in wild flora and fauna is one of the five largest illegal activities in the world, along with illegal drug trade, illegal weapons smuggling and human trafficking,” she warned.

Succulent smugglers had tried to find the biggest and oldest plants.


Conophytum wettsteinii. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

“Most importantly, the collection of these plants is an ecological tragedy. [A rough, conservative estimation is that] the cumulative age of the 2018 collected plants [is] at least 44,000 years. When one puts it in these terms, the severity, tragedy and brutality of this crime against nature is clear,” she said.

Kim was extradited to the US in October 2020 and in January 2022 was sentenced to two years in jail. A sentencing memorandum against him said Kim had travelled to the US more than 50 times since 2009. Customs records showed that he had been travelling “for succulent-related purposes”.

In another concluded case that also involves South Africa and the US, American citizen Kalman Kaminar was sentenced in April 2020 to two years in jail in Cape Town following his arrest in 2019 for the “illegal possession of succulent plants declared as protected”. His sentence was suspended for five years.

Kaminar was linked to Never Enough Cactus, a nursery in Los Angeles. It appears he is still involved in the plant industry, with his name appearing on a list of vendors at a 2021 cactus show in California.

Plant poaching is a “continuous crime”. This means that succulents that are stolen and subsequently retrieved by police cannot simply be returned to the wild.

According to Sanbi), it is also not always clear where plants have been stolen from, and “because many species are habitat specialists”, these cannot be replanted just anywhere.

If it is known where a plant has been from, and conditions are suitable, it can be replanted, but only if security in that area is ensured.

Specialised seed-sowing techniques are used to reintroduce a plant species to the wild. Poached plants that cannot be replanted in the wild are sent to designated nurseries around South Africa where they are cared for, to try to ensure their survival.


Conophytum auctum. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

“Mass removal of succulent plant populations and the associated disturbance to the soil [from vehicle and foot traffic and digging] can destroy delicate organic crusts that characterise the region,” Sanbi warned.

“This has major long-term negative impacts on ecosystem function. Losing any species from the environment affects all other species within the ecosystem and leads to ecosystem function deterioration.”

Poaching plants towards extinction

September 2019 – Jaromir Chvastek and Tomas Malir, both from the Czech Republic, are found with 1,026 succulents in Bitterfontein, the northernmost part of the Western Cape. They plead guilty to having the plants illegally and are sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years.

February 2020 – Byungsu Kim and Young IL Sunwoo of South Korea are declared undesirable persons in South Africa for succulent poaching. Kim is subsequently extradited to the US to face similar charges.

April 2020 – US citizen Kalman Kaminar, who was linked to a nursery in Los Angeles, is sentenced in Cape Town to two years in jail, suspended for five years.

September 2021 – Four suspects are arrested after 1,326 endangered Conophytum acutum succulents are found on them in the Vanrhynsdorp area of the Western Cape.

October 2021 – Five suspects are arrested near Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape when a car is searched. According to police, three bags with a total of 5,697 succulent Conophytum plants and two bags containing herbs were found.

January 2022 – Byungsu Kim is sentenced to two years in jail in the US for plant poaching there.

February 2022 – Four suspects are arrested after 25,000 plant species are discovered at a premises in the Cape Town suburb of Milnerton.

March 2022 – Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk says a suitcase and backpack filled with succulents was confiscated after a taxi was searched near Citrusdal in the Western Cape. A suspect is “detained on a charge of possession of flora without documentation”.

March 2022 – A suspect is arrested at Cape Town International Airport where he is found with two boxes of succulents. He takes police to a premises in the suburb of Kenilworth where they confiscate more plants, between 50 and 100 years old.

March 2022 – A suspect is arrested for possession of endangered succulents in Klawer in the Western Cape – 4,544 plants, hidden in a trailer, are found. It is suspected the plants were being smuggled from Springbok to Cape Town. DM168

(Sources: SAPS, NPA, US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California)

[Richprins]

Locusts everywhere!

But law enforcement and monitoring much better in the Western Cape.

[Lisbeth]

Almost everything is better there, apart from criminality, which seems to be worse

[Lisbeth]

Alien plant removal makes for monumental water savings in drought-prone areas


Invasive alien pine trees choking out the native vegetation of the Cape Mountains. Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve. (Photo: Martin Kleynhans/The Conversation)

By Alanna Rebelo, Karen Joan Esler, Mark New and Petra Brigitte Holden | 31 May 2022

We conducted a hydrological study to find out how much water is lost to alien trees — and the results were staggering.
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Humans’ relationship with nature is broken. We’re transforming the Earth so dramatically that almost one million plant and animal species face extinction. Losing species unravels the tapestry of nature, changing how ecosystems function and, ultimately, damaging society too.

Nature brings huge benefits to people. Some are tangible. In South Africa alone, the value of these benefits to people is estimated at R275-billion annually (about 7% of the country’s gross domestic product).

That value includes providing the country with crops, wood, water and fuel. There are other, less immediately tangible benefits, too: air purification, water regulation and purification, recreation, tourism, as well as cultural and heritage value.

One of the things that contribute to ecosystem degradation in South Africa is invasion by alien plants. This is estimated to cost the nation R6.5-billion a year in damages.

The government spends more than R400-million every year clearing alien trees. Despite this investment, alien tree invasions continue to increase across the country.


Wandile Buthelezi helps clear alien vegetation, including peanut butter cassia (Senna didymobotrya). Cassia invades grasslands, woodlands, forests and riparian zones (banks of watercourses), impeding the growth of indigenous plants. (Photo: Khaya Ngwenya)

Alien trees threaten biodiversity, increase the risk of more intense and frequent wildfires and also guzzle water. This is an important factor in water-scarce regions, like South Africa, that experience droughts.

Alien trees are invading mountainous areas across South Africa. These are important water-generating regions and the trees threaten water supplies in several cities, among them Cape Town and Gqeberha. Both have experienced water shortages in recent years.

To find out just how much alien trees threaten water supply, we conducted a hydrological study.

The research set up the most fine-scale, detailed models possible to try and estimate how alien trees affect streamflow in four small mountain catchments above some of Cape Town’s major dams.

The study also used satellite imagery to input accurate information on the types of alien trees and where they are.

The models predicted that clearing catchment areas fully infested with mature invasive alien trees can increase streamflow by between 15.1% and 29.5%.

Although the catchments modelled are not fully invaded, this presents a strong argument for preventing full invasion.

The study also found that streamflow gains from clearing alien trees from rivers were almost twice as high as clearing the alien trees from the surrounding land. That’s because alien trees in rivers have access to an almost endless water supply and so use more.

Predicted savings

Another interesting finding was that clearing alien trees seemed to have a greater impact on the mid to low flows — that is, during the dry season when the river flow is low — rather than during rainfall events in the wet season when the rivers are full.

This makes sense: during rainfall events, there is so much water that the negative effects of alien vegetation become less evident. But it is important because it implies that clearing alien trees makes more water available between rain events, especially in the dry season. This is useful information that can help improve water security during droughts.

The positive effect of clearing alien trees was also predicted to be higher in dry years compared to wet years. This suggests that clearing alien trees is a viable measure to ensure there will be more water when it is most needed.

It is useful to explain what the savings predicted by our models mean to Cape Town’s overall water supply — and to consumers.

For instance, we found that clearing the current levels of invasion in the catchments above the Berg River Dam (currently 9% invaded) could increase streamflow by over 1%.


Berg River dam. Early am 30.01.2021 Herbie Mabin

This may not sound like a lot, but it could mean an increase in mean annual volume of as much as 1.5 million cubic metres, or 4.1 million litres a day.

According to the 1:50 year yield model for the Berg River Dam, this equates to a 0.2% increase in yield.

Putting this into perspective with a quick first-order calculation, from the City of Cape Town’s Water Strategy, we have a value of R9 per kilolitre for the operating costs of desalination.

If we multiply this by the 0.2% increase in yield each year from clearing alien trees above the Berg River Dam, we get to an estimated annual equivalent value of that water of around R2-million.

Should the Berg River Dam catchment become fully invaded with alien trees, however, this would reduce the 1:50 year yield by 4.3%, costing about R38-million each year if that water had to be sourced elsewhere.

Reversing the damage

Our findings are important for several reasons. First, they can be used to encourage society to redouble its work clearing alien vegetation.

Second, they confirm that improved water security is possible for South African cities during their dry seasons or droughts.

It is critical that more work be done to halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems.

This is especially urgent in what the United Nations has dubbed the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

We all have a chance to undo some of the damage we have wrought — and, as our research shows, clearing alien trees must be part of these efforts. The Conversation/DM168

This article was first published by The Conversation.

Alanna Rebelo is a senior researcher at the Agricultural Research Council. Karen Joan Esler is a distinguished professor of conservation ecology at Stellenbosch University. Mark New is the director of the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town. Petra Brigitte Holden is a researcher at the University of Cape Town. Jason Hallowes contributed to this article. Thanks to Dr James Cullis for his help with the yield calculations and cost estimations.

[Lisbeth]

[Lisbeth]

Eastern Cape’s Greater Kabeljous conservation area under grave threat of permanent destruction

By Wentzel Coetzer | 23 Jan 2024 2
Dr Wentzel Coetzer is a member of the Greater Kabeljous Partnership.

If nothing is done to stop the illegal occupation of a section of the Greater Kabeljous biodiversity hotspot, there is a real risk of this precious piece of land and the numerous environmental and heritage resources it has to offer being lost forever.
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The Eastern Cape is one of the most beautiful and ecologically diverse provinces in South Africa, boasting a wild ocean, rivers, lagoons, indigenous flora and fauna as well as a rich history and heritage. Perhaps one of the most unique and precious parts of the province is the Greater Kabeljous area, just northeast of Jeffreys Bay, which contains irreplaceable biodiversity and is of deep cultural significance for indigenous people.

This region, which comprises the Kabeljous and Papiesfontein parcels, owned by the provincial government, as well as parcels of privately owned land stretching up to the Gamtoos River, is home to at least 16 plant and five bird species of special conservation concern.

Perhaps most critically, it is the habitat of the black harrier, South Africa’s rarest endemic raptor – it is estimated that there are fewer than 1,000 mature individuals remaining globally.

Recent population viability assessments by researchers from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology and the Centre for Statistics in Ecology, Environment and Conservation at the University of Cape Town have predicted that the black harrier could potentially become extinct within 75 years unless urgent action is taken to conserve and protect the species.

The area contains at least five different ecosystem types, the largest of which is Humansdorp Shale Renosterveld. This is only found in a small part of the Eastern Cape, and is listed as an endangered ecosystem in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act. This precious ecosystem is at risk of ecological collapse due to high rates of habitat loss and fragmentation during the past three decades.

The Kabeljous and Papiesfontein land is one of the last and best remaining areas where a relatively large and well-connected remnant of Humansdorp Shale Renosterveld can still be found, and where an ecologically viable unit of this ecosystem type can still be conserved.

The land is currently recognised as a critical biodiversity area and falls within the “high-priority areas” of both the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy and the Eastern Cape Protected Area Expansion Strategy. It is therefore well aligned with the government’s strategic priorities to expand South Africa’s Protected Areas Network to conserve our country’s important biodiversity.

The South African government has international obligations under the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity, which includes a commitment to reducing threats to biodiversity by ensuring that at least 30% of our land, freshwater and oceans ecosystems are conserved by 2030.

Besides its conservation value, the land has deep cultural significance for Khoisan people and other groupings who trace their heritage back to the area. A recent report on the conservation value of the site noted the cultural and archaeological value of the land, including that the Kabeljous estuary was a popular area for hunter-gatherers and pastoralists and that there were numerous Khoisan and Stone Age artefacts preserved on the site.

Attempts at protection

It is clear that the Greater Kabeljous area could serve as an important conservation, cultural and tourism asset for the Kouga region and the broader Eastern Cape. Indeed, there have been attempts going back as far as 1999 to afford these land parcels the protection they deserve by having them formally declared as nature reserves.

In 2017, progress was signalled when the provincial Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism expressed its support for having the Papiesfontein land managed as a nature reserve. The Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) also confirmed that both the Kabeljous and Papiesfontein sites qualified for formal nature reserve status.

In 2019, the provincial department approved a memorandum seeking a way forward in formally declaring the two properties as nature reserves. It recommended the transfer of the Papiesfontein land from the Department of Human Settlements to the provincial department and, following that, the formal declaration of both land parcels as a provincial nature reserve.

Between 2019 and 2020, Conservation Outcomes (the organisation I work for) prepared a draft Protected Area Management Plan in consultation with key stakeholders and the relevant government authorities – including the provincial department, the ECPTA and the Kouga Local Municipality.

Frustratingly, since then there has been little tangible progress to have the land formally declared a nature reserve. Despite the efforts of some well-meaning officials, the process seems to have been tied up in red tape and caught in bureaucratic bottlenecks.

In the meantime, just more than one year ago on 5 December 2022, a small group, led by a prominent person (who also happens to be a local government councillor), invaded the Papiesfontein land where they built illegal structures and blocked public access to the land. They have occupied the land ever since, with their settlement steadily expanding in size and number.

Since then, independent reports have revealed that this land invasion has resulted in a direct loss of endangered vegetation and environmental degradation due to indiscreet clearing of areas for the erecting of tents, structures and communal “lapas”, and poor waste management by the illegal dwellers.

The independent reports also found that the land invasion poses a serious threat to the continued presence and breeding of the black harrier, since their ground-nesting nature makes them extremely vulnerable to any human disturbance.

If nothing is done to put a stop to this illegal occupation, there is a real risk of this precious piece of land and the numerous environmental and heritage resources it has to offer being lost forever.

It is encouraging that there is an eviction application by the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements under way, as well as a high court application by the Kouga Local Municipality to have the illegal structures demolished. But these processes – like the process to have the land declared a nature reserve – are frustratingly slow.

This is why a group of long-standing environmental activists, conservation practitioners and concerned citizens from Jeffreys Bay have joined to form the Greater Kabeljous Partnership. We are advocating for the creation of a sustainable nature reserve that will be cared for and protected by all role players; where people from all over the world will be able to enjoy nature and learn more about the First Nation people who lived in the area in harmony with nature.

To achieve this aim, it is important for the provincial government, the conservation fraternity and legitimate cultural groups to try to accelerate these processes before this precious natural habitat is irrevocably destroyed. By working together, we can unlock the environmental, cultural and socioeconomic value of this land so that all in the region may benefit. DM