S Africa adds two new biosphere reserves to portfolio

10th June 2015

By: Megan van Wyngaardt

Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

  

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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has designated the Magaliesberg and Gouritz cluster ecosystems, in South Africa, as biosphere reserves, bringing the country’s portfolio of such reserves to eight.

Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said the implementation of the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve management plan would create a number of alternative community opportunities in partnership with the private sector and mitigate negative industrial impacts in pursuit of sustainable tourism and cultural heritage development.

She added that the designation of the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve, South Africa’s biggest, “will enhance South Africa’s status as the third most biodiverse country in the world and enhance our effort to conserve the world-renowned Cape Floral region”.

“[We are] proud of the additional sites that have just been listed as the government, as the designation of these areas supports national efforts of expansion of the conservation estate in addition to supporting the achievement of government’s development objectives,” Molewa noted.

The designation was approved at the twenty-seventh Session of the Unesco Man and Biosphere (MAB) International Coordinating Council in Paris, France, this week.

The South African delegation was led by the Department of Environmental Affairs acting deputy director-general for biodiversity and conservation Skumsa Mancotywa, supported by Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development head Thandeka Mbasa and North West Department of Rural, Environment and Agricultural Development Dr Poncho Mokaila

The 360 000 ha Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve straddles Gauteng and North West and falls within the Bushveld Bakenveld terrestrial priority area, which was identified as a priority area for conservation action.

The site was also at the interface of two African biomes – the Central Grassland Plateaux and the sub-Saharan savannah with the remnants of a third biome, the Afro-montane forest.

About 262 000 people were living within the designated area, which includes the Cradle of Humankind, which is part of the Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa serial World Heritage site. The area contains rich floral biodiversity, a number of faunal species and over 45% of the total bird species of Southern Africa.

The Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve area covers an area of more than three-million hectares and straddles the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

The area is considered globally unique, as it is the only area in the world where three recognised biodiversity hotspots – the Fynbos, Succulent Karoo and Maputaland–Tongoland–Albany hotspots – converge.

The entire biosphere domain fell in the Cape Floristic Kingdom, which was the smallest, but one of the richest of the six floral kingdoms in the world, and the only one found entirely within the boundaries of one country.

The reserve is home to high levels of endemic plant species, threatened invertebrates and butterfly species. It provides a migratory route for large mammals and serves as a nursery for marine species.

Owing to its immense historical significance, the biosphere reserve includes three components of the internationally renowned Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site.

“Government will continue to manage its growing portfolio of biosphere reserves in collaboration with land owners, communities and other partners to ensure that we meet Unesco standards and our own national goals of sustainable development,” Molewa stated.

This designation complements government’s other efforts to expand the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site, to be considered later this month at the thirty-ninth session of the World Heritage Committee in Germany.

BIOSPHERE HISTORY
Launched in 1970 by the Unesco General Conference, the MAB programme aimed to improve human environments and preserve natural ecosystems.

The programme promoted research and capacity building to reduce the loss of biodiversity and address ecological, social and economic aspects.

Biosphere reserves were sites of terrestrial and marine ecosystems designated under the programme, where people shared sustainable ways of living with nature and innovative practices were tested in cooperation with local inhabitants with the aim of reconciling conservation of biodiversity with sustainable use.

The zone included strictly protected areas at the core, which were typically surrounded by buffer zones where conservation was emphasised, but where people also lived and worked.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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