Not so wild on the Wild Coast: Landscape changes and threats to biodiversity :

are community PA’s a viable solution ?

Dr. Derek Berliner

Contemporary conservation practice conference 22-26 October 2012, Midmar dam KZN

Importance of Pondoland/Wild CoastThreatsLandscape change : forest, mangroves, grasslands,

woodlands, cultivated landsCan community protected areas make a difference ?Conclusions

Talk outline

Pondoland Centre of Endemism Globally recognized by its inclusion within Conservation

International’s Maputo-Pondoland- Albany hotspotMore than 2 253 plant species have been recorded, of

which 10 % endemic, most occurring with a 15 km coastal belt.

PCE one of smallest and most threatened 80 % of South Africa’s remaining forests fall within this

hotspot. With more than 600 tree species, have the highest tree diversity of any of the world’s temperate forests

Importance

Pondoland centre

CEPF priority site

Pondoland recognized as ‘priority corridor region ‘

Wild Coast is part of the Historical and traditional heartland of the Xhosa nation.

The link between bio-and –cultural diveristy

“ Plants, animals and landscapes are profoundly reflected in Xhosa language , stories, poetry, rituals and healing practices that define Xhosa culture…… in our modernizing world cultural diversity is threatened by the loss of natural diversity and finding ways of protecting the regions biodiversity and cultural diversity is of vital importance “Dold & Cocks (2012) Voices from the forest

Low, with less than 3 % of the Wild Coast project area falling within formal protected areas.

Existing reserves are poorly managed, and mostly subjected to same threats occurring outside of reserves

Current levels of protection

Despite low human infrastructural footprint, many areas are currently suffering ongoing degradation.

This threatens not only irreplaceable biodiversity , but also the ‘livelihoods-safety net’ , and ‘cultural integrity ‘ of those reliant on the ecosystem services and resources of the Wild Coast.

The ‘myth of rural development ‘

The paradox of communal areas

Threats: inappropriate development proposals :

Dune mining N2 toll road

Others : timber plantations, maize and other biofuel crops,) damming of estuarine rivers

Proposed dune mining areaarea

Proposed N2 toll rd

White elephant 'rural development projects '

The Wild Coast SDF proposes five 1st order and fifteen 2nd order development nodes , most fall within CBA’s !!

Direct causes of biodiversity loss

• Invasive alien plants• Slash and burn land clearing• Non sustainable harvesting of subsistence resource • Illegal logging and bark harvesting , hunting •Overgrazing/over burning

Socio-economic drivers of biodiversity loss and landscape change

• Population pressures and poverty

• Lack of implementation of any coherent environmental management policies by Eastern Cape government

• Fragmented and multiple land management authorities

• Brake down in traditional farming and resource use control measures • Erosion of traditional conservation ethics

• Conservation is perceived to be a ‘colonial construct’ used to control resources.

•Lantana •Chromoleana•Inkberry •Mauritius thorn •Peanut butter cassia

Invasive alien plants

About 10-30 % cover

On exponential increase (no IAP plants recorded 25 years ago)

Alien plant landscapes: Nstubane

Loss of Scarp Forests

Loss Degradation Key causes

10-20% 25-30 % •Slash and burn farming•Invasive aliens

Invasive alien plants rapidly colonize fallow cleared lands. These areas provide a foot-hold for invasive plants to spread into surrounding grasslands and forest

Forest degradation caused by Chromoleana and creeper spreadIs climate change stimulating this ?

Creeper infestations ?

Frazer gorge

All state forests :Pagela ,Mpame, Manubi forest all show heavy degradation from invasive plants (> 20 % Mauritius thorn)

Degraded state forests

Mpame forest: red lines are degradation from IAP, and logging

Pagela state forest

Light green patches, are IAP, mostly Mauritius thorn

• No invasive alien plants in 1984 (today plots are covered in IAP)•About 60 % loss of forest since 1939• Most forest loss occurred since 1984•IAP on exponential increase

McKenzie plots (1939-1984)

Changes in McKenzie plots since 1937 with most of the loss occurring since 1982.

Degraded Red Milkwood dune forest

Shifting dune sands

Goats

Drivers of dune degradation(synergistic interactions)

Alien Plants Goats

Climate change

17 estuaries with mangroves, three have lost all mangroves and 5 have had significant lossPrime causes : mangrove flooding (climate change , change in flow regime) and over harvesting

Mangrove loss

Mangrove flooding : Kobanqaba

2005 2012

Kobanqaba mangroves

Hoare (2006) has shown that Pondoland-Ugu Sandstone Coastal Sourveld is 44 % transformed

Rather than 29%, derived from the NLC (and used in the SANBI, 2004 classification).

This pushes it into the endangered vegetation category

Significant with regard to N2 road toll EIA

Pondoland grasslands

O'Conner (1999) found between 17 and 35 % woody cover increase between 1937 and 1986 for some commercial farms of Eastern Cape (most occurred after 1962) Similar trends observed for communal areas of Wild Coast

WOODLAND ENCROACHMENT

1942

Landscape changes south of Manubi forest 1942 -1995

1995

Increase in woodland (since 1962), decrease in cultivated land (since 1942) and some forest expansion , occurring between 1942 and 1995

1962

The hills in the background were open grasslands in 1962. These areas have become invade by Acacia karoo (south of Manubi forest)

Much of the Wild Coast is a dynamic balance between a mosaic of grasslands , forest and woodlands. In the past this relationship was stable and mediated by fires, rainfall and some land clearing. Today, expanded populations, increased land abandonment , spread of invasive plants, excessive use of fires , and most likely , climate change have disrupted this balance

The Wild Coast Project: Community mapping of potential reserves

Priority areas

Manubi Pagela state forest (near coffee bay)Silaka expansion (Mt Thesinger , Mngazana corridor) Mkambati expansion (Tracor land, Mtentu , Lambasie)If proclaimed would meet targets of >10 % of area

under formal protection

Wild Coast Project proposed community reserves

Currently a long time lag in getting PA proclaimed (+3 yrs)The chances of the successful establishment and ongoing

management of ‘community-based’ protected areas are severely limited without strong support from of government

Currently, there is a near absence of active government support and involvement for developing community protected areas (at least in the Wild Coast).

Lack of any government institute dedicated to the development and support of CBNRM and co-management structures. These are essential to the establishment community based PA’s.

Are PA' a viable solution to halt degredation ?

Protected areas are a long term solutions, more immediate actions are needed to stop biodiversity loss: landscape wide resource management linked to rural development initiatives .

Rural development should be more than just ‘ power lines and roads’, but needs to include extension services that support improved resource management, eco-farming and conservation.

Communities should derive value from the conservation of biodiversity and from protected areas.

Protected areas can provide development opportunities for communities. In many cases, some forms of commercial resource use may be compatible with the goals of protected areas

Concluding remarks

Making the case that the conservation of cultural diversity is linked to bio - diversity

Promote a bigger picture vision of conservation and rural development by linking a network of small community PA’s into a Wild Coast botanical and cultural World Heritage Site

It is not too late to “ save the Wild Coast” but time is running out …..the shadows are getting long !

The future of the Wild Coast

Thank you