SHAW’S A SUCCESS

THE Shaw’s Pass road-widening project in the Western Cape is often hailed as a biodiversity offset success story. It involved widening a dangerous section of road between Hermanus and Caledon, but it cut into an environmentally sensitive area. “The Provincial Roads Department was required to offset impacts to a 1 hectare area of critical habitat,” notes a 2015 Fauna & Flora International country biodiversity offset report for South Africa. “The 30ha offset site has been secured and protected, reportedly securing an area of the same important habitat as was affected.” Some experts believe the project should never have received environmental approval. “The affected habitat is sufficiently rare and irreplaceable that some believe it should have been declared ‘no-go’. “Yet many believe that refusal of permissions was never an option, because the project was required on the grounds of public safety (there had been several accidents along that section of road).” “Shaw’s Pass is a success,” says Dr Ernst Baard, the executive director of biodiversity support at CapeNature. “There are a few pitfalls if you’re not careful, but if done for the right reasons and as a last resort, it can be positive.”