Reserves to safeguard NC’S ‘island mountains’
FOUR new provincial reserves have been declared in the Northern Cape to protect the Province’s inselbergs (“island mountains”) and the surrounds.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) South Africa, the group of mountains are situated in Bushmanland, east of Springbok.
“These protrusions that tower over the surrounding flat grassy plains are called inselbergs (literally ‘island mountains’) and are home to rare succulent plants which are at risk from mining and plant poachers,” the WWF said in a statement on its webpage.
“The Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust (LHSKT) first identified these solitary mountains as a top priority for conservation because they harbour unique plant species. They fall within the Succulent Karoo biome in the arid western part of South Africa which was recently described by Unesco (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) as the “most biologically diverse arid area in the world”.
“But until March 2020, these Bushmanland Inselbergs of the Northern Cape were unprotected. Now, with the declaration of four new provincial reserves, this is no longer the case.
“The four new reserves – Areb, Karas, Marietjie van Niekerk and
Smorgenskadu – adjoin each other and form the greater ‘Karrasberge Protected Area’.”
Combined, they represent around 5 700 hectares of two previously unprotected vegetation types: Bushmanland Inselberg Shrubland and Aggeneys Gravel Vygieveld, in addition to another poorly protected vegetation type, Bushmanland Arid Grassland, thus contributing to national and international conservation targets.
“This achievement has come about as a result of work done by Wilderness Foundation Africa (WFA), funded by the LHSKT via WWF South Africa, in co-operation with the landowners and the Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation (DENC).”
“These areas were included in the Northern Cape Provincial Protected Area Expansion Strategy which is why DENC supported the declaration of these four gems as provincial nature reserves, which they will now oversee in partnership with the landowners.
“WFA, DENC and WWF would like to applaud the landowners’ dedication and foresight in conserving this portion of South Africa’s national heritage in perpetuity,” Ben-jon Dreyer, WFA Land Negotiator, said.
“These nature reserves will ultimately contribute to the climate change resilience of the region’s vegetation, as well as counter the increasing threat of heavy metal open cast mining ventures and the illegal plant trade in these areas.”
According to Wilderness Foundation Africa, investment in the mining sector of the Northern Cape has increased significantly over the past couple of years.
“Securing ecologically important Critical Biodiversity Areas, such as the Karrasberge, is of utmost importance in terms of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functionality,” the WFA stated.
The four Karrasberge Nature Reserves have been formally declared in perpetuity in terms of Section 23 of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act (NEMPAA) 2003.
Te partnerships between DENC, private landowners and NGOS are facilitated under the DENCS Biodiversity Stewardship Programme.
“This programme was initiated to ensure that critically important biodiversity receives protection while remaining under the stewardship of private landowners and managed in partnership with provincial agencies, Sanparks or NGOS,” WFA said.
“Landowners play a key role in assisting the Province in expanding protected areas while maintaining a living/working landscape, which is the ethos of biodiversity stewardship. The four families who own the land on which these reserves have been declared have dedicated a portion of each of their farms at a time when they are experiencing one of the worst droughts in history. They are now the designated management authorities and will carry all the financial and legal responsibility for looking after them.”