Spatial Assessment for the revised Mpumalanga Biodiversity Expansion Strategy. Mervyn Lotter Scientific Services 8 June 2016

Transcription

1 Spatial Assessment for the revised Mpumalanga Biodiversity Expansion Strategy Mervyn Lotter Scientific Services 8 June 2016

2 Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy (MPAES) Developed our first MPAES early in MTPA PA expansion unit established in Various mechanisms for Protected Area Expansion, but focus has been on proclaiming land under private/communal ownership. Currently managed to declare ha since 2009 in terms of Protected Areas Act. Since 2014 there has been no further progress.

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4 Need to revise MPAES MPAES v1 was completed in Development of the Mpumalanga Biodiversity Sector Plan (MBSP) completed in Revised biodiversity plan included many new changes: new species and localities, climate change priorities, detailed corridor network, and an accurate land-cover map. Need to revise MPAES so that it was in line with best available science and information. We also felt the need to try and avoid conflict with mining areas and areas where municipalities wish to develop.

5 Revising spatial priorities Long-term strategy with 20-year horizon (broad priorities). Include a shorter term 5-year horizon to identify immediate priorities. Mpumalanga Biodiversity Sector Plan (MBSP) meets biodiversity targets in smallest possible area. MPAES must be informed by this framework so as to meet biodiversity targets. Yet in MPAES, final prioritisation of areas may differ based on an approach that may be more aligned to PA expansion and establishment of nature reserves.

6 Important layers that we included within spatial assessment

7 Terrestrial Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) and Ecological Support Areas (ESAs) Converted data from the Mpumalanga Biodiversity Sector Plan (MBSP) - converted into three categories CBA Irreplaceable = 15 CBA Optimal = 10 ESA (all) = 5

8 Biodiversity Feature Richness Output from the MBSP. First selected all nonprotected planning units (PUs) (richness range 0-36) Then selected all PUs with 20 or more features (n=267).

9 Analysis of hot spots of diversity for all species of conservation concern Hotspots of all species of conservation concern (n=14,0000. Statistically significant clusters of areas with high values for species of conservation concern.

10 Unprotected Threatened Plant Species Lize von Staden PhD study - Focusing on protecting threatened plant species that are not currently afforded protection within any protected areas

11 Priority Intact Grasslands Intact grasslands = without spurs and gaps and patches larger than 100 ha. Map showing the intact grassland patches in blue. The green areas are those intact grassland patches that contribute more towards supporting connectivity between intact grasslands in terms of stepping stones or number of connections.

12 Protection level of terrestrial ecosystems

13 Developing 20-year Priorities MBSP Terrestrial categories (ESA, CBA Optimal, CBA Irreplaceable: 0, 5, 10, 15) MBSP biodiversity feature richness (0,5) Species Hotspot (0, 5, 10) Unprotected Threatened Plant Species (0, 5, 10) Vegetation map - zero protected units (0, 5) Intact grasslands (0, 5) Output categorised into 3 categories Priority 1: value, High biodiversity value (required to meet targets), Priority 2: value, Moderate biodiversity value (required to meet targets), Priority 3: 5-10 value, Lower biodiversity value (not necessarily required to meet targets),

14 MPAES 20 year priorities Name Count of polygons Size (ha) % of Priorities Priority Priority Priority

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16 Moving from 20-year to 5-year strategy 5 -year strategy Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority year strategy

17 Development of constraints and opportunities to inform immediate priorities Avoid Favour Overlapping mining areas Wilderness areas

18 Mining as a constraint Lowered values of priority areas where there was more than 1 mining application

19 Removing conflict with municipal plans Municipalities identify Strategic Development Areas (SDAs) where they plan to expand within next few years. Sourced SDAs and erased areas of overlap from any MPAES priorities so that MPAES does not identify priorities in SDAs. This approach would ensue better support from municipalities.

20 Wilderness areas are scarce Travelling around Mpumalanga, there are few wild areas left where no signs of development can be seen. Wilderness or remoteness values are an important features to include within any protected area expansion program. Tourism value as well as benefit to sensitive biodiversity.

21 Components of Wilderness analysis 1. Plantations: >200 ha; random points 500 meters apart ; Visibility (geodesic); (n = 11,925) 2. Cultivated: >200 ha; random points 600 meters apart; Visibility (geodesic); (n = 3,000) 3. Mining: > 100 ha; random points 300 meters apart; Visibility (geodesic); (n = 1,410) 4. Buildings (noise & light pollution, persecution): summarised (point to raster, integrate); Visibility (geodesic); (n = 17,767)

22 Converting output into farm portions Translate 5-year priorities into cadastral units. Selected farm portions that intersect MPAES 5-year priority. Summarise MPAES values for farm portions.

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24 Analysis Informants Developing 20- and 5-year spatial priorities Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) MBSP Biodiversity Richness Priority connected intact grasslands Hot Spot Analysis Threatened plants not found within any Protected Areas Unprotected vegetation types From 20-year to 5-year priorities 20-year MPAES priorities Wilderness areas (favour) Mining Priorities (avoid) 5-year MPAES priorities

25 Conclusion The MBSP is a revision of the Mpumalanga Protected Areas Expansion Strategy of The MPAES is used to prioritise where we should be working with limited budgets and manpower. It is important to protect species not already protected within any protected area and to try and achieve national & provincial targets. Used ModelBuilder in running spatial analysis so easy to discuss, adapt, weight, change, etc. consultative process. Important to try and work within current political environment to ensure that we are able to protect areas while still meeting biodiversity targets. Avoiding municipal priorities would contribute towards acceptance from municipalities authorities.

26 THANK YOU

27 Sentinel 2 NI,R,G - 8,4,3 Sentinel 2 satellite imager European Space Agency Copernicus Program SPOT5 - RGB

28 SPOT5 NI,R,G 10 x 10 m = 4 bands 20 x 20 m = 6 bands 60 x 60 m = 3 bands Sentinel 2 NI,R,G - 8,4,3