Page 41 - State of Biodiversity Report 2022/2023

4.6.2. Restoration Ecology
Restoration ecology, a science that emerged as a separate field in ecology in the 1980s, looks at renewing and restoring ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed by human activities to a stable, healthy and sustainable state. It is the practice of employing human intervention and action for conserving biodiversity and ecological integrity. Examples
of ecological restoration include the active management of habitat for species, e.g. burning of grasslands or removal of IAPs, and the creation of new habitats in areas that may have been historically transformed for farming and other human activities, e.g. replanting forests or recreating wetlands.
Historically, the Restoration Ecology Branch of the BMD has had a budget allocated to IAP control and reforestation. The management of natural areas allows for a unique opportunity to address one of the biggest threats to biodiversity, i.e. poverty. Two programmes, Fire and Invasive Species Control (FISC) and Working for Ecosystems (WfE), have been developed to tackle the problem of IAPs in Durban. Both FISC and WfE are sustainable development programmes that aim
to alleviate poverty and develop skills by employing people to manage aspects of the environment such as the burning of grasslands and IAPs. Both programmes also have a strong education and training component.
During the 2022-2023 financial year, FISC conducted IAP and controlled burning operations across 30 sites. Controlled burns were implemented on BMD priority sites, Natural Resource Department’s sites as well as ad-hoc sites (i.e.,
privately owned sites). During the 2022/2023 both the WFE and FISC programmes were significantly impacted due to delays in appointment of an implementing agents, creating an obstacle in conducting regular follow-ups in the IAP control. Consequently, there is a risk of substantial infestations of invasive alien plants (IAP) on the sites managed through these programmes. The number of hectors cleared by the WFE decreased drastically from 1672.4 ha to 612.5 ha and a drop from 492.1 to 21.3 ha for the FISC programme between 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 financial years (Table 8, 9 and 10). The BMD is in continuous engagements with department leadership and the relevant Supply Chain Management committee to ensure that the programmes are back and fully operational before the end of the 2023/2024 financial year.
Table 8. Breakdown of BMD IAP Control for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 Municipal Financial Years
Programme
Fire an Invasive Species Control
Working for Ecosystems
Total area (ha)
21.3
612.5
Initial
5.1
0
Follow-up
15.7
370.06
Maintenance
0.5
241.5
Total area burnt
417
N/A
Training courses
0
4
Training person days
0
306
Total job created
45
215
Total person days
2970
4537
STATE OF BIODIVERSITY REPORT 2022/2023 39