Page 45 - UGU Dstrct Mun IDP Report '21-22

3.2.4 Biodiversity
Critical Biodiversity Areas are natural or near natural landscapes that are considered critical for meeting biodiversity targets and thresholds, and which safeguard areas required for the persistence of viable populations of species and the functionality of ecosystems. Critical Biodiversity Areas or CBAs include features, habitats and landscapes that are considered to be most important for biodiversity conservation and securing the preservation of important ecosystem functioning and processes. Terrestrial, aquatic, estuarine and marine CBAs. Terrestrial CBAs describe terrestrial areas within the District which are of particularly high conservation significance.
The Ugu Environmental Management Framework (acceded to by the Minister of the Department of Environment and Forestry in 2019) states that protection and management of Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) is crucial. This is particularly true given the critical levels of transformation in the district and pressures on the remaining land, efforts are urgently required to secure and manage CBAs. For this purpose, the CBA map for Ugu DM has been created in the EMF as part a strategic planning strategy to ensure biodiversity conservation and persistence in the district. Such needs (the CBA layer) needs to be adopted by the Competent Authority or gazetted in terms of a Bioregional Plan.
Protected Areas and sites of conservation importance are automatically included in the CBA network by virtue of their formal protection status. Additional datasets used to classify and derive the terrestrial CBA layer included Critical Biodiversity Areas (formally Biodiversity Priority Areas) defined in the EKZNW Terrestrial Systematic Conservation Plan, irreplaceable linkages using the coverage of Landscape Ecological corridors for the Province and terrestrial features/areas identified as critically important for terrestrial conservation efforts based on input from local experts in the District.
The majority of these CBAs are ‘irreplaceable’, meaning their natural status meets the biodiversity targets and thresholds and this may require the municipality to adopt mechanisms in dealing and managing such areas of significance which forms a major component of the municipal natural assets. The EMF has set environmental management zones which depict the assimilated and refined sensitivity maps that are integrated with the threats, opportunities and development pressures (where available). The product therefore determines the environmental suitability of a specific area for certain types of development based upon inherent characteristics and overall sensitivity. This seeks to ensure sustainable development, i.e. spatial development occurs simultaneously as environmental preservation in a balanced manner.
3.2.5 Households located in hazardous areas
Due to the nature of a coastal area, there are a large number of catchments within the UDM, ranging from small, localised catchments spanning a few square kilometres to the Mzimkhulu and Umkomaas Catchments stretching back to their headwaters in the Drakensberg Mountains. There is a common theme throughout the UDM in that there are no major dams or impoundments, only several small local supply dams. These impoundments are quantified in terms of volume and surface area within each sub- section to follow. The majority of the area is characterised as moderately erodible, with a smaller portion characterised as highly erodible (Rooseboom, 1992). This was thought to be as a result of the moderate to high rainfall erosivity, based on the EI30 (maximum rainfall intensity values for a 30-minute period) values for the area (Rooseboom, 1992).
Furthermore, the majority of wetlands in the Ugu DM occur within higher rainfall areas, resulting in high densities of wetlands along the coastal region and fewer located inland. As a result of intensive urban development along the coast and agricultural practices (commercial and informal), an estimated 67% of wetland areas have been subject to transformation, significantly affecting the ecosystem services derived from these resources. While no critically endangered wetland types were identified in the provincial assessment, more than 50% of wetlands fall within an endangered wetland vegetation type. The national assessment paints a worse picture with many wetland vegetation groups classified as critically endangered in the study area. These are all areas which are considered as environmentally sensitive due to, inter alia, their ecosystem benefits. There are approximately 7785 households within Ugu District that are located on hydrologically sensitive areas. The wetlands and the rivers are protected by various pieces of environmental legislations. With the recent climate change events leading to excessive heavy rainfall and floods, it has become more important for these situations to be avoided.
3.2.6 Vegetation
A range of vegetation types extend across the UDM and are grouped within three biomes, namely the Indian Ocean Coastal belt, Savannah biome inland of the coastal belt, and a small section of the grassland biome west of Harding and extending north
IDP REVIEW 43