National Strategy for Plant Conservation - South Africa (English … · 2018. 11. 16. · of a...
88
environmental affairs Depament: Environmental Affairs REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA South African National Biodiversity Institute
Transcript of National Strategy for Plant Conservation - South Africa (English … · 2018. 11. 16. · of a...
environmental affairs Department: Environmental Affairs REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA South African National Biodiversity Institute
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Editor: D. Raimondo
Prepared by the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the Botanical Society of South Africa in collaboration with a network of
South African botanists and conservationists
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Editor: D. Raimondo
Prepared by the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the Botanical Society of South Africa in collaboration with a network of South
African botanists and conservationists.
Technical editing & proofreading: Y. Steenkamp, SANBI Graphics & EditingCover design & layout: E. Fouché, SANBI Graphics & EditingCover photographs: Front cover: A. Hankey &
S.P. Bester Back cover: J. Vlok, G. Duncan
& D. Clulow Inside front cover: D. Clulow Inside back cover: TrustDreampix Photography
Citing this publicationRaimondo, D. (ed.) 2015. South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation. South African National Biodiversity Institute and the Botanical Society of South Africa, Pretoria.
ISBN: 978-1-928224-04-4
Obtainable from: SANBI Bookshop, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001 South AfricaTel.: +27 12 843 5000E-mail: [email protected]: www.sanbi.orgPrinted by: Seriti Printing, Tel.: +27 12 333 9757, Website: www.seritiprinting.co.za Address: Unit 6, 49 Eland Street, Koedoespoort, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa
Copyright © 2015 by South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owners.
The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of SANBI. The author and publisher have made their best efforts to prepare this book, and make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents herein. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned and no responsibility is accepted by the publisher or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that the credits accurately comply with the information supplied by the author.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation iii
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Objective I: Plant diversity is well understood, documented and recognised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Target 1: An online Flora of all known plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Target 2: An up-to-date assessment of the conservation status of all South African spe-
cies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Target 3: Information, research and associated outputs, and methods necessary to imple-
ment the strategy developed and shared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Objective II: Plant diversity is urgently and effectively conserved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Target 4: Biodiversity targets for terrestrial eco-systems secured through effective manage-
ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Target 5: Important areas for plant diversity identified and incorporated into conservation
processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Target 6: Initiatives in place to ensure the sustainable management of production lands
consistent with the conservation of plant diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Target 7: At least 75% of known threatened plant species conserved in situ . . . . . . . . . . 34Target 8: At least 60% of threatened plants in ex situ collections, preferably in the country
of origin, and available for recovery (restoration) programmes, with 1% in active reintroduction programmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Target 9: The genetic diversity of crops, including their wild relatives and indigenous edi-ble plant species, conserved while respecting, preserving and maintaining asso-ciated indigenous and local knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Target 10: Effective management plans in place to prevent new biological invasions and to manage important areas for plant diversity that are invaded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Objective III: Plant diversity is used in a sustainable and equitable manner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Target 11: No species of wild flora endangered by international trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Target 12: All wild harvested plant-based products sourced sustainably . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Target 13: Indigenous and local knowledge innovations and practices associated with plant
resources maintained or increased as appropriate to support customary use, sustainable livelihoods, local food security and healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Objective IV: Education and awareness about plant diversity, its role in sustainable livelihoods and impor-tance to all life on earth is promoted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Target 14: The importance of plant diversity and the need for its conservation incorporated
into communication, education and public awareness programmes. . . . . . . . . 64
Objective V: The capacities and public engagement necessary to implement the Strategy have been developed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Target 15: The number of trained people working with appropriate facilities sufficient ac-
cording to national needs, to achieve the targets of this Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . 68Target 16: Institutions, networks and partnerships for plant conservation established or
strengthened at national, regional and international levels to achieve the targets of this Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Contents
iv South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
This strategy has been developed over two years between 2013 and 2015, and would not have been possible without the contribution and participation of many individuals. All the botanists and conservationists who took part in the incep-tion workshop in March 2013 and who continued to work in smaller working groups after the workshop are thanked for their contributions. Specific individuals who dedicated time to help develop the outcomes and activities under each tar-get are listed as contributors under the relevant target.
The Botanical Society of South Africa is thanked for fund-ing the printing of this publication and the development of the website linked to this strategy. The Department of
Environmental Affairs is acknowledged for providing funds for the development of this strategy through its support for staff time and workshop expenses of the South African Na-tional Biodiversity Institute.
Catherine Browne, executive assistant of the Botanical So-ciety, is thanked for her help with editing this document, and SANBI Publishing is acknowledged for technical edit-ing and layout.
The institutions and projects below have all contributed to the development of this strategy and will take the actions outlined in it forward.
Acknowledgements
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation v
vi South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Plants are universally recognised as a vital component of the world’s biological diversity and an essential resource for ecosystem functioning – goods and services. Addition-ally, plants have great economic and cultural importance. Plants play a key role in maintaining the planet’s basic environmental balance, ensuring ecosystem stability, and they form an irreplaceable component of the habitats for the world’s animal life.
Of urgent concern is the fact that many plant species, communities and their ecological interactions, including the many relationships between plant species and human communities and cultures, are in danger of extinction, threatened by such human-induced factors as, inter alia, habitat loss and transformation, over-exploitation, pol-lution, clearing for development activities, alien invasive species and climate change. If this loss is not stemmed, countless opportunities to develop new solutions to press-ing economic, social, health and industrial problems will be equally lost. Furthermore, plant diversity is of special concern to indigenous and local communities, and these communities have a vital role to play in addressing the loss of plant diversity.
South Africa is proud to honour its commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by developing this Strategy for Plant Conservation, which aligns with the CBD-endorsed Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).
In 2010, South Africa, along with all Parties to the CBD, en-dorsed an updated version of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the adoption of Decision X/17 commit-ted Parties to:
‘develop or update national and regional targets rel-evant to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, and, where appropriate, to incorporate them into rel-evant plans, programmes and initiatives, including na-tional biodiversity strategies and action plans, and to align the further implementation of the Strategy with national and/or regional efforts to implement the Stra-tegic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020.’
This strategy, while aligning closely with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, is also appropriate to the Megad-iverse context in which conservation takes place in South Africa. It has been developed simultaneously with the re-
view of South Africa’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, and all activities in South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation nest under activities within the Nation-al Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.
This strategy responds to the priorities of the South Afri-can government, such as job creation through research projects on how to grow medicinal plants on a national scale and promoting a healthy environment for all of South Africa’s people, one of the fundamental rights outlined in South Africa’s constitution. With 85% of South Africans us-ing medicinal plants harvested from the wild, without the availability of these plants the government would need to significant increase fiscal spending on health care. Main-taining ecological infrastructure through protection and restoration of threatened ecosystems is also addressed here and is a crucial intervention required to safeguard water provision services to South Africa’s people.
I would like to thank stakeholders involved in the devel-opment of this strategy, that is, under the leadership of the South African National Biodiversity institute (SANBI) as the focal point for the implementation of the GSPC nation-ally, and with support from the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), a network of botanists and conservation-ists which has been developed to includes conservation agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and academic institutions.
With 6% of the world’s plant diversity and strong botani-cal and conservation capacity, South Africa is well placed to make a significant contribution to plant conservation globally. I trust that the extensive network institutions and conservationists that have been pulled together through the development of this strategy will ensure its effective implementation. This is one of the examples that show that through working together we can achieve more!
Mrs B.E.E. MolewaMinister of Environmental Affairs
Foreword
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 1
South Africa is signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and is committed to the implementation of a national strategy to conserve plants that aligns with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). With 6% of the world’s plant diversity and strong botanical and conservation capacity, South Africa is well placed to make a significant contribution to plant conservation globally. This document presents South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation. It includes 16 outcome-oriented targets, each of which, if implemented well, will help lead to im-proved conservation of plants. The targets range from work to document, describe and assess the conservation status of plants; through to targets to conserve plants in situ and ex situ. There are targets tackling the threat of invasive alien plants and a host of targets that address the sustainable utilisation of South Africa’s plant species. The strategy ends with three targets on expanding plant conservation aware-ness through education programmes and building individ-uals’ skills and institutional capacity to implement plant conservation effectively. The targets are nationally relevant and align with activities identified in South Africa’s updat-ed National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).
South Africa has, since 2002, done extensive work to con-serve plants, aligned with the GSPC. In 2006, the publi-cation: A South African response to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation was produced, which outlined, for each of the 16 targets, work that was taking place in South Africa and what future priorities were. This publication guided work by South African conservationists until 2010. In 2010 the CBD adopted an updated version of the GSPC, which included many changes to the 16 outcome oriented tar-gets; these new targets now form the basis of this strategy. As a result, South Africa has undergone a process to ensure alignment of national plant conservation work to the up-dated global strategy.
In March 2013, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) hosted a workshop to develop this Strat-egy for Plant Conservation. The majority of South Africa’s active botanists and conservationists gathered at this work-shop specifically to discuss the GSPC and its implementa-
tion nationally. Much work in smaller task teams followed the workshop and has resulted in nationally relevant and achievable targets being developed that align with the 16 global targets. Achievable outcomes and activities have been identified, and responsible stakeholders and time-frames have been agreed to. The very clear activities and outcomes identified in this strategy will allow South Africa to evaluate and monitor progress with the implementation of the strategy over the next five years. Task teams of be-tween five and ten individuals have been constituted to take the implementation of each target forward.
During the process of developing this strategy, global targets were modified to ensure that they are achievable in the megadiverse flora context in which plant conservation work takes place. Much of South Africa’s conservation work is done in an integrated fashion with plant and animal conser-vation combined with the conservation of ecosystems and habitats. Plant conservation is not done in isolation of other work to conserve biodiversity. South Africa’s biodiversity sector bases its work on priorities identified through sys-tematic biodiversity plans that identify Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs), which represent ecological viable networks of ecosystems and species for conservation. The targets to conserve plant diversity in production lands (Target 6) and the conservation of ecosystems (Target 4) in particular, have been guided by systematic biodiversity planning work. The difference between South Africa’s national targets and those from the GSPC are presented in Table 2. The Strategy for Plant Conservation, presented here, also aligns with South Africa’s updated NBSAP. Each of the outcomes in this plant strategy is either directly represented or nested under one of the activities of the NBSAP. How this strategy links to the NBSAP is shown in Table 1. Under the leadership of SANBI, the focal point for the implementation of the GSPC national-ly, and with support from the Botanical Society of South Afri-ca (BotSoc), a network of botanists and conservationists has been developed that includes conservation agencies, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and academic institu-tions. It is this strong network who will ensure that South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation is well implemented by 2020.
Introduction
2 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
NSP
C T
arge
tN
SPC
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Act
ivity
Targ
et 1
: A
n on
line
Flor
a of
all
know
n pl
ants
.1.
1. e
-Flo
ra p
rodu
ced
that
inc
lude
s de
scrip
-tio
ns, d
istrib
utio
n in
form
atio
n an
d im
ages
for
taxa
.
6.1
Rele
vant
foun
datio
nal d
atas
ets
on s
peci
es
and
ecos
yste
ms
are
in p
lace
and
wel
l coo
rdi-
nate
d.
6.1.
1.D
esig
n, e
stab
lish
and
mai
ntai
n ac
cess
ible
bi
odiv
ersit
y da
ta s
yste
m/n
etw
ork
that
lin
ks d
ata
sets
from
var
ious
inst
itutio
ns (i
nclu
ding
aca
dem
ic
and
citiz
en s
cien
ce p
roje
cts)
for
ind
igen
ous
and
inva
sive
alie
n sp
ecie
s, i
nclu
ding
occ
urre
nce
re-
cord
s an
d co
ordi
nate
d in
form
atio
n on
spe
cies
.1.
2. I
dent
ifica
tion
keys
to
genu
s le
vel
and
whe
re p
ossib
le t
o sp
ecie
s le
vel
incl
uded
in
e-Fl
ora.
Targ
et 2
: An
up-
to-d
ate
asse
ssm
ent
of
the
cons
erva
tion
stat
us o
f all
Sout
h A
f-ric
an s
peci
es.
2.1.
Red
List
mai
ntai
ned
and
upda
ted
with
all
new
ly d
escr
ibed
spe
cies
ass
esse
d.6.
2 Th
e st
atus
es o
f spe
cies
and
eco
syst
ems a
re
regu
larly
mon
itore
d an
d as
sess
ed.
6.2.
1. R
evie
w a
nd e
xpan
d Re
d Li
sts
for
prio
rity
taxa
and
ass
ess
all n
ew s
peci
es a
nd s
peci
es in
ar-
eas
targ
eted
for d
evel
opm
ent.
2.2.
Spe
cies
fro
m p
riorit
y ar
eas
unde
r im
mi-
nent
thre
at re
asse
ssed
.
Targ
et 3
: Inf
orm
atio
n, re
sear
ch a
nd a
s-so
ciat
ed o
utpu
ts,
and
met
hods
nec
es-
sary
to
impl
emen
t th
e St
rate
gy,
deve
l-op
ed a
nd s
hare
d.
3.1.
Inf
orm
atio
n on
pla
nt o
ccur
renc
es f
rom
he
rbar
ia, p
rovi
ncia
l con
serv
atio
n ag
enci
es a
nd
atla
sing
proj
ects
cen
tralis
ed,
qual
ity c
heck
ed
whe
re fe
asib
le, a
nd m
ade
avai
labl
e vi
a a
sin-
gle
porta
l.
6.1
Rele
vant
foun
datio
nal d
atas
ets
on s
peci
es
and
ecos
yste
ms
are
in p
lace
and
wel
l coo
rdi-
nate
d.
6.1.
1. D
esig
n, e
stab
lish
and
mai
ntai
n ac
cess
ible
bi
odiv
ersit
y da
ta s
yste
m/n
etw
ork
that
lin
ks d
ata
sets
from
var
ious
inst
itutio
ns (i
nclu
ding
aca
dem
ic
and
citiz
en s
cien
ce p
roje
cts)
for
ind
igen
ous
and
inva
sive
alie
n sp
ecie
s, i
nclu
ding
occ
urre
nce
re-
cord
s an
d co
ordi
nate
d in
form
atio
n on
spe
cies
.
3.2.
Pla
nt ta
xa o
f con
serv
atio
n co
ncer
n m
on-
itore
d.6.
2 Th
e st
atus
of
spec
ies
and
ecos
yste
ms
is re
gula
rly m
onito
red
and
asse
ssed
.6.
2.6.
Fin
alise
and
impl
emen
t the
Nat
iona
l Mon
-ito
ring
Fram
ewor
k.
3.3.
Und
er-s
ampl
ed a
reas
tar
gete
d fo
r su
r-ve
ys.
6.1
Rele
vant
foun
datio
nal d
atas
ets
on s
peci
es
and
ecos
yste
ms
are
in p
lace
and
wel
l coo
rdi-
nate
d.
6.1.
2. A
ddre
ss p
riorit
y ga
ps in
foun
datio
nal d
ata
for i
ndig
enou
s sp
ecie
s an
d re
leva
nt in
vasiv
e al
ien
spec
ies,
inc
ludi
ng d
ocum
entin
g th
e di
strib
utio
n an
d ab
unda
nce
of p
riorit
y gr
oups
(su
rvey
s/in
ven-
torie
s), a
nd m
obili
satio
n of
dat
a fro
m s
peci
men
s in
col
lect
ions
.
3.4.
Tax
onom
ic r
evisi
ons
of p
riorit
y ge
nera
pr
oduc
ed.
6.4
Man
agem
ent-
rele
vant
and
pol
icy-
rele
vant
re
sear
ch a
nd a
naly
ses a
re u
nder
take
n th
roug
h co
llabo
ratio
n be
twee
n sc
ient
ists
and
prac
ti-tio
ners
.
6.4.
2. A
ddre
ss p
riorit
y re
sear
ch q
uest
ions
as i
den-
tifie
d in
the
Nat
iona
l Bio
dive
rsity
Res
earc
h St
rat-
egy’
s g
ap a
naly
sis th
roug
h in
volv
ing
netw
orks
of
rese
arch
ers
and
inst
itutio
ns.
Targ
et 4
: Bi
odiv
ersit
y ta
rget
s fo
r te
rres
-tri
al e
co-s
yste
ms
secu
red
thro
ugh
ef-
fect
ive
man
agem
ent.
4.1.
The
pro
tect
ion
leve
ls of
the
35 te
rres
trial
ec
osys
tem
s th
at w
ere
asse
ssed
in 2
011
to b
e C
ritic
ally
End
ange
red
or E
ndan
gere
d an
d al
so
unpr
otec
ted
or p
oorly
pro
tect
ed a
re s
ubst
an-
tially
incr
ease
d.
1.1
The
netw
ork
of p
rote
cted
are
as a
nd c
on-
serv
atio
n ar
eas
incl
udes
a r
epre
sent
ativ
e sa
m-
ple
of e
cosy
stem
s and
spec
ies,
and
is c
oher
ent
and
effe
ctiv
ely
man
aged
.
1.1.
1. E
xpan
d th
e pr
otec
ted
area
(co
nser
vatio
n ar
ea) e
stat
e th
roug
h th
e de
clar
atio
n of
stat
e-ow
ned
prot
ecte
d ar
eas,
Mar
ine
Prot
ecte
d Ar
eas
(MPA
s)
and
biod
iver
sity
stew
ards
hip
sites
, ba
sed
on t
he
Nat
iona
l Pro
tect
ed A
rea
Expa
nsio
n St
rate
gy.
4.2.
The
rat
e of
loss
of
habi
tat
in t
hrea
tene
d ec
osys
tem
s red
uced
with
no
furth
er lo
ss ta
king
pl
ace
in C
ritic
ally
End
ange
red
ecos
yste
ms.
3.4
Com
plia
nce
with
aut
horis
atio
ns a
nd p
re-
mits
is m
onito
red
and
enfo
rced
.3.
4.1.
Gre
en a
nd B
lue
Scor
pion
s dev
elop
a fr
ame-
wor
k an
d co
orpe
rate
for
com
plia
nce
and
en-
forc
emen
t in
biod
iver
sity
prio
rity
area
s.
Tabl
e 1:
How
Sou
th A
frica
’s S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
links
to th
e So
uth
Afric
an N
atio
nal B
iodi
vers
ity S
trate
gy a
nd A
ctio
n Pl
an
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 3
NSP
C T
arge
tN
SPC
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Act
ivity
Targ
et 5
: Im
porta
nt a
reas
for
pla
nt d
i-ve
rsity
iden
tifie
d an
d in
corp
orat
ed in
to
cons
erva
tion
proc
esse
s.
5.1.
Im
porta
nt
area
s fo
r pl
ant
dive
rsity
in
So
uth
Afri
ca i
dent
ified
bas
ed o
n bo
tani
cal
richn
ess
and
ende
mism
pat
tern
s.
6.3.
Geo
grap
hic
prio
rity
area
s for
the
man
age-
men
t, co
nser
vatio
n an
d re
stor
atio
n of
bio
di-
vers
ity a
sset
s an
d ec
olog
ical
infra
stru
ctur
e ar
e id
entif
ied
base
d on
bes
t ava
ilabl
e sc
ienc
e.
6.3.
3. B
iodi
vers
ity s
ecto
r pl
ans
and
bior
egio
nal
plan
s re
gula
rly u
pdat
ed, i
deal
ly a
t lea
st e
very
five
to
ten
year
s.
5.2.
Im
porta
nt a
reas
for
pla
nt d
iver
sity
inco
r-po
rate
d in
to b
iodi
vers
ity p
lann
ing
proc
esse
s an
d pr
otec
ted
area
exp
ansio
n st
rate
gies
.
Targ
et 6
: In
itiat
ives
in
plac
e to
ens
ure
the
sust
aina
ble
man
agem
ent
of p
ro-
duct
ion
land
s, c
onsis
tent
with
the
con-
serv
atio
n of
pla
nt d
iver
sity.
6.1.
Mai
nstre
am p
lant
div
ersit
y in
to a
gric
ultu
r-al
pla
nnin
g an
d im
plem
enta
tion
with
in p
rior-
ity c
atch
men
ts.
3.2.
Em
bed
biod
iver
sity
cons
ider
atio
ns i
nto
natio
nal,
prov
inci
al a
nd m
unic
ipal
dev
elop
-m
ent p
lann
ing
and
mon
itorin
g.
3.2.
2. I
nteg
rate
bio
dive
rsity
con
sider
atio
ns i
nto
the
deve
lopm
ent
of m
anag
emen
t pl
ans
at r
e-gi
onal
or p
rovi
ncia
l lev
els (
coas
tal,
wat
er re
sour
ce
clas
sific
atio
n, in
vasiv
e m
anag
emen
t pla
ns e
tc.).
3.6.
Bio
dive
rsity
con
sider
atio
ns a
re in
tegr
ated
in
to th
e de
velo
pmen
t and
impl
emen
tatio
n of
po
licy
and
legi
slativ
e to
ols.
3.6.
4. I
nteg
rate
bio
dive
rsity
con
sider
atio
ns i
nto
sect
or c
odes
of c
ondu
ct a
nd b
est p
ract
ice
guid
e-lin
es.
6.2.
Cap
acity
of a
gric
ultu
ral e
xten
sion
serv
ices
st
reng
then
ed a
nd e
nfor
cem
ent
capa
city
im
-pr
oved
5.3
Inst
itutio
ns a
re c
apac
itate
d to
del
iver
on
thei
r m
anda
tes
in t
erm
s of
bio
dive
rsity
man
-ag
emen
t and
con
serv
atio
n.
5.3.
4. I
mpr
ove
the
capa
city
of
key
depa
rtmen
ts
(e.g
. Dep
artm
ent
of A
gric
ultu
re, F
ores
try &
Fish
-er
ies;
Dep
artm
ent
of W
ater
Affa
irs;
Dep
artm
ent
of M
iner
al R
esou
rces
; D
epar
tmen
t of
Rur
al D
e-ve
lopm
ent
& L
and
Refo
rm;
Dep
artm
ent
of E
co-
nom
ic D
evel
opm
ent;
Dep
artm
ent
of S
cien
ce &
Te
chno
logy
; an
d lo
cal
gove
rnm
ent)
to s
uppo
rt bi
odiv
ersit
y co
nser
vatio
n an
d m
anag
emen
t.
Targ
et 7
: At l
east
75%
of k
now
n th
reat
-en
ed p
lant
spe
cies
con
serv
ed in
situ
.7.
1. P
rote
cted
are
a ex
pans
ion
stra
tegi
es t
o in
corp
orat
e la
yer
of h
igh
prio
rity
unpr
otec
ted
thre
aten
ed s
peci
es s
ites.
6.3.
Geo
grap
hic
prio
rity
area
s for
the
man
age-
men
t, co
nser
vatio
n an
d re
stor
atio
n of
bio
di-
vers
ity a
sset
s an
d ec
olog
ical
infra
stru
ctur
e ar
e id
entif
ied
base
d on
bes
t ava
ilabl
e sc
ienc
e.
6.3.
3.
Upd
ate
bi
odiv
ersit
y se
ctor
pl
ans
and
bior
egio
nal
plan
s re
gula
rly u
pdat
ed,
idea
lly a
t le
ast e
very
five
to te
n ye
ars.
7.2.
Bi
odiv
ersit
y St
ewar
dshi
p pr
ogra
mm
es
focu
sed
on a
reas
with
hig
h co
ncen
tratio
ns o
f un
prot
ecte
d th
reat
ened
spe
cies
.
1.1
The
netw
ork
of p
rote
cted
are
as a
nd c
on-
serv
atio
n ar
eas
incl
udes
a r
epre
sent
ativ
e sa
m-
ple
of e
cosy
stem
s and
spec
ies,
and
is c
oher
ent
and
effe
ctiv
ely
man
aged
.
1.1.
1. E
xpan
d th
e pr
otec
ted
area
(co
nser
vatio
n ar
ea)
esta
te t
hrou
gh t
he d
ecla
ratio
n of
sta
te-
owne
d pr
otec
ted
area
s, M
arin
e Pr
otec
ted
Area
s an
d bi
odiv
ersit
y st
ewar
dshi
p sit
es,
base
d on
the
N
atio
nal P
rote
cted
Are
a Ex
pans
ion
Stra
tegy
.
7.3.
Le
gal
prot
ectio
n of
C
ritic
ally
En
dan-
gere
d pl
ant s
peci
es o
ccur
ring
at o
ne s
ite o
nly,
ac
hiev
ed.
1.1
The
netw
ork
of p
rote
cted
are
as a
nd c
on-
serv
atio
n ar
eas
incl
udes
a r
epre
sent
ativ
e sa
m-
ple
of e
cosy
stem
s and
spec
ies,
and
is c
oher
ent
and
effe
ctiv
ely
man
aged
.
1.1.
9. S
treng
then
pro
tect
ion
for
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
-ge
red
spec
ies
occu
ring
only
at s
ingl
e sit
es.
3.6.
Bio
dive
rsity
con
sider
atio
ns a
re in
tegr
ated
in
to th
e de
velo
pmen
t and
impl
emen
tatio
n of
po
licy
and
legi
slativ
e to
ols.
3.6.
1. D
evel
op, i
mpl
emen
t and
upd
ate
legi
slativ
e to
ols
that
ens
ure
the
prot
ectio
n of
spe
cies
and
ec
osys
tem
s.
Tabl
e 1:
How
Sou
th A
frica
’s S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
links
to th
e So
uth
Afric
an N
atio
nal B
iodi
vers
ity S
trate
gy a
nd A
ctio
n Pl
an (c
ont.)
4 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
NSP
C T
arge
tN
SPC
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Act
ivity
Targ
et 8
: A
t le
ast
60%
of
thre
aten
ed
plan
ts in
ex
situ
colle
ctio
ns, p
refe
rabl
y in
the
cou
ntry
of
orig
in,
and
avai
labl
e fo
r re
cove
ry (
rest
orat
ion)
pro
gram
mes
, w
ith 1
% i
n ac
tive
rein
trodu
ctio
n pr
o-gr
amm
es.
8.1.
60%
of
thre
aten
ed p
lant
s co
nser
ved
ex
situ.
1.2.
Spe
cies
of s
peci
al c
once
rn a
re su
stai
nabl
y m
anag
ed.
1.2.
3. E
nsur
e su
ffici
ent
ex s
itu c
onse
rvat
ion
of
thre
aten
ed a
nd u
sefu
l spe
cies
to a
ddre
ss im
pact
s fro
m c
limat
e ch
ange
, hab
itat
trans
form
atio
n an
d un
sust
aina
ble
use.
8.2.
1%
of s
peci
es w
ith e
x sit
u co
llect
ions
ac-
tive
in re
stor
atio
n pr
ogra
mm
es.
Targ
et 9
: The
gen
etic
div
ersit
y of
cro
ps,
incl
udin
g th
eir w
ild re
lativ
es, a
nd in
dig-
enou
s ed
ible
pla
nt s
peci
es c
onse
rved
w
hile
resp
ectin
g, p
rese
rvin
g an
d m
ain-
tain
ing
asso
ciat
ed in
dige
nous
and
loca
l kn
owle
dge.
9.1.
Gen
etic
div
ersit
y of
400
indi
geno
us e
di-
ble
plan
t spe
cies
and
cro
p tra
ditio
nal v
arie
ties
cons
erve
d in
gen
e ba
nks.
1.2.
Spe
cies
of s
peci
al c
once
rn a
re su
stai
nabl
y m
anag
ed.
1.2.
3. E
nsur
e su
ffici
ent
ex s
itu c
onse
rvat
ion
of
thre
aten
ed a
nd u
sefu
l spe
cies
to a
ddre
ss im
pact
s fro
m c
limat
e ch
ange
, hab
itat
trans
form
atio
n an
d un
sust
aina
ble
use.
9.2.
Prio
rity
crop
wild
rel
ativ
es c
onse
rved
in
situ
and
ex s
itu.
1.1
The
netw
ork
of p
rote
cted
are
as in
clud
es a
re
pres
enta
tive
sam
ple
of e
cosy
stem
s an
d sp
e-ci
es, a
nd is
coh
eren
t and
effe
ctiv
ely
man
aged
.
1.1.
1. E
xpan
d th
e pr
otec
ted
area
(co
nser
vatio
n ar
ea)
esta
te t
hrou
gh t
he d
ecla
ratio
n of
sta
te-
owne
d pr
otec
ted
area
s, M
arin
e Pr
otec
ted
Area
s an
d bi
odiv
ersit
y st
ewar
dshi
p sit
es,
base
d on
the
N
atio
nal P
rote
cted
Are
a Ex
pans
ion
Stra
tegy
.
1.2.
Spe
cies
of s
peci
al c
once
rn a
re su
stai
nabl
y m
anag
ed.
1.2.
3. E
nsur
e su
ffici
ent
ex s
itu c
onse
rvat
ion
of
thre
aten
ed a
nd u
sefu
l spe
cies
to a
ddre
ss im
pact
s fro
m c
limat
e ch
ange
, hab
itat
trans
form
atio
n an
d un
sust
aina
ble
use.
Targ
et 1
0: E
ffect
ive
man
agem
ent p
lans
in
pla
ce t
o pr
even
t ne
w b
iolo
gica
l in-
vasio
ns a
nd to
man
age
impo
rtant
are
as
for p
lant
div
ersit
y th
at a
re in
vade
d.
10.1
. In
vasiv
e Sp
ecie
s Pr
ogra
mm
e ef
fect
ivel
y de
tect
ing
and
docu
men
ting
new
inv
asio
ns,
prov
idin
g re
liabl
e po
st-b
orde
r risk
ass
essm
ents
an
d co
ordi
natin
g im
plem
enta
tion
of n
atio
nal
erad
icat
ion
plan
s.
3.7
Effe
ctiv
e m
anag
emen
t of p
ress
ures
to b
io-
dive
rsity
.3.
4.7.
Red
uce
inva
sions
thr
ough
inte
rven
tions
at
ports
of
entry
and
coo
rdin
ated
spe
cies
man
age-
men
t pro
gram
mes
.
10.2
. Im
porta
nt a
reas
for
pla
nt d
iver
sity
re-
ceiv
ing
prio
rity
atte
ntio
n by
in
vasiv
e al
ien
clea
ring
prog
ram
mes
.
2.1.
Res
tore
, m
aint
ain
and
secu
re i
mpo
rtant
ec
olog
ical
infra
stru
ctur
e in
a w
ay th
at c
ontri
b-ut
es to
rur
al d
evel
opm
ent,
long
-ter
m jo
b cr
e-at
ion
and
livel
ihoo
ds.
2.1.
4. I
mpr
ove
how
bio
dive
rsity
ass
ets
and
eco-
logi
cal i
nfra
stru
ctur
e is
inco
rpor
ated
into
the
plan
-ni
ng o
f the
Dep
artm
ent o
f Env
ironm
enta
l Affa
irs’
Nat
ural
Res
ourc
e M
anag
emen
t pro
gram
mes
.
Tabl
e 1:
How
Sou
th A
frica
’s S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
links
to th
e So
uth
Afric
an N
atio
nal B
iodi
vers
ity S
trate
gy a
nd A
ctio
n Pl
an (c
ont.)
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 5
NSP
C T
arge
tN
SPC
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Act
ivity
Targ
et 1
1: N
o sp
ecie
s of
wild
flor
a en
-da
nger
ed b
y in
tern
atio
nal t
rade
.11
.1.
Non
–Det
rimen
t Fi
ndin
gs f
or a
ll cy
cad
spec
ies
cond
ucte
d.1.
2 Sp
ecie
s of
spe
cial
con
cern
are
sus
tain
ably
m
anag
ed a
nd c
ontri
bute
to li
velih
oods
.1.
2.1.
Dev
elop
, im
plem
ent a
nd s
usta
inab
ly fu
nd
biod
iver
sity
man
agem
ent
and/
or r
ecov
ery
plan
s fo
r prio
ritise
d sp
ecie
s of
spe
cial
con
cern
.11
.2. B
iodi
vers
ity M
anag
emen
t Pla
n fo
r C
riti-
cally
End
ange
red
and
Enda
nger
ed c
ycad
s im
-pl
emen
ted.
11.3
. List
ing
prop
osal
s fo
r sp
ecie
s th
reat
ened
by
inte
rnat
iona
l tra
de, b
ut n
ot y
et in
clud
ed o
n on
e of
the
CIT
ES a
ppen
dice
s, c
ompl
eted
.
1.2.
2. D
evel
op,
impl
emen
t, re
view
and
am
end
regu
latio
ns t
hat
deal
with
the
man
agem
ent
and
prot
ectio
n of
spec
ies a
nd a
ctiv
ities
that
impa
ct o
n sp
ecie
s.
11.4
. Ear
ly w
arni
ng sy
stem
to fl
ag n
ew sp
ecie
s po
tent
ially
thr
eate
ned
by i
nter
natio
nal
trade
im
plem
ente
d.
1.2.
5. M
aint
ain
an e
ffect
ive
Scie
ntifi
c Au
thor
ity
that
pro
vide
s sc
ient
ific
over
sight
for
spe
cies
in
trade
.
Targ
et 1
2: A
ll w
ild h
arve
sted
pla
nt-
base
d pr
oduc
ts s
ourc
ed s
usta
inab
ly.12
.1. A
land
scap
e ap
proa
ch t
o th
e co
nser
va-
tion
of m
edic
inal
pla
nts d
evel
oped
and
impl
e-m
ente
d.
6.3.
Geo
grap
hic
prio
rity
area
s for
the
man
age-
men
t, co
nser
vatio
n an
d re
stor
atio
n of
bio
di-
vers
ity a
sset
s an
d ec
olog
ical
infra
stru
ctur
e ar
e id
entif
ied
base
d on
bes
t ava
ilabl
e sc
ienc
e.
6.3.
3. E
nsur
e th
at s
patia
l bio
dive
rsity
pla
ns,
bio-
dive
rsity
sec
tor
plan
s an
d bi
oreg
iona
l pl
ans
are
regu
larly
upd
ated
, ide
ally
at l
east
eve
ry fi
ve to
ten
year
s.
12.2
. The
opt
ion
of s
ubst
itutin
g w
ild-s
ourc
ed
med
icin
al p
lant
s w
ith c
ultiv
ated
pla
nts
inve
s-tig
ated
.
1.2
Spec
ies
of s
peci
al c
once
rn a
re s
usta
inab
ly
man
aged
and
con
tribu
te to
live
lihoo
ds.
1.2.
4. E
stab
lish
inte
grat
ed p
rogr
amm
es to
supp
ort
sust
aina
ble
use
of t
hrea
tene
d sp
ecie
s (in
clud
ing
med
icin
al s
peci
es)
and
horti
cultu
ral
plan
ts,
in-
clud
ing
prop
agat
ion
prog
ram
mes
to r
elie
ve p
res-
sure
on
harv
estin
g.12
.3.
The
dem
and
for
wild
-sou
rced
pla
nts
in
the
horti
cultu
ral
colle
ctor
s’ t
rade
dim
inish
ed
as a
res
ult
of c
ultiv
ated
mat
eria
l bei
ng m
ade
avai
labl
e.
12.4
. Spe
cies
har
vest
ed fr
om th
e w
ild fo
r bio
-tra
de m
anag
ed s
usta
inab
ly.1.
2.1.
Dev
elop
, im
plem
ent a
nd s
usta
inab
ly fu
nd
biod
iver
sity
man
agem
ent
and/
or r
ecov
ery
plan
s fo
r prio
ritise
d sp
ecie
s of
spe
cial
con
cern
.
Tabl
e 1:
How
Sou
th A
frica
’s S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
links
to th
e So
uth
Afric
an N
atio
nal B
iodi
vers
ity S
trate
gy a
nd A
ctio
n Pl
an (c
ont.)
6 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
NSP
C T
arge
tN
SPC
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Act
ivity
Targ
et 1
3: In
dige
nous
and
loca
l kno
wl-
edge
inno
vatio
ns a
nd p
ract
ices
ass
oci-
ated
with
pla
nt r
esou
rces
mai
ntai
ned
or in
crea
sed
as a
ppro
pria
te t
o su
ppor
t cu
stom
ary
use,
sus
tain
able
live
lihoo
ds,
loca
l foo
d se
curit
y an
d he
alth
care
.
13.1
. The
Nat
iona
l Rec
orda
l Sys
tem
cap
turin
g an
d sa
fegu
ardi
ng In
dige
nous
Kno
wle
dge.
6.1.
Rel
evan
t fou
ndat
iona
l dat
aset
s on
spec
ies
and
ecos
yste
ms
are
in p
lace
and
wel
l coo
rdi-
nate
d.
6.1.
7. C
aptu
re a
nd s
afeg
uard
indi
geno
us k
now
l-ed
ge li
nked
to
biod
iver
sity
thro
ugh
the
Nat
iona
l Re
cord
al S
yste
m.
13.2
. St
udie
s co
nduc
ted
to c
aptu
re I
ndig
e-no
us K
now
ledg
e re
late
d to
pla
nt u
se b
y et
h-ni
c gr
oups
in
regi
ons
not
yet
defin
itive
ly r
e-se
arch
ed.
6.4.
M
anag
emen
t-
and
polic
y-re
leva
nt
re-
sear
ch a
nd a
naly
sis a
re u
nder
take
n th
roug
h co
llabo
ratio
n be
twee
n sc
ient
ists
and
prac
ti-tio
ners
.
6.4.
2.
Addr
ess
prio
rity
rese
arch
qu
estio
ns
as
iden
tifie
d in
the
Nat
iona
l Bi
odiv
ersit
y Re
sear
ch
Stra
tegy
’s g
ap a
naly
sis th
roug
h in
volv
ing
netw
orks
of
rese
arch
ers
and
inst
itutio
ns.
13.3
. A n
atio
nal d
atab
ase
on in
dige
nous
pla
nt
use
know
ledg
e av
aila
ble
onlin
e.6.
1. R
elev
ant f
ound
atio
nal d
atas
ets o
n sp
ecie
s an
d ec
osys
tem
s ar
e in
pla
ce a
nd w
ell c
oord
i-na
ted.
6.1.
1. D
esig
n, e
stab
lish
and
mai
ntai
n ac
cess
ible
bi
odiv
ersit
y da
ta s
yste
m/n
etw
ork
that
lin
ks d
ata
sets
from
var
ious
inst
itutio
ns (i
nclu
ding
aca
dem
ic
and
citiz
en s
cien
ce p
roje
cts)
for
ind
igen
ous
and
inva
sive
alie
n sp
ecie
s, i
nclu
ding
occ
urre
nce
re-
cord
s an
d co
ordi
nate
d in
form
atio
n on
spe
cies
.
Targ
et 1
4: T
he im
porta
nce
of p
lant
di-
vers
ity a
nd t
he n
eed
for
its c
onse
rva-
tion
inco
rpor
ated
into
com
mun
icat
ion,
ed
ucat
ion
and
publ
ic a
war
enes
s pr
o-gr
amm
es.
14.1
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
incl
uded
in
the
life
scie
nce
curr
icul
um a
cros
s So
uth
Afric
a.4.
1 Pe
ople
’s a
war
enes
s of
the
val
ue o
f bi
o-di
vers
ity i
s en
hanc
ed t
hrou
gh m
ore
effe
ctiv
e co
ordi
natio
n an
d m
essa
ging
.
4.1.
4. S
treng
then
the
inte
grat
ion
and
teac
hing
of
biod
iver
sity
cont
ent i
n re
leva
nt s
choo
l cur
ricul
a.
14.2
. Pla
nt c
onse
rvat
ion
awar
enes
s ex
pand
ed
by e
xpos
ure
to b
otan
ical
gar
dens
and
by
in-
volv
ing
the
publ
ic in
citi
zen
scie
nce
proj
ects
.
4.1.
3. S
treng
then
env
ironm
enta
l lite
racy
thro
ugh
citiz
en s
cien
ce p
rogr
amm
es t
hat
prom
ote
lear
n-in
g an
d co
mm
on k
now
ledg
e ab
out b
iodi
vers
ity.
14.3
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
is pr
omot
ed in
rel
e-va
nt m
edia
.4.
1.1.
Dev
elop
and
fun
d a
coor
dina
ted
natio
n-al
bio
dive
rsity
com
mun
icat
ions
, ed
ucat
ion
and
awar
enes
s st
rate
gy,
impl
emen
tatio
n pl
an
and
mon
itorin
g fra
mew
ork.
Targ
et 1
5: T
he n
umbe
r of t
rain
ed p
eo-
ple
wor
king
with
app
ropr
iate
fac
ilitie
s su
ffici
ent
acco
rdin
g to
nat
iona
l nee
ds,
to a
chie
ve th
e ta
rget
s of
this
Stra
tegy
.
15.1
. C
onse
rvat
ion
cour
ses
offe
red
in S
outh
A
frica
’s u
nive
rsiti
es a
ligne
d w
ith s
kills
nee
ded
in th
e fie
ld o
f pla
nt c
onse
rvat
ion.
5.2.
An
impr
oved
ski
lls d
evel
opm
ent
syst
em
inco
rpor
ates
the
need
s of t
he b
iodi
vers
ity se
c-to
r.
5.2.
1. Im
prov
e th
e qu
ality
and
rel
evan
ce o
f ski
lls
prod
uced
for b
iodi
vers
ity c
onse
rvat
ion
and
man
-ag
emen
t.
15.2
. W
ork
plac
e m
ento
rshi
p op
portu
nitie
s av
aila
ble
in p
lant
con
serv
atio
n pr
ogra
mm
es.
5.2.
3. S
treng
then
and
sup
port
exist
ing
Biod
iver
-sit
y C
entre
s of
Exc
elle
nce
that
enh
ance
res
earc
h ex
celle
nce
and
capa
city
dev
elop
men
t fo
r bi
odi-
vers
ity c
onse
rvat
ion
and
man
agem
ent.
15.3
. Po
stgr
adua
te r
esea
rch
stud
ies
requ
ired
to e
nsur
e th
e co
nser
vatio
n of
Sou
th A
frica
’s
plan
t spe
cies
pro
mot
ed.
Targ
et 1
6: I
nstit
utio
ns,
netw
orks
and
pa
rtner
ship
s fo
r pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
esta
blish
ed o
r st
reng
then
ed a
t na
tion-
al,
regi
onal
and
int
erna
tiona
l le
vels
to
achi
eve
the
targ
ets
of th
is St
rate
gy.
16.1
. A
Sout
h Af
rican
net
wor
k fo
r pl
ant
con-
serv
atio
n ef
fect
ivel
y im
plem
entin
g an
d up
dat-
ing
the
Stra
tegy
for P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n.
5.3.
Par
tner
ship
s ar
e de
velo
ped
and
inst
itu-
tions
are
cap
acita
ted
to d
eliv
er o
n th
eir
man
-da
tes
tow
ards
impr
oved
ser
vice
del
iver
y.
5.3.
3. Im
prov
e in
stitu
tiona
l coo
pera
tion
and
co-
ordi
natio
n at
the
ope
ratio
nal l
evel
, in
clud
ing
for
cros
s-bo
unda
ry m
anag
emen
t of b
iodi
vers
ity as
sets
.
16.2
. Wor
king
gro
ups
for e
ach
targ
et e
nsur
ing
that
spe
cifie
d ou
tput
s ar
e be
ing
achi
eved
.
Tabl
e 1:
How
Sou
th A
frica
’s S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
links
to th
e So
uth
Afric
an N
atio
nal B
iodi
vers
ity S
trate
gy a
nd A
ctio
n Pl
an (c
ont.)
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 7
NSP
C T
arge
tN
SPC
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Out
com
eN
BSAP
Act
ivity
Targ
et 1
3: In
dige
nous
and
loca
l kno
wl-
edge
inno
vatio
ns a
nd p
ract
ices
ass
oci-
ated
with
pla
nt r
esou
rces
mai
ntai
ned
or in
crea
sed
as a
ppro
pria
te t
o su
ppor
t cu
stom
ary
use,
sus
tain
able
live
lihoo
ds,
loca
l foo
d se
curit
y an
d he
alth
care
.
13.1
. The
Nat
iona
l Rec
orda
l Sys
tem
cap
turin
g an
d sa
fegu
ardi
ng In
dige
nous
Kno
wle
dge.
6.1.
Rel
evan
t fou
ndat
iona
l dat
aset
s on
spec
ies
and
ecos
yste
ms
are
in p
lace
and
wel
l coo
rdi-
nate
d.
6.1.
7. C
aptu
re a
nd s
afeg
uard
indi
geno
us k
now
l-ed
ge li
nked
to
biod
iver
sity
thro
ugh
the
Nat
iona
l Re
cord
al S
yste
m.
13.2
. St
udie
s co
nduc
ted
to c
aptu
re I
ndig
e-no
us K
now
ledg
e re
late
d to
pla
nt u
se b
y et
h-ni
c gr
oups
in
regi
ons
not
yet
defin
itive
ly r
e-se
arch
ed.
6.4.
M
anag
emen
t-
and
polic
y-re
leva
nt
re-
sear
ch a
nd a
naly
sis a
re u
nder
take
n th
roug
h co
llabo
ratio
n be
twee
n sc
ient
ists
and
prac
ti-tio
ners
.
6.4.
2.
Addr
ess
prio
rity
rese
arch
qu
estio
ns
as
iden
tifie
d in
the
Nat
iona
l Bi
odiv
ersit
y Re
sear
ch
Stra
tegy
’s g
ap a
naly
sis th
roug
h in
volv
ing
netw
orks
of
rese
arch
ers
and
inst
itutio
ns.
13.3
. A n
atio
nal d
atab
ase
on in
dige
nous
pla
nt
use
know
ledg
e av
aila
ble
onlin
e.6.
1. R
elev
ant f
ound
atio
nal d
atas
ets o
n sp
ecie
s an
d ec
osys
tem
s ar
e in
pla
ce a
nd w
ell c
oord
i-na
ted.
6.1.
1. D
esig
n, e
stab
lish
and
mai
ntai
n ac
cess
ible
bi
odiv
ersit
y da
ta s
yste
m/n
etw
ork
that
lin
ks d
ata
sets
from
var
ious
inst
itutio
ns (i
nclu
ding
aca
dem
ic
and
citiz
en s
cien
ce p
roje
cts)
for
ind
igen
ous
and
inva
sive
alie
n sp
ecie
s, i
nclu
ding
occ
urre
nce
re-
cord
s an
d co
ordi
nate
d in
form
atio
n on
spe
cies
.
Targ
et 1
4: T
he im
porta
nce
of p
lant
di-
vers
ity a
nd t
he n
eed
for
its c
onse
rva-
tion
inco
rpor
ated
into
com
mun
icat
ion,
ed
ucat
ion
and
publ
ic a
war
enes
s pr
o-gr
amm
es.
14.1
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
incl
uded
in
the
life
scie
nce
curr
icul
um a
cros
s So
uth
Afric
a.4.
1 Pe
ople
’s a
war
enes
s of
the
val
ue o
f bi
o-di
vers
ity i
s en
hanc
ed t
hrou
gh m
ore
effe
ctiv
e co
ordi
natio
n an
d m
essa
ging
.
4.1.
4. S
treng
then
the
inte
grat
ion
and
teac
hing
of
biod
iver
sity
cont
ent i
n re
leva
nt s
choo
l cur
ricul
a.
14.2
. Pla
nt c
onse
rvat
ion
awar
enes
s ex
pand
ed
by e
xpos
ure
to b
otan
ical
gar
dens
and
by
in-
volv
ing
the
publ
ic in
citi
zen
scie
nce
proj
ects
.
4.1.
3. S
treng
then
env
ironm
enta
l lite
racy
thro
ugh
citiz
en s
cien
ce p
rogr
amm
es t
hat
prom
ote
lear
n-in
g an
d co
mm
on k
now
ledg
e ab
out b
iodi
vers
ity.
14.3
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
is pr
omot
ed in
rel
e-va
nt m
edia
.4.
1.1.
Dev
elop
and
fun
d a
coor
dina
ted
natio
n-al
bio
dive
rsity
com
mun
icat
ions
, ed
ucat
ion
and
awar
enes
s st
rate
gy,
impl
emen
tatio
n pl
an
and
mon
itorin
g fra
mew
ork.
Targ
et 1
5: T
he n
umbe
r of t
rain
ed p
eo-
ple
wor
king
with
app
ropr
iate
fac
ilitie
s su
ffici
ent
acco
rdin
g to
nat
iona
l nee
ds,
to a
chie
ve th
e ta
rget
s of
this
Stra
tegy
.
15.1
. C
onse
rvat
ion
cour
ses
offe
red
in S
outh
A
frica
’s u
nive
rsiti
es a
ligne
d w
ith s
kills
nee
ded
in th
e fie
ld o
f pla
nt c
onse
rvat
ion.
5.2.
An
impr
oved
ski
lls d
evel
opm
ent
syst
em
inco
rpor
ates
the
need
s of t
he b
iodi
vers
ity se
c-to
r.
5.2.
1. Im
prov
e th
e qu
ality
and
rel
evan
ce o
f ski
lls
prod
uced
for b
iodi
vers
ity c
onse
rvat
ion
and
man
-ag
emen
t.
15.2
. W
ork
plac
e m
ento
rshi
p op
portu
nitie
s av
aila
ble
in p
lant
con
serv
atio
n pr
ogra
mm
es.
5.2.
3. S
treng
then
and
sup
port
exist
ing
Biod
iver
-sit
y C
entre
s of
Exc
elle
nce
that
enh
ance
res
earc
h ex
celle
nce
and
capa
city
dev
elop
men
t fo
r bi
odi-
vers
ity c
onse
rvat
ion
and
man
agem
ent.
15.3
. Po
stgr
adua
te r
esea
rch
stud
ies
requ
ired
to e
nsur
e th
e co
nser
vatio
n of
Sou
th A
frica
’s
plan
t spe
cies
pro
mot
ed.
Targ
et 1
6: I
nstit
utio
ns,
netw
orks
and
pa
rtner
ship
s fo
r pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
esta
blish
ed o
r st
reng
then
ed a
t na
tion-
al,
regi
onal
and
int
erna
tiona
l le
vels
to
achi
eve
the
targ
ets
of th
is St
rate
gy.
16.1
. A
Sout
h Af
rican
net
wor
k fo
r pl
ant
con-
serv
atio
n ef
fect
ivel
y im
plem
entin
g an
d up
dat-
ing
the
Stra
tegy
for P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n.
5.3.
Par
tner
ship
s ar
e de
velo
ped
and
inst
itu-
tions
are
cap
acita
ted
to d
eliv
er o
n th
eir
man
-da
tes
tow
ards
impr
oved
ser
vice
del
iver
y.
5.3.
3. Im
prov
e in
stitu
tiona
l coo
pera
tion
and
co-
ordi
natio
n at
the
ope
ratio
nal l
evel
, in
clud
ing
for
cros
s-bo
unda
ry m
anag
emen
t of b
iodi
vers
ity as
sets
.
16.2
. Wor
king
gro
ups
for e
ach
targ
et e
nsur
ing
that
spe
cifie
d ou
tput
s ar
e be
ing
achi
eved
.
Figure 1: Aristea teretifolia Endangered. Photograph: A. Harrower
8 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Targ
et fo
r Sou
th A
frica
Glo
bal S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
targ
etRe
ason
for c
hang
e
Targ
et 1
: A
n on
line
Flor
a of
all
know
n pl
ants
.Ta
rget
1:
An
onlin
e Fl
ora
of a
ll kn
own
plan
ts.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 2
: An
up-t
o-da
te a
sses
smen
t of t
he c
onse
rvat
ion
sta-
tus
of a
ll So
uth
Afric
an s
peci
es.
Targ
et 2
: An
ass
essm
ent
of t
he c
onse
rvat
ion
stat
us o
f al
l kn
own
plan
t spe
cies
, as
far
as p
ossib
le, t
o gu
ide
cons
erva
-tio
n ac
tion.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 3
: Inf
orm
atio
n, re
sear
ch a
nd a
ssoc
iate
d ou
tput
s, a
nd
met
hods
nec
essa
ry t
o im
plem
ent
the
Stra
tegy
dev
elop
ed
and
shar
ed.
Targ
et 3
: Inf
orm
atio
n, re
sear
ch a
nd a
ssoc
iate
d ou
tput
s, a
nd
met
hods
nec
essa
ry t
o im
plem
ent
the
Stra
tegy
dev
elop
ed
and
shar
ed.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 4
: Bi
odiv
ersit
y ta
rget
s fo
r te
rres
trial
eco
-sys
tem
s se
-cu
red
thro
ugh
effe
ctiv
e m
anag
emen
t.Ta
rget
4:
At le
ast
15%
of
each
eco
logi
cal r
egio
n or
veg
e-ta
tion
type
sec
ured
thr
ough
effe
ctiv
e m
anag
emen
t an
d/or
re
stor
atio
n.
Sout
h Af
rica’
s ec
osys
tem
tar
gets
are
sci
entif
ical
ly s
et a
nd b
ased
on
div
ersit
y es
timat
es.
The
perc
enta
ge o
f ea
ch e
cosy
stem
re-
quire
d fo
r its
effe
ctiv
e co
nser
vatio
n va
ries
betw
een
diffe
rent
ec
osys
tem
s.
Targ
et 5
: Im
porta
nt a
reas
for
plan
t div
ersit
y id
entif
ied
and
inco
rpor
ated
into
con
serv
atio
n pr
oces
ses.
Targ
et 5
: At l
east
75%
of t
he m
ost i
mpo
rtant
are
as fo
r pla
nt
dive
rsity
of e
ach
ecol
ogic
al r
egio
n pr
otec
ted
with
effe
ctiv
e m
anag
emen
t in
pla
ce f
or c
onse
rvin
g pl
ants
and
the
ir ge
-ne
tic d
iver
sity.
Sout
h Af
rica
has a
dopt
ed a
syst
emat
ic c
onse
rvat
ion
plan
ning
ap-
proa
ch to
iden
tify
impo
rtant
are
as fo
r th
e pe
rsist
ence
of t
he fu
ll sp
ectru
m o
f bi
odiv
ersit
y, c
onse
rvat
ion
of im
porta
nt p
lant
are
as
need
s to
be
inte
grat
ed in
to s
yste
mat
ic p
lann
ing
proc
esse
s to
en-
sure
thes
e ar
eas
are
prot
ecte
d.
Targ
et 6
: Ini
tiativ
es in
pla
ce to
ens
ure
the
sust
aina
ble
man
-ag
emen
t of p
rodu
ctio
n la
nds,
con
siste
nt w
ith th
e co
nser
va-
tion
of p
lant
div
ersit
y.
Targ
et 6
: A
t le
ast
75%
of
prod
uctio
n la
nds
in e
ach
sect
or
man
aged
sus
tain
ably,
con
siste
nt w
ith t
he c
onse
rvat
ion
of
plan
t div
ersit
y.
Enga
gem
ent
with
priv
ate
sect
or w
ork
in p
rodu
ctio
n la
nds
is hi
ghly
int
ensiv
e an
d ex
perie
nce
wor
king
in
this
area
in
Sout
h Af
rica
has
resu
lted
in a
n un
ders
tand
ing
of h
ow m
any
partn
ers
and
inst
itutio
ns a
re r
equi
red
for
effe
ctiv
e en
gage
men
t. In
thi
s ta
rget
Sou
th A
frica
aim
s to
ens
ure
that
prio
rity
biod
iver
sity
area
s su
bjec
t to
prod
uctio
n la
nd u
ses
are
man
aged
sus
tain
ably.
Targ
et 7
: At
leas
t 75
% o
f kn
own
thre
aten
ed p
lant
spe
cies
co
nser
ved
in s
itu.
Targ
et 7
: At
leas
t 75
% o
f kn
own
thre
aten
ed p
lant
spe
cies
co
nser
ved
in s
itu.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 8
: At
leas
t 60
% o
f th
reat
ened
pla
nts
in e
x sit
u co
l-le
ctio
ns,
pref
erab
ly in
the
cou
ntry
of
orig
in,
and
avai
labl
e fo
r re
cove
ry (
rest
orat
ion)
pro
gram
mes
, w
ith 1
% i
n ac
tive
rein
trodu
ctio
n pr
ogra
mm
es.
Targ
et 8
: At l
east
75%
of t
hrea
tene
d pl
ant s
peci
es in
ex
situ
colle
ctio
ns, p
refe
rabl
y in
the
coun
try o
f orig
in, a
nd a
t lea
st
20%
ava
ilabl
e fo
r rec
over
y an
d re
stor
atio
n pr
ogra
mm
es.
To d
ate
(201
5) S
outh
Afri
ca h
as c
onse
rved
43%
of
thre
aetn
ed
plan
ts in
ex
situ
colle
ctio
ns. D
ue to
act
ive
wor
k in
this
area
ove
r th
e pa
st d
ecad
e, th
e ra
te o
f col
lect
ion
of n
ew s
peci
es fo
r ex
situ
cons
erva
tion
is w
ell e
stab
lishe
d. B
y 20
20 it
will
onl
y be
pos
sible
to
con
serv
e 60
% o
f thr
eate
ned
plan
ts. A
num
ber o
f Crit
ical
ly E
n-da
nger
ed p
lant
spe
cies
req
uire
act
ive
rest
orat
ion
prog
ram
mes
, th
ese
cons
titut
e 1%
of t
hrea
tene
d sp
ecie
s.
Targ
et 9
: The
gen
etic
div
ersit
y of
cro
ps in
clud
ing
thei
r wild
re
lativ
es a
nd i
ndig
enou
s ed
ible
pla
nt s
peci
es c
onse
rved
w
hile
res
pect
ing,
pre
serv
ing
and
mai
ntai
ning
ass
ocia
ted
indi
geno
us a
nd lo
cal k
now
ledg
e.
Targ
et 9
: The
gen
etic
div
ersit
y of
cro
ps in
clud
ing
thei
r wild
re
lativ
es a
nd i
ndig
enou
s ed
ible
pla
nt s
peci
es c
onse
rved
w
hile
res
pect
ing,
pre
serv
ing
and
mai
ntai
ning
ass
ocia
ted
indi
geno
us a
nd lo
cal k
now
ledg
e.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Tabl
e 2:
The
cha
nges
Sou
th A
frica
has
mad
e to
targ
ets
as c
ompa
red
with
the
targ
ets
of th
e G
loba
l Stra
tegy
for P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n
Targ
et fo
r Sou
th A
frica
Glo
bal S
trate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
targ
etRe
ason
for c
hang
e
Targ
et 1
0: E
ffect
ive
man
agem
ent p
lans
in p
lace
to p
reve
nt
new
bio
logi
cal i
nvas
ions
and
to m
anag
e im
porta
nt a
reas
for
plan
t div
ersit
y th
at a
re in
vade
d.
Targ
et 1
0: E
ffect
ive
man
agem
ent p
lans
in p
lace
to p
reve
nt
new
bio
logi
cal i
nvas
ions
and
to m
anag
e im
porta
nt a
reas
for
plan
t div
ersit
y th
at a
re in
vade
d.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 1
1: N
o sp
ecie
s of
wild
flor
a en
dang
ered
by
inte
rna-
tiona
l tra
de.
Targ
et 1
1: N
o sp
ecie
s of
wild
flor
a en
dang
ered
by
inte
rna-
tiona
l tra
de.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 1
2: A
ll w
ild-h
arve
sted
pla
nt-b
ased
pro
duct
s sou
rced
su
stai
nabl
y.Ta
rget
12:
All
wild
-har
vest
ed p
lant
-bas
ed p
rodu
cts s
ourc
ed
sust
aina
bly.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 1
3: In
dige
nous
and
loca
l kno
wle
dge
inno
vatio
ns a
nd
prac
tices
ass
ocia
ted
with
pla
nt re
sour
ces
mai
ntai
ned
or in
-cr
ease
d as
app
ropr
iate
to
supp
ort
cust
omar
y us
e, s
usta
in-
able
live
lihoo
ds, l
ocal
food
sec
urity
and
hea
lthca
re.
Targ
et 1
3: In
dige
nous
and
loca
l kno
wle
dge
inno
vatio
ns a
nd
prac
tices
ass
ocia
ted
with
pla
nt re
sour
ces
mai
ntai
ned
or in
-cr
ease
d as
app
ropr
iate
to
supp
ort
cust
omar
y us
e, s
usta
in-
able
live
lihoo
ds, l
ocal
food
sec
urity
and
hea
lthca
re.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 1
4: T
he im
porta
nce
of p
lant
div
ersit
y an
d th
e ne
ed
for
its c
onse
rvat
ion
inco
rpor
ated
into
com
mun
icat
ion,
ed-
ucat
ion
and
publ
ic a
war
enes
s pr
ogra
mm
es.
Targ
et 1
4: T
he im
porta
nce
of p
lant
div
ersit
y an
d th
e ne
ed
for
its c
onse
rvat
ion
inco
rpor
ated
into
com
mun
icat
ion,
ed-
ucat
ion
and
publ
ic a
war
enes
s pr
ogra
mm
es.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 1
5: T
he n
umbe
r of t
rain
ed p
eopl
e w
orki
ng w
ith a
p-pr
opria
te fa
cilit
ies s
uffic
ient
acc
ordi
ng to
nat
iona
l nee
ds, t
o ac
hiev
e th
e ta
rget
s of
this
Stra
tegy
.
Targ
et 1
5: T
he n
umbe
r of t
rain
ed p
eopl
e w
orki
ng w
ith a
p-pr
opria
te fa
cilit
ies s
uffic
ient
acc
ordi
ng to
nat
iona
l nee
ds, t
o ac
hiev
e th
e ta
rget
s of
this
Stra
tegy
.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Targ
et 1
6: In
stitu
tions
, net
wor
ks a
nd p
artn
ersh
ips
for
plan
t co
nser
vatio
n es
tabl
ished
or
stre
ngth
ened
at
natio
nal,
re-
gion
al a
nd in
tern
atio
nal l
evel
s to
ach
ieve
the
targ
ets
of th
is St
rate
gy.
Targ
et 1
6: In
stitu
tions
, net
wor
ks a
nd p
artn
ersh
ips
for
plan
t co
nser
vatio
n es
tabl
ished
or
stre
ngth
ened
at
natio
nal,
re-
gion
al a
nd in
tern
atio
nal l
evel
s to
ach
ieve
the
targ
ets
of th
is St
rate
gy.
No
chan
ge re
quire
d.
Tabl
e 2:
The
cha
nges
Sou
th A
frica
has
mad
e to
targ
ets
as c
ompa
red
with
the
targ
ets
of th
e G
loba
l Stra
tegy
for P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n (c
ont.)
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 9
10 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
1TA
RGET
1
Objective I: Plant diversity is well understood,
documented and recognised
Target 1: An online Flora of all known plantsContributors: M. le Roux, B. Bytebier, J. Victor, E. van Wyk & D. Raimondo
Background
In 2006, South Africa produced a checklist of its entire flora achieving at that time Target 1: A widely accessible working list of known plant species, as a step towards a complete world Flora. The updated version of this checklist is available online at www.posa.sanbi.org.
Since 1997, South Africa has embarked on producing regional floras that contain short descriptions for plants found within South Africa’s biomes. The South African flora consists of ± 20 500 taxa and is well known for its species richness. In order to compile a national flora for all taxa by 2020, contributions (entire familial or generic treatments) from taxonomists will be incorporated. Thereafter gaps in the flora will be identified. In those cases where no taxonomist or recent taxonomic revision is available, information will be taken from the seven provincial and biome-focussed regional floras. These will be combined to produce a national flora that will be served on the World Wide Web by 2020 (Victor et al. 2013).
Figure 2: An example of a plant family description taken from the ‘South African Plant Families’ website; http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/South_African_Plant_Families.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 11
Figure 5: Three Helichrysum taxa are shown below: a, H. aureum subsp. argenteum; b, H. saxicola; and c, H. lesliei. Photo-graphs: a,c, J.E. Burrows; b, J.H. Vlok.
OBJEC
TIVE 1
TARG
ET 1
Figure 3: Two examples of regional floras that contain short descriptions for plants found within South Africa’s biomes.
Figure 4: An example of a species description taken from the ‘Helichrysums of southern Africa’ website; http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/helichrysum.
a b c
12 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Figure 7: a, Conophytum khamiesbergense; b, C. auriflorum; c, C. burgeri; d, C. piluliforme (Photographs: a, N.A. Helme; b & c, C. Paterson-Jones; d, J.H. Vlok).
Target 1 outcomes for 2020
1.1. e-Flora produced that includes descriptions, distribution information and images for taxa.
During the development of information for the online Flora, taxonomic information will be stored in the Botani-cal Research and Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS) database (http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/) from where it will be exported onto the e-Flora of South Africa website. Electronically available specimen data from the National Herbarium (PRE), the Compton Herbarium (NBG), the KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium (NH), taken from BRAHMS, will be used to produce distribution maps. Additional specimen data from any other South African herbarium that uses the BRAHMS database will be included. Images will be sourced for each family and genus from professional and amateur botanists. Where no images are available scans of herbarium specimens will be included.
1.2. Identification keys to genus level and where possible to species level included in e-Flora.
Identification keys to genera and where possible species level will be compiled from available taxonomic literature.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 1
TARG
ET 1
Figure 6: An interactive Conophytum key website; http://rpowell2.wix.com/conophytum-delta-key.
a b c d
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 13South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 13
Targ
et 1
: An
onlin
e Fl
ora
of a
ll kn
own
plan
ts
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
1.1.
e-F
lora
pro
duce
d th
at i
nclu
des
desc
rip-
tions
, di
strib
utio
n in
form
atio
n an
d im
ages
for
ta
xa.
1.1.
1. N
atio
nal
chec
klist
upd
ated
tha
t in
-cl
udes
:· U
p-to
-dat
e na
mes
with
aut
hors
hips
.· P
roto
logu
e ci
tatio
ns.
· Syn
onym
s lis
ted.
1.1.
1. S
ANBI
– B
iosy
stem
atic
s Re
sear
ch a
nd
Biod
iver
sity
Col
lect
ions
. C
heck
list
upda
ted
on a
n on
goin
g ba
sis a
nd
avai
labl
e as
an
elec
troni
c do
wnl
oad.
1.1.
2. D
atab
ase
with
the
fol
low
ing
floris
tic
info
rmat
ion
popu
late
d:· 5
000
spe
cies
des
crip
tions
per
ann
um.
· Nat
iona
l geo
grap
hic
dist
ribut
ion
rang
es a
c-co
mpa
nied
by
map
s.· R
esid
ency
sta
tus.
· End
emism
sta
tus.
· Li
tera
ture
ref
eren
ces
ensu
ring
that
cre
dit
is pr
ovid
ed t
o au
thor
s an
d su
pplie
rs o
f re
-so
urce
s.
1.1.
2 .S
ANBI
– e
-Flo
ra c
o-or
dina
tor a
nd ta
x-on
omist
s (S
ANBI
and
non
-SAN
BI).
5 00
0 sp
ecie
s pe
r an
num
; 10
0% c
ompl
eted
by
201
9.
1.1.
3. H
erba
rium
spe
cim
ens
and
asso
ciat
ed
data
base
reco
rds v
erifi
ed (t
o im
prov
e th
e ac
-cu
racy
of d
istrib
utio
n in
form
atio
n).
1.1.
3.
SAN
BI
– Bi
osys
tem
atic
s Re
sear
ch
and
Biod
iver
sity
Col
lect
ions
as
wel
l as
non-
SA
NBI
taxo
nom
ists.
Verif
y th
e ac
cura
cy o
f 10
000
spec
imen
s and
re
cord
s pe
r ann
um.
1.1.
4. I
mag
es f
or 3
50 g
ener
a so
urce
d pe
r an
num
.
1.1.
4.
Taxo
nom
ists
(SAN
BI
and
non-
SA
NBI
), ci
tizen
sci
entis
ts.
350
gene
ra p
er a
nnum
.
1.2.
Id
entif
icat
ion
keys
to
ge
nus
leve
l an
d w
here
pos
sible
to
spec
ies
leve
l in
clud
ed i
n e-
Flor
a.
1.2.
1. A
vaila
ble
dich
otom
ous
keys
con
vert-
ed to
ele
ctro
nic
form
at, d
epen
dant
on
avai
l-ab
ility
of t
ime
and
reso
urce
s.
1.2.
1. S
ANBI
– e
-Flo
ra c
o-or
dina
tor a
nd ta
x-on
omist
s (S
ANBI
and
non
-SAN
BI).
1.2.
1. &
1.2
.2. S
elec
ted
keys
from
ava
ilabl
e so
urce
s se
rved
by
2020
.
1.2.
2. L
inks
to
inte
ract
ive
keys
for
sel
ecte
d ge
nera
pro
vide
d.1.
2.2.
Tax
onom
ists
(SAN
BI a
nd n
on-S
ANBI
).
OBJEC
TIVE 1
TARG
ET 1
14 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
1 Target 2: An up-to-date assessment of the conservation status of all South African species
Contributors: L. von Staden & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa achieved Target 2 in 2009 with the completion of a comprehensive national plant Red List (Raimondo et al. 2009), a global first for a mega-diverse country (Raimondo et al. 2013). The International Union for the Conservation of Na-ture (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria version 3.1 were used in the assessment www.iucnredlist.org.
In South Africa, the conservation statuses of plant species guide a wide range of conservation interventions, such as land-use decision-making and conservation, and protected area expansion plans. It is therefore a national priority to en-sure that the Red List remains up to date. The national Red List is maintained by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and updates are published annually on the national Red List website (redlist.sanbi.org).
Conservation assessments are updated annually based on data received from a network of botanists including ± 40 profes-sional botanists and ± 500 citizen scientists involved in the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) pro-gramme. Updated assessments are available on the National Red List Website: redlist.sanbi.org.
Figure 8: The Red List of South African Plants, published in 2009.
TARG
ET 2
Figure 9: Erica recurvata, a Critically Endangered species known from only 28 individuals. Photograph: C. Paterson-Jones.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 15TA
RGET 1
OBJEC
TIVE 1
Figure 10: Hessea cinnamomea, an Endangered species from the Amaryllidaceae family. Photograph: C. Paterson-Jones.
Figure 11: Serruria meisneriana, an Endangered species from the Proteaceae family. Photograph: C. Paterson-Jones.
TARG
ET 2
16 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
1 Target 2 outcomes for 2020
2.1. Red List maintained and updated with all newly described species assessed.
Figure 13: Brachystelma modestum, a Near Threatened species from the Apocynaceae family. Photograph: D. Styles.
2.2. Species from priority areas under imminent threat reassessed.The first comprehensive Red List completed between 2004 and 2009 was achieved with funding from the Norwe-gian Ministry, which allowed five full-time scientists to be employed by SANBI to work in collaboration with South Africa’s 150 botanists. Since 2009 South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) continues to support one full-time Red List Scientist to keep the Red List updated. As there are too many plant species in South Africa for one individual to keep the list updated, species for reassessment are prioritised. Priority species for Red List assessments are: newly described species, species with new field information and species concentrated in areas under imminent threat.
TARG
ET 2
Figure 12: An example from the Red List of South African Plants Website, www.redlist.sanbi.org. The site is updated annually.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 17South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 17O
BJECTIV
E 1Ta
rget
2: A
n up
-to-
date
ass
essm
ent o
f the
con
serv
atio
n st
atus
of a
ll So
uth
Afri
can
spec
ies
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
2.1.
Red
List
mai
ntai
ned
and
upda
ted
with
all
new
ly d
escr
ibed
spe
cies
ass
esse
d.2.
1.1.
Spe
cies
with
new
fie
ld m
onito
ring
info
rmat
ion
from
th
e C
REW
pr
ogra
mm
e an
d in
depe
nden
t bo
tani
cal
cons
ulta
nts
re-
asse
ssed
.
2.1.
SAN
BI’s
Thr
eate
ned
Spec
ies P
rogr
amm
e Re
d Li
st S
cien
tists
.
Annu
al u
pdat
e of
the
Red
List
pro
duce
d on
-lin
e.
2.1.
2. A
ll ne
wly
des
crib
ed s
peci
es a
sses
sed
with
in tw
o ye
ars
of d
escr
iptio
n.
2.2.
Spe
cies
fro
m p
riorit
y ar
eas
unde
r im
mi-
nent
thre
at re
asse
ssed
.2.
2. A
reas
of
coun
try t
o re
asse
ss b
ased
on
emer
ging
thre
ats
prio
ritise
d.2.
2. S
ANBI
’s T
hrea
tene
d Sp
ecie
s Pro
gram
me
Red
List
Sci
entis
ts.
Spec
ies f
rom
one
are
a un
der i
mm
inen
t thr
eat
reas
sess
ed a
nnua
lly.
TARG
ET 2
18 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
1TA
RGET
3
Target 3: Information, research and associated outputs, and methods necessary to implement
the strategy developed and sharedContributors: D. Raimondo, E. van Wyk, H. Steyn, B. Bytebier, A.P. Dold, T. Trinder-Smith & J.E. Victor.
Background
South Africa is fortunate among megadiverse countries to have a disproportionably high level of capacity in terms of taxonomic expertise and field botanists. The majority of the flora has received taxonomic treatment with 62% of plant taxa having been revised since 1970 (Von Staden et al. 2013). In addition, a network of 20 local herbaria across the country house a representative sample of plant specimens, with the majority of specimens (90% of the country’s ± 3 263 200 plant specimens) concentrated in only six herbaria: the Bolus Herbarium (BOL); the Selmar Schönland Herbarium (GRA); the Compton Herbarium (NBG); the KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium (NH); the BEWS herbarium (NU); and the National Herbarium (PRE) (National Research Foundation [NRF] 2011).
Good electronic data in the form of digitised herbarium specimens and spatial layers for vegetation classification and national land use exist (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) and 44% of South Africa’s plant specimens have been electronically encoded (NRF 2011). Most of these specimens are georeferenced to at least a quarter-degree square grid. This richness of taxonomic literature, electronic specimen and land-use data, combined with expert knowl-edge, has enabled South Africa to make good progress towards achieving a number of the targets included in this strategy. Despite this situation, a number of information gaps remain. Botanists involved in the development of this strategy have identified four key information needs; these are detailed below. In addition, a number of other research priorities have been identified during the development of this strategy. These have been included under the relevant targets and are not repeated here.
3.1. Centralising plant occurrence data
Electronic occurrence data underpin conservation assessment and planning work in South Africa. Currently re-cords are scattered amongst different institutions. For example herbarium specimen records that have been en-coded and georeferenced are managed by individual herbaria. Only 44% of South Africa’s specimens have been encoded (National Research Foundation [NRF] 2011), with important regional collections not yet digitised. Each of South Africa’s provincial conservation agencies manages independent species occurrence datasets with a number having good records for plants. Atlasing programmes, such as the Protea Atlas Project and the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) programme, have, through the contribution of citizen scientists, provided thousands of recent and accurate plant occurrence records. Centralising these datasets is a priority both to im-prove conservation assessments (Target 2) and conservation planning (Target 7), and to facilitate effective species monitoring. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has the mandate to manage and serve biodiversity information and will collaborate with herbaria and provincial authorities to facilitate this information sharing.
3.2. Monitoring plant taxa of conservation concern
One in every four plants in South Africa is of conservation concern (plants that are either rare, range-restricted taxa or taxa that qualify as Threatened or Near Threatened under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Criteria). Many of these taxa, particularly those under threat, require monitoring; this work is undertaken by a network of citizen scientists working under the supervision of SANBI and the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), as part of the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) programme. Additional monitoring work, especially within protected areas, is undertaken by the South African National Parks (SANParks) and the provincial conservation agencies. Ongoing field monitoring of populations of taxa of conserva-tion concern is required in order to accurately assess their conservation status as well as to report on trends in plant species status. Between 2015 and 2020, provincial conservation authorities and South Africa’s Scientific Authority will focus on developing processes to monitor plant species listed on South Africa’s Threatened and Protected Species List of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), Act No. 10 of 2004.
3.3. Under-sampled areas the focus for plant collecting
A number of areas in South Africa remain poorly explored botanically. These areas (see Figure 11) are concen-trated in the western interior of the country within the Nama Karoo biome; quarter-degree square areas within this biome that have never been sampled need to be surveyed. Other priority areas are deep rural regions in the
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 19O
BJECTIV
E 1
eastern parts of the country, particularly areas formally designated as homelands. The former Transkei and Ciskei regions of the Eastern Cape are particularly poorly explored and are top priority for future botanical collecting. The escarpment edge, including the southern Drakensberg foothills, is also of collection priority.
3.4. Taxonomic revisions of priority genera produced
Taxonomic revisions, monographs and floras are the most important, and often the only, source of data for assess-ing the conservation status of plants (Target 2). Conservation assessments form the basis upon which much of the rest of this plant strategy is based. A study conducted by Von Staden et al. (2013) identified taxonomic research priorities for the conservation of South Africa’s plants. Priorities were identified at the genus level based on an analysis combining time since last revision, level of endemism, collecting effort, proportion of taxa included in revisions, and specimen identification confidence. Results indicate that only 62% of the flora has been recently revised. The family Aizoaceae is the top priority for taxonomic research with 55% of taxa in need of revision, followed by Hyacinthaceae with 34% of taxa not yet revised. Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae, Malvaceae, Asteraceae and Acanthaceae are priorities with over 30% of taxa last revised prior to 1970. An earlier study by Victor & Smith (2011) that identified priority families for taxonomic attention also identified the family Aizoaceae as being the highest priority for revisionary work. A strategy for biosystematics research led by SANBI has further prioritised genera identified by Von Staden et al. (2013) and a priority list of genera in need of revision is produced and annually updated. This list, available on SANBI’s website (www.sanbi.org), includes information on which taxonomists are working on revisions of priority genera.
Figure 14: Bews herbarium technician and data logger, Prudence Magwaza, digitising specimen data. Photo-graph: B. Bytebier.
Figure 15: Bews herbarium researcher, Brian Schrire, and data logger, Kevin Thompson, working with herbarium specimens. Photograph: B. Bytebier.
TARG
ET 3Figure 16: Monsonia. Photograph: S.P. Bester.
20 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
1 Target 3 outcomes for 2020
3.1. Information on plant occurrences from herbaria, provincial conser-vation agencies and atlasing projects centralised, quality checked were feasible, and made available via a single portal.
3.2. Plant taxa of conservation concern monitored.
3.3. Under-sampled areas targeted for surveys.
3.4. Taxonomic revisions of priority genera produced.
Figure 19: Conducting surveys in poorly sampled areas of the country is a priority. Photograph: L. von Staden.
Figure 17: An example of specimen data captured into the BRAHMS database. South African herbaria are stan-dardising specimen data to all utilise the BRAHMS system (example from the BEWS herbarium database).
Figure 18: Areas of South Africa that are poorly collected.
TARG
ET 3
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 21South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 21O
BJECTIV
E 1Ta
rget
3: I
nfor
mat
ion,
res
earc
h an
d as
soci
ated
out
puts
, and
met
hods
nec
essa
ry to
impl
emen
t the
str
ateg
y, d
evel
oped
and
sha
red
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
3.1.
Info
rmat
ion
on p
lant
occ
urre
nces
from
her
baria
, pr
ovin
cial
con
serv
atio
n ag
enci
es a
nd a
tlasin
g pr
ojec
ts,
cent
ralis
ed, q
ualit
y ch
ecke
d w
ere
feas
ible
and
mad
e av
aila
ble
via
a sin
gle
porta
l.
3.1.
1. 5
0% o
f spe
cim
ens
from
Sou
th A
frica
’s s
ix la
rg-
est h
erba
ria (P
RE, N
BG, N
H, N
U, G
RA, B
OL)
enc
od-
ed, u
sing
the
BRAH
MS
data
base
.
3.1.
1. H
erba
rium
sta
ff at
PRE
, NBG
,NH
,NU
,GRA
and
BO
L.3.
1.1.
202
0
3.1.
2. D
ata-
shar
ing
agre
emen
ts in
pla
ce w
ith p
rovi
n-ci
al c
onse
rvat
ion
agen
cies
and
non
-SAN
BI h
erba
ria.
3.1.
2. S
ANBI
Mon
itorin
g an
d As
sess
men
t gro
up.
3.1.
2. 2
016
3.1.
3. D
ata
qual
ity c
heck
ed w
here
feas
ible
and
err
ors
repo
rted
to re
spon
sible
inst
itutio
n.
3.1.
3. S
ANBI
.3.
1.3.
201
5–20
20
3.1.
4. A
ll oc
curr
ence
rec
ords
cen
tralis
ed a
nd s
erve
d as
par
t of S
outh
Afri
ca’s
e-F
lora
. 3.
1.4.
SAN
BI’s
Bio
dive
rsity
Info
rmat
ion
Man
agem
ent.
3.1.
4. 2
020
3.2.
Pla
nt ta
xa o
f con
serv
atio
n co
ncer
n m
onito
red.
3.2.
1. P
opul
atio
ns o
f ta
xa o
f co
nser
vatio
n co
ncer
n m
onito
red
thro
ugho
ut S
outh
Afri
ca, f
ocus
ing
on a
reas
of
hig
h co
ncen
tratio
n of
thre
aten
ed ta
xa.
3.2.
1. C
REW
net
wor
k, p
rovi
ncia
l con
serv
atio
n ag
en-
cies
.3.
2.1.
201
5–20
20
3.2.
2. S
peci
es li
sted
on
the
Thre
aten
ed a
nd P
rote
cted
Sp
ecie
s Li
st o
f NEM
BA m
onito
red.
3.
2.2.
Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity
and
prov
inci
al c
onse
rvat
ion
agen
cies
. 3.
2.2.
201
5–20
20
3.2.
3. T
rend
s in
the
stat
us o
f pla
nt sp
ecie
s rep
orte
d in
th
e N
atio
nal B
iodi
vers
ity A
sses
smen
t.3.
2.3.
SAN
BI.
3.2.
3. 2
018
3.3.
Und
er-s
ampl
ed a
reas
targ
eted
for s
urve
ys.
3.3.
1. A
ll un
der-
colle
cted
qua
rter
degr
ee s
quar
es i
n th
e N
ama
Karo
o ha
ve b
een
bota
nica
lly s
ampl
ed.
3.3.
1. S
ANBI
Bio
syst
emat
ics
& C
olle
ctio
ns.
3.3.
1. 2
015–
2020
3.3.
2. B
otan
ical
sur
veys
con
duct
ed in
the
form
er C
is-
kei a
nd T
rans
kei r
egio
ns o
f the
Eas
tern
Cap
e.
3.3.
2. C
REW
Eas
tern
Cap
e no
de, a
nd S
ANBI
Bio
syst
e-m
atic
s &
Col
lect
ions
.3.
3.2.
201
5–20
20
3.3.
3. B
otan
ical
sur
veys
con
duct
ed a
long
the
esca
rp-
men
t ed
ge in
clud
ing
the
sout
hern
Dra
kens
berg
foot
-hi
lls.
3.3.
3. C
REW
Eas
tern
Cap
e no
de, a
nd S
ANBI
Bio
syst
e-m
atic
s &
Col
lect
ions
. 3.
3.3.
201
5–20
20
3.4.
Tax
onom
ic re
visio
ns o
f prio
rity
gene
ra p
rodu
ced.
3.
4. R
evisi
ons
are
cond
ucte
d on
gen
era
iden
tifie
d as
prio
ritie
s by
the
Nat
iona
l Bio
syst
emat
ics
Rese
arch
St
rate
gy a
nd V
on S
tade
n et
al.
(201
3).
3.4.
Bio
syst
emat
ics r
esea
rche
rs b
ased
at u
nive
rsiti
es o
r in
Sou
th A
frica
’s h
erba
ria.
3.4.
201
5–20
20
TARG
ET 3
22 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Figure 20: Saldanah Limestone Strandveld, threatened by housing development in Jacobsbaai, Western Cape. Photograph: N. Helme.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 4
Objective II: Plant diversity is urgently and
effectively conserved
Target 4: Biodiversity targets for terrestrial eco-systems secured through effective management
Contributors: A. Driver, F. Daniels, N. Helme, M. Lotter & D. Raimondo
Background
4.1 Mapping of terrestrial ecosystems
South Africa is fortunate to have a long history of vegetation mapping, and currently a detailed map of vegetation types exists, The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, Mucina & Rutherford (2006). It describes 438 national vegetation types in nine biomes. These provide the basis for delineating terrestrial ecosystems types.
4.2 Determining biodiversity targets for each ecosystem
South Africa recognises that different ecosystems have different species compositions and to effectively conserve all biodiversity, the country has set different targets for each ecosystem. The biodiversity target is the minimum pro-portion of each ecosystem type that needs to be kept in a natural or near-natural state in the long term to maintain viable representative samples of all ecosystem types and the majority of species associated with those ecosystems. The biodiversity target is calculated based on species richness, using species–area relationship, and varies between 16% and 36% of the original extent of each ecosystem type (Desmet & Cowling 2004).
4.3 Assessing ecosystem threat status
The ecological condition or integrity of ecosystems, including loss or degradation of natural habitat, is used to de-termine ecosystem threat status. Spatial data on land cover is used as a proxy or surrogate for ecological condition.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 23O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 4
Figure 21: Detail from the vegetation map of South Africa (Mucina & Rutherford 2006).
Figure 22: The process of evaluating an ecosystem as Threatened.
In all environments, the proportion of each ecosystem type that remains in good ecological condition is evaluated against a series of thresholds, as shown in Figure 14, to determine ecosystem threat status.
4.4 Assessing ecosystem protection level
The proportion of each ecosystem type that falls within a protected area is calculated and compared with the biodiversity target for that ecosystem type, to determine ecosystem protection level. If the full biodiversity target has been met in a protected area, the ecosystem type is considered well protected. If the ecosystem type has more than 50% of the area required for the biodiversity target, it is moderately protected; 5–49% is poorly protected; and if it does not occur in any protected area at all, or if less than 5% of the biodiversity target has been met in a protected area, the ecosystem is considered not protected (Driver et al. 2012).
24 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 4 outcomes for 2020
4.1. The protection levels of the 35 terrestrial ecosystems that were as-sessed in 2011 to be Critically Endangered or Endangered, and also unprotected or poorly protected, are substantially increased.
4.2. The rate of loss of habitat in threatened ecosystems reduced, with no further loss taking place in Critically Endangered Ecosystems.
Of South Africa’s terrestrial ecosystem types, 40% are threatened, with 9% Critically Endangered, 11% Endangered and 19% Vulnerable. Nearly a quarter of terrestrial ecosystem types are well protected, while 35% have no protec-tion (Driver et al. 2012). Threatened ecosystems with little or no protection are a priority to conserve.
Biodiversity stewardship programmes, which facilitate the protection of private and communal land through con-tractual agreements between conservation authorities and landowners, have been successfully established in the last decade in most of South Africa’s nine provinces. In addition to stewardship programmes, outright land acquisi-tion for protection is also conducted by South African National Parks (SANParks) and by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s Land Trust. Alongside mechanisms for formal protection, interventions to minimise loss of habitat in threatened ecosystems have also been put in place. Since 2010, the listing of threatened ecosystems in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), Act No. 10 of 2004, and the inclusion of threatened ecosystems and Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) in the Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, have meant that threatened ecosystems and CBAs are taken into account in environmental authorisations and municipal land-use planning processes.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 4
Figure 23: Spatial distribution of Critically Endangered, En-dangered, Vulnerable and Least Threatened terrestrial ecosystems.
Figure 24: Protection status of South African terrestrial eco-systems based on the percentage target met in formal protected areas.
Figure 25: Bokkeveld Sandstone Fynbos, threatened by crop cultivation for Rooibos tea. Photograph: N. Helme.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 25South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 25O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 4
Targ
et 4
: Bio
dive
rsity
targ
ets
for
terr
estr
ial e
co-s
yste
ms
secu
red
thro
ugh
effe
ctiv
e m
anag
emen
t
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
4.1.
The
pro
tect
ion
leve
ls of
the
35 te
rres
trial
eco
-sy
stem
s th
at w
ere
asse
ssed
in 2
011
to b
e C
ritic
ally
En
dang
ered
or
Enda
nger
ed a
nd a
lso u
npro
tect
ed
or p
oorly
pro
tect
ed a
re s
ubst
antia
lly in
crea
sed.
4.1.
1. T
he N
atio
nal
Prot
ecte
d Ar
eas
Expa
nsio
n St
rate
gy a
nd P
rovi
ncia
l Pro
tect
ed A
rea
Expa
nsio
n St
rate
gies
upd
ated
to
incl
ude
targ
ets
for
poor
ly
prot
ecte
d or
unp
rote
cted
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
gere
d an
d En
dang
ered
Eco
syst
ems.
4.1.
1. N
atio
nal
and
Prov
inci
al B
iodi
vers
ity P
lan-
ners
.4.
1.1.
201
4–20
20
4.1.
2.
Prov
inci
al
biod
iver
sity
stew
ards
hip
wor
k pr
iorit
ised
to t
ake
plac
e in
thr
eate
ned
and
poor
ly
prot
ecte
d or
unp
rote
cted
eco
syst
ems.
4.1.
2. E
xist
ing
cons
erva
tion
offic
ials
incl
udin
g bi
o-di
vers
ity s
tew
ards
hip
offic
ials.
4.
1.2.
201
4–20
20
4.1.
3. A
fun
d fo
r la
nd a
cqui
sitio
n an
d m
anag
e-m
ent o
f rem
aini
ng in
tact
are
as o
f nat
ural
hab
itat i
n th
reat
ened
eco
syst
ems
set u
p.
4.1.
3. W
orld
Wid
e Fu
nd f
or N
atur
e (W
WF)
Lan
d Tr
ust;
prov
ince
s sp
ecia
l app
licat
ions
to T
reas
ury.
4.1.
3. 2
015–
2020
4.2.
The
rat
e of
loss
of h
abita
t in
thr
eate
ned
eco-
syst
ems
redu
ced
with
no
furth
er lo
ss t
akin
g pl
ace
in C
ritic
ally
End
ange
red
Ecos
yste
ms.
4.2.
1. A
ll C
ritic
ally
End
ange
red
Ecos
yste
ms
iden
-tif
ied
as C
ritic
al B
iodi
vers
ity A
reas
(C
BAs)
in
pro-
vinc
ial b
iodi
vers
ity p
lans
, bio
dive
rsity
sec
tor
plan
s (m
unic
ipal
) and
bio
regi
onal
pla
ns.
4.2.
1. P
rovi
ncia
l bio
dive
rsity
pla
nner
s and
SAN
BI’s
Bi
odiv
ersit
y Pl
anni
ng a
nd P
olic
y Ad
vice
team
.4.
2.1.
201
4–20
20
4.2.
2. L
and-
use
guid
elin
es r
estri
ctiv
e en
ough
to
ensu
re p
ersis
tenc
e of
rem
aini
ng n
atur
al a
reas
of
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
gere
d Ec
osys
tem
s.
4.2.
2. P
rovi
ncia
l bio
dive
rsity
pla
nner
s and
SAN
BI’s
Bi
odiv
ersit
y Pl
anni
ng a
nd P
olic
y Ad
vice
team
.4.
2.2.
201
4–20
20
4.2.
3. L
aw e
nfor
cem
ent
proc
esse
s im
prov
ed t
o di
scou
rage
ille
gal
rem
oval
of
indi
geno
us v
eget
a-tio
n in
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
gere
d Ec
osys
tem
s (fu
rther
de
taile
d in
Sou
th A
frica
’s u
pdat
ed N
atio
nal B
iodi
-ve
rsity
Stra
tegy
and
Act
ion
Plan
, und
erw
ay a
t tim
e of
writ
ing)
.
4.2.
3. D
epar
tmen
t of
Agr
icul
ture
, Fo
rest
ry a
nd
Fish
erie
s (D
AFF)
.4.
2.3.
201
5–20
20
26 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
2TA
RGET
5
Target 5: Important areas for plant diversity identified and incorporated
into conservation processesContributors: L. von Staden & M. Lotter
Background
South Africa has the richest temperate flora globally. Three regions of high plant diversity and endemism: the Cape Floristic Region, the Succulent Karoo Region and the Maputaland–Pondoland Region, and 15 centres of plant endemism have been recognised by Van Wyk & Smith (2001) for South Africa (Figure 17). Van Wyk and Smith’s system defines broad areas important for plant diversity based on expert opinion. There is currently a need for a more fine-scale, objective analysis of floristic patterns for the identification of important plant areas that can be integrated into existing conservation processes.
In 2004, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) tried to identify important plant areas based on the Important Plant Area criteria developed by PlantLife International. However, insufficient fine-scale plant distri-bution data available at the time prevented the application of the criteria in a practical manner, and the Important Plant Areas (IPAs) concept was not implemented in South Africa.
In the meantime, systematic conservation planning was adopted as the standard approach to identify important areas for the persistence of the full spectrum of biodiversity. Major advances in methodology as well as recently available datasets have allowed systematic conservation plans to be developed at ever finer scales, and these plans are now key instruments guiding site-level land-use decisions and protected area expansion priorities.
With the amalgamation of the Important Plant Areas concept with other site-based conservation-prioritisation programmes into a global standard, Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), it is necessary to revisit our approach to the identification and conservation of areas important for plant diversity, to ensure alignment with this new standard in our reporting on Target 5. KBA criteria emphasise globally threatened species and ecosystems, geographically restricted species and ecosystems, centres of endemism, and areas of high ecological integrity. Whereas there is agreement with KBA principles for the identification of important areas, the KBA criteria are out of step with well-established practices of biodiversity target-setting within the South African conservation planning community, and preliminary testing showed the criteria to be too land-hungry within a megadiverse country context. For con-sistency and integration with current conservation practices within South Africa, it is therefore necessary to align the identification of areas important for plant diversity with established conservation planning methods, but it must be ensured that all important elements emphasised by the global standard are represented.
Systematic conservation plans typically set targets for ecosystems, threatened species, and areas important for ecosystem services and landscape-level functional processes – a concept analogous to areas of ecological integ-rity highlighted in KBA criteria. The missing key ele-ments are centres of endemism and geographically restricted, but not threatened species. The objective for Target 5 is therefore to use the fine-scale plant occurrence datasets that have become available over the past decade to objectively define centres of en-demism and areas of high species diversity at a scale that can be used as a biodiversity feature, together with existing datasets on ecosystems and threatened species, in systematic conservation plans.
Progress on this target will be measured in terms of how well important areas for plant diversity are rep-resented in:
• Formal protected area networks. • Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) identified
through systematic conservation plans and taken up legislatively via bioregional and biodiversity sector plans.
Figure 26: Regions and centres of floristic endemism identi-fied by Van Wyk & Smith (2001).
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 27O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 5
Figure 27: Examples of important plant areas from the Little Karoo and the Swartberg Mountain Range. Photographs: J. Vlok.
28 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 5 outcomes for 2020
5.1. Important areas for plant diversity in South Africa identified based on botanical richness and endemism patterns.
5.2. Important areas for plant diversity incorporated into biodiversity planning processes and protected area expansion strategies.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 5
Figure 28: Many important plant areas occur in low-lying areas and are under significant threat from urban development and agricultural expansion. Shown here are the last remaining fragment of the Critically Endangered Lourensford Alluvial Fynbos near Somerset West in the Western Cape. Photographs: R. Koopman.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 29South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 29O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 5
Targ
et 5
: Im
port
ant a
reas
for
plan
t div
ersi
ty id
entif
ied
and
inco
rpor
ated
into
con
serv
atio
n pr
oces
ses
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
5.1.
Im
porta
nt a
reas
for
pla
nt d
iver
sity
in S
outh
Afri
ca
iden
tifie
d ba
sed
on b
otan
ical
ric
hnes
s an
d en
dem
ism
patte
rns.
5.1.
1. A
ll fin
e-sc
ale
plan
t occ
urre
nce
data
col
late
d fro
m
herb
ariu
m s
peci
men
s, a
tlasin
g pr
ojec
ts a
nd fr
om re
levé
da
ta c
olle
cted
for v
eget
atio
n m
appi
ng a
nd/o
r oth
er e
co-
logi
cal o
r con
serv
atio
n pr
ojec
ts.
5.1.
1. S
ANBI
’s T
hrea
tene
d Sp
ecie
s Pr
ogra
mm
e.
5.1.
1. 2
015
5.1.
2. D
ata
anal
ysed
to id
entif
y ar
eas o
f hig
h pl
ant r
ich-
ness
and
end
emism
. 5.
1.2.
SAN
BI’s
Thr
eate
ned
Spec
ies
Prog
ram
me
and
biod
iver
sity
plan
ners
from
Mpu
mal
anga
Par
ks a
nd T
our-
ism A
genc
y (M
TPA)
.
5.1.
2. 2
016
5.1.
3. P
ublic
atio
n pr
oduc
ed o
n th
e ar
eas o
f im
porta
nce
for
plan
t di
vers
ity,
whi
ch i
nclu
des
info
rmat
ion
on e
n-de
mic
spe
cies
.
5.1.
3. S
ANBI
’s T
hrea
tene
d Sp
ecie
s Pr
ogra
mm
e an
d bi
odiv
ersit
y pl
anne
rs fr
om M
pum
alan
ga P
arks
and
Tou
r-ism
Age
ncy
(MTP
A).
5.1.
3. 2
016
5.2.
Impo
rtant
are
as fo
r pla
nt d
iver
sity
inco
rpor
ated
into
bi
odiv
ersit
y pl
anni
ng p
roce
sses
and
pro
tect
ed a
rea
ex-
pans
ion
stra
tegi
es.
5.2.
1. A
spa
tial l
ayer
of i
mpo
rtant
are
as fo
r pl
ant d
iver
-sit
y pr
oduc
ed a
nd p
rovi
ded
to p
rovi
ncia
l bi
odiv
ersit
y pl
anne
rs.
5.2.
1. S
ANBI
’s T
hrea
tene
d Sp
ecie
s Pr
ogra
mm
e.
5.2.
1. 2
017
5.2.
2. I
mpo
rtant
are
as f
or p
lant
div
ersit
y pr
ovid
ed a
s fe
atur
es fo
r in
clus
ion
in b
iodi
vers
ity p
lann
ing
and
pro-
tect
ed a
rea
expa
nsio
n pr
oces
ses.
5.2.
2. B
iodi
vers
ity p
lann
ers
from
the
nin
e pr
ovin
cial
co
nser
vatio
n au
thor
ities
.5.
2.2.
201
7
30 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 6: Initiatives in place to ensure the sustainable management of production lands
consistent with the conservation of plant diversityContributors: D. Raimondo, R. Stanway & K. Maze
Background
Working with the production sector through mainstreaming projects has been a major focus of biodiversity con-servation work in South Africa over the last 10 years. While there is still much work to do, significant successes have been achieved. Agriculture, specifically crop cultivation, is the most severe threat to plant diversity in South Africa threatening over 1 400 plant species. Much work has been done since 2004 to work within the agricultural sector with Biodiversity and Business Initiatives (BBIs) set up for wine, potatoes, rooibos tea, sugar, indigenous cut flowers and fruit producers. Overgrazing by livestock also poses a significant threat to plant diversity and a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and biome-based mainstreaming projects have worked on initiatives with the red meat industry.
All of these agriculture-based initiatives involve developing and implementing best-practice farming guidelines to minimise the impact of faming on biodiversity, as well as providing training on a range of land management tech-niques (e.g. monitoring veld condition, grazing and burning plans, annual farm assessments etc.). Within several of these initiatives, and driven by the broader conservation sector, incentives are provided to farm owners of high biodiversity land to formally conserve land via biodiversity stewardship programmes. Many of these initiatives allow farms to become members of the initiative. By so doing they sign up to industry standards developed to safeguard biodiversity and are then subject to forms of auditing. Members may also receive incentives in the form of market ac-cess, marketing materials and improved consumer awareness. In addition, dedicated extension services are provided that assist with assessing conservation values of land and in the development of environmental management plans.
In addition to the BBI approach, provincial conservation agencies have facilitated biodiversity mainstreaming into production landscapes through a formal stewardship approach. In this case, through a spatial prioritisation pro-cess, parcels of land with intact vegetation of high biodiversity value have been identified, and formal stewardship agreements negotiated. In some cases, this mainstreaming has taken a ‘corridor’ approach, with a patchwork of agricultural land and high biodiversity natural land falling under one large landscape-level conservancy or corridor, administered by the provincial nature conservation agency, but with close collaboration with provincial agriculture and industry bodies.
Much progress has been made by these initiatives, for example the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative has ensured that over 140 000 hectares of natural area has been conserved since the projects inception in 2004. This means that the South African wine indus-try’s conservation footprint is well in excess of its cur-rent vineyard footprint of 101 568 hectares. Another excellent initiative has been the promotion of sus-tainable wildflower harvesting in the Western Cape. About 60% of total fynbos flower retail in the Western Cape originates from natural populations. In the main area where flower harvesting takes place, the Agulhas Plan, a Sustainable Harvesting Programme has been established by stakeholders involved in fynbos har-vesting, including Flower Valley Conservation Trust, CapeNature and the fynbos industry. This includes a Code of Best Practice for Wild Harvesters, for land-owners and harvesters to follow, with guidance on how to sustainably harvest different species of Fyn-bos. A vulnerability index identifies which indige-nous plant species have restricted distributions and life history characteristics that make them vulnerable to over-harvesting. Species that score high on the vul-nerability index should not be picked. Landowners and harvesters who are part of the Sustainable Har-vesting Programme receive extension support from the NGO, Flower Valley Conservation Trust, as they
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 6
Figure 29: Harvesting fynbos as part of the sustainable har-vesting programme on the Agulhas Plain in the West-ern Cape. Photograph: Flower Valley Conservation Trust, Dreampix Photography.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 31
undertake a journey to become sustainable by acting responsibly in the environment, and by meeting social and labour best practise standards. The programme provides a baseline assessment of the landowner or harvesting team’s fynbos practices and provides capacity building to meet those best practice standards set out in the code. Support to monitor and collect information on harvesting is also provided through the programme. The aim is to prepare the operation to be audit ready, for when the market demands such an audit. Much of the product is exported to high-end supermarkets in the UK.
Within the plantation forestry sector, a number of mainstreaming tools have been developed by the biome-based Grasslands Programme. These enable improved decision-making over where future afforestation occurs and how open (natural) areas are managed within the forestry production landscape. The tools include ‘Guidelines for Grasslands Management in the Forestry Sector’, ‘Environmental Guidelines for Commercial Forestry in South Afri-ca’, a ‘Biodiversity Screening Tool’ and a ‘Conservation Planning Tool’.
Despite the progress made over the past 10 years, a number of challenges remain. The Green Choice Alliance, a communications network of various BBIs led by Conservation South Africa, put in place a monitoring framework to assess the effectiveness of BBIs. An audit conducted in 2013, comparing natural areas in 2006 and 2010 within the footprint of the various initiatives, found that extensive transformation of natural habitat was still occurring with much of this taking place within Critically Endangered ecosystems and in areas identified in biodiversity plans as Critical Biodiversity Areas. In addition, not enough progress has been achieved in securing threatened ecosystems for conservation. Areas secured for conservation after 10 years of work represent a very small fraction of the po-tential land available for conservation within the footprint of properties owned by BBI members.
OBJEC
TIVE 2
TARG
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Figure 32: WWF’s Biodiversity and Wine Initiative has ensured that over 140 000 hectares of natural area has been con-served since the project’s inception in 2004. Photograph: Vergelegen Farm.
Figure 30: The forestry sector is the second largest land user after agriculture in South Africa’s Grasslands Biome. The total area under timber plantations is approximately 1.27 million hectares and 45 000 ha of natural habitat on forestry land have been prioritised for conservation through work done by the Grasslands Programme in partnership with Forestry South Africa. Photographs: Mondi Forestry.
Figure 31: The majority of agricul-tural land in South Africa is used for livestock production. South Africa’s Grassland Pro-gramme has produced graz-ing and burning guidelines to promote sustainable manage-ment of grasslands under live-stock production.
32 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 6 outcomes for 2020
6.1. Mainstream biodiversity into agricultural legislation, planning and implementation.
The main factors impeding biodiversity conservation within production lands focusing on the agricultural sector were identified through a participatory workshop undertaken in 2014, which involved key agricultural partners (Agri SA and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheres (DAFF)); and partners with experience working with the agricultural production sector (the United National Development Programme (UNDP), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Conservation South Africa (CSA), the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and the World Wide Fund for Nature – South Africa branch (WWF-SA)). The major barriers identified included un-streamlined regulatory compliance, and limited institutional capacity for extension services and enforcement. Particularly problematic is a misalignment between requirements for permits under the Conservation of Agricul-tural Resources Act (CARA, Act No. 43 of 1983) and for environmental authorisations under the National Envi-ronmental Management Act (NEMA, Act No. 107 of 1998) for listed agricultural activities. The listed activities and timeframes of these regulatory frameworks differ, resulting in challenges to implementation, as well as high non-compliance and poor enforcement. These issues need to be addressed over the next five years.
6.2. Capacity of agricultural extension services strengthened and en-forcement capacity improved.
A number of large government initiatives exist to support agriculture in South Africa, including Soil Conservation Schemes, the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme, LandCare Area-Wide Planning and Natural Re-source Management programmes. These programmes tend to be implemented without taking biodiversity conser-vation considerations into account. As a water-scarce country, the use of water is a high priority for government. Irrigated agriculture is the largest single user of water in South Africa, consuming 60% of available supply (DWA 2013). In a country where 98% of our water supply is already being used, where a substantial proportion of our globally unique biodiversity essentially falls within the custodianship of agricultural landowners and where food security is an ongoing issue, there is a critical need for the integrated management of water and biodiversity in agricultural practises.
6.3. Private sector leadership mainstreams biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability through international and national stan-dard frameworks.
Private sector–led self-regulation is implemented through the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA), with more than 12 000 member companies, of which approximately 80% have agriculturally related activities in food and beverage production. This implementation will be enabled by the recently developed Environmental Sustainability Compliance Programme, which was co-developed by the conservation sector and provides a locally relevant, but globally benchmarked standard for environmental compliance across 11 performance areas. One of these performance areas is land-use and biodiversity, whereby companies are required as a minimum to comply with the legal instruments of the country, and as best practice to set ambitious performance targets with regards to land-use and biodiversity.
Locally, Fruit South Africa and WWF have developed a Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA) environmen-tal management system; a best practice standard aligned to the same global benchmark as the CGCSA framework, with in-depth emphasis on the environmental aspects of sustainability on farms.
6.4 Existing Business and Biodiversity Initiatives (BBIs) supported to main-stream biodiversity into production landscapes.
It remains a priority to continue work with existing BBIs in South Africa. Both the Green Choice Alliance and SAN-BI provide overarching communications and governance support to existing BBIs in South Africa and will ensure that this work continues.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 6
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 33South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 33O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 6
Targ
et 6
: Ini
tiativ
es in
pla
ce to
ens
ure
the
sust
aina
ble
man
agem
ent o
f pro
duct
ion
land
s, c
onsi
sten
t with
the
cons
erva
tion
of p
lant
div
ersi
ty
Out
com
eAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
6.1.
Mai
nstre
am b
iodi
vers
ity i
nto
agric
ul-
tura
l pl
anni
ng a
nd i
mpl
emen
tatio
n w
ithin
pr
iorit
y ca
tchm
ents
.
6.1.
1. B
iodi
vers
ity m
ains
tream
ed in
to th
e ag
ricul
tura
l pra
ctic
es w
ith-
in e
ight
prio
rity
catc
hmen
ts w
here
stra
tegi
c w
ater
reso
urce
s and
hig
h pl
ant d
iver
sity
over
lap.
SAN
BI, D
epar
tmen
t of A
gric
ultu
re, F
ores
try a
nd F
isher
ies
(DAF
F);
Enda
nger
ed W
ildlif
e Tr
ust
(EW
T);
Con
serv
atio
n So
uth
Afric
a (C
SA);
AGRI
SA,
WW
F-SA
.
2020
6.1.
2. I
nteg
rate
d la
nd-u
se p
lann
ing
proj
ects
dev
elop
ed a
nd im
ple-
men
ted
at c
atch
men
t sca
le th
roug
h m
ulti-
stak
ehol
der p
artn
ersh
ips.
SAN
BI, D
AFF;
EW
T; C
SA; A
GRI
SA,
WW
F-SA
.20
20
6.1.
3. L
arge
-sca
le g
over
nmen
t pro
gram
mes
coo
rdin
ated
by
the
de-
partm
ents
of E
nviro
nmen
tal A
ffairs
(DEA
), W
ater
& S
anita
tion
(DW
S)
and
Agric
ultu
re, F
ores
try a
nd F
isher
ies (
DAF
F) a
re a
ligne
d to
supp
ort
sust
aina
ble
agric
ultu
re p
ract
ices
.
SAN
BI, D
AFF;
EW
T; C
SA; A
GRI
SA,
WW
F-SA
.20
20
6.2.
Cap
acity
of
agric
ultu
ral e
xten
sion
ser-
vice
s stre
ngth
ened
and
enf
orce
men
t cap
ac-
ity im
prov
ed.
6.2.
1. C
apac
ity o
f agr
icul
tura
l ext
ensio
n se
rvic
es st
reng
then
ed w
ithin
pr
iorit
y ca
tchm
ent a
reas
thro
ugh
wor
king
dire
ctly
with
ext
ensio
n of
-fic
ials
and
focu
ssin
g on
enf
orce
men
t req
uire
men
ts.
SAN
BI, D
AFF;
EW
T; C
SA; A
GRI
SA,
WW
F-SA
.20
20
6.2.
2. A
gric
ultu
ral s
kills
dev
elop
men
t at
ter
tiary
leve
l add
ress
es in
-te
grat
ion
of re
leva
nt b
iodi
vers
ity, i
nclu
ding
bas
ic le
gisla
tive
issue
s.SA
NBI
, DAF
F; E
WT;
CSA
; AG
RI S
A, W
WF-
SA.
2020
6.3.
Priv
ate
sect
or l
eade
rshi
p m
ains
tream
s bi
odiv
ersit
y co
nser
vatio
n an
d en
viro
nmen
-ta
l su
stai
nabi
lity
thro
ugh
inte
rnat
iona
l an
d na
tiona
l sta
ndar
d fra
mew
orks
.
6.3.
Bio
dive
rsity
mai
nstre
amed
into
10%
of t
he S
outh
Afri
can
priv
ate
sect
or a
gric
ultu
ral c
ompo
nent
thr
ough
im
plem
enta
tion
of r
elev
ant
natio
nal a
nd in
tern
atio
nal f
ram
ewor
ks.
Con
sum
er G
oods
Cou
ncil
of S
outh
Afri
ca (C
GC
SA);
CSA
; C
ambr
idge
Pro
gram
for S
usta
inab
ility
Lea
ders
hip;
priv
ate
sect
or a
gric
ultu
ral
stak
ehol
ders
; W
WF-
SA;
Sust
aina
bilit
y In
itiat
ive
of S
outh
Afri
ca (S
IZA)
; Fru
it SA
.
2020
6.4
Exist
ing
Busin
ess a
nd B
iodi
vers
ity In
itia-
tives
sup
porte
d to
mai
nstre
am b
iodi
vers
ity
into
pro
duct
ion
land
scap
es.
6.4.
Con
tinue
to
wor
k w
ith b
usin
ess
and
indu
stry
in
prod
uctio
n la
ndsc
apes
, foc
ussin
g on
:1)
Inte
grat
ing
biod
iver
sity
into
pro
duct
ion
and
serv
ice
stan
dard
s and
gu
idel
ines
.2)
Inco
rpor
atin
g bi
odiv
ersit
y an
d en
viro
nmen
tal m
anag
emen
t obj
ec-
tives
in a
rea-
wid
e pl
ans
and
farm
pla
nnin
g pr
oces
ses.
3) D
eepe
ning
rel
atio
nshi
ps b
etw
een
cons
erva
tion
and
natio
nal a
nd
prov
inci
al d
epar
tmen
ts o
f Agr
icul
ture
, inc
ludi
ng c
olla
bora
tive
effo
rts
to s
treng
then
cap
acity
for e
xten
sion
and
enfo
rcem
ent f
unct
ions
.4)
Mai
nstre
am e
xist
ing
biod
iver
sity
and
prod
uctio
n to
ols.
Cap
eNat
ure;
WW
F; C
SA;
Flow
er V
alle
y C
onse
rvat
ion
Trus
t; SA
NBI
; in
dust
ry b
odie
s (R
ed M
eat
Prod
ucer
s O
r-ga
niza
tion;
Win
es o
f Sou
th A
frica
; Fr
uit S
A; G
rass
fed
SA;
Moh
air S
A; S
A O
stric
h Bu
sines
s C
ham
ber).
2020
34 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 7: At least 75% of known threatened plant species conserved in situ
Contributors: L. von Staden & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa currently has 2 576 plant species that are threatened with extinction. Since 2005, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) Threatened Species Programme (TSP) has worked towards getting accurate distribution data for known locations of threatened species. Over 57 000 herbarium records have been en-coded and georeferenced. In addition a network of volunteers has been monitoring populations of threatened plants in the field as part of the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) pro-gramme (www.sanbi.org). Twelve other threatened plant data sources, which come from national and provincial conservation authorities, re-gional herbaria, and atlas and citizen science programmes, have been included. Spatial data are now available for 2 345 threatened species in South Africa. Of these, 1 554 (66%) species have at least one record within a formally protected area (Von Staden et al., in prep).
Since 2005 South Africa has expanded protection of terrestrial ecosystems through the establishment of Biodiversity Stewardship programmes in several provinces. As part of these programmes, contractual protected areas are declared on private or communal land. Conservation authorities enter into contract agreements with landowners who retain title to the land and are recognised as the management authority of the protected area. The cost to the state
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 7
Figure 34: Results of the systematic biodiversity planning exercise done to identify optimal sites to conserve the highest numbers of unprotected species (Von Staden et al. 2015). These priority sites will be targeted by provincial conservation authorities in their protected area expansion work.
Figure 33: The 2008 Protected Area Ex-pansion strategy that prioritised areas of the country for conservation, but did not take into account threatened plant occurrences as data was not available at that stage.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 35
Figure 36: Critically Endangered species all known from only a single site: a, Pleiospilos simuans; b, Diosma aristata; c, Polhillia brevicalyx; d, Lobostemon belliformis; e, Agathosma orbicularis; f, Planea schlechteri. Photographers: a, E. Van Jaarsveld; b, A. Schuttel Vlok; c, unknown; d, D. Osbourne; e, N. Helme; f, Keith Breetzke.
OBJEC
TIVE 2
TARG
ET 7
is a fraction of the cost of acquiring and managing land, making biodiversity stewardship a highly cost effective approach to expanding the protected area network. Twenty-four contract protected areas have been declared through Biodiversity Stewardship programmes totalling over 75 000 ha, with approximately 360 000 ha of addi-tional contract protected areas awaiting proclamation or are in negotiation.
a b c
d e f
Figure 35: High concentrations of populations of threatened plant species shown in rela-tion to South Africa’s Protect-ed Area Network.
36 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Figure 37: Critically Endangered species all known from only a single site: a, Circandra serrata; b, Erica jasminiflora; c, Moraea loubseri. Photographers: a, R. Koopman; b, unknown; c, G. Duncan.
Target 7 outcomes for 2020
7.1. Protected area expansion strategies (provincial and national) in-clude priority sites for conserving unprotected threatened species.
South Africa has a National Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES), produced in 2008, which identifies spa-tial focus areas for further expansion of the land-based protected area network (available at www.environment.gov.za). The NPAES sets targets that maximise the representation of ecosystems in South Africa’s protected areas network. It identifies 42 focus areas for land-based protected area expansion. These are large, intact and unfrag-mented areas, suitable for the creation or expansion of large protected areas. These areas, if protected, have the potential to conserve an additional 8% of South Africa’s threatened species. Unfortunately species data were not available in 2008 to include in the identification of priority areas for conservation. These will be included in the next protected area expansion strategy, which is due to be undertaken. SANBI’s TSP identified areas of the coun-try to optimise the conservation of unprotected threatened plant species (Von Staden et al., in prep); these areas are being taken up both in the national protected area expansion strategy as well as in provincial protected area conservation strategies.
7.2. Biodiversity Stewardship programmes focused on areas with high concentrations of unprotected threatened species.
One of the most effective current forms of expanding protected areas is through Biodiversity Stewardship pro-grammes; these programmes are implemented by provincial conservation agencies and are guided by provincial conservation protected area strategies. Provincial Biodiversity Stewardship programmes will target sites identified within their protected area expansion strategies to house unprotected threatened species. Through targeting the best sites for protecting the highest number of unprotected species, it should be possible to reach the target of 75% of threatened species protected in situ by 2020. The conservation of only 30 additional sites is required in order to achieve this target (Von Staden et al., in prep).
7.3. Legal protection of Critically Endangered plant species occurring at one site only, achieved.
The above discussed expansion of protected areas to conserve plants caters for plant species that occur in large, intact areas of natural vegetation. Unfortunately, South Africa also has many Critically Endangered plant species that have lost most of their former habitat and now remain only on remnant small patches of vegetation within urban and agricultural landscapes or along road verges. These species are highly vulnerable to extinction as a result of development.
Although South Africa has environmental authorisation legislation under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA; Act No. 107 of 1998) in terms of the EIA regulations, which requires an environmental impact assess-ment to be undertaken for a wide range of development activities (82 in total), minimum thresholds exist for each activity. A significant gap exists in this legislative framework arising from the fact that a 300 m2 threshold is provided for the clearance of indigenous vegetation in the most sensitive geographical areas and a 1 ha threshold for the clearance of vegetation within ecologically sensitive areas. Any clearance of vegetation below these thresholds does not require Environmental Authorisations. Where a Critically Endangered species threatened by habitat loss is characterised by an extremely limited geographic range / area of occupancy, or an extremely small and declining population, the clearance of between 300 m2 and 1 ha of indigenous vegetation may impact on the last remaining population or individuals of the species, immediately resulting in the extinction of that species.
There is currently no legislation in South Africa that would effectively prevent the destruction through land use change of the last remaining population or individuals of Critically Endangered plant species. There is an urgent need to develop legislation to protect such species from extinction. There is also a need to identify accurately the exact areas where these species occur and promote awareness of these sites.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 7
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 37South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 37
Targ
et 7
: At l
east
75%
of k
now
n th
reat
ened
pla
nt s
peci
es c
onse
rved
in s
itu
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
7.1.
Pro
tect
ed a
rea
expa
nsio
n st
rate
gies
to in
corp
orat
e la
yer
of h
igh
prio
rity
unpr
otec
ted
thre
aten
ed s
peci
es
sites
.
7.1.
1. A
con
serv
atio
n pl
an t
hat
prio
ritise
s op
timal
site
s fo
r co
nser
ving
the
hig
hest
num
ber
of u
npro
tect
ed t
hrea
tene
d sp
ecie
s pu
blish
ed.
7.1.
1. S
ANBI
TSP
Red
List
Sci
entis
t.7.
1.1.
201
5
7.1.
2. P
riorit
y sit
es fo
r thr
eate
ned
spec
ies
shar
ed w
ith c
on-
serv
atio
n ag
enci
es.
7.1.
2. S
ANBI
TSP
7.1.
2. 2
015
7.1.
3. P
riorit
y sit
es fo
r thr
eate
ned
spec
ies i
ncor
pora
ted
into
pr
otec
ted
area
exp
ansio
n st
rate
gies
by
Mpu
mal
anga
Par
ks
and
Tour
ism
Agen
cy
(MPT
A),
Ezem
velo
Kw
aZul
u-N
atal
W
ildlif
e (E
KZN
W),
Cap
e N
atur
e an
d th
e D
EA.
7.1.
3. M
PTA,
EKZ
NW
, Cap
e N
atur
e an
d D
EA
cons
erva
tion
plan
ners
.7.
1.3.
201
6
7.2.
Bio
dive
rsity
Ste
war
dshi
p pr
ogra
mm
es f
ocus
ed o
n ar
eas
with
hig
h co
ncen
tratio
ns o
f un
prot
ecte
d th
reat
-en
ed s
peci
es.
7.2.
Ste
war
dshi
p of
ficia
ls in
Mpu
mal
anga
, Kw
aZul
u-N
atal
an
d th
e W
este
rn C
ape
focu
s on
neg
otia
ting
cont
ract
s fo
r pr
oper
ties
with
hig
h co
ncen
tratio
ns o
f unp
rote
cted
thr
eat-
ened
spe
cies
.
7.2.
MPT
A, E
KZN
W a
nd C
ape
Nat
ure
stew
-ar
dshi
p of
ficia
ls.7.
2. O
ngoi
ng
7.3.
Leg
al p
rote
ctio
n of
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
gere
d pl
ant s
pe-
cies
occ
urrin
g at
one
site
onl
y, a
chie
ved.
7.3.
1. A
ccur
atel
y id
entif
y sit
es w
here
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
gere
d sp
ecie
s w
ith a
hig
hly
rest
ricte
d ge
ogra
phic
rang
e oc
cur.
7.3.
1.
SAN
BI’s
Th
reat
ened
Sp
ecie
s Pr
o-gr
amm
e.7.
3.1.
201
6
7.3.
2. Id
entif
y th
e ap
prop
riate
legi
slativ
e to
ol a
nd d
evel
op
regu
latio
ns to
pro
tect
hig
hly
rest
ricte
d C
ritic
ally
End
ange
red
plan
t spe
cies
.
7.3.
2. D
EA a
nd S
ANBI
’s T
hrea
tene
d Sp
ecie
s Pr
ogra
mm
e.
7.3.
2. 2
019
7.3.
3. P
rom
ote
awar
enes
s of
site
s w
here
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
-ge
red
spec
ies
occu
r (s
ites
for
zero
ext
inct
ion)
with
rel
evan
t go
vern
men
t de
partm
ents
who
se w
ork
impa
cts
thes
e sit
es,
e.g.
the
Sou
th A
frica
n N
atio
nal
Road
s Ag
ency
(SA
NRA
L),
prov
inci
al d
epar
tmen
ts o
f tra
nspo
rt, a
nd p
rovi
ncia
l dep
art-
men
ts re
spon
sible
for E
nviro
nmen
tal A
utho
risat
ions
.
7.3.
3. B
otan
ical
Soc
iety
of S
outh
Afri
ca, p
ro-
vinc
ial c
onse
rvat
ion
auth
oriti
es.
7.3.
3. 2
016–
2020
.
OBJEC
TIVE 2
TARG
ET 7
38 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 8: At least 60% of threatened plants in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and available for
recovery (restoration) programmes, with 1% in active reintroduction programmes
Contributors: L. Nkuna, A. Hitchcock, A. Rebelo, E. van Wyk, I. Johnson & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa has very high numbers of threatened plants (2 576 taxa). To achieve Target 8, 1 545 species need to be included in ex situ collections. However, this number is too high. Insufficient space exists within horticultural facilities in South Africa’s ten national botanical gardens to include adequate genetic representation of each spe-cies. In addition, living collections are very costly and insufficient funding and man power are available. Banking seeds is a more efficient and secure conservation option. South Africa has been working, since 2000, as part of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP), a programme that includes 50 countries, with the aim to bank 35% of the world’s plants by 2020. To date, 13% or 340 of South Africa’s threatened plant species have been banked. An updated agreement between the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and Kew Gardens, the implementing agents of the MSBP, was signed in 2010, which will ensure that seed banking will continue in South Africa at least until 2015, with South Africa continuing the commitment of banking seeds until 2020.
The seed collections and related data are split into two: the original seed collections are stored at the National Plant Genetic Resources Centre (NPGRC) of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) at Roode plaat, Pretoria and the herbaria maintained by SANBI. Duplicate material (seed collections, herbarium ma-terial and data) are stored at the Kew herbarium and in the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place.
Living collections of threatened species are kept in pot collections in the national botanical gardens. Certain highly threatened species are maintained in stock beds, which serve to preserve as wide a genetic pool per species as possible. These are used as stock material for restoration programs.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 8
Figure 38: Millennium Seed Bank Partnership staff collecting seeds of restricted endemic species from the Blouberg Mountain, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Photograph: D. Raimondo.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 39O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 8Figure 40a&b: Critically Endangered species from the Proteaceae family propagated at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens
(a, Leucadendron levisanus; b, Mimetes stokoei; c, Serruria furcellata). Photographs: A. Hitchcock.
Figure 39: Volunteers and staff of SANParks working to restore Critically Endangered Lowland Sand Fynbos in Tokai on the Cape Peninsula. Photograph: T. Rebelo.
a
b c
40 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 8 outcomes for 2020
8.1. 60% of threatened plants conserved ex situ. The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership in South Africa focusses seed collecting in areas with high concentrations of threatened species; another focus is collecting species that are useful to people. Between 2000 and 2010, the MSBP in South Africa did not have a strict focus on collecting threatened species, but collected a range of differ-ent endemic and utilised species. Since 2010 the focus of the MSBP has shifted to prioritising collection of seeds from threatened species. The MSBP in South Africa aims to collect and conserve seeds of additional 1 000 (39%) threatened species by the year 2020.
8.2. 1% of species with ex situ collections active in restoration programmes. Twenty-six threatened plant species in South Africa are currently being used in re-introduction programmes (1% of threatened plants). Work on these plants has indicated that re-introductions are resource intensive, from both a financial and human capacity aspects. However, South Africa has 21 Critically Endangered ecosystems, 86% of which occur in the Fynbos Biome. Researching re-introduction techniques for threatened plants endemic to these ecosystems is vital for their long term survival. Horticulturalists based at SANBI will continue to pilot and document re-introduction programmes in the form of restoration protocols for at least 1% of South Africa’s threatened plants.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
TARG
ET 8
Figure 41: Reintroducing highly threatened fynbos species into the Critically Endangered Cape Flat Sand Fynbos ecosystem.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 41South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 41O
BJECTIV
E 2TA
RGET 8
Targ
et 8
: At
leas
t 60%
of t
hrea
tene
d pl
ants
in e
x si
tu c
olle
ctio
ns, p
refe
rabl
y in
the
coun
try
of o
rigi
n, a
nd a
vaila
ble
for
reco
very
(re
stor
atio
n) p
rogr
amm
es, w
ith 1
% in
act
ive
re-
intr
oduc
tion
prog
ram
mes
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
8.1.
60%
of t
hrea
tene
d pl
ants
con
serv
ed e
x sit
u.
8.1.
1. M
SBP
effo
rt fo
r se
ed c
olle
ctio
n fo
-cu
sed
90%
on
thre
aten
ed s
peci
es.
MSB
P st
aff b
ased
at S
ANBI
to c
oord
inat
e se
ed
colle
ctio
n bo
th b
y st
aff w
ithin
the
MSB
P te
am
and
with
par
tner
s, in
clud
ing
the
Bota
nica
l So-
ciet
y an
d vo
lunt
eers
who
are
par
t of t
he C
REW
pr
ogra
mm
e.
Spec
ialis
t ho
rticu
lturis
ts i
n SA
NBI
’s C
onse
rva-
tion
Gar
dens
and
Tou
rism
Dire
ctor
ate
to c
o-or
dina
te fu
rther
col
lect
ions
and
man
age
livin
g co
llect
ions
.
Annu
al w
orks
hop
to e
valu
ate
ex s
itu c
olle
c-tio
ns p
rogr
ess,
bot
h se
ed b
anki
ng a
nd l
ivin
g co
llect
ions
, con
duct
ed.
MSB
P co
llect
and
ban
k se
ed o
f 10
0 th
reat
-en
ed s
peci
es,
not
yet
repr
esen
ted
in e
x sit
u co
llect
ions
, per
ann
um.
Audi
t of
spe
cies
rep
rese
nted
in
livin
g co
llec-
tions
con
duct
ed b
y en
d of
201
5, a
nd r
epea
t-ed
in 2
017
and
2020
.
8.1.
2. S
eed
colle
ctin
g ca
paci
ty in
crea
sed
by
iden
tifyi
ng a
nd c
apac
itatin
g no
n-SA
NBI
bo-
tani
cal g
arde
ns a
nd n
atur
e re
serv
es.
8.1.
3. T
hrea
tene
d sp
ecie
s w
ith r
ecal
citra
nt
seed
s gr
own
in li
ving
col
lect
ions
.
8.1.
4. E
xist
ing
gard
ens
ex s
itu li
ving
col
lec-
tions
m
aint
aine
d an
d in
crea
sed
thro
ugh
prov
idin
g tra
inin
g, r
esou
rces
, dire
ctio
n an
d m
onito
ring
of p
rogr
ess.
8.2.
1%
of
spec
ies
with
ex
situ
colle
ctio
ns
activ
e in
rest
orat
ion
prog
ram
mes
. 8.
2.1.
Thr
eate
ned
spec
ies i
nclu
ded
in re
sto-
ratio
n pr
ogra
mm
es in
Crit
ical
ly E
ndan
gere
d ec
osys
tem
s.
8.2.
1. S
ANBI
TSP
rese
arch
and
gar
den
staf
f.8.
2.1.
Ong
oing
8.2.
2. P
roto
col f
or d
ocum
entin
g re
stor
atio
n w
ork
deve
lope
d.8.
2.2.
SAN
BI T
SP re
sear
ch s
taff.
8.2.
2. 2
016
8.2.
3. A
ny r
esto
ratio
n pr
ogra
mm
es i
nvol
v-in
g th
reat
ened
spe
cies
, tho
se im
plem
ente
d by
gov
ernm
ent o
r priv
ate
land
scap
ing
com
-pa
nies
, doc
umen
ted
to b
uild
up
know
ledg
e ba
se.
8.2.
3. P
rovi
ncia
l co
nser
vatio
n au
thor
ities
to
iden
tify
priv
ate
com
pani
es d
oing
res
tora
tion.
SA
NBI
TSP
rese
arch
and
gar
den
staf
f to
man
age
and
serv
e on
line
info
rmat
ion
on re
stor
atio
n.
8.2.
3. O
ngoi
ng
42 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationO
BJEC
TIVE
3 Target 9: The genetic diversity of crops, including their wild relatives and indigenous
edible plant species, conserved while respecting, preserving and maintaining
associated indigenous and local knowledgeContributors: L. Nkuna, E. van Wyk, N. Maluleke, T. Tjikana, W. Jansen van Rensburg,
E. Dulloo, I. Thormann & D. Raimondo
Background
The genetic resources of crops and other indigenous edible plant species are the biological base for food security. South Africa is fortunate in that traditional farming is still practised in many parts of the country; thereby allowing a number of African crop species to be grown and many different landraces of crops to exist. Furthermore, a wide variety of indigenous plant species are collected directly from the wild and used for food. Over the last few decades there has been increasing concern about the loss of crop genetic diversity internationally. Over this same time period in South Africa, there has been an ongoing trend of urbanisation and an associated loss of traditional landraces as well as traditional farming practices.
Conserving traditional landraces of crops, their wild relatives and indigenous edible species is a priority for the following reasons:
• Traditional landraces constitute ‘within-species’ diversity and provide resilience and local adaptation in tradi-tional farming systems.
• Crop wild relatives – i.e. species that are related to crops and can potentially donate genes to them in breed-ing and improvement programmes – provide beneficial traits to crops, such as pest and disease resistance, and drought tolerance.
• Indigenous edible plant species constitute important components of a diversified diet and provide a food security safety net.
Protecting plant genetic resources of traditional landraces and indigenous edible plants has been a priority for the South African Government for the past two decades, with South Africa becoming a member of the Southern
TARG
ET 9
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
Figure 42: Collecting traditional knowledge on indigenous crops in rural parts of South Africa, Limpopo Province – Sekhukhu-neland. Photograph: D. Raimondo.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 43
OBJEC
TIVE 3
TARG
ET 9O
BJECTIV
E 2
African Develoment Community (SADC) Plant Genetic Resources Centre (SPGRC) in 1995 and the National Plant Genetic Resource Centre of South Africa (NPGRC) established by the then Department of Agriculture in 1998. The NPGRC coordinates activities related to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources in South Africa, which includes the collection, multiplication, characterisation, evaluation, rejuvenation and documenta-tion of seed, as well as gene bank management. The process of collecting plant genetic resources in South Africa is done in such a way so as to ensure that the indigenous knowledge associated with the use of each species is captured at the same time as seed is collected.
Figure 43: Cleome gynandra, an indigenous vegetable used as spinach by many rural South Africans. Photograph: B.E. van Wyk.
Figure 44: Vigna unguiculata, cowpea, traditional landrace grown in Sekhukhuneland, South Africa. Photograph: B. van Wyk.
Figure 45: Banked seeds of Vigna radiata, mungbean, stored at the National Genebank managed by the NPGRC of South Africa. Photograph: N. Maluleke.
Figure 46: Acacia seed pod. Photograph: S.P. Bester.
44 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
1
Figure 47: Traditional landrace for Cucumis melo growing in Sekhukhuneland, Limpopo Province. Photograph: B.E. van Wyk.
TARG
ET 9
Target 9 outcomes for 2020
9.1. Genetic diversity of 250 indigenous, edible species and traditional crop landraces conserved in the South African gene bank and du-plicated in either the SADC region gene bank or in the Millennium Seed Bank.
South Africa’s national gene bank established by the NPGRC in 1998 includes mostly agricultural crops focusing on traditional landraces; the bank also includes fodder species, ornamentals, industrial crops (crops used in industry for fibre, hemp, oils etc.), indigenous vegetables and fruits, and selected medicinal species. A total of 324 species have been banked by the national gene bank by the end of 2014, however only 44 are crops or other edible South African species. A further 103 edible indigenous species have been collected by the Millennium Seed Bank project coordinated by SANBI in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
9.2. Priority crop wild relatives conserved both in situ and ex situ.South Africa has 2 260 crop wild relative species within its border; 66 of these have been selected as priority species based on their conservation status, level of endemism, current economic value, their use as food and their breeding potential. These species will be the focus of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States–European Union’s (ACP-EU’s) in situ conservation project, called the ‘Crops Wild Relatives (CWR) project’, in the SADC region. South Africa has been selected as one of three SADC countries to take part in a three-year CWR project coordinated by Bioversity International and the University of Birmingham (UoB) and funded by the ACP-EU Sci-ence and Technology Programme. This project aims to enhance links between conservation and the use of CWR as a means of underpinning regional food security and mitigating the predicted adverse impact of climate change. This project runs from 2014 to 2016 (http://www.cropwildrelatives.org/sadc-cwr-project/).
The specific objectives of the SADC CWR project are to enhance the scientific capacities within each participating country to conserve crop wild relatives and to identify useful potential traits for use to adapt to climate change. The project also aims to develop National Strategic Action Plans for the conservation and use of crop wild relatives.
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 45South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 45TA
RGET 9
Targ
et 9
: Th
e ge
netic
div
ersi
ty o
f cr
ops,
incl
udin
g th
eir
wild
rel
ativ
es a
nd in
dige
nous
edi
ble
plan
t sp
ecie
s, c
onse
rved
whi
le r
espe
ctin
g, p
rese
rvin
g an
d m
aint
aini
ng a
ssoc
iate
d in
dige
nous
and
loca
l kno
wle
dge
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
9.1.
Gen
etic
div
ersit
y of
400
indi
geno
us e
di-
ble
plan
t spe
cies
and
cro
p tra
ditio
nal v
arie
ties
cons
erve
d in
gen
e ba
nks.
9.1.
1. In
form
atio
n co
llect
ed a
s pa
rt of
Tar
get
13 (c
olle
ctio
n of
indi
geno
us k
now
ledg
e) u
sed
to g
uide
whi
ch i
ndig
enou
s ed
ible
pla
nts
re-
quire
gen
e ba
nkin
g.
9.1.
1. S
ANBI
’s M
illen
nium
See
d Ba
nk P
ro-
gram
me
9.1.
1. O
ngoi
ng.
9.1.
2. C
apac
ity d
evel
oped
with
offi
cial
s fro
m
the
NPG
RC to
spa
tially
map
all
colle
ctio
ns o
f tra
ditio
nal
crop
var
ietie
s m
ade
to d
ate
and
iden
tify
gap
area
s fo
r fur
ther
col
lect
ing.
9.1.
2. D
AFF
NPG
RC a
nd S
ANBI
.
9.1.
2. 2
016
9.1.
3. S
eed
colle
ctio
ns m
ade
of i
ndig
enou
s ed
ible
spe
cies
not
pre
viou
sly b
anke
d.9.
1.3.
SAN
BI’s
Mill
enni
um S
eed
Bank
pro
-gr
amm
e.
9.1.
3. S
eeds
of
20 p
revi
ously
not
col
lect
ed
edib
le in
dige
nous
pla
nts
colle
cted
ann
ually
.
9.1.
4. C
olle
ctio
n of
see
ds o
f tra
ditio
nal c
rop
varie
ties
mad
e in
are
as i
dent
ified
as
gaps
in
activ
ity 9
.1.2
., w
hile
ens
urin
g on
goin
g co
llec-
tion
of a
ssoc
iate
d in
dige
nous
kno
wle
dge.
9.1.
4. D
AFF
NPG
RC c
olle
ctio
ns s
taff.
9.1.
4. T
wo
area
s ta
rget
ed a
nnua
lly.
9.2.
Prio
rity
crop
wild
rel
ativ
es c
onse
rved
in
situ
and
ex s
itu.
9.2.
1. O
ccur
renc
e re
cord
s obt
aine
d fo
r prio
r-ity
cro
p w
ild re
lativ
es th
roug
h ge
oref
eren
cing
he
rbar
ium
spe
cim
en d
ata
and
cond
uctin
g fie
ldtri
ps to
obt
ain
new
occ
urre
nce
reco
rds.
9.2.
1.
SAN
BI
Bios
yste
mat
ics
Div
ision
an
d M
illen
nium
Se
ed
Bank
Pa
rtner
ship
(w
ith
men
tors
hip
from
Bio
vers
ity a
nd U
oB,
unde
r th
e SA
DC
CW
R pr
ojec
t).
9.2.
1. 2
015
9.2.
2. In
situ
CW
R ho
tspo
ts a
nd p
riorit
y sit
es
for i
n sit
u co
nser
vatio
n id
entif
ied.
9.2.
2. S
ANBI
and
DAF
F N
PGRC
(w
ith m
en-
tors
hip
from
Bio
vers
ity a
nd U
oB, u
nder
SAD
C
CW
R pr
ojec
t).
9.2.
2. 2
015–
2016
9.2.
3. P
riorit
y C
WR
for
ex s
itu c
onse
rvat
ion
colle
cted
and
ban
ked.
9.2.
3. S
ANBI
’s M
illen
nium
See
d Ba
nk P
roj-
ect.
9.2.
3. 2
015–
2016
9.2.
4. I
n sit
u co
nser
vatio
n ar
eas
incl
uded
in
prov
inci
al c
onse
rvat
ion
plan
s, p
rote
cted
ar-
eas
expa
nsio
n st
rate
gies
and
the
NBS
AP.
9.2.
4. S
ANBI
’s S
trate
gy f
or P
lant
Con
serv
a-tio
n Fo
cal
Poin
t in
col
labo
ratio
n w
ith D
AFF
unde
r SAD
C C
WR
proj
ect.
9.2.
4. 2
016–
2017
OBJEC
TIVE 2
46 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
10
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2 Target 10: Effective management plans
in place to prevent new biological invasions and to manage important areas
for plant diversity that are invadedContributors: P. Ivey & D. Raimondo
Background
As of 2010 South Africa had 8 750 introduced plant taxa; 660 of which are recorded as naturalised and 198 that are included in invasive species legislation (revised regulations still to be passed into law list 381 plant species as invasive), but only 60 of these are subject to regular control. Biological invasions are a major threat to biodiversity and economic livelihoods in South Africa. Nationally it was estimated (2008 prices) that losses to the following values occur as a result of invasive alien plants:
• Loss of available water – ± R8 billion.• Loss of grazing – ± R450 million.
The management of widely established invasive plants has been led by the Working for Water Programme (WfW) since its establishment in 1995. South Africa also has a long history of controlling invasive species through intro-ductions of biological control agents. Biocontrol agents are established for 48 invasive alien plant species.
In 2008 an Invasive Species Programme was established at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SAN-BI), funded by the Working for Water Programme, to specifically tackle early detection of new alien invaders, conduct risk assessments for post-border introductions and to work on eradication of alien species that have just started to expand their ranges.
Figure 48: The proportion of a qua-ternary catchment infested, data from the National Inva-sive Alien Species Survey (Kot-ze et al. 2010).
Figure 49: a, Hydrocleys nymphoides; b, Hydrilla verticillata.
a b
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 47TA
RGET 10
OBJEC
TIVE 2
Figure 52: Clearing of the new invasive, Furcraea foetida. Photograph: Invasive Species Programme, SANBI.
Figure 50a&b: Schoongezicht, an area with high concentrations of endemic and threatened indigenous plants, threatened by invasive acacias. Photographs: R. Koopman.
ba
Figure 51a&b: Two species of Cactaceae that are starting to expand their ranges: Opuntia pubescens (right); Tephrocactus articulates (left). Photographs: Invasive Species Programme, SANBI.
a b
48 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
10
OBJ
ECTIV
E 2 Target 10 outcomes for 2020
10.1. Invasive Species Programme effectively detecting and document-ing new invasions, providing reliable post-border risk assessments and coordinating implementation of national eradication plans.
10.2. Important areas for plant diversity receiving priority attention by in-vasive alien clearing programmes.
As part of this Strategy for Plant Conservation, South Africa’s network of botanists is committed to assist with inva-sive species management by focusing on two areas:
10.1. Supporting the development of capacity of the SANBI Invasive Species Programme to facilitate detec-tion and monitoring of invasive alien plants, to support information gathering for more accurate risk assessments of the majority of naturalised species, and to be actively working on eradicating species that have just started to expand their range. The programme will continue to work with the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to strengthen pre-border biosecurity to prevent legal, illegal, intentional and unintentional introductions of potentially invasive species from other countries into South Africa (Wilson et al. 2013).
10.2. Identify important areas for plant diversity (Target 5) that are currently most threatened by invasive alien plants. Prioritise these areas of the country as those that most need invasive species management through government-supported management programmes. Assist with the development and implementation of Invasive Species Monitoring, Eradication and Control plans of these high priority areas.
a b c
d e f
Figure 53: Recently emerging invasive alien plant species currently known from fewer than five localities in South Africa. a, Mimosa albida; b, Opuntia microdasys; c, Paulownia tomentosa; d, Peniocereus serpentinus; e, Rubus ellipticus; f, Vitex trifolia.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 49South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 49TA
RGET 10
OBJEC
TIVE 2
Targ
et 1
0: E
ffec
tive
man
agem
ent p
lans
in p
lace
to p
reve
nt n
ew b
iolo
gica
l inv
asio
ns a
nd to
man
age
impo
rtan
t are
as fo
r pl
ant d
iver
sity
that
are
inva
ded
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e St
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
10.1
. Inv
asiv
e Sp
ecie
s Pr
ogra
mm
e ef
fect
ivel
y de
tect
-in
g an
d do
cum
entin
g ne
w i
nvas
ions
, pr
ovid
ing
reli-
able
pos
t-bo
rder
risk
ass
essm
ents
and
coo
rdin
atin
g im
plem
enta
tion
of n
atio
nal e
radi
catio
n pl
ans.
10.1
.1.
Stat
us o
f in
vasiv
e sp
ecie
s w
ith li
mite
d di
stri-
butio
n m
onito
red.
10.1
.1. S
ANBI
and
par
tner
s.
10.1
.1. O
ngoi
ng
10.1
.2.
Cle
arly
und
erst
ood
proc
ess
to p
reve
nt l
egal
in
trodu
ctio
ns d
evel
oped
and
impl
emen
ted.
10.1
.2. B
iose
curit
y D
ivisi
on w
ithin
the
DEA
.10
.1.2
. 201
7
10.1
.3. 1
25 in
itial
risk
ass
essm
ents
con
duct
ed.
10.1
.3. S
ANBI
Inva
sive
Spec
ies
Prog
ram
me.
10.1
.3. 2
016
10.1
.4.
Man
agem
ent
plan
s de
velo
ped
for
spec
ies
requ
iring
com
pulso
ry c
ontro
l to
ens
ure
erad
icat
ion,
w
ith o
vert
goal
s an
d tim
elin
es in
clud
ed.
10.1
.4. S
ANBI
Inva
sive
Spec
ies
Prog
ram
me.
10.1
.4. O
ngoi
ng
10.2
. Im
porta
nt a
reas
for p
lant
div
ersit
y re
ceiv
ing
pri-
ority
atte
ntio
n by
inva
sive
alie
n cl
earin
g pr
ogra
mm
es.
10.2
.1.
Are
as
impo
rtant
fo
r pl
ant
dive
rsity
ba
sed
on c
once
ntra
tions
of
rang
e-re
stric
ted,
end
emic
and
th
reat
ened
taxa
iden
tifie
d (T
arge
t 5).
10.2
.1. S
ANBI
Thr
eate
ned
Spec
ies
Prog
ram
me
10.2
.1. 2
016
10.2
.2.
Area
s of
alie
n in
fest
atio
n id
entif
ied
by K
otze
et
al.
(201
0) o
verla
id w
ith a
reas
im
porta
nt f
or p
lant
di
vers
ity a
nd p
riorit
y ca
tchm
ents
for
alie
n cl
earin
g id
entif
ied.
10.2
.2. P
ostg
radu
ate
Con
serv
atio
n Bi
olog
y St
uden
t10
.2.2
. 201
6–20
17
10.2
.3. I
nvas
ive
Spec
ies
Mon
itorin
g, E
radi
catio
n an
d C
ontro
l pla
ns fo
r th
ese
high
prio
rity
area
s de
velo
ped
and
bein
g im
plem
ente
d.
10.2
.3.
SAN
BI I
nvas
ive
Spec
ies
Prog
ram
me
in p
art-
ners
hip
with
Wor
king
for W
ater
Pro
gram
me
10.2
.3. 2
017–
2020
50 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
11
OBJ
ECTIV
E 3
Objective III:Plant diversity is used in a sustainable
and equitable manner
Target 11: No species of wild flora endangered by international trade
Contributors: M. Pfab & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa is party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). International trade of CITES-listed plants is managed via CITES regulations that were promulgated in March 2011 in terms of section 97 of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), Act No. 10 of 2004.
South Africa has established a Scientific Authority (Section 60 of NEMBA) to monitor the legal and illegal trade in wildlife and make Non-Detriment Findings (NDFs) on the impacts of international trade. The Scientific Authority is a committee of experts comprised of a scientist from each of the nine provincial conservation authorities of South Africa, together with representatives from the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), the South Afri-can National Parks (SANParks), the National Zoological Gardens, and one member to represent museums. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) coordinates and chairs the Scientific Authority. South Africa’s Management Authority, which regulates the trade via a system of permits, is coordinated by the DEA and is imple-mented through the nine provincial conservation authorities.
Figure 54: South Africa’s most threatened group of plants is cycads; despite being on CITES, they continue to decline due to ongoing illegal harvesting for the specialist collectors trade. Photographs: J. Donaldson.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 51TA
RGET 11
OBJEC
TIVE 3
Figure 55: Examples of plant species threatened by international trade, such as species in the genus Haworthia (Asphodelaceae); haworthias are not yet included on the CITES appendices. Photographs: J. Vlok.
52 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 11 Outcomes for 2020:
11.1. Non-Detriment Findings for all cycad species conducted.
11.2. Biodiversity Management Plan for Critically Endangered and Endan-gered cycads implemented.
11.3. Listing proposals for species threatened by international trade but not yet included on one of the CITES appendices completed.
11.4. Early warning system to flag new species potentially threatened by international trade implemented.
There are 852 South African plant taxa listed on the appendices to CITES. Forty-four of these are listed on Appen-dix I, meaning that commercial trade is not allowed. The majority of Appendix I species are cycads (91%). Despite being listed on CITES Appendix I, wild plants are still being illegally harvested. Two species of cycad have gone extinct in South Africa since 2005 and a further four are on the brink of extinction. Cycads are South Africa’s most threatened group of plants and ensuring their protection is an urgent priority.
Of the 808 plant species included on Appendix II, 245 are in trade, while the rest are listed for look-alike reasons. Between 2012 and 2014, the Scientific Authority revised the plant species to be included on the list of Threat-ened or Protected Species (TOPS) (Section 56 of NEMBA). A total of 172 plant species are listed on TOPS as they are threatened by unsustainable use, however, only some are affected by international trade, with many being impacted by traditional medicinal plant trade or local horticultural trade. Some of the TOPS species threatened by international trade are not yet included on CITES. It is necessary that risk assessments are conducted for these taxa and that those at risk to the impacts of international trade are nominated for listing on CITES.
The majority of plants threatened by international trade are traded as specialist horticultural collectors’ items. The fashion of plants included in specialist collections changes constantly. To protect many of South Africa’s narrow endemics from being threatened in future by international trade, an early warning system must be developed.
TARG
ET 1
1O
BJEC
TIVE
3
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 53South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 53TA
RGET 11
OBJEC
TIVE 3
Targ
et 1
1: N
o sp
ecie
s of
wild
flor
a en
dang
ered
by
inte
rnat
iona
l tra
de
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e St
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
11.1
. N
on-D
etrim
ent
Find
ings
for
all
cyca
d sp
e-ci
es c
ondu
cted
.11
.1.1
. N
DFs
for
all
cyca
ds li
sted
as
Crit
ical
ly E
n-da
nger
ed, c
ondu
cted
. 11
.1.1
. Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity.
11.1
.1. 2
015
11.1
.2.
ND
Fs f
or a
ll cy
cads
list
ed a
s En
dang
ered
, Vu
lner
able
, N
ear
Thre
aten
ed a
nd L
east
Con
cern
co
nduc
ted.
11.1
.2. S
cien
tific
Aut
horit
y.11
.1.2
. 201
6
11.2
. Bio
dive
rsity
Man
agem
ent P
lan
for
Crit
ical
ly
Enda
nger
ed a
nd E
ndan
gere
d C
ycad
s im
plem
ent-
ed.
11.2
.1. B
iodi
vers
ity M
anag
emen
t Pla
n fo
r the
Crit
-ic
ally
End
ange
red
and
Enda
nger
ed c
ycad
s pu
b-lis
hed.
11.2
.1.
SAN
BI’s
Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity
coor
dina
ting
body
and
the
Dep
artm
ent
of E
nviro
nmen
tal
Af-
fairs
.
11.2
.1. 2
015
11.2
.2.
Biod
iver
sity
Man
agem
ent
Plan
s fo
r th
e C
ritic
ally
End
ange
red
and
Enda
nger
ed c
ycad
s im
-pl
emen
ted.
11.2
.2.P
rovi
ncia
l C
onse
rvat
ion
Auth
oriti
es
and
the
Dep
artm
ent o
f Env
ironm
enta
l Affa
irs.
11.2
.2. O
ngoi
ng fr
om 2
015
11.3
. Li
stin
g pr
opos
als
for
spec
ies
thre
aten
ed b
y in
tern
atio
nal t
rade
but
not
yet
incl
uded
on
one
of
the
CIT
ES a
ppen
dice
s, c
ompl
eted
.
11.3
.1.
Spec
ies
liste
d as
Thr
eate
ned
or P
rote
cted
in
ter
ms
of N
EMBA
and
tra
ded
inte
rnat
iona
lly,
iden
tifie
d.
11.3
.1.
SAN
BI’s
Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity
coor
dina
ting
body
.11
.3.1
.201
5
11.3
.2. C
ITES
list
ing
prop
osal
s pr
epar
ed fo
r prio
ri-ty
spe
cies
thre
aten
ed b
y in
tern
atio
nal t
rade
.11
.3.2
. Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity.
11
.3.2
. 201
6
11.3
.3.
ND
Fs f
or s
peci
es n
ewly
inc
lude
d on
the
C
ITES
app
endi
ces
cond
ucte
d.11
.3.3
. Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity.
11.3
.3. 2
020
11.4
. Ea
rly w
arni
ng s
yste
m t
o fla
g ne
w s
peci
es
pote
ntia
lly t
hrea
tene
d by
int
erna
tiona
l tra
de i
m-
plem
ente
d.
11.4
.1.
A pr
oces
s fo
r th
e In
tern
et m
onito
ring
of
Sout
h A
frica
n pl
ant s
peci
es d
evel
oped
.11
.4.1
. SA
NBI
’s S
cien
tific
Aut
horit
y co
ordi
natin
g bo
dy.
11.4
.1. A
nnua
l
11.4
.2. R
isk a
sses
smen
ts fo
r new
spec
ies i
dent
ified
in
tra
de c
ondu
cted
and
app
ropr
iate
con
serv
atio
n in
terv
entio
ns p
ropo
sed.
11.4
.2.
SAN
BI’s
Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity
coor
dina
ting
body
.11
.4.2
. Ann
ual
54 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
12
OBJ
ECTIV
E 3 Target 12: All wild-harvested plant-
based products sourced sustainablyContributors: N. Crouch, M. Pfab, V. Williams, A. Cunningham & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa has well over 2 000 plant species that are recorded as used locally for medicinal purposes – more than a tenth of the total flora. In addition to medicine, many more species are used by rural communities for food, fuel, building materials and rituals. The total number of utilised plant species has not been determined. Between 2011 and 2014, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) ran a process to determine which species are threatened or declining due to utilisation, and therefore requiring listing as threatened or protected in terms of South Africa’s National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), Act No. 10 of 2004.
A total of 172 plant taxa were nominated for listing on the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) List. The four main utilisation pressures leading to species qualifying for listing are, in order of impact: collecting for the specialist horticultural trade (52% of species on TOPS); medicinal plant collecting for trade in local muthi markets (30%); cut flower harvesting (7%); and harvesting for formal biotrade (6%).
This target will focus on developing interventions to promote sustainability for plant-based products sourced for the specialist horticultural trade, the medicinal plant trade and for harvesting for formal commercial trade. Cut flower harvesting is dealt with under Target 6 of this strategy.
Specialist horticultural trade
Many of South Africa’s unusual plants are in demand by local and international plant collectors. Illegal collection from wild populations takes place to supply this demand. Particularly vulnerable to illegal harvesting are slow growing species such as cycads, euphorbias and haworthias. Those species with restricted distributions are most at risk of becoming highly threatened or going extinct in the wild.
Local medicinal trade
About a third of all species known to be utilised for medicine (656 species) are traded in local muthi mar-kets. Trade in traditional medicines was estimated at R2.9 billion per year in 2007, with at least 133 000 people employed in the trade – many of whom are rural-based women. Wild harvesting and trade in medicinal species is an important livelihood for low income communities in South Africa. The majori-ty of medicinal plants occur and are utilised in the eastern parts of South Africa. The Red List of South African Plants (Target 2) shows that of the 656 medic-inal plant species that are traded, 134 are not being sustainably sourced and subpopulations are under-going rapid declines, with 56 of these already listed as threatened with extinction.
Due to the ongoing trend of urbanisation, most of the demand for medicinal plants comes from South Af-rica’s urban centres. In order to service this demand, extensive unsustainable harvesting is taking place with whole subpopulations of important species al-ready extirpated. Due to high levels of unemploy-ment in South Africa, many individuals are opportu-nistically becoming involved in this trade. High levels of wastage of plant materials in the markets have been reported. Of concern is that South Africans who live in rural communal areas and who depend on ac-
Figure 56: Siphonochilus aethiopicus, wild ginger, a Criti-cally Endangered medicinal plant. Photograph: C. Paterson-Jones.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 55TA
RGET 12
OBJEC
TIVE 3
cess to wild plants for their healthcare and general well-being, are having their plants stolen by opportunist muthi harvesters and traders. Urgent action is required to ensure the conservation of the 134 species in decline due to harvesting. Without a coordinated approach to this conservation issue, Target 12 of the GSPC is unattainable. There is evidently a need to establish systems to help protect medicinal plant species from unregulated harvesting for urban markets.
Formal biotrade
At least eight South African plants are harvested in very high volumes and sold commercially for medicine, teas or cosmetics. These species include Pelargonium sidoides, P. reniforme, Harpagophytum procumbens and Aloe ferox, which are used in the pharmaceutical industry and four species from the genus Cyclopia, used to produce honeybush tea. The high volumes involved are currently sourced from wild populations of these species, with offtake presenting a potential threat. The management of the trade of these taxa is regulated under Chapter 6 on Bioprospecting Access and Benefit Sharing (BABS) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), Act No. 10 of 2004. Baseline resource assessments against which the impact of future harvesting can be measured have been undertaken thus far only for P. sidoides and A. ferox. Resource assessments are required for all of the remaining taxa in the biotrade category. Ongoing monitoring of the impacts of extraction for biotrade is required for these species, as are autecological studies to inform harvesting guidelines.
Figure 57: Mpondo diviner at Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape collecting plants. Photograph: T. Dold.
Figure 58: Trade in traditional medicinal is a significant industry in South Africa. Photographs: K. Sink and D. Raimondo.
56 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
12
OBJ
ECTIV
E 3 Target 12 outcomes for 2020
12.1. A landscape approach to the conservation of medicinal plants de-veloped and implemented.
12.2. The option of substituting wild sourced medicinal plants with culti-vated plants investigated.
12.3. The demand for wild sourced plants in the horticultural collector’s trade diminished through increased availability of cultivated material.
12.4. Species harvested from the wild for the formal biotrade managed sustainably.
Figure 59: Hoodia gordonii. Photographs: C. Paterson-Jones.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 57South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 57TA
RGET 12
OBJEC
TIVE 3
Targ
et 1
2: A
ll w
ild-h
arve
sted
pla
nt-b
ased
pro
duct
s so
urce
d su
stai
nabl
y
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
12.1
. A
lan
dsca
pe a
ppro
ach
to t
he c
onse
rvat
ion
of m
edic
inal
pla
nts
deve
lope
d an
d im
plem
ente
d.12
.1.1
Com
preh
ensiv
e ba
selin
e da
ta fo
r 134
med
icin
al sp
ecie
s of c
on-
serv
atio
n co
ncer
n ob
tain
ed b
y co
llatin
g an
d ge
oref
eren
cing
all
herb
ar-
ium
spe
cim
ens;
by
cond
uctin
g ta
rget
ed f
ield
wor
k ac
ross
the
eas
tern
pa
rts o
f the
cou
ntry
and
runn
ing
a M
edic
inal
Pla
nt A
tlas
on iS
pot.
12.1
.1.
SAN
BI,
cont
ract
ed i
ndep
en-
dent
bot
anist
s an
d iS
pot u
sers
.12
.1.1
. 201
5–20
16
12.1
.2.
Prio
rity
area
s fo
r th
e co
nser
vatio
n of
med
icin
al p
lant
s id
enti-
fied
thro
ugh
cond
uctin
g a
spat
ial b
iodi
vers
ity p
lann
ing
exer
cise
. Prio
r-ity
are
as id
entif
ied
in th
e pl
an c
ateg
orise
d as
:i)
Reso
urce
con
serv
atio
n sit
es th
at r
equi
re s
trict
pro
tect
ion
whe
re n
o ha
rves
ting
is al
low
ed (p
refe
rent
ially
loca
ted
in p
rote
cted
are
as a
nd
priv
atel
y ow
ned
land
).ii)
Cul
tura
lly s
igni
fican
t re
sour
ce u
se a
reas
; th
ose
area
s w
ith a
hig
h di
vers
ity o
f pla
nts
used
med
icin
ally
and
for
ritua
ls (lo
cate
d in
com
-m
unal
are
as o
r on
stat
e la
nd s
urro
undi
ng u
rban
are
as).
12.1
.2.
SAN
BI’s
Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity
and
cont
ract
ed c
onse
rvat
ion
plan
ner.
12.
1.2.
201
6–20
17
12.1
.3.
Proj
ects
to
esta
blish
sus
tain
able
util
isatio
n pr
ogra
mm
es f
or
thre
e cu
ltura
lly s
igni
fican
t res
ourc
e us
e ar
eas
pilo
ted.
12.1
.3.
SAN
BI
to
cont
ract
se
rvic
e pr
ovid
er u
sing
GEF
5 fu
ndin
g. 1
2.1.
3. 2
017–
2020
12.2
. The
opt
ion
of s
ubst
itutin
g w
ild s
ourc
ed m
e-di
cina
l pla
nts
with
cul
tivat
ed p
lant
s in
vest
igat
ed.
12.2
.1.
A sy
stem
atic
rev
iew
to
eval
uate
the
soc
ial c
onte
xt o
f th
e de
-m
and,
and
rel
ated
tre
nds
(hist
oric
, cu
rren
t an
d fu
ture
) in
med
icin
al
plan
t mar
kets
und
erta
ken.
12.2
.1. A
nthr
opol
ogist
com
miss
ione
d by
Wild
life
Econ
omy
sect
ion
SAN
BI12
.2.1
. 201
5–20
16
12.2
.2. A
sys
tem
atic
rev
iew
of t
he e
cono
mic
s of
the
trade
and
use
of
med
icin
al p
lant
s in
Sou
th A
frica
and
its
cont
ribut
ion
to th
e he
alth
care
of
its
citiz
ens
unde
rtake
n.
12.2
.2. R
esou
rce
econ
omist
com
mis
-sio
ned
by W
ildlif
e Ec
onom
y se
ctio
n of
Bio
dive
rstiy
Res
earc
h, A
sses
men
t an
d M
onito
ring
Div
ision
(BR
AM)
in
SAN
BI.
12.2
.2. 2
015–
2016
12.2
.3 B
ased
on
the
resu
lts o
f th
e sy
stem
atic
rev
iew
s (1
2.2.
1. &
12
.2.2
.), t
he fe
asib
ility
of s
tate
-sub
sidise
d cu
ltiva
tion
of 5
0 sp
ecie
s to
re
plac
e w
ild s
ourc
ed m
ater
ial i
nves
tigat
ed.
12.2
.3.
Wild
life
Econ
omy
sect
ion
of
BRAM
in S
ANBI
.12
.2.3
. 201
8
58 South Africa’s National Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
12
OBJ
ECTIV
E 3
Targ
et 1
2: A
ll w
ild-h
arve
sted
pla
nt-b
ased
pro
duct
s so
urce
d su
stai
nabl
y (c
ont.)
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
12.3
. Th
e de
man
d fo
r w
ild s
ourc
ed p
lant
s in
the
ho
rticu
ltura
l col
lect
or’s
tra
de d
imin
ished
as
a re
-su
lt of
cul
tivat
ed m
ater
ial b
eing
mad
e av
aila
ble.
12.3
.1. A
stra
tegy
dev
ised
to s
ecur
e m
othe
r st
ock
for
ex s
itu p
ropa
ga-
tion
to s
uppl
y th
e sp
ecia
list h
ortic
ultu
re m
arke
t.12
.3.1
. SA
NBI
(S
cien
tific
Au
thor
ity
and
SAN
BI G
arde
ns).
12.3
.1. 2
018
12.3
.2. E
cono
mic
ince
ntiv
es fo
r the
con
serv
atio
n of
wild
cyc
ad p
opu-
latio
ns d
evel
oped
, in
volv
ing
the
prop
agat
ion
of w
ild-h
arve
sted
see
ds
for a
ugm
enta
tion
of w
ild p
opul
atio
ns a
nd fo
r tra
de p
urpo
ses
in a
ccor
-da
nce
with
CIT
ES R
esol
utio
n C
onf.
11.1
1 (R
ev. C
oP15
).
12.3
.2. S
ANBI
(Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity)
.12
.3.2
. 201
8
12.3
.3.
Taxo
nom
ists
enco
urag
ed t
o fa
cilit
ate
the
prov
ision
of
mot
her
stoc
k to
spe
cial
ist g
row
ers f
or lo
ng-li
ved,
slow
-gro
win
g sp
ecie
s as s
oon
as p
ossib
le a
fter t
he d
iscov
ery
of th
e sp
ecie
s.
12.3
.3.
SAN
BI (
Thre
aten
ed S
peci
es
Prog
ram
me)
.12
.3.3
. 201
8
12.4
. Spe
cies
har
vest
ed fr
om th
e w
ild fo
r bio
trade
m
anag
ed s
usta
inab
ly.12
.4.1
. Re
sour
ces
asse
ssm
ents
com
miss
ione
d fo
r fiv
e co
mm
erci
ally
ha
rves
ted
spec
ies.
12.4
.1.
DEA
Bio
pros
pect
ing ,
Acc
ess
and
Bene
fit-S
harin
g (B
ABS)
uni
t.12
.4.1
. 202
0
12.4
.2. H
arve
stin
g pe
rmits
ens
urin
g su
stai
nabl
e ex
tract
ion
of re
sour
ce
in a
ccor
danc
e w
ith fi
ndin
gs o
f res
ourc
e as
sess
men
ts.
12.4
.2. P
rovi
ncia
l con
serv
atio
n ag
en-
cies
.12
.4.2
. Ann
ual
12.4
.3. R
esou
rce
asse
ssm
ent d
ata
cent
ralis
ed in
a si
ngle
dat
abas
e to
be
used
as
a ba
selin
e fo
r fut
ure
mon
itorin
g.12
.4.3
. SAN
BI S
cien
tific
Aut
horit
y.
12.4
.3. 2
017
12.4
.4.
Aut
ecol
ogic
al s
tudi
es c
ondu
cted
and
har
vest
ing
guid
elin
es
prod
uced
that
also
take
soc
ial a
nd c
ultu
ral f
acto
rs in
to a
ccou
nt.
12.4
.4. E
colo
gy s
tude
nts
with
fund
ing
from
SAN
BI’s
Sci
entif
ic A
utho
rity.
12
.4.4
. 201
6–20
20
12.4
.5. M
onito
ring
cond
ucte
d of
sta
tus
of p
opul
atio
ns fo
r prio
rity
bio-
trade
d sp
ecie
s.12
.4.5
. SAN
BI S
cien
tific
Aut
horit
y.
12.4
.5. 2
020
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 59
Figure 60: Clivia miniata from the Amaryllidaceae family is threatened by collecting for the local medicinal trade in South Africa. Photograph: C. Paterson-Jones.
TARG
ET 12O
BJECTIV
E 3
60 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 13: Indigenous and local knowledge innovations and practices associated with plant resources maintained or increased as
appropriate to support customary use, sustainable livelihoods, local food security and healthcare
Contributors: N. Crouch, B-E. van Wyk & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa has rich ethnic and cultural diversity, and its biodiversity is of global significance. There is a strong link between cultural and biological diversity (bio-cultural diversity) with large numbers of indig-enous species, particularly plants (well over 2 000 taxa), used for traditional medicine and in rituals by local ethnic groups. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) prac-tices are being researched to document the cultural and spiritual value of plants to different South Afri-can ethnic groups. For over a century, ethnobotanical studies have been undertaken reflecting the knowl-edge of the Zulu, Khoikhoi, Xhosa and the Sotho, amongst other groups. Much work on documenting indigenous knowledge remains to be done in South Africa. There has been little research and documen-tation of certain ethnic groups who have rich bio- cultural practices such as the Venda, the Pedi and the Pondo. Particularly urgent is the need to further document and conserve indigenous plant knowledge of the Khoikhoi and San people, who are endemic to southern Africa and represent the most ancient cultural traditions in the world. In addition, research is required that explores plant usage patterns linking different ethnic groups.
With an ever-increasing number of South Africans entering into the formal economy and moving from rural to urban lifestyles, there is ongoing erosion and profound loss of indigenous knowledge. This forfeiture of knowledge is particularly evident amongst the younger generation. A high priority for South Africa is capturing the insights and traditions of elderly indigenous knowledge holders before it is lost. Based on South Africa’s rich bio-cultural diver-sity, there is ongoing interest in bioprospecting, a value-adding process informed in part by traditional practices.
In order to protect Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) an IKS Policy was adopted by Cabinet in 2004. This policy identifies the need to establish a recordal system; one in which communities, guilds and individual IK holders can record their knowledge to advance future economic benefits and social good. In response, the National Indige-nous Knowledge Systems Office (NIKSO), established by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), set up the National Recordal System (NRS) in 2013. The NRS works with communities throughout South Africa to cap-ture indigenous knowledge, starting with knowledge relating to African traditional medicine and indigenous foods, and will be developed at a later stage to include arts, crafts and farming practices. This system is unique in that it records African IK in its original oral format, links it to a complex metadata scheme, and provides the necessary mechanisms for both positive and defensive protection. The first objective of this strategy is the full roll-out of the NRS in recording IK on traditional medicine and indigenous foods.
Given the rapid loss of IK in South Africa, an urgent need remains to continue with academic research in col-laboration with previously understudied ethnic groups to ensure that their indigenous knowledge is fully docu-mented. The dual strategy of conducting academic research and promoting a NRS is financially supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), with the academic research component supported through the National Research Foundation (NRF). There is a need to ensure that published information on indigenous knowl-edge is centralised, as currently this information is scattered across the scientific and popular literature. There has been some progress made over the past decade towards centralising information, for example, the South African TA
RGET
13
OBJ
ECTIV
E 3
Figure 61: A diviner-in-training preparing dream root (isilawu, Silene undulata). Photograph: T. Dold.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 61TA
RGET 13
OBJEC
TIVE 3
National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has put together the National Medicinal Plants Database for South Africa (MEDBASE), which holds data on the 300 most important traditional medicinal plants of southern Africa. This database needs to be linked to the checklist of South African plants, served online and expanded over the next five years.
Figure 62: Diviners at the graduation ceremony of a trainee diviner (wearing a crown of dream root – Behnia reticulata). Pho-tograph: T. Dold.
Figure 63: Voices from the forest, a publication on the indigenous knowledge of the Xhosa people written by T. Dold & M. Cocks.
Figure 64: Isiqhobo, Eriosemopsis subanisophylla, roots being pre-pared in Pondoland. Photograph: S. Zukulu.
62 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Figure 66: Extensive harvesting of plants from the wild takes place in South Africa particularly for supporting healthcare needs of rural South Africans. Photograph. V. Williams.
Target 13 outcomes for 2020
13.1. The National Recordal System capturing and safeguarding indige-nous knowledge.
13.2. Studies conducted to capture indigenous knowledge related to plant use by ethnic groups in regions not yet definitively researched.
13.3. A national database on indigenous plant use knowledge available online.
TARG
ET 1
3O
BJEC
TIVE
3
Figure 65: Indigenous knowledge being shared by local Pondo knowledge holder, Umnumzana Shezi, at a plant conservation workshop held at Umtamvuma Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal. Photograph: I. Nanni.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 63South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 63TA
RGET 13
OBJEC
TIVE 3
Targ
et 1
3: In
dige
nous
and
loca
l kno
wle
dge
inno
vatio
ns a
nd p
ract
ices
ass
ocia
ted
with
pla
nt r
esou
rces
mai
ntai
ned
or in
crea
sed
as a
ppro
pria
te to
sup
port
cus
tom
ary
use,
sus
tain
-ab
le li
velih
oods
, loc
al fo
od s
ecur
ity a
nd h
ealth
care
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
13.1
. Th
e N
atio
nal
Reco
rdal
Sys
tem
ca
ptur
ing
and
safe
guar
ding
indi
geno
us
know
ledg
e.
13.1
.1. A
t lea
st o
ne N
RS n
ode
esta
blish
ed in
eac
h of
Sou
th A
fri-
ca’s
nin
e pr
ovin
ces.
13.1
.1.
DST
Nat
iona
l In
dige
nous
Kno
wle
dge
Syst
ems
Offi
ce (N
IKSO
). 1
3.1.
1. 2
020
13.1
.2 P
lant
IK h
eld
by s
elec
ted
com
mun
ities
of d
iver
se e
thni
city
in
eac
h pr
ovin
ce re
cord
ed.
13.1
.2. D
ST N
IKSO
.13
.1.2
. 201
5–20
20
13.1
.3.
IK c
aptu
red
and
vouc
here
d w
ith h
erba
rium
spe
cim
ens
that
hav
e be
en lo
dged
at a
regi
ster
ed h
erba
ria.
13.1
.3. D
ST N
IKSO
.13
.1.3
. 201
5–20
20
13.2
. St
udie
s co
nduc
ted
to c
aptu
re
indi
geno
us k
now
ledg
e re
late
d to
pla
nt
use
by e
thni
c gr
oups
in re
gion
s not
yet
de
finiti
vely
rese
arch
ed.
13.2
.1. S
urve
ys c
ondu
cted
with
com
mun
ities
not
yet
def
initi
vely
re
sear
ched
usin
g qu
antit
ativ
e m
etho
ds th
at a
llow
for c
ompa
rison
s of
kno
wle
dge
betw
een
ethn
ic g
roup
s.
Uni
vers
ities
in S
outh
Afri
ca.
A fe
w e
xam
ples
of w
ork
curr
ently
und
erw
ay in
clud
e:In
dige
nous
kno
wle
dge
of th
e Xh
osa
– Rh
odes
Uni
vers
ity.
Indi
geno
us k
now
ledg
e of
the
Pedi
from
Sek
hukh
unel
and
– U
nive
rsity
of
Joha
nnes
burg
and
Bot
anic
al S
ocie
ty o
f So
uth
Afric
a.I n
dige
nous
kno
wle
dge
of th
e Ve
nda
– un
iver
sitie
s of
Jo-
hann
esbu
rg a
nd P
reto
ria.
2015
–202
0
13.2
.2. S
urve
ys c
ondu
cted
acc
ordi
ng t
o in
tern
atio
nally
acc
epte
d st
anda
rds
of e
thic
s, e
nsur
ing
that
the
prin
cipl
e of
edu
cate
d pr
ior
info
rmed
con
sent
is a
dher
ed to
.
13.2
.3.
Know
ledg
e do
cum
ente
d in
a m
anne
r th
at i
ncor
pora
tes
as m
any
diffe
rent
kno
wle
dge
hold
ers
from
with
in a
spe
cific
com
-m
unity
as
feas
ible
to
faci
litat
e co
mpa
rison
bet
wee
n in
divi
dual
kn
owle
dge
hold
ers,
diff
eren
t coh
orts
with
in a
com
mun
ity, a
nd to
id
entif
y di
ffere
nces
bet
wee
n co
mm
uniti
es.
13.2
.4. K
now
ledg
e pr
ovid
ers
prop
erly
ack
now
ledg
ed in
pub
lica-
tions
and
app
ropr
iate
feed
back
pro
vide
d.
13.3
. A
nat
iona
l da
taba
se o
n in
dige
-no
us p
lant
use
kno
wle
dge
avai
labl
e on
line.
13.3
.1. E
xist
ing
SAN
BI p
lant
use
dat
abas
es a
ugm
ente
d w
ith a
ddi-
tiona
l util
ised
spec
ies
data
, ens
urin
g th
at fo
r al
l spe
cies
the
scie
n-tif
ic n
ame,
com
mon
nam
e in
loca
l lan
guag
es, a
nd m
ain
med
icin
al
uses
are
pro
vide
d, to
geth
er w
ith re
fere
nces
.
13.3
.1. S
ANBI
.13
.3.1
. 202
0
13.3
.2. I
nfor
mat
ion
from
the
data
base
link
ed to
the
Sout
h Af
rica’
s pl
ant c
heck
list a
nd s
erve
d on
line.
13.3
.2. S
ANBI
.13
.3.2
. 202
0
64 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Objective IV: Education and awareness about plant
diversity, its role in sustainable livelihoods and importance to all life on earth is promoted
Target 14: The importance of plant diversity and the need for its conservation
incorporated into communication, education and public awareness programmes
Contributors: C. Browne, M. Cocks, A. Hitchcock & D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa has a long history of running public awareness programmes for plant diversity and conservation, such as through the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) linked to the ten botanical gardens across the country. SANBI has a strong synergistic association with the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), and both run public awareness programmes such as the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW).
The formal education system in South Africa includes sections on biodiversity in the high school curriculum, and specifically deals with plant diversity and human influences on ecosystems. Beyond high school, many tertiary institutions have courses focusing on plant diversity and conservation, ranging from being strictly botany focused to courses in nature conservation/management.
TARG
ET 1
4O
BJEC
TIVE
4
Figure 67: Bio-cultural lessons as part of the Inkcubeko Nendalo project, Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. Photograph: T. Dold.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 65TA
RGET 14
OBJEC
TIVE 4
Apart from the formal education curriculum, South Africa has set aside several days each year to commemo-rate issues relevant to this target, such as Arbor Day, and commemorate pertinent international days, such as International Biodiversity Day, World Environment Day etc. There are also many initiatives that bring together government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in achieving public awareness and action towards plant conservation.
Challenges
Although issues of plant diversity and conservation are included in the school curriculum, the majority of schools are not equipped with either the teachers or facilities to effectively achieve the goals of the curriculum. Further-more, analysis of the examinations done at the end of high school (National Senior Certificate) show that students fare particularly poorly in environmental studies (National Senior Certificate 2013: Diagnostic report, Department of Basic Education).
Figure 68: Learners from Lwandle township near Somerset West in the Western Cape taking part in monitoring plants as part of Arbor Day celebrations. Photograph: l. Ebrahim.
Figure 69: Learning about plants on a school heritage outing to Woody Cape in the Eastern Cape. Photograph: M. Cocks.
Figure 70: Volunteers from the CREW programme in the field helping City of Cape Town staff with biodiversity assessments. Photograph: I. Ebrahim.
66 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Figure 71: Bio-cultural learners taking part in the Inkcubeko Nendalo project; observing nature in an undisturbed forest patch near Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. Photograph: T. Dold.
Target 14 outcomes for 2020
14.1. Plant conservation included in the life science curriculum across South Africa.
Education: plant conservation needs to be incorporated into the school curriculum at provincial level to ensure that the curriculum is relevant to local language(s)/culture(s) and biome(s). A blanket curriculum intervention for South Africa will lose an enormous opportunity to engage at a local level. Currently plant conservation is poorly supported mainly due to lack of locally relevant material available to educators. One way to gain support and understanding is to introduce the concept of bio-cultural diversity at schools. The Grade 10 Life Science curric-ulum provides a perfect platform for this. An excellent pilot of such an intervention is the Inkcubeko Nendalo Bio-Cultural Diversity Conservation Programme, http://www.bioculturaldiversity.co.za run by Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape. This programme gets learners interested in plant diversity and conservation by studying how plants form an integral part of their culture. These types of education interventions need to be replicated in other provinces.
14.2. Plant conservation awareness expanded by exposure to botanical gardens and by involving the public in citizen science projects.
Creating awareness by involving the public in citizen science projects: engaging the public in monitoring plant di-versity helps raise awareness of plant conservation issues and a sense of community responsibility for caring for the environment. Examples of popular and ever-growing citizen-science interventions include the CREW programme and the iSpot virtual museum. CREW involves volunteers from the public, mostly from rural areas, in the monitor-ing and conservation of rare and threatened plants, http://www.sanbi.org/programmes/threats/crew, while iSpot is an exciting and interesting website that allows anyone with an interest in nature to share their observations and passion with a network of like-minded enthusiasts by posting digital photographs of plants observations online. This makes it a virtual museum of plant information. In addition to being a virtual museum, it is a social hub for nature enthusiasts and an increasingly valuable database on species occurrences, see www.ispot.org.za.
14.3. Plant conservation promoted in relevant media.Media: currently there is very little-media coverage for plant conservation and better coverage on social media platforms is required. Key persons from within the Plant Conservation Network need to be identified as designated ‘Talking Heads’ and to foster relationships with media outlets. Members of the Plant Conservation Network active on Social Media platforms such as blogging, Facebook, Twitter etc. need to promote plant conservation informa-tion on their platforms.
TARG
ET 1
4O
BJEC
TIVE
4
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 67South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 67
Targ
et 1
4: T
he im
port
ance
of p
lant
div
ersi
ty a
nd th
e ne
ed fo
r its
con
serv
atio
n in
corp
orat
ed in
to c
omm
unic
atio
n, e
duca
tion
and
publ
ic a
war
enes
s pr
ogra
mm
es
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
14.1
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
incl
uded
in
the
life
sci-
ence
cur
ricul
um a
cros
s So
uth
Afric
a.
14.1
.1.
Educ
atio
nal
mat
eria
ls de
velo
ped
for
teac
hing
G
rade
10
s re
leva
nt t
o ea
ch o
f So
uth
Afric
a’s
nine
pro
vinc
es.
A cu
rric
u-lu
m-a
ligne
d m
odul
e de
signe
d an
d tri
alle
d w
ith a
pilo
t sc
hool
in
each
pro
vinc
e.
14.1
.1.
Educ
atio
n co
nsul
tant
(fu
nded
by
Bo
tSoc
).14
.1.1
. 201
5–20
20
14.1
.2. T
he n
etw
ork
of b
otan
ists
invo
lved
in th
is st
rate
gy a
ssist
ing
in th
e de
velo
pmen
t of a
ppro
pria
te e
duca
tiona
l mat
eria
l.14
.1.2
. Ed
ucat
ion
cons
ulta
nt
(fund
ed
by
BotS
oc).
14.1
.2. 2
015–
2016
14.1
.3.
SAN
BI N
atio
nal
Bota
nica
l G
arde
ns a
re o
utdo
or c
lass
-ro
oms
for
lear
ners
, w
ith c
urric
ulum
-link
ed e
duca
tiona
l act
iviti
es
bein
g of
fere
d.
14.1
.3.
SAN
BI e
duca
tion
depa
rtmen
t de
-ve
lopi
ng
reso
urce
s in
co
llabo
ratio
n w
ith
gard
en’s
hor
ticul
turis
ts.
14.1
.3. 2
015–
2020
14.1
.4. G
roup
s of
bot
anist
s ta
king
sch
ool l
earn
ers
on fi
eld
excu
r-sio
ns, e
spec
ially
on
days
suc
h as
Arb
or D
ay.
14.1
.4.
Volu
ntee
rs f
rom
acr
oss
the
coun
try
invo
lved
in th
e C
REW
pro
gram
me.
14.1
.4. 2
015–
2020
14.2
. Pla
nt c
onse
rvat
ion
awar
enes
s ex
pand
ed b
y ex
posu
re t
o bo
tani
cal
gard
ens
and
by i
nvol
ving
th
e pu
blic
in c
itize
n sc
ienc
e pr
ojec
ts.
14.2
.1.
Plan
t co
nser
vatio
n pr
omot
ed i
n SA
NBI
Nat
iona
l Bot
ani-
cal G
arde
ns th
roug
h la
belle
d an
d in
terp
rete
d liv
ing
plan
t disp
lays
, ta
lks a
nd d
emon
stra
tion
gard
ens t
o ed
ucat
e an
d cr
eate
aw
aren
ess
abou
t the
impo
rtanc
e of
pla
nt d
iver
sity
and
cons
erva
tion.
14.2
.1. S
ANBI
Gar
dens
& E
duca
tion.
14.2
.1. 2
015–
2020
14.2
.2. T
he n
umbe
r of i
ndiv
idua
ls ab
le to
par
ticip
ate
in iS
pot e
x-pa
nded
by
deve
lopi
ng a
pps c
ompa
tible
with
and
roid
cel
l pho
nes.
14
.2.2
. O
pen
Uni
vers
ity f
rom
the
Uni
ted
King
dom
res
pons
ible
for
the
dev
elop
men
t of
iSpo
t.
14.2
.2. 2
015
14.2
.3.
Educ
atio
nal a
ctiv
ity d
evel
oped
for
lear
ning
abo
ut p
lant
s us
ing
the
iSpo
t web
site,
ens
urin
g th
is ac
tivity
is a
vaila
ble
as p
art o
f th
e iS
pot w
ebsit
e an
d be
ing
used
in s
choo
ls.
14.2
.3.
iSpo
t te
am S
ANBI
and
edu
catio
n co
nsul
tant
. 14
.2.3
. 201
7
14.2
.4.
The
num
ber
of v
olun
teer
s in
volv
ed i
n th
e C
REW
pro
-gr
amm
e ex
pand
ed to
ens
ure
that
CRE
W w
orks
in a
ll ar
eas
whe
re
thre
aten
ed p
lant
s ar
e co
ncen
trate
d.
14.2
.4. C
REW
pro
gram
me
impl
emen
ted
by
SAN
BI a
nd B
otSo
c.14
.2.4
.202
0
14.3
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
is pr
omot
ed in
rel
evan
t m
edia
. 14
.3.1
. N
ewsp
aper
, m
agaz
ine
artic
les,
and
pop
ular
boo
ks o
n pl
ant c
onse
rvat
ion
prod
uced
. 14
.3.1
. Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
Net
wor
k.14
.3.1
. 201
5–20
20
14.3
.2.
Plan
t co
nser
vatio
n st
orie
s, e
spec
ially
tho
se li
nked
to
the
16 t
arge
ts o
f th
is st
rate
gy,
are
feat
ured
on
tele
visio
n an
d so
cial
m
edia
pla
tform
s.
14.3
.2. P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n N
etw
ork,
SAN
BI
Mar
ketin
g an
d Bo
tSoc
.14
.3.2
. 201
5–20
20
TARG
ET 14O
BJECTIV
E 4
68 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Objective V: The capacities and public engagement
necessary to implement the Strategy have been developed
Target 15: The number of trained people working with appropriate facilities
sufficient according to national needs, to achieve the targets of this Strategy
Contributors: J. Kioko, C. Browne & D. Raimondo
Background
Within the tertiary education sector, a wide variety of courses are offered in fields that contribute to training in plant conservation. All 23 public universities offer environment-related courses at various levels (from short cours-es to post-graduate programmes).
Although there are courses, infrastructure and capacity to support plant conservation in South African higher education institutions, access to higher education is particularly low in the country (only about 16% of young people who should be at university, actually are), and the graduation rates are undesirably low (on average, only about 40% of those enrolled for undergraduate degrees or diplomas complete their courses). Furthermore, many of the successful graduates do not find employment, with students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds being grossly over-represented among the unemployed. This level of unemployment is in spite of a demonstrated shortage of appropriately skilled graduates for the biodiversity sector. Thus, there seems to be a persistent mis-match between the supply of trained graduates and the skills required. The plant conservation field is not exempt from this mismatch. In response to this challenge in 2009, South Africa produced the Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy. This strategy aims to address South Africa’s shortage of skills to manage its biodiversity and improve historical inequalities in the sector.
One valuable intervention catalysed by the Biodiversity Human Capital Development has been the Groen Seben-za programme for developing young conservation practitioners across South Africa. The programme is a partner-ship between SANBI and 33 organisations from all tiers of government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector. Groen Sebenza is based on an ‘incubator model’ giving the 800 participating youth work-place experience through a structured mentoring programme, together with skills development and training op-portunities for a period of two-and-a-half years from April 2013 to December 2016. Five hundred graduates and 300 school leavers (matriculants) referred to as ‘pioneers’ are placed within one of the 33 partner organisations for the duration of the project. Funding for this programme comes from National Treasury’s Jobs Fund, and is being channelled into the conservation sector by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA). As part of each placement, training is provided. This training includes general job place training such a project management skills, conflict resolutions skills etc. It also includes specific training relevant to the specialist field of the plant conser-vation project that the intern is in. For example, Groen Sebenza pioneers placed with the Botanical Society and working on threatened plants, receive intensive training on how to conduct Red List Assessments and also how to conduct monitoring of threatened plants in the field. It is highly likely that there will be a second phase of the Groen Sebenza programme implemented between 2016 and 2019.
A second valuable mentorship opportunity is offered by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of the De-partment of Science and Technology (DST). Through the DST–NRF internship programme, unemployed science graduates and postgraduates are afforded an opportunity to acquire practical work experience and improve their competencies through exposure to a research environment. Graduates are placed for one year in various in South African scientific research institutions. Many receive placements in conservation projects within biodiversity re-search institutions. The DST–NRF internship programme is a long-term programme implemented on an annual basis. TA
RGET
15
OBJ
ECTIV
E 5
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 69TA
RGET 15
OBJEC
TIVE 5
Figure 72: Red List training for Groen Sebenza pioneers. Photograph: D. Raimondo.
Figure 73: Students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal & Durban University of Technology taking part in fieldtrips to monitor threatened plants. Photograph: B. Bytebier & S. Parbhoo.
70 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
15
OBJ
ECTIV
E 5 Target 15 outcomes for 2020
15.1. Conservation courses offered in South Africa’s universities aligned with skills needed in the field of plant conservation.
15.2. Work place mentorship opportunities available in plant conserva-tion programmes.
South Africa has a strong history of botanical research, however, despite this there a still a number of areas of plant conservation where there is lack of appropriate skills. These areas were identified in 2013 as part of a workshop to develop this National Plant Conservation Strategy. The three most urgent skills development interventions required include:
1) Promoting applied ecology and ethnobotanical studies in universities to ensure skills exist to sustainably man-age the over-utilisation of South Africa’s plant species. This intervention will help South Africa achieve Target 11, Target 12 and Target 13.
2) Developing skills amongst conservation graduates to assess the quality of Environmental Impact Assessments and to conduct law enforcement processes linked to land-use rights. This intervention will allow South Africa to achieve Target 5 and Target 7.
3) Reversing the declining trend in the foundational science of plant taxonomy. This declining trend is affecting South Africa’s ability to achieve Target 1, Target 2 and Target 3 of this strategy.
Figure 74: The CREW Programme, jointly implemented by BotSoc and SANBI, has organised for fifteen Groen Sebenza pioneers to take part in monitoring plants in rural areas. Groen Sebenza pioneers working with CREW are recruited from rural com-munities to help conduct taxonomic and ecological research in the areas that they live in. They collect specimens of plants in their respective areas, which are all under-collected parts of South Africa. In addition they conduct interviews within their respective communities to document traditional uses of local plants. Photographs: G. Grieve and T. Dold.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 71South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 71TA
RGET 15
OBJEC
TIVE 5
Targ
et 1
5: T
he n
umbe
r of
trai
ned
peop
le w
orki
ng w
ith a
ppro
pria
te fa
cilit
ies
suff
icie
nt a
ccor
ding
to n
atio
nal n
eeds
, to
achi
eve
the
targ
ets
of th
is S
trat
egy
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
15.1
. Con
serv
atio
n co
urse
s of
fere
d in
Sou
th A
frica
’s
univ
ersit
ies
alig
ned
with
ski
lls n
eede
d in
the
fiel
d of
pl
ant c
onse
rvat
ion.
15.1
.1. G
reen
Mat
ter p
artn
ersh
ip, r
espo
nsib
le fo
r the
im
plem
enta
tion
of t
he B
iodi
vers
ity H
uman
Cap
ital
Dev
elop
men
t Stra
tegy
aw
are
of c
ritic
al sk
ills r
equi
red
for
plan
t con
serv
atio
n an
d ap
prop
riate
inte
rven
tions
be
ing
mad
e.
15.1
.1. B
otSo
c.15
.1.1
. 201
5
15.1
.2.
Wor
ksho
ps h
oste
d th
at b
ring
toge
ther
con
-se
rvat
ion
prac
titio
ners
and
sta
ff fro
m S
outh
Afri
ca’s
U
nive
rsiti
es o
f Tec
hnol
ogy
that
offe
r N
atur
e C
onse
r-va
tion
and
Hor
ticul
tura
l D
iplo
mas
to
iden
tify
skill
s re
quire
d fo
r im
prov
ed e
nviro
nmen
tal m
anag
emen
t, la
w e
nfor
cem
ent a
nd e
x sit
u co
nser
vatio
n.
15.1
.2. B
otSo
c.15
.1.2
. 201
6
15.1
.3.
Cou
rse
conv
enor
s of
pos
tgra
duat
e un
iver
si-ty
cou
rses
in c
onse
rvat
ion
at t
he U
nive
rsity
of
Cap
e To
wn
(UC
T), U
nive
rsity
of W
itwat
ersr
and
(Wits
) and
U
nive
rsity
of S
telle
nbos
ch a
war
e of
and
teac
hing
stu-
dent
s ab
out
the
cons
erva
tion
prio
ritie
s as
ide
ntifi
ed
in th
is st
rate
gy a
nd th
e N
BSAP
.
15.1
.3. P
ostg
radu
ate
cour
se c
onve
nors
at U
CT,
Ste
l-le
nbos
ch a
nd W
its,
Stra
tegy
for
Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion
coor
dina
tor (
SAN
BI).
15.1
.3. 2
015–
2017
15.2
. Wor
k pl
ace
men
tors
hip
oppo
rtuni
ties
avai
labl
e in
pla
nt c
onse
rvat
ion
prog
ram
mes
. 15
.2.1
. Pl
ant
cons
erva
tion
rese
arch
pr
ogra
mm
es
cont
inue
to h
ost i
nter
ns s
uppo
rted
by th
e D
ST–N
RF
Inte
rnsh
ip p
rogr
amm
e.
15.2
.1. P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n N
etw
ork.
15.2
.1. O
ngoi
ng
15.2
.2. I
nter
nshi
p op
portu
nitie
s as
par
t of t
he G
roen
Se
benz
a Pr
ogra
mm
e av
aila
ble
in p
lant
con
serv
atio
n pr
ogra
mm
es.
15.2
.2. P
lant
Con
serv
atio
n N
etw
ork.
15.2
.2. O
ngoi
ng
15.3
. Pr
omot
e po
stgr
adua
te
rese
arch
st
udie
s re
-qu
ired
to e
nsur
e th
e co
nser
vatio
n of
Sou
th A
frica
’s
plan
t spe
cies
.
15.3
.1. B
ursa
ries p
rovi
ded
for t
axon
omic
revi
sions
of
prio
rity
gene
ra i
dent
ified
in
the
pape
r: ‘
Taxo
nom
ic
rese
arch
prio
ritie
s fo
r th
e co
nser
vatio
n of
the
Sou
th
Afri
can
flora
’, Vo
n St
aden
et a
l. 20
13.
15.3
.1. S
ANBI
and
DST
–NRF
.15
.3.1
. Ong
oing
15.3
.2.
Burs
arie
s pr
ovid
ed f
or a
pplie
d ec
olog
y an
d et
hno-
bota
nica
l st
udie
s to
res
earc
h su
stai
nabl
e ha
r-ve
stin
g re
quire
men
ts o
f So
uth
Afric
a’s
mos
t hi
ghly
ut
ilise
d pl
ant s
peci
es.
15.3
.2. S
cien
tific
Aut
horit
y of
Sou
th A
frica
and
DST
–N
RF15
.3.2
. Ong
oing
72 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant ConservationTA
RGET
16
OBJ
ECTIV
E 5 Target 16: Institutions, networks and partnerships
for plant conservation established or strengthened at national, regional and international levels
to achieve the targets of this StrategyContributor: D. Raimondo
Background
South Africa has strong institutional capacity and a rich history of creating networks to promote plant conservation. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), formerly the National Botanical Institute, is a branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), and monitors and reports on the status of species and ecosystems and provides planning and policy advice to help safeguard all of South Africa’s biodiversity. SANBI is the focal point for the implementation of the National Plant Conservation Strategy.
Nine provincial conservation authorities and the South African National Parks (SANParks) manage protected areas and implement conservation of plant diversity outside of reserves.
The Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc), established in 1913, has been promoting the conservation and wise-use of South Africa’s rich flora for over 100 years. The society now has over 20 000 members spread across the world.
Research institutions and collaborations are also strong. The South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) meets annually and represents a wide range of academic botanical disciplines, with members located at different South African universities, and academic and research institutions.
To protect South Africa’s unique biomes and to promote applied conservation research for these areas, specific biome-based research and conservation forums have been established; these include the Fynbos Forum, the Arid Zone, the Thicket Forum, and the Grassland Society of South Africa.
Research into indigenous knowledge of plants and their sustainable use is promoted by the Indigenous Plant Use Forum.
Figure 75: South Africa has strong networks in place for plant conservation; shown hear are stakeholders including conservation officials, citizen scientists and local indigenous knowledge holders at a threatened plants workshop held at Umtamvuna Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Photograph: G. Grieve.
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 73TA
RGET 16
OBJEC
TIVE 5
Figure 76: Citizen scientists from the CREW programme working with field rangers to monitor and protect threatened plants in the Western Cape.
Since 2003 the capacity to conserve and monitor South Africa’s unique flora has been expanded by enabling members of the public to work as citizen scientists. The Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) programme is a vehicle through which conservation-minded citizens can participate in national plant conservation work. A powerful network has been established over the past decade by linking professional botanists and citizen scientists via the CREW programme. CREW members monitor and conserve threatened plants.
74 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
Target 16 outcomes for 2020
16.1. A South African network for plant conservation effectively imple-menting and updating the Strategy for Plant Conservation.
16.2. Working groups for each target ensuring that specified outputs are being achieved.
Given South Africa’s strong conservation and research capacity, the only necessary intervention to help promote plant conservation is coordination around specific areas of work. In March 2013, 46 conservationists and botanists representing a wide range institutions and organisations met to develop South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conser-vation. Working groups for each of the 16 targets were established and these groups are now responsible for en-suring that progress is made towards achieving each of the outputs listed under the targets. The organisations that took part in developing this plant conservation strategy and are actively involved in its implementation are listed on page iv. Many independent botanists are also involved and committed to the implementation of this strategy.
TARG
ET 1
6O
BJEC
TIVE
5
South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 75South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation 75
Targ
et 1
6: In
stitu
tions
, net
wor
ks a
nd p
artn
ersh
ips
for
plan
t con
serv
atio
n es
tabl
ishe
d or
str
engt
hene
d at
nat
iona
l, re
gion
al a
nd in
tern
atio
nal l
evel
s to
ach
ieve
the
targ
ets
of th
is
Stra
tegy
.
Out
com
esAc
tiviti
esRe
spon
sibl
e st
akeh
olde
rsTi
mef
ram
e
16.1
. A S
outh
Afri
can
netw
ork
for p
lant
con
ser-
vatio
n ef
fect
ivel
y im
plem
entin
g an
d up
datin
g th
e St
rate
gy fo
r Pla
nt C
onse
rvat
ion.
16.1
.1. A
wor
ksho
p fo
r al
l bot
anist
s an
d co
n-se
rvat
ioni
sts
invo
lved
in
plan
t co
nser
vatio
n st
rate
gy o
rgan
ised
to m
onito
r pr
ogre
ss o
f th
e st
rate
gy.
16.1
.1. B
otSo
c an
d SA
NBI
to o
rgan
ise.
16.1
.1. B
iann
ually
(201
6, 2
018,
202
0)
16.1
.2.
Out
puts
for
eac
h ta
rget
and
ind
ivid
-ua
ls re
spon
sible
upd
ated
as
need
s ar
e id
en-
tifie
d.
16.1
.2. F
ocal
poi
nt fo
r Sou
th A
frica
’s N
atio
nal
Plan
t Con
serv
atio
n St
rate
gy.
16.1
.2. B
iann
ually
(201
5, 2
017,
201
9)
16.2
. W
orki
ng g
roup
s fo
r ea
ch t
arge
t en
surin
g th
at s
peci
fied
outp
uts
are
bein
g ac
hiev
ed.
16.2
.2.
Ann
ual
upda
te
repo
rts
writ
ten
on
wor
k pr
ogre
ss a
nd p
oste
d on
line.
16
.2.2
. Wor
king
gro
up c
oord
inat
ors.
16.2
.2. A
nnua
l
16.2
.3.
Cas
e st
udie
s, s
cien
tific
pap
ers,
im
ag-
es a
nd v
ideo
link
s of
wor
k be
ing
done
pos
ted
onlin
e.
16.2
.3.
Wor
king
Gro
up c
oord
inat
ors
and
all
stak
ehol
ders
w
orki
ng
to
help
ac
hiev
e th
is st
rate
gy.
16.2
.3. A
nnua
l
OBJEC
TIVE 5
TARG
ET 16
76 South Africa’s Strategy for Plant Conservation
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VAN WYK, A.E. & SMITH G.F. 2001. Regions of floristic endemism in southern Africa, a review with emphasis on succulents. Umdaus Press. Pretoria.
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VICTOR, J.E., SMITH, G.F., TURLAND, N.J., LE ROUX, M.M., PATON, A., FIGUEIREDO, E., CROUCH, N.R., VAN WYK, A.E., FILER, D. & VAN WYK, E. 2013. Creating an Online World Flora by 2020: a perspective from South Africa. Biodiversity and Conservation. DOI 10.1007/s10531-013-0595-0.
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References
Photographs (top and left): D. Kirkwood
Photographs: D. Kirkwood
