NGBP: forestry component - Biodiversity...

SITUATION REPORT

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE UNPLANTED FORESTRY LAND HOLDINGS IN THE GRASSLANDS BIOME OF MPUMALANGA, KWAZULU NATAL

AND THE EASTERN CAPE

Report reference # 8 Prepared by: James Jackelman (Envirocentric), Nokuthula Wistebaar (SANBI), Mathieu Rouget (SANBI), Steve Germishuizen (African Environmental Services) and Richard Summers (Smith, Ndlovu and Summers Attorneys)

For more information: Florence Nazare

Grasslands Programme Coordinator [email protected], 012 843 5025

Host organisation:

Partners of the Grasslands Programme:

mailto:[email protected]

TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ...............................................................................................................................................3 1. THE PLANTATION FORESTRY INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA..................................................5

1.1 Plantation area............................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Plantation types ........................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Plantation ownership and control................................................................................................ 7 1.4 Contribution to the economy....................................................................................................... 8

2. THE PLANTATION FORESTRY INDUSTRY AND THE GRASSLAND PROGRAMME...............9

2.1. The Grassland Programme.......................................................................................................... 9 2.2 The Grassland Programme and the plantation industry ............................................................ 10 2.3 Formalizing the conservation status of unplanted forestry land ............................................... 10 2.4 Profiles of targeted forestry companies..................................................................................... 10

3. PROFILING THE DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTRY COMPANY LAND HOLDINGS IN THE

GRASSLAND BIOME........................................................................................................................17 3.1 Objective of assessment ............................................................................................................ 17 3.2 Methodology adopted in assessment......................................................................................... 17 3.3 Summary of results of assessment ............................................................................................ 23

4. IDENTIFICATION OF PRIORITY AREAS WITHIN THE UNPLANTED FORESTRY

COMPANY LANDHOLDINGS IN THE GRASSLAND BIOME ....................................................28 4.1 Objective of assessment ............................................................................................................ 28 4.2 Methodology adopted in assessment......................................................................................... 28

4.2.1 Developing criteria for selecting priority areas ............................................................... 28 4.2.2 Selecting top ranked sites.................................................................................................. 29

4.3 Summary of results of assessment ............................................................................................ 29 4.4 Responses of companies to assessment and refinement of selected priority sites .................... 32 4.5 Final listing of priority sites ...................................................................................................... 34

5. DETAILED ASSESSMENT OF THE BIODIVERSITY PRIORITY SITES WITHIN THE

UNPLANTED FORESTRY COMPANY LANDHOLDINGS IN THE GRASSLAND BIOME......44 5.1 Objective of assessment ............................................................................................................ 44 5.2 Methodology adopted in assessment......................................................................................... 44 5.3 Results of site assessments........................................................................................................ 48 5.4 Next steps .................................................................................................................................. 49

REFERENCES CONSULTED..................................................................................................................50 ANNEXURE 1: Terms of Reference for securing biodiversity priority areas on forestry owned land ANNEXURE 2: List of project stakeholders ANNEXURE 3: Detailed characteristics and ranking of the 92 selected sites in the coarse-scale assessment ANNEXURE 4: 1:250 000 extracts of A4 maps displaying the location of the 92 selected sites in the coarse scale assessment ANNEXURE 5: A summary of the site ranking and scores for each of the 37 sites assessed

Assessment of the unplanted forestry landholdings in the grasslands biome, September 2006 Page 2

ACRONYMS AFC

Amathole Forestry Company

BEE

Black Economic Empowerment

DEAET

Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Economic Affairs, Environment and Tourism

DEAT

National Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

DLA

National Department of Land Affairs

DWAF

National Department of Water Affairs and Forestry

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FSA

Forestry South Africa

FSC

Forest Stewardship Council

GCU

Grasslands Coordinating Unit

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GEF

Global Environment Facility

GFP

Global Forest Products

GFT

Grasslands Forestry Team

GIS

Geographic Information System

GP

Grassland Programme

INR

Institute of Natural Resources (University of Kwazulu Natal)

KLF

Komatiland Forests

KZN

Kwazulu Natal

KZNW

Ezemvelo Kwazulu Natal Wildlife Services

LCC

Land Claims Commission

MBPSA

Mondi Business Paper South Africa

MP&TA

Mpumulanga Parks and Tourism Authority

NCT

NCT Forestry Cooperative Ltd

NECF

North East Cape Forests (owned by PG Bison and Timber Division)


NLC

National Land Cover

NSBA

National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment

PAA

Protected Areas Act

PAMSA

Paper Manufacturing Association of South Africa

PG Bison

PG Bison and Timber Division

PMU

Project Management Unit

SAFCOL

South African Forestry Company Limited

SANBI

South African National Biodiversity Institute

SAWGU

South African Wattle Growers Association

SFP

Singisi Forest Products


1. THE PLANTATION FORESTRY INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA Section 1 provides a brief overview of the plantation forestry industry in South Africa. It presents the current status of land under plantation cover, types of plantations, ownership and control of plantations and the contribution of plantation forestry to socio-economic development. 1.1 Plantation area In 2003, an estimated 1 371 625 ha of land was under plantation cover (Godsmark, 2004; FAO, 2004), some 1.1% of the South Africa’s surface area. Figure 1 shows the regional distribution of plantations in South Africa (INR, 2005).

Figure 1. Distribution of plantation areas (in blue) (INR, 2005 with data derived from the National Land Cover) These plantations are located mainly in the eastern and southern regions of South Africa - Mpumalanga (620 000 ha), KwaZulu Natal (567 000 ha), Limpopo (68 000 ha), Eastern Cape (170 00 ha) and Western Cape (77 000 ha) (DWAF, 2005). Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga together contain about 80% of the total plantation area (See Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2. Provincial share in the total plantation areas (from Chamberlain et al, 2005 with data sourced from Godsmark, 2004)


Figure 3. Plantation area as a % of provincial land area (Chamberlain et al with data sourced from Godsmark, 2004) Plantations are generally found in the high rainfall, high yield, catchment areas many of which would normally have grassland vegetation as the natural cover. Murray (2005) estimates that plantation areas constitute the second largest commercial land use in the grassland biome, in terms of areal extent, after maize. 1.2 Plantation types Using the characteristics of the fibre produced, plantations can be classified into two main categories: hardwood and softwood. Eucalyptus (mainly Eucalyptus grandis) and wattle (Acacia mearnsii) are the main hardwood species grown in South Africa (Chamberlain et al, 2005). Pine, of which Pinus patula is the most common species, accounts for all South African softwood plantations. In 2003, softwood (pine) accounted for 51.7% of plantations, with hardwood (of which 82.7% is eucalyptus and 17.3% is wattle) comprising 48.3% of all plantations (Godsmark, 2004; Forestry South Africa, 2004). Regionally, hardwood (eucalyptus) is the main species planted in Kwazulu-Natal (52.3% of all eucalyptus are planted in KZN), with softwood being more prominent in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and the Western and Eastern Cape (Godsmark, 2004). Depending on the eventual use of the wood, softwood and hardwood can be grown on either short or long rotations. For pulping purposes, softwood is grown on a short rotation of about 12 to 15 years while hardwood (eucalyptus) is grown on a short rotation of about 6 to 10 years (Forestry South Africa, 2004). For sawlog purposes, softwood is grown on a long rotation of between 27 and 30 years while hardwood (eucalyptus) is grown a long rotation of 20 to 25 years. Plantation forestry provides the raw material for downstream activities such as pulp milling, paper manufacturing, sawmilling and some furniture manufacturing (additional uses include mining timber, pole manufacturing, fibreboard manufacture, charcoal and woodchip production). Some 64% of the timber produced is used as pulpwood (12.4 million m3), some 27% as sawlogs (5.2 million m3) and the remaining 9% for other uses, such as mining timber and poles (Godsmark, 2004, Chamberlain et al, 2005).


1.3 Plantation ownership and control Plantation ownership is distributed between the state and private/communal landowners (sub-divided into small, medium and large growers). Though plantations have a legacy of state ownership, less than 30% of the total plantation area still remains under government control (see Figure 4). Privatization of these remaining plantations is pending (Godsmark, 2004). In terms of the forest transfer process, category A and B plantations are in the process of being transferred to private operators and category C plantations (woodlots) are being transferred to communities, with a target date for completion of 2008 (DWAF, 2005). Private/communal plantation owners can be grouped into three categories: small (or emerging), medium and large growers. The large grower category is highly concentrated, with the two biggest players - Sappi and Mondi - owning 40.6% (22.3% and 18.3%1 respectively) of the total plantation area in 2003 (PAMSA, 2004a). Global Forest Products owns a further 5% of plantations and other corporate growers about 3%. Two black economic empowerment consortiums (Singisi Forest Products and the Siyaqhubeka Consortium) recently signed lease agreements with SAFCOL for 3.2% and 1.2% respectively of the total planted area. The large growers thus accounted for approximately 53.1% of plantations in 2003 (see Figure 4), with a further 26.2% still publicly (state) owned, but expected to be privatized in the near future (PAMSA, 2004, DWAF, 2006). The medium growers, comprising private timber growers/farmers, owned 17.6% of all plantations in 2003 (see Figure 4). The small growers own the remaining 3.2% of the plantation estate. There are approximately 31,500 (Ngubane, 2005) small growers, of which about 24,000 belong to Sappi and Mondi’s outgrower schemes, as well as smaller schemes managed by the SA Wattle Growers’ Union (SAWGU) and NCT.

Figure 4. Distribution of plantation ownership by area in 2003 (Chamberlain et al with data sourced from PAMSA, 2004)

The large and medium growers are well-organized in industry bodies such as the Paper Manufacturing Association of South Africa (PAMSA) and Forestry South Africa (FSA). Forestry South Africa (FSA) has over 90% of all registered timber growers (over 2500 members) as members. Each of the large, medium and small grower groups has their own committee structure with proportional representation on an FSA Executive Committee. The interests of about 2039 medium and small growers (more than 300 000ha or some 21% of plantation area) are represented by NCT (NCT, 2006).

1 This percentage will decrease with the recent sale of North Eastern Timbers to Steinhoff International


1.4 Contribution to the economy It is estimated by Godsmark (2004) and DWAF (2005) that the forest industry employs approximately 67 500 people in the plantations (Limpopo 3200; Mpumalanga 25223; Kwazulu Natal 31203; Eastern Cape 5713; and Western Cape 2130)2. These 67 500 people earn approximately R2.6 billion per year (Godsmark, 2004). It is further estimated that there are 24,000 small growers in formal schemes, and between 5,000 and 10,000 independent small growers (Ngubane, 2005) Chamberlain et al (2005) calculate that these small growers collectively represent a further 31,500 employment opportunities, bringing the total direct employment in plantation forestry to 106, 844. INR (2005) more conservatively estimated these small growers to represent some 20,000 employment opportunities, bringing the total direct employment to a lower 85,000-90,000 people. In 2003, plantation forestry is estimated to have made a gross contribution to GDP of R2,9 billion (Godsmark, 2004, DWAF, 2005). Statistics South Africa (2005) establishes the total value of output of plantation forestry to have been R5.4 billion in 2003 while Chamberlain et al (2005) estimate it at a slightly lower R5.1 billion. Some 76% of plantation forestry’s GDP is derived from pulpwood plantations, with sawlog plantations adding 24% and plantations for other management objectives (such as poles, charcoal and mining timber) contributing only 0.4% of plantation forestry’s total value added. In 2003, plantation forestry produced approximately 17 million m3 of commercial roundwood worth about R1,5 billion and roundwood exports (sawlogs) earned foreign exchange to the value of about R60 million (FSA, 2005).

2 This number represents directly, or contractually, employed operational plantation staff. This estimate does not include the small-scale growers, many of whom carry out the operations on their woodlots themselves with the assistance from family members.


2. THE PLANTATION FORESTRY INDUSTRY AND THE GRASSLAND PROGRAMME Section 2 provides a brief overview of the Grassland Programme (GP), with a specific emphasis of the forestry component of this program. It generally describes the current focal activities of the forestry component, and specifically describes the activity to secure the conservation status of unplanted forestry-owned land. Finally, it profiles the eight companies participating in the development of this component of the GP. 2.1. The Grassland Programme The grasslands biome traverses six provinces and covers an area ranging from the interior of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces over the escarpment and into the central plateau, as indicated in Figure 5 (extent of the grassland biome shown in light green). Because the grasslands biome contains the economic heartland of South Africa, and is home to most South Africans, it has come under a huge amount of development pressure that is not sustainable. A Grassland Programme is thus being developed to meet national biodiversity conservation targets for, and to seek more sustainable development of, the biome.

Figure 5. Distribution of the grasslands biome (in light green) relative to the other biomes of South Africa (derived from Mucina, L & Rutherford, MC (eds.) 2004. Vegetation map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Beta version 4.0, February

2004, NBI, CT) The Grassland Programme is a bioregional program managed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). A dedicated Program Management Unit (PMU) appointed by SANBI is currently busy with the design and planning phase of the GP. The strategic approach for this design and planning phase is to mainstream biodiversity in production landscapes and sectors within the grassland biome. The PMU seeks to realize this strategy through positive engagement with targeted industry players in the different production sectors in order to find win-win solutions between economic development imperatives and biodiversity conservation returns. The PMU is actively facilitating


coordination and collaboration across provincial boundaries, across production sectors and across different spheres of government in the implementation of this strategic approach. Key production sectors that are targeted in the design and planning phase of the GP are: agriculture (both cultivation and rangeland); urban; mining; tourism; and plantation forestry. 2.2 The Grassland Programme and the plantation industry A Grasslands Forestry Team (GFT) has been established with the responsibility of designing and planning the plantation forestry component of the GP. This team, chaired by SANBI, consists of key people from the plantation forestry industry, government and civil society. The following three streams of possible interventions for the GP have been identified by the GFT: i) Industry wide interventions to mainstream biodiversity ii) Secure permanently unplanted forestry land that are priority sites for biodiversity and ecosystem services iii) Expansion of new plantations SANBI and the GFT are currently in the process of developing the second of these interventions, securing permanently unplanted forestry land that are priority sites for biodiversity & ecosystem services3. This report then deals with this intervention only. 2.3 Formalizing the conservation status of unplanted forestry land A service provider has been appointed by SANBI to provide support to both the PMU and the GFT in facilitating discussions and negotiations between the conservation sector and the forestry sector (in Mpumulanga, Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape) to explore options for the formal conservation of high priority areas within the unplanted forestry land (the full Terms of Reference are appended as Annexure 1). The outcome of this work will be a roll-out implementation plan for the formal protection of forestry-company owned land within the grasslands biome that is permanently unplanted with timber and that contains grassland biodiversity priority sites. It is intended that the implementation of this roll-out implementation plan will then be partially funded by a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The work involves three steps:

1. Identify biodiversity priority areas within the grasslands biome owned by forestry companies that are permanently unplanted and that they are willing to secure for biodiversity conservation purposes

2. Unpack the legal requirements to realize the options to formally secure the conservation status of these sites

3. Negotiate and reach agreement with the relevant company and conservation authority on which option to pursue for securing and managing this land as formal conservation areas

This report presents the outcomes of step1. 2.4 Profiles of targeted forestry companies At project inception, the following eight companies and co-operatives were initially targeted4 to establish the biodiversity significance of their land holdings and to secure an in principle commitment to negotiate the incorporation of land of high biodiversity significance into the formal conservation estate:

3 “Permanently forestry unplanted land” is land which is owned by forestry companies but is not presently planted with trees and is very unlikely, for a variety of reasons, to be planted in future. Reasons why the land is unplanted may include: economic factors, water availability, government regulation, etc.



• Mondi • SAPPI • PG Bison and Timber Division • Global Forest Products • Singisi Forest Products • Amathole Forestry Company • NCT • Komatiland Forestry

Table 1 provides a brief overview of these companies corporate and management structure, the extent and type of plantation forestry undertaken and general contact details (information generally sourced from company’s websites and 2005/2006 annual reports):

4 The number and profile of companies approached was initially based on the size and distribution of FSC-certified company landholdings across the Grassland Biome and a demonstrable willingness of the company to become part of the GP. As the project develops, other companies will also be approached.

MONDI BUSINESS PAPER SOUTH AFRICA

Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation forestry

Contact details and information source

MONDI GROUP The Mondi Group is an international pulp and paper company and forms part of the Anglo American plc. The Mondi Group is organised into two businesses, namely Mondi Business Paper and Mondi Packaging.

MONDI BUSINESS PAPER Mondi Business Paper is wholly-owned by the Mondi Group. Mondi Business Paper is the leading producer of cut size paper in Europe. Major production facilities are located in Austria, Hungary, Israel, Slovakia, Russia and South Africa. MONDI BUSINESS PAPER SOUTH AFRICA Mondi Business Paper South Africa is formed from the amalgamation of the South Africa hardwood forestry and woodchip, pulp and paper manufacturing operations. Mondi Business Paper South Africa is a highly integrated, export-focused business made up of hardwood forestry operations, the SilvaCel woodchip export facility, the Richards Bay mill and the uncoated wood free paper businesses based at the Merebank mill. MONDI SHANDUKA Mondi Shanduka Newsprint was formed in 2004 following Shanduka Resources acquisition of a 42% interest in Mondi’s integrated South African newsprint business. The Shanduka group is a black owned and managed investment company with a growing portfolio of investments in the Resources, Property and Financial

Mondi Business Paper owns, manages and leases approximately 450 000 hectares of commercial forestry operations in South Africa with a substantial annual production of over 4 million tons of timber including pine, eucalyptus and wattle. Most of the timber from these plantations supply the SilvaCel wood chip mill and the Richards Bay pulp mill. SiyaQhubeka Forests (Pty) Ltd consists of three plantations - St Lucia (formerly Nyalazi and Dukuduku), Kwambonambi and Port Durnford. The plantations, comprising 22,500 plantable hectares, stretch from Nyalazi in the north to Port Durnford in the south. Mondi Shanduka Newsprint manages 50 000 ha of land, of which 30 000 ha is planted to commercial trees.

Mondi Business Paper South Africa: Tel: +27 (0)31 451 2111 Fax: +27 (0)31 451 2756, E-mail: [email protected] www.mbpsa.co.za Mondi Shanduka: Tel +27 31 451 2111 Fax +27 31 461 1343. PO Box X05 Merebank 4059 South Africa www.mondishanduka.co.za Mondi SiyaQhubeka: Tel: 035 902 2776 Fax: 035 902 2761 E-mail: [email protected] Postal address: P O Box 1605, Richards Bay, 3900 www.siyaqhubeka.co.za

http://www.mbpsa.co.za/http://www.mondishanduka.co.za/http://www.siyaqhubeka.co.za/

Services sectors. Its largest shareholders are the group’s predominantly black management, Cyril Ramaphosa’s Family Trust and James Motlatsi. Mabindu Development Trust and the Fundani Education Trust hold a further stake. Mondi South Africa and Shanduka Resources have concluded an agreement in terms of which Shanduka Resources have acquired a 42% equity stake in Mondi Packaging South Africa. SIYAQHUBEKA CONSORTIUM In October 2001, SAFCOL (South African Forestry Company Limited) privatised its KwaZulu-Natal commercial forestry assets. The successful bidder SiyaQhubeka Consortium, acquired the landholdings, some 26,451 hectares, in an empowerment transaction valued at R100 million. SiyaQhubeka Consortium is a partnership between Mondi Business Paper South Africa (61.8% shareholding), black empowerment entity Imbokodvo Lemabalabala Holdings (I.L. Holdings) (13.2% shareholding) and Government structures (through Safcol, the National Empowerment Fund and employees) (25% shareholding). Mondi South Africa Ltd will reduce its shareholding to 51% by facilitating the acquisition of a further 10.8% equity by small-scale black timber farmers, traditional leaders and neighbouring communities.

SAPPI FOREST PRODUCTS Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation

forestry Contact details and information source

SAPPI GROUP Sappi (originally the South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited, established in 1936,) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It has three divisions: Sappi Fine Paper - the world's leading producer of coated fine paper (it also supplies uncoated graphic and business paper, coated and uncoated speciality paper, and casting release paper) with manufacturing assets in North America, Europe and South Africa. Sappi Forest Products - the world's largest producer of chemical cellulose (dissolving pulp), with the pulp, packaging and newsprint business based in South Africa. Sappi Trading - sells the group's products internationally outside the home markets of the company's operating divisions, with its head office in Hong Kong. SAPPI FOREST PRODUCTS Sappi Forest Products comprises the following business units: Sappi Saiccor, producing chemical cellulose (dissolving pulp) Sappi Kraft has three mills (Cape Kraft, Ngodwana and Tugela) producing, amongst others, unbleached and fully bleached pulp, high performance containerboard, mechanical printing grades, extensible sack kraft and machine glazed kraft Sappi Forests, the plantations and sawmills FORESTRY DIVISION The core business of the forestry division is to supply timber for the manufacturing processes at the various Sappi mills. In terms of a recently concluded transaction, Sappi will sell 25% undivided ownership share in the Sappi plantation land holdings to an empowerment consortium, Lereko Property Consortium (LPC), led by Lereko Investments (Pty) Ltd. LPC will include participation by Sappi employees through a Worker’s Trust and the Malibongwe Women’s Development.

Sappi own and manages 540,000 hectares of land in Southern Africa (in Mpumulanga and Kwazulu Natal provinces, and Swaziland). Approximately 66% of this land is planted to trees, while significant areas of the unplanted land are managed for conservation purposes. Sappi supply approximately six million tons of timber per annum to various mills. Sappi Forests presently has supply contracts for the timber from 90,000ha of plantations planted by small growers with technical and financial support provided by Sappi, as well as exchange contracts with other large growers

Sappi Forests: Tel: 033 347 6600 Fax: 033 347 6790 Address: 21 Cascades Crescent Block A Cascades Pietermaritzburg 3202 PO Box 13124 www.sappi.com/SappiWeb/About%20Sappi/Sappi%20Forests

PG BISON AND TIMBER DIVISION Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation


STEINHOFF INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LTD The Steinhoff Group is one of the top five furniture groups in Europe, and the largest in Africa. It manufactures, warehouses and distributes a wide range of household goods (mainly bedding, case goods

PG Bison and Timber Division manages mostly pine plantations in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape Provinces. The

P G Bison: Tel: (011) 677-4000; Fax: (011) 622-6230; E-mail: [email protected]; 1st Floor,


http://www.sappi.com/SappiWeb/About Sappi/Sappi Forestshttp://www.sappi.com/SappiWeb/About Sappi/Sappi Forestsmailto:[email protected]

and lounge furniture) as well as raw materials used primarily in manufacturing household goods. The group comprises the: i) Europe and the Pacific Rim network; ii) Africa division; and iii) Steinhoff Group Services. The Africa division is made up of seven operations: Steinhoff Africa; Raw Materials; PG Bison and Timber Division; Logistics; India; and Group Services. PG BISON AND TIMBER DIVISION PG Bison is a subsidiary of Steinhhoff International Holdings Ltd and is has 64.18% ownership by the Steinhoff Group and 35.82% ownership by PG Bison staff and management.

Steinhoff Group recently acquired 82,000 ha of land - the North East Forest Cluster - from Mondi and IDC, of which 33 000 ha is under mostly pine plantation.

Block B, Gillooly's View, Osborne Road, Bedfordview; P O Box 2352, Johannesburg, 2000 www.pgbison.co.za/index.cfm

GLOBAL FOREST PRODUCTS Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation


GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FUND Global Environment Fund (GEF) is a US-based international investment firm that invests in emerging markets, clean technology and forestry. The firm manages private equity funds totaling approximately $800 million and limited partners include prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and pension funds. GLOBAL FOREST PRODUCTS Global Environment Fund formally launched Global Forest Products in January 2001. The Company is a joint venture between Global Environment Fund and Mondi Limited.

In total, Global Forest Products owns and leases 92,000 hectares of land in Mpumulanga Province, of which 64,000 hectares are used for plantations and 28,000 hectares are reserved for conservation or road and access routes. Of the 64,000 hectares under plantation, 57,000 hectares are softwoods (Pine species) and the balance is primarily Eucalyptus species. The company has 3 sawmills, located in Sabie, Graskop and Jessievale respectively and a plywood plant in Sabie.

Global Forest Products: Sabie Forestry Office Tel: 013 764-9200 Fax: 013 764-3555 Address: Old Lydenburg Road Sabie Mpumalanga Private Bag x501 Sabie 1260 www.globalforestproducts.net

SINGISI FOREST PRODUCTS (PTY) LTD Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation


HANS MERENSKY HOLDINGS (PTY) LTD Hans Merensky Holdings are owned by the Hans Merensky Foundation (57.4% shareholding) and the IDC (42.62% shareholding). Hans Merensky has two divisions – an Agricultural and Timber division. The timber division consists of a number of companies engaged in forestry, sawmilling, manufacturing, nurseries, research and development in the production and marketing of high quality timber. The timber division comprises the following entities: Northern Timbers (100% shareholding); Tweefontein Sawmills (100% shareholding); Vuka Ramanas (Pty) Ltd (45% shareholding); HM Timber Marketing (100% shareholding); Singisi Forest Products (Pty) Ltd (50.1% shareholding); Timber Research Services (100% shareholding); and Merensky-FINSA Forest Products (Pty) Ltd (50% shareholding). SINGISI FOREST PRODUCTS (PTY) LTD Singisi Forest Products is a consortium comprising Hans Merensky Holdings, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation and the Singalanga Trust. The Trust represents 163 communities who live adjacent to the forests and will benefit from future profits in the form of dividend payments, valued at 10 percent per annum. The shareholding of the new company is as follows:

Singisi Forest Products 75% (of which Singalanga Trust 10%)

Employees 9% National Empowerment Fund 10%

The company has 60,000 ha of planted pine plantations in Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal. These plantations provide timber to three sawmills– Weza, Singisi and Langeni sawmills. Singisi Forest Products has three forest Management Regions. These regions are as follows: Matiwane Region: This includes Langeni Plantation and Langeni Sawmill. Ingeli Region: Weza Plantation and Weza Sawmill. Berg Region: Singisi, Dargle (includes Cedara) and Sarnia Plantations and Singisi Sawmill.

Hans Merensky: Tel: 011 450-1230 Fax: 011 450-1730 Email: [email protected]; PO Box 2360, Bedfordview www.hansmerensky.co.za


http://www.pgbison.co.za/index.cfmhttp://www.globalforestproducts.net/http://www.hansmerensky.co.za/

Government via SAFCOL 6% (Government expects to hold these shares for no more than 5 years)

Singisi Forest Products (Pty) Ltd took over plantations previously managed by the South African Forestry Company (SAFCOL) as well as the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) on 1 August 2001. The land is leased from the South African State for a period of 70 years. The Governments lease requirements include management as a sustainable FSC certified forest, no retrenchments, black empowerment, community upliftment, growth and development as well as skills and technology transfer. The land reform component of the agreement has a number of aspects: firstly, communities will become shareholders in the entity; and secondly, the annual rental will be paid to successful land claimants (where there are no land claims, rental will be paid to entities representing the community which has jurisdiction over the land). .

AMATHOLE FORESTRY COMPANY Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation


CJ RANCE (PTY) LTD (trading as RANCE TIMBER) Rance Timber is an independently owned Pine sawmilling and forestry company. The company operates two sawmills in close proximity to one another, Kubusi Sawmill (large log sawmill) and Sandile Sawmill (small log sawmill). AMATHOLE TIMBER HOLDINGS (ATH) Amathole Timber Holdings (ATH) was established in 1999 by CJ Rance (Pty) Ltd as a holding company, with a 30% BEE component. The employees of Rance Timber (and AFC) own 15% of ATH through the Amathole Worker's Trust, while Senzangakhona Investments owns a further 15% of ATH. AMATHOLE FORESTRY COMPANY (AFC) Amathole (then known as Amatola) Forestry Company was formed as a state-owned company in 2002, and incorporated the ex-SAFCOL Hogsback and Kubusie Plantations as well as the ex-DWAF Zingcuka and Sandile Plantations. In April, 2005, Amathole Timber Holdings purchased Amathole Forestry Company from the state. In the sale package, the government has held 25% of the shares, of which 9% is reserved for sale to SAFCOL and DWAF staff, 10% for future BEE opportunities and 6% remains the state’s share for at least 5 years. The land is leased from the State for a period of 70 years. The Governments lease requirements include management as a sustainable FSC certified forest, no retrenchments, black empowerment, community upliftment, growth and development as well as skills and technology transfer.

AFC operates 15 000ha of pine (Pinus ellioti, P. patula and P. radiata plantations in the Stutterheim, Keiskammahoek and Hogsback areas of the Eastern Cape.

Rance Timbers: Tel: 043 683 5200 Fax:043 683 5240; P.O. Box 18, Stutterheim 4930; E-mail: [email protected] www.rancetimber.co.za

NCT Forestry Cooperative Ltd Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation


NCT FORESTRY COOPERATIVE LIMITED NCT was established in 1949 as a marketing co-operative to cater to the needs of private and independent timber growers. Membership (i.e.. members who own timber farms, contractors and small-scale timber growers currently stands at approximately 2019 shareholding members, of which 509 are black and four represent community trusts. 26% of the membership constitutes black members actively supplying timber. NCT’s role is to act as agent for both members and processors; the best market prices are negotiated on behalf of its Members and stable supplies of quality round wood timber are secured for local and export markets. NCT provides marketing support, silviculture advice, mapping services, harvesting advice, logistics support and conservation advice to its members. As a co-operative, its members both own NCT and share in its profits.

NCT's core area of management and operation covers KwaZulu-Natal Province. The NCT head office and Southern Natal District office are based in Pietermaritzburg with additional district offices in Greytown, Richards Bay, Vryheid, Nelspruit and George. The membership of NCT represents a total area of 324,251 ha under plantation, broken down as follows:

NCT: Tel: 033 897 8500 Fax: 033 8978501; 346 Burger Street, Pietermaritzburg, 3201, P O Box 1445 www.nctforest.com


http://www.rancetimber.co.za/http://www.nctforest.com/


NCT TREE FARMING (PTY) LTD NCT Tree Farming (Pty) Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCT Forestry Co-operative Limited, formed in 1996 to manage the Co-operative's own plantation and those of its Members who require this service. NCT Members, who prefer not to manage their own plantations, are able to purchase the management services and expertise of NCT Tree Farming, which services are tailored to suit each individual client's needs.

GENUS TOTAL Eucalyptus (Gum) 146 012 Acacia (Wattle) 106 944 Pinus (Pine) 71 294 TOTAL 324 251

NCT also owns two farms totalling 2 565ha of timber - Ingwe Forests in the Lidgetton area and Enon Forests near Richmond. It also has access to a further ±1 311ha of timber on leased land in the Baynesfield area. NCT Tree Farming has a total of twenty-five (25) contracts and a timber area of some 13,000 hectares. Timber sales in 2005/06 amounted to 2 254 473 tonnes with pulpwood making up 1 850 682 tonnes and special market sales (sawtimber, poles, mining timber and others) 403 791 tonnes.

KOMATILAND FORESTS (PTY) LTD Corporate and management structure Extent, and type of plantation


KOMATILAND FORESTS (PTY) LTD Komatiland Forests (KLF) is a subsidiary of SAFCOL whose sole shareholder is the Government of South Africa, represented by the Department of Public Enterprises. The company was formed in 2001 as a special purpose vehicle to sell the plantations in Mpumulanga South, in Mpumulanga North, the Ngome plantation in SAFCOL’s Kwazulu-Natal region and four ex-DWAF plantations (Mamathola, Tathe Vondo, Redhill and Blairmore). In August 2006, Cabinet approved the recommendations of the Economic Cluster Committee to retain public ownership of the forests managed by KLF for the foreseeable future. At the same meeting of Cabinet, it was resolved that the Department of Public Enterprises will undertake a comprehensive review of SAFCOL’s strategy to ensure that the state-owned forests continue to contribute optimally to Government's objectives for the forestry, timber, pulp and paper sector.

Komatiland Forests operates 18 commercial softwood saw log plantations comprising a total surface area of 187,320ha in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. Of this, some 60 000ha consist of unplanted natural vegetation. The company maintains two sawmills at Graskop and Makado respectively.

Komatiland Forests: Tel :013-754-2700; Fax :013-753-3584; Streak Street, Nelspruit, 1200 Mpumalanga; P Bag x11201, Nelspruit, 1200, Mpumalanga www.komatilandforests.co.za/content

Table 1. Overview of the corporate and management structure, the extent and type of plantation forestry undertaken and the general contact details for the forestry

companies participating in this component of the GP

http://www.komatilandforests.co.za/contenthttp://www.komatilandforests.co.za/content

3. PROFILING THE DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTRY COMPANY LAND HOLDINGS IN THE GRASSLAND BIOME Section 3 describes the methodology used to assess the current spatial distribution of forestry land holdings in the grassland biome. It presents a summary of the outcomes of this assessment, with special reference to the identification of the current spatial distribution of unplanted forestry-owned land. 3.1 Objective of assessment The objective of the assessment is to:

i) Present a rapid overview of the spatial distribution of land owned or managed by medium- and large growers within Mpumulanga, Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal ii) Present a rapid overview of the spatial distribution of unplanted land within these landholdings iii) Collate complementary information on the environmental and conservation status of, and future uses for, this unplanted land

3.2 Methodology adopted in assessment The methodology adopted in the assessment involved a desktop collation of spatial information provided by the respective forestry companies. The following forestry companies and organizations were approached for information (a full list of project stakeholders is appended as Annexure 2):

Company/ies Province/s requested Category of grower Information contact details

Mondi Kwa-Zulu Natal

Large and Medium

Chris Burchmore 082-803-3653/ 033-897-4071/ [email protected]

SAPPI KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumulanga Large Deane Bethall 033-347-6600/ [email protected]; David Everard 083-229-2855/ 033-347-6604 [email protected]

PG Bison and Timber Division Eastern Cape Large

Cobus Venter 082-553-6998/ [email protected]; Karen Kirkman (environmental adviser) 082-808-7997

Global Forest Products Mpumulanga Large Philip McIntyre 013-764-9200/ [email protected]

Singisi Forest Products

Mpumulanga Kwazulu-Natal Eastern Cape

Large and Medium

Stuart Charlton 083-653-5961/ [email protected]

Amathole Forestry Company Eastern Cape Large

Louis de Kock 043-642-1261/ 084-512-9383/ [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

Company/ies Province/s requested Category of grower Information contact details

NCT KZN and Mpumulanga Medium

and small

Shanrika Naidoo 033-897-8500/ [email protected]; Craig Norris 033-897-8500/ 082-806-7013; [email protected]; Steve Germishuys (FCS auditor) 082-824-5242

Komatiland Forestry Mpumulanga Large

Information contact: David McLean 013-754-2752; Chris Foster 013-2531224

DWAF South Africa All Groups Website: www.dwaf.co.za Mike Warren 082-809-0668

Forestry South Africa South Africa

Large, medium

and small Grower Group

Website: www.forestry.co.za Steven Ngubane 033-345-1366/ [email protected]

Table 2. List of forestry companies and organizations approached to provide information

The following information, where available, was requested from companies in a GIS-compatible format:

i) The extent, and distribution, of land owned/leased/managed by the company in Mpumulanga, E. Cape and/or KZN Provinces; ii) The area within these landholdings that are currently used for commercial plantation purposes; iii) The area within these landholdings that are not currently under commercial plantation, but are still planned for planting, or other productive (non-conservation related) land uses; iv)The area within these landholdings that is not currently under commercial plantation and there are no immediate plans to plant or to convert to other productive land uses; v) The biodiversity value of the landholdings that is not currently under commercial plantation and there are no immediate plans to plant or to convert to other productive land uses; and vi)The area within these landholdings that is formally conserved.

Formal written and/or telephonic requests for information were generally followed up with a visit to the company’s GIS or information management section to view datasets, address any queries and discuss the logistics of, and any administrative requirements for, data supply. Data was supplied by companies in hard copy or electronic format. Data supplied by the forestry companies was of varying quality, level of detail and format. Of the six types of information requested, only three was provided by all companies approached:

i) The extent and distribution of landholdings; ii) The area within the landholdings used for commercial plantations; iii/iv) The area within the landholdings that are not planted (i.e. parts of iii) and iv) above)

Information was not available, or not supplied, for areas proposed for future plantings or for areas proposed for other productive land uses (parts of iii) and iv) above). Information, where available, was provided by some companies on:

v) Bio-physical characteristics of unplanted forestry land, with limited assessments of the value of the areas biodiversity vi) Areas within the landholdings that are under some form of formal/semi-formal (e.g. National Heritage Sites) conservation status


mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.dwaf.co.za/http://www.forestry.co.za/mailto:[email protected]

For the purposes of this report, only information collated from the companies responses to points i), ii) and parts of iii) and iv) are presented here. The information provided in response to point v) and vi) will be used to support and complement the coarse and fine scale site prioritization process (see Section 4 and 5 of this report). Data received from the companies was received, and transformed, as follows:


Company Files received Data management

Mondi

7 Folders: Data presented by districts, with each folder containing the following shapefiles – cad, compt, ecdb, river, road

1. Created two folders –District data and Forestry_land (District data contains data of all the 7 districts and Forestry_land contains all the cad_shapefiles for all the districts) 2. For cad_shapefile of each district added a new field in the attribute table named “District” 3. Merged all the districts cad_shapefiles using the field District saved it as Mondi_merged_forestry using ArcViewGIS 3.2a 4. Defined projection and re-projected the Mondi_merged_forestry using ArcToolbox 5. Created a dbf document in excel with the description of the environmental conservation database (ECDB) and added and extra field: “Type” being the status of the vegetation, whether Natural or Un-Natural saved as Mondi_ecdb.dbf. When merging the table to the Ecdb attribute tables changed the attribute names “Type” to “ Status” and “Natural_ve” into “Land_Use” 6. For Ecdb_shapefiles of each district added a new field in the attribute table named “ID”- being the name of the district. 7. Used ArcView 3.2 to view where Ecdb district polygons overlap. Chose the polygon that would not be used in the joining, highlighted the overlapping polygon. In the attribute table switched the selection. Then joined with the desired district, so as to not overestimate the property.

SAPPI

2 Folders: Sappi_natural area - 47 shapefiles Sappi_cadastraldata - plantations kzn and plantations mpumalanga shapefiles

1. Grouped the natural areas into either KZN or Mpumalanga 2. Added a field in the natural areas attribute tables named Plantation 3. Merged all the natural areas which fall under KZN using the field Plantation saved as Sappi_KZN_natural.shp using ArcViewGIS 3.2a 4. Merged all the natural areas which fall under Mpumalanga saved as Sappi_Mp_natural.shp using ArcViewGIS 3.2a 5. Defined projection and re-projected the shapefiles in ArcToolbox 6. Created a dbf table with description of each group in the natural area saved as sappi_natural.dbf 7. Joined the sappi_natural.dbf to both the Sappi_KZN_Unplanted attribute table and the Sappi_m


3 shapefiles: compt; compt_II; necf_II; and An MSWord document of the

1. Re-projected the shapefiles. 2. Added new fields in the NECF attribute table “Type” and “Status” as well as the field “Area” 3. Classified the “Natural” and “Unnatural” areas


Company Files received Data management codes


2 Shapefiles: GFT_Cadasta GFP_compartments (type1 = plantation and type 2= open areas); and An MSWord document of the codes.

1. Re-projected the GFT_Cadasta and GFP_compartments 2. Edited the attribute table of the GFT_compartments, the record type 3 into type 2. Added a new field “Status” for type1 = plantation and type 2= unplanted (open areas). 3. Added an Area field to calculate the extent of plantations.

Singisi Forests

PDF data: Singisi Plantations Summary of Monitoring results

1. Converted the PDF map into to a JPEG and using ImageWarp, georeferenced the image. 2. Defined and Re projected the image into tm31 3. Using Arcview digitized the plantation outlines of Singisi Forest Plantations and saved it as Singisi_Outline

Amathole Forest Holdings

2 Shapefiles: afc_lease afc_wgs_lo27

1. Defined projection 2. Re-projected the shapefiles in ArcToolbox 3. Added fields Status (Natural or Un_natural), Code (0 or 1), and Lt_code (land type code).

NCT 2 Folders: NCT_Compartments NCT_Farm boundary

1. Defined projection 2. Re-projected the shapefiles in ArcToolbox

Komatiland Forestry

3 Folders: KLF_Bound KLF_unplanted .dbf files for unplanted

1. Defined projection 2. Converted polylines into polygons 3. Re-projected the shapefiles in ArcToolbox 4. Added fields from attached .dbf file to shapefiles to describe unplanted areas

Table 3. Summary of data received from each forestry company and the management of this data to ensure its standardization

A basic data dictionary was established by SANBI for the project information. This data dictionary contains the following information:

File name Dataset Description Source Type Projection Notes Path

NCT_Farm boundary Nctfarm

NCT property boundaries ( overall composition of cadastral boundaries for all NCT members)

NCT Forestry (Shanrika Naidoo)

ESRI shapefile

Projection Type:Transverse Mercator Parameters:Central Meridian 31, Scale format 1 Datum :WGS 84'

Open and non timber can be anything from vlei, veld to grassland

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\NCT_Data\NCT_Farm boundary

NCT_Compartments nctcompedited

NCT compartments are all the areas that have been mapped (timber and non timber)

NCT Forestry (Shanrika Naidoo)

ESRI shapefile


With 19 types of Land uses. Riverrine- systems include all wetlands and deepwater habitats contained in natural or artificial channels

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\NCT_Data\NCT_Compartments

sappi_naturalarea Sappi natural areas

Sappi (Deane Bethell and Paul van Heerden)

ESRI shapefile


Natural areas on a plantation basis

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_DATA\Sappi_Data

sappi_cadastraldata plantations_kzn

Sappi cadastral data depicting the locations of plantations in KZN


ESRI shapefile


Data depicting the locations of Sappi's plantation

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\Sappi\sappi_cadastraldata

sappi_cadastraldata

plantations_mpuma

Sappi cadastral data depicting the locations of plantations in Mpumalanga


ESRI shapefile


Data depicting the locations of Sappi's plantation

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\Sappi\sappi_cadastraldata

Amathole forestry

Leased area by DWAF to Amathole for forestry and the description of the different vegetation types

Amathole Forestry/Rance timbers (Louis de Kock

ESRI shapefile

Projection Type:World_Mercator Parameters : Datum : WGS '84

Two shapefiles. Data of the leased area by DWAF to Amathole for forestry and the description of the different vegetation types

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\Processes\Amathole



Mondi_Data

cad compt ecdb river road(for each District folder)

Mondi cadastral data depicting the locations of forestry and the environmental conservation data

Mondi(Chris Burchmore and Ilaria Germishuizen)

ESRI shapefile


Seven District folders, each folder with five shapefiles: cad, copmt, ecdb, river and road and a word document describing the attribute fields

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data

NECF ( PG Bison)

Compt_II Necf_II Compt

PG Bison data Dr Richard Lechmere Oertel (MDTFCA)

ESRI shapefile


Three shapefiles of NECF property, with missing landuse description

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\NECF

Singisi

Singisi Plantations Summary of Monitoring results

Hans Merensky/ Singisi land owned and results

Hans Merensky (Stuart Charlton)

pdf_format none

The pdf format map was digitised and georefenced

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\Singisi

GFP (Global_Forestry)

GFP_cadasta GFP_compartments

Global Forestry Products owned property

Global Forestry Products (Phillip Mc Intyre)

ESRI shapefile


The GFP_cadastre is all Global Forestry Products properties. GFP_compartments, type 1= plantation, type 2= open areas Attached word document

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\GFP(Global_Forestry)

Komatiland KLF_Bound KLF_unplanted

Forestry boundaries and Komatiland forestry unplanted. A description of the unplanted areas.

Komatiland Forestry (David Maclean)

ESRI shapefile

Projection Type:World_Mercator

Two shapefiles Komatiland forestry boundaries and Komatialnd forestry unplanted are in a polyline format. A dbf file of description of the unplanted.

C:\users\NationaGrasslandBiodiversityPgm\NGBP_Original data\Komatiland

Table 4 Basic data dictionary describing data received from each forestry company

3.3 Summary of results of assessment Figure 6 provides a broad overview of the distribution of forestry company landholdings in Mpumulanga, Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape5.

Figure 6. Distribution of the forestry owned properties within the grasslands biome of South Africa A summary of this distribution, by area and company, is shown as follows6:

Company Total area (ha) owned and

managed

Amathole 30,600 5 Some properties in Limpopo province and in Swaziland are also shown – these properties were removed from the analysis during the coarse and fine scale assessment phases


6 These figures remain indicative and are under constant review

Komatiland Forestry

LEGEND:

Mondi SAPPI Steinhoff International Global Forest Products Hans Merensky: Singisi Forests

NCT

Grassland biome

Amathole Forest Holdings

Company Total area (ha) owned and

managed

Global Forestry 92,000

Mondi 408,263 NCT 462,200 PG Bison 80,022

Sappi 381,396

Singisi 86,264

Komatiland 187,320

TOTAL 1,728,065

Table 5. Summary, by area and company, of the extent of forestry-owned land in Mpumulanga, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Kwazulu Natal

The land uses within all these properties has been broadly classified as plantation area, natural area and other uses (generally unclassified area and unnatural areas). Figure 6 below simply shows an example of the land uses within Uitkyk and Kalmoesfontein plantation owned and managed by Sappi - the full database is however hosted and maintained by SANBI and is too detailed to present in this report.

Figure 7. Example (SAPPI - Uitkyk and Kalmoefontein plantations) of the distribution of land uses within forestry properties

Unclassified area

LEGEND:

Plantation area Natural areas

Unnatural areas

Grassland biome

A summary of this distribution, by area and company, is shown as follows 7:


7 These figures are under constant review and should be quoted with circumspection

Total estimated area (ha) permanently

unplanted

Company

Total estimated area

(ha) under commercial

plantation (or available for

planting)

Infrastructure Natural

Amathole 18,055 12,545

Global Forestry 64,000 28,000

Mondi 270,881 14,520 122,862

NCT 302,809 159,391

PG Bison 32,789 47,233

Sappi 249,226 18,504 113,666

Singisi 67,473 18,791

Komatiland 60,000 127,320

TOTAL 1,065,233 662,832

Table 6. Summary, by area and company, of the extent of planted and unplanted forestry-owned land in Mpumulanga, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal

For a number of companies, the ‘natural’ areas have been further classified into broad vegetation categories. Figure 7 and 8 below simply show an example for of the land uses within plantation owned and managed by PG Bison in the Eastern Cape and Mondi in Kwazulu-Natal - the full database however is hosted and maintained by SANBI and is too detailed to present in this report.


Woodland

WetlandAestheticBare landGlobal Forest Grassland

Transitional weed

Grassland biome

Maintained (fire belts?)

LEGEND:

Figures 8 and 9. Examples (Mondi and Steinhoff International) of the distribution of the broad vegetation categories within

unplanted land on forestry properties


At the site specific level, a number of forestry companies maintain monitoring records of the vegetation condition. Figure 9 shows a sample of a ‘condition assessment’ report (Jan 2004) for the Wildebees site within the Wildebees Game Camp in the North East Cape Forests (PG Bison and Timber Division) - the full database of monitoring records provided by companies however is hosted and maintained by SANBI and is too detailed to present in this report.

Figure 10. Example of a monitoring record (PG Bison and Timber Division: Wildebees monitoring site) site within the natural

areas on forestry property


4. IDENTIFICATION OF PRIORITY AREAS WITHIN THE UNPLANTED FORESTRY COMPANY LANDHOLDINGS IN THE GRASSLAND BIOME

Section 4 describes the methodology used to identify the high priority properties within the unplanted forestry-owned land. It presents the distribution and profile of properties identified in an objective, criteria-driven process. It then briefly discusses the response of the companies to this preliminary priority list and the amended process of site selection. It presents the final priority list of properties, with brief descriptions and opportunities and constraints for each site. 4.1 Objective of assessment The objective of this identification process is to:

i) Develop coarse desktop assessment criteria to objectively determine the biodiversity priority areas of unplanted forestry owned land in Mpumulanga, Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape ii) Broadly assess, and rank, the biodiversity value of the unplanted forestry owned land in Mpumulanga, Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape iii) Select the top ranked unplanted forestry owned land in Mpumulanga, Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape for more detailed in situ site-based assessments and further negotiation with the respective forestry companies.

4.2 Methodology adopted in assessment 4.2.1 Developing criteria for selecting priority areas The analysis was based on natural areas only within forestry landholdings in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. All contiguous natural areas were considered as a single site (irrespective of ownership) for assessment. In other words, one site may belong to more than one company if it is connected. In the first step, any planted area and/or area outside the grassland biome was eliminated from the assessment. Any unplanted forestry site smaller than 25 ha was also excluded from the assessment. In the second step, a series of criteria for selecting priority areas was developed. The criteria developed were: - Size of unplanted forestry site - Perimeter/area ratio of the site - Adjacent land use (natural cover) - Adjacent land use (protected area) - Overall biodiversity importance - Protection level of grassland vegetation type Each unplanted forestry site was scored on a scale from 1 (low) to 3 (high) for each criterion. The biodiversity importance was further weighted to emphasize the significance of this criterion. Table 7 summarizes the criteria and the rationale for each criterion.

Criterion Rationale Scoring Source Unplanted natural area

To identify sites of potential conservation value

0 = planted 1 = unplanted

Forestry data, NLC 20001

Grassland biome The programme focuses only in the Grassland biome

0 = outside grassland biome

1 = inside grassland

SANBI Vegetation map


Criterion Rationale Scoring Source biome

Site > 25 ha Sites < 25ha were considered too small for any conservation intervention2

0 = 25ha

Forestry data

Size To favour larger sites 1 = 1000ha

Forestry data

Perimeter/area ratio To avoid long and thin sites 1 = >200 2 = 75-200

3 = 80% Protection:

1 = 0% 3 = >0%

NLC 2000, NSBA statutory protected areas3

Overall biodiversity importance

To favour sites of high biodiversity value when assessed at the provincial and national level

1 = 45

NSBA Mpumulanga and Kwazulu Natal Conservation Planning

Protection level of grassland vegetation

To favour grassland vegetation types currently not protected

1 = 98

SANBI vegetation map, NSBA statutory protected areas

1 The National Land Cover 2000 was used where no information on land use was provided from the forestry company (i.e. Singisi and part of Sappi holdings) 2 In order to avoid missing small sites important for conservation, we later asked forestry companies to list any site known of conservation importance (irrespective of size) 3 Statutory protected areas are national parks, provincial nature reserves and local authority nature reserves.

Table 7. A summary of the coarse-scale criteria used in the assessment

4.2.2 Selecting top ranked sites The total score for each site was used to rank forestry sites. The top 60 ranked sites were then extracted from the full dataset. As some forestry companies were not represented within these 60 sites, additional sites were included to represent at least 5 sites per company (i.e. the top sites per company were selected and included in the list of top ranked sites). This was the case for Amathole Forest Holdings and PG Bison and Timber (no sites selected from the initial top 60 ranking), Global Forest Products (only 2 sites selected from the top 60 ranking) and Singisi (only 3 sites selected from the top 60 ranking). Sites identified to be of biodiversity importance by forestry companies (information provided by Sappi, Amathole, Mondi and NCT) were then added to the expanded list8. 4.3 Summary of results of assessment


8 Additional sites (i.e. not in top 60 ranking) identified by Mondi were however not included as too many sites were proposed to be of conservation significance.

Within the 662,832 ha of unplanted land, across 8 forestry companies and 3 provinces (see Table 6), more than 130,000 individual sites were identified within the grassland biome covering some 460,000 ha. Based on a desktop biodiversity priority ranking of these 130,000 sites, the top 60 sites were selected, covering 44,134 ha of grassland vegetation (see Table 8). The area of the largest site in this top 60 list was 6,548 ha. Fifteen further sites were added to this list of 60 sites to ensure adequate representation among all 8 forestry companies. This additional list of sites covered 32,710 ha of grassland vegetation. The area of the largest site in this expanded list was some 25,000 ha (PG Bison). Finally, a further 18 sites were added to this list to reflect the three companies inputs into the sites they considered to be of biodiversity importance. These additional sites represented a total area of 5,111 ha. Stage Description No of sites Area (ha)

1 Forestry holdings from 8 companies - 1,728,065 2 Unplanted land 662,832 3 Unplanted land within grassland biome >130,000 460,251 4 Sites greater than 25 ha 1369 398,305 5 Top 60 sites (biodiversity) 60 44,134 6 Additional sites to represent all companies 15 32,710 7 Additional sites identified by companies 17 5,111 Final lists of sites 92 81,955

Table 8. Key stages used in the selection of priority sites for biodiversity conservation

In total, 92 sites are suggested to be worth investigating for conservation action, amounting to 81,955 ha (see Fig. 11 below). Table 9 presents a breakdown of the sites selected for each company, indicating at which stage of the analysis they were selected (i.e. biodiversity ranking assessment, additional sites needed to ensure representation of all forestry companies, or additional sites identified by companies).

Biodiversity ranking

Sites added to represent

all companies

Sites identified

by the company

Total Forestry Company Province

No. ha No. ha No. ha No. ha Amathole EC - - 5 473 5 3,383 10 3,857 Global Forestry MP 2 717 3 582 - - 5 1,299 Komatiland MP, KZN 6 11,854 - - - - 6 11,854 Mondi MP, KZN 13 8,569 - - - - 13 8,569 NCT KZN 27 10,347 - - 4 262 31 10,609 PG Bison EC 5 31,555 - - 5 31,555 Sappi MP 8 12,008 - - 8 1,466 16 13,474 Singisi

KZN 3 638 2 99 - - 5 737

Total 60 44,134 15 32,710 17 5,111 92 81,955

Table 9. Number and area of sites selected per company


Annexure 3 provides a detailed breakdown of the 92 selected site characteristics, the biodiversity ranking assessment of these sites, the list of sites per company and the map reference for these sites. Annexure 4 presents a series of 30 1:250 000 extracts of A4 maps displaying the location, by company, of these 92 sites (Figure 12 shows a sample of one of these maps)

Assessment of the unplanted forestry landholdings in the grasslands biome, September 2

Figure 11: Distribution, by Forestry Company, of the 92 forestry sites selected for

PG Bison Forestry

006 Page 31

potential conservation actions

Figure 12: Example of a map showing the distribution (Helshoogte Forest, Barberton) by company (Sappi) of the selected

forestry sites for further in situ assessment and/or discussion

4.4 Responses of companies to assessment and refinement of selected priority sites Each of the environmental managers (or equivalent) from the eight companies included in the assessment was then provided with a description of the methodology adopted, and the detailed results of the assessment (i.e. Annexure 3 and 4), and asked to confirm the prioritization of properties and select the top 5 per company. In response to this request to review this preliminary priority list, each company representative consistently indicated that more localized site-based company property knowledge has suggested a different suite of priority areas/company than those identified in the coarse desktop analysis.


It was also evident from the responses that some misconceptions and misunderstandings may have arisen from the primarily telephonic and electronic communications that preceded the identification of the priority areas. Thus, to better address concerns and issues raised and to clarify the final selection of the priority sites, a series of in situ meetings were arranged with each company, and relevant company representatives. The following program of meetings was held:

Company/ Conservation

Agency

Date Venue In attendance

Mondi 25 July, 2006 Pietermaritzburg Chris Burchmore (Environmental Manager) Anthony Kenny (Land Resources Manager)

SAPPI 25 July, 2006 Pietermaritzburg Dr. David Everard (Division Environmental Manager) Doug McFarlane (Environmental Manager: KZN)

NCT 31 July, 2006 Pietermaritzburg Craig Norris Patrick Kime

KZN-Ezemvelo Wildlife

31 July, 2006 Pietermaritzburg Kevin McCann (Manager: Stewardship Programs) James Wakelin


7 August, 2006

Sabie Sean McCartney (Environmental Manager, Chair of FSC Board of Directors) Philip McIntyre (GIS and Database Manager)

Mpumulanga Parks and Tourism Authority

7 August, 2006 (cancelled)

Nelspruit Mervyn Lotter (Conservation Planner)

Komatiland Forestry

11 September, 2006 (postponed from 7 August)

Nelspruit Jan Huyser (Environmental Manager)

Singisi Forests 11 August, 2006

Weza Stuart Charlton (Forestry Technician) Christie Potgieter (Environmental Forest Technician)

PG Bison 17 August, 2006

Johannesburg Gary Chaplin (Chief Operations Officer) Kobus Venter (General Manager: Forestry) Karen Kirkman (Environmental Adviser)


18 August, 2006

Stutterheim Louis de Kock (Forestry Planner) Francois (Plantation Manager) Andre van Deventer (Forester)

Eastern Cape Parks Board

21 August, 2006

East London Bev Geach (Program Manager: Eastern Region)

Table 10 Dates, venues and attendance at site meetings held with eight forestry companies and three conservation agencies

to identify the biodiversity priority areas within the unplanted forestry owned land within the grassland biome During discussions with forestry company representatives, the following informal criteria were then applied to guide the negotiation, short-listing and final selection of priority properties:



• Contribution to meeting biodiversity targets (i.e. representation of biodiversity pattern) in the grasslands biome: Preference was given to sites with good examples of endangered and critically endangered grassland vegetation types.

• Adjacent conservation-worthy areas: Preference was given to sites that were proximate, or adjacent, to other conservation worthy areas such as: formal protected areas; private reserves; indigenous state forests; and undeveloped, natural areas of private or state land.

• Land claims: Preference was given to sites on which legitimate land claims had not been formally lodged. However, a limited number of sites of high biodiversity significance (endangered or critically endangered vegetation types) were collaboratively identified as potential test sites to assess the processes required for, and the efficacy of, securing formal protected area status for forestry-owned land subject to land claims.

• FSC certification: Only sites with FSC certification (i.e. those sites with an acceptable level of planning, strategic and operational management capacity) were selected. This has specific reference to NCT member sites. This would then ensure that the forestry company/individual landowner could be designated as the ‘management authority’ in terms of the requirements of the Protected Areas Act.

• No new plantings, disposal or development: Sites that were identified by the companies as potential sites for new planting, for disposal (sale/lease) and/or for incompatible developments were excluded from the selection process.

• Mining: Sites with active prospecting and/or on which mining rights had been granted, were precluded from the initial selection process.

4.5 Final listing of priority sites A shortlist of priority properties was subsequently finalized with each company. Table 11 provides a descriptive overview of the final collated list of properties while Figure 13 shows their spatial distribution. There are some commonalities and discrepancies between the final short listing and the initial objective desktop assessment. This included:

• 17 properties were common between the assessments; • An additional 12 sites considered to be of high biodiversity significance were identified by

forestry companies9; • Four sites appear to have a high opportunity ranking but are not necessarily of high biodiversity

significance; and • Five new sites were added by the forestry companies (i.e. these were not included in the initial

coarse-scale assessment)10. It was considered that, although not all short-listed sites selected were necessarily of high biodiversity importance, these sites would continue to be targeted for the first phase of the implementation of this project because of the demonstrable interest shown by the companies to secure their formal conservation status.

9 This biodiversity significance was confirmed during the detailed site-based assessments (see Section 5) 10 The biodiversity significance of these new sites was confirmed during the detailed site-based assessments (see Section 5)

Company Site name Region Approx size (ha)11

Description Opportunities Pressures

Gelykwater

Northern KZN 1000 Undulating grassland with a substantial wetland at the source of the Mfule river, an important tributary of the Mhlatuze river. Habitat for 2 breeding pairs of Blue Cranes and 1 breeding pair of Crowned Cranes.

Could be linked to the eMakhosini/Opathe Heritage Park to provide additional Highland Sourveld to the park

Current uncertainty over management responsibilities. Grazing pressure from communities compromise the condition of the site.

Mondi Business Paper SA

Sjonajona Badplaas,Mpumulanga

700 Extensive valley and cliffs in the Piet Retief Sourveld. It exhibits an extensive topographical and habitat diversity.

Opportunities for community involvement in sustainable utilization of the ecosystem goods, such as grazing, and harvesting of useful plants.

Future management plans include cattle grazing in open areas.

Mount Shannon

KZN Midlands

670 Extensive valley areas forming part of the Mkomaas river catchment in the highly threatened Moist Midlands Mistbelt. There is a large colony of the vulnerable Encephalartos ghelinkii, breeding pairs of the critically engangered Wattled Crane and a population the vulnerable Oribi.

Possible extension of the bordering Impendle Nature Reserve.

Grazing from the neighbouring Boston and Implendle communities. Threats of medicinal plant harvesting and hunting.

Gilboa vlei and catchment

KZN Midlands

900 Representative of the the highly threatened Moist Midlands Mistbelt vegetation. It also forms part of a priority wetland, the Myamvubu vlei system. Home to Wattled Crane, Stanleys Bustard and a host of wetland birds. Numerous other red data species, including the Oribi, occur. The vlei is associated with pockets of indigenous forest and near pristine grassland.

Linking this site to the adjacent areas of Dartmoor Vlei and the Karkloof Nature Reserve will increase eco-tourism potential and improve the conservation status of the entire complex.

Some threat of spreading alien invaders, particularly bramble and bugweed.

Mondi Shanduka

Excelsior Underberg,KZN

1100 An extensive network of Moist Highland Sourveld in good condition with numerous wetlands and steeply undulating topography. It is the source for tributaries of the Mzimkulu river. Red data species include Oribi and Stanleys Bustard.

Prime area for Oribi conservation.

The grasslands are recovering from previous grazing regimes. Bramble is spreading through substantial areas of the estate.


11 Exact sizes of land parcels to be confirmed during site visits



Gaika’s Kop Amathola mountains, E. Cape

330 Well known tourism site and a prominent and historically significant peak. The area is at the confluence of several plant regions resulting in exceptional botanical richness. It is also important for amphibian, reptile and butterfly conservation.

Opportunity to get other land owners involved to conserve the entire mountain Possibility to link three Hogsback sites into one reserve of more than 1500 hectares.

Threat from Gorse (Ulex europeaus) infestation

Tor Doone Amathola mountains, E. Cape

250 Catchment of the Tyumie River with significant stream source wetlands and an important tourism site with views over the popular Hogsback area. It supports a diverse and spectacular flora and contains relic populations of 2 lizards.

Possibility to link three Hogsback sites into one reserve of more than 1500 hectares.

History of uncontrolled cattle grazing on the site, although this seems to be improving.

Hogs Heritage

Amathola mountains, E. Cape

900 Prominent and spectacular geological features. A botanically rich area with at least 12 red data book plants listed. Large network of wetlands form the watershed for 3 river systems. Important animals include the threatened and endemic Amatola bullfrog (Bufo amatolica) and Pennington butterfly (Poecilmitis penningoni).

Possibility to link three Hogsback sites into one reserve of more than 1500 hecatres.

Current extensive uncontrolled grazing of neighbouring community cattle is causing ecological damage

Dohne Peak Amathola mountains, E. Cape

120 Located in the Albany center for floristic endemism, the Dohne peak plateaux comprises grassland, protea woodland, wetlands, streams and rocky outcrops. It is particularly rich botanically with red data plants such as Kniphophia fibrosa and several species of ground orchid.

The Kologha Dohne peak hiking trail should be promoted.

Alien vegetation is a very severe threat on the fire-protected rocky outcrops.


Mount Kemp Amathola mountains, E. Cape

20 An isolated grassland patch, located in the Albany center for floristic endemism.

The conservation area can be extended by removing an isolated block of pines near the top.

Its small size makes it a low priority.


Prentjiesberg North East E. Cape

2800 Scenically spectacular mountain with characteristic sandstone cliffs. Important catchment area with rock pools, sponges, underground streams, waterfalls, torrential

Potential to expand eco-tourism (linked to Forest Reserve.) Further biodiversity

Expert ecological guidance regarding burning regimes could be beneficial




streams and marshes. Habitat for Cape Vulture, Blue Crane and Ground Hornbill A locally endemic copepod Korannacythere ugiensis recently discovered.

surveys could reveal important bio-geographical and taxonomic data.

Forest Reserve

North East E. Cape

600 Scenically spectacular mountain with beautiful sandstone cliffs numerous waterfalls and mountain streams. A large number of bushman paintings have been found.

Potential to expand eco-tourism (linked to Prentjiesberg.) Further biodiversity surveys could reveal important bio-geographical and taxonomic data.

Currently leased for cattle grazing, although at a very low intensity.

Gatberg Vlei North East E. Cape

865 This important wetland, which forms part of the upper catchment of the Gatberg river, is a highly valued breeding site for Wattled Crane, Crowned Crane and Blue Crane.

Potential to create much larger area which incorporates the Prentjiesberg and Forest Reserve sites.

Adjacent agricultural lands may be impacting the wetland.

Komatiland Laken Vlei MpumalangaHighveld

1200 Highveld grassland and priority wetland system with a diversity of wetland habitats and extensive rocky grasslands. High forbe diversity including several red data species. Important birding spot with breeding pairs of two critically endangered species; the Wattled Crane and White winged Flufftail.

Opportunity to add a lower budget eco-tourism option to the existing upmarket lodge.

Mining applications are a threat to most areas in the region. There is a small open cast coal mine but this is peripheral and can be excluded from the reserve.

In de Diepte Eastern Mpumalanga

950 Catchment area and extensive valley that links the Hartebees Vlakte to the Blyde River system. Represents the extreme altitude variations of the North- Eastern Mountain Sourveld creating a corridor from the highveld to the lowveld.

Tourism opportunities include a hiking trail linking the Hartebees Vlakte to the Blyde River Canyon.

Threat from possible mining applications. Spread of alien plants from plantations.

London Nature Reserve

Eastern Mpumalanga

950 A valley of picturesque cliffs and rocky grasslands. The site contains the Treur river wetland, the most significant wetland in the Olifants river catchment. Important species include the endemic Treur river barb (Barbus treurensis) and endangered Blue Swallow.

Ideal sites for monitoring the grassland rehabilitation that has been created by the removal of large areas of plantation. Extension of local hiking trials.

Threat from possible mining applications.


GFP Graskop Eastern 2200 The unplanted areas of the Graskop WPU Unique opportunity to Threat from possible mining




Mpumalanga include the examples of a large range the potential habitats within the North Eastern Mountain Sourveld. Most of the characteristic and threatened species of this highly transformed veld type are present in this area.

place under formal conservation the great majority of the unplanted areas on a forestry estate. This would magnify the tourism and ecosystem services potential of the site.

applications Land claims

GFP Sabie Eastern Mpumalanga

4900 The grassland forest l

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