Abstract
Freshwater conservation planning, while lagging behind terrestrial conservation planning, is beginning to be implemented in a complementary manner to the latter. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is currently preparing an aquatic conservation plan for the freshwater systems of KwaZulu-Natal. The development of a freshwater conservation plan requires an initial understanding of the broad characteristics of the resource and associated biodiversity. Within KwaZulu-Natal, which is water-rich relative to the remaining provinces in South Africa, there are approximately 585 000 ha of mapped freshwater wetlands, 17% of which fall within protected areas. At the 1:500 000 scale, there are in excess of 18 400 km of perennial and ephemeral rivers mapped, and just over 1 000 km (5.6%) of these fall within existing formal protected areas. The river systems feed into 79 estuaries covering a mapped area of over 30 600 ha, of which 41% amounting to almost 12 400 ha are found largely within protected areas, although this does not reflect the actual number protected. These freshwater resources provide over 28% of South Africa's total average MAR. Protection of this resource requires the protection of freshwater biodiversity, and the processes which maintain these ecosystems. Currently the greatest threats to this resource are river regulation and land transformation.
Highlights
Freshwater stress occurs when water withdrawals exceed availability
While KwaZulu-Natal is the only province in South Africa which can truly be described as not being water scarce under current or possible future climatic conditions, appropriate stewardship of the province’s freshwater resources will only be achieved through forward-looking conservation planning
KwaZulu-Natal has a total of 75 species (11 families) of amphibians, of which 6 are endemic to the province
Summary
Freshwater stress occurs when water withdrawals exceed availability. According to this criterion, and based on global-scale assessments, the east coast of South Africa is one of the few regions nationally to experience low water stress, while the remainder of the country is under ‘severe water stress’ (withdrawals-to-availability ratio >0.4) (Alcamo and Henrichs, 2002). One possible scenario under anticipated global climate changes within the 30 years (0.2 to 0.3°C increase in air temperature per decade; Alcamo et al 2003) is ‘business-asusual’, where market and population growth continue along their current trajectories. This scenario indicates that because of increasing water withdrawals, water stress is likely to continue in large parts of South Africa (Alcamo et al, 2003). Since administrative boundaries largely follow hydrological boundaries-escarpment in the west, and draining to the sea in the east - management of freshwater resources becomes a largely regional, provincial mandate, without dependence on upstream influence
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