African Wildlife Environment Issue 75 FINAL

CONSERVATION

The Blyde River Canyon forms part of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region and is an important site for the conservation of Mesic Highveld Grasslands in Mpumalanga

the Katberg-Amathole , the Greater Baviaanskloof, Mountain Zebra to Camdeboo National Park and around A ddo National Park . Priority areas in Kwazulu- Natal are in the midland and coastal regions and critical landscape linkages such as Nottingham Road, Glencoe to Umtunzini and the Zululand/Maputaland corridor. In Gauteng, the areas around the Cradle of Humankind and Hammanskraal areas are important. In the North West Province the Bushveld areas of the Platinum Heritage Park and areas such as Taung, Molemane toMariko, and theMolopoarea. In the Free State, the Drakensburg Grasslands and Dry Highveld Grasslands have unique biodiversity features and are urgent to incorporate while protecting Succulent Karoo areas of the Namakwa district and previously excluded Nama Karoo ecosystems are considered key priorities in the Northern and Western Cape respectively. The Addo National Park represents a successful example of proactive expansion and consolidation of neighbouring parcels of land for conservation and sustainable tourism. Many of the leading conservation NGOs in South Africa are paving the way for such protected area expansion. As a contracting party to the CBD, the South African government has developed a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) to meet this commitment but has insufficient resources and capacity to fulfil all the requirements of the plan. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) can help governments meet conservation targets in a

number of ways including conserving habitats and species, providing environmental education and skills development, acting as watchdogs for society in terms of environmentally damaging practices, supporting the development and enforcement of effective policy and regulations, enhancing research and encouraging responsible consumption and business practice. (See Taylor et al., 2019). For example the Wilderness Foundation through its Protected Areas Programme has been involved in the establishment, development and management of new reserves. Their projects include the Northern Cape Land Protection and Protected Area Expansion project, funded by the Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust (LHSKT). This is a land protection programme to assist the Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation in implementing its Protected Area Expansion Strategy and securing land through the implementation of Biodiversity Stewardship and Land Purchase. This project also aims to address some of the major challenges identified by the WWF Land and Biodiversity Stewardship Programme while adding hectares to the Northern Cape Conservation Estate. The proposed project can therefore be seen as assisting the Northern Cape in addressing the challenges associated with Protected Area Expansion as well as ensuring that WWF meets their objectives here. The Wilderness Foundation, under the helm of Andrew Muir, was also involved in setting up the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve and adding at least

A stand of Populus canescens , an alien invasive tree, next to the Caledon River, South Africa

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