![]() Problems also arise when animals are able to easily leave protected areas. There are many reports of domestic livestock entering reserves and people living nearby have even planted crops in some reserves. Ntsikeni Vlei Nature Reserve (a Ramsar site) in KZN was found to be losing three to four wildebeest a week to poachers.įencing neglect is often the first visible sign that management is failing. Rhino, hippo and crocodile populations were found to be declining in many reserves due to poaching. Each answer is given a score so that the results can be compared over time to see if management standards are improving or declining.Īt Songimvelo Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga, home to 28 animals of conservation concern, the researchers found part of the reserve abandoned, its rhino population being poached, vehicles no longer operational, and cattle invading the land because fences have not been maintained. It consists of a series of questions given to the managers of protected land. In some provinces, half the unfilled vacancies were in scientific support roles, making it difficult to record data on species declines or to provide science-based solutions to managers.Ī sample of provincial reserves showing their Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) score which is based on a survey devised by the WWF to assess how effectively wild areas are being managed. Experienced staff have left only to be replaced by less capable appointees or not replaced at all. ![]() There has also been a significant loss of institutional knowledge since an assessment was done in 2010. The report found cases where 80−90% of park funding was allocated to salaries, leading to a lack of spending on essential maintenance. Provincial reserves account for 44.5% of this, and the EWT says they are not fulfilling their conservation objectives. Protected land accounts for 112,807km 2 of South Africa’s mainland. The newly approved White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity has as its goal “an inclusive, transformed society living in harmony with nature, where biodiversity conservation and sustainable use ensure healthy ecosystems, with improved benefits that are fairly and equitably shared for present and future generations”.īut it is inconceivable how such goals can be accomplished given the current state of collapse in many provincial reserves. If biodiversity is to be conserved, it will require urgent management interventions. Now a recent report by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) says many provincial reserves are in a shocking state, compromising the long-term survival of wildlife and ecosystems. Photo: Michael Lorentzįor a long time there has been grave concern among conservationists over declining standards in South Africa’s provincial nature reserves. In one park in KwaZulu-Natal, 275 rhinos were poached in the first half of 2022.
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