Please review the below Letter of Support for the Greater Lakenvlei Protected Environment, and complete the form that follows, to add your support.

  • The MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs
    Ms Busisiwe Paulina Shiba
    7 Government Boulevard, Building 6
    Riverside Park
    Mbombela
    Mpumalanga
    1200

    Dear Madam,

    CONSULTATION PROCESS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: PROTECTED AREAS ACT, 2003 (ACT NO. 57 of 2003) (AS AMENDED): INTENTION TO DECLARE AN AREA AS PART OF AN EXISTING PROTECTED ENVIRONMENT

    I refer to the Mpumalanga Provincial Gazette No. 3488, Notice 235 of 2023, pg. 10-12 (published 27 January 2023):

    The expansion of the Greater Lakenvlei Protected Environment will assure national recognition of our natural ecological assets in the highveld of Mpumalanga Province. I support the expansion of this existing protected environment, and urge the MEC to finalise the declaration process for the following reasons:

    – The site contains habitat that is critical for several threatened and endemic bird species on the IUCN Red Data list. These species include the Critically Endangered White-winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi), Vulnerable Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradiseus), Endangered Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum), Vulnerable near-endemic Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus), endemic Yellow-breasted Pipit (Anthus chloris); Near-Threatened Denham’s Bustard (Neotis denhami); and Endangered Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius).

    – The site protects important water resources of the Crocodile catchment as part of South Africa’s Mpumalanga-Drakensberg Strategic Water Source Area; thereby contributing to provincial and national targets for water conservation.

    – The site protects a vast ancient wetland system dated at 9 255 – 9 415 years BP with a peat layer depth of over 2 m; thus protecting water-related ecosystem services that benefit local communities of the Greater Lakenvlei Protected Environment, and carbon sequestration-related ecosystem services that benefit the global community.

    – The proposed area also falls within an identified National Freshwater Ecosystem Priority (NFEPA) Wetland, the Natural Wetlands: Mesic Highveld Grassland Group 4 of the NFEPA Wetlands Map. Inland wetlands are identified as one of the most threatened and unprotected habitat types in South Africa, following the recent National Biodiversity Assessment published in 2019.

    – In terms of the 2014 Mpumalanga Biodiversity Sector Plan, the proposed area falls within a Terrestrial Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA) with a rating of CBA ‘Irreplaceable’, as well as a Freshwater Ecological Support Area (ESA), as a ‘Wetland Cluster’.

    – The site protects Steenkampsberg Montane Grassland, which is categorised as poorly protected within the province.

    – The proposed area falls within the Dullstroom Plateau Grasslands, an Endangered Ecosystem, as listed in terms of section 52 of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 (NEMBA) in the National List of Ecosystems that are ‘Threatened’ and 'In Need of Protection’ (gazetted in Government Notice No. 1002 in Government Gazette 34809 of 9 December 2011).

    – This site will contribute towards the South African government meeting its commitments under several multilateral environmental agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (with Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework being especially relevant), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, and the Revised African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

    I commend the vision you have shown through this intended declaration.

    Sincerely,
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