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Decision Making
Climate Change and Biodiversity
in South African Protected Areas
AIACC Regional Workshop
Dakar
Strategic Decision Making On A Broad Regional Scale
The Trend Towards Landscape Connectivity Through
Partnerships
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Protected areas urged to break with the ‘island
mentality’
Linkages in the landscape: ecological, political,
cultural, economic
Landscape connectivity achieved through
connectivity between stakeholders
Breaking barriers and creating partnerships
The impact of the trend towards
connectivity through partnerships
Connectivity through partnerships is an appropriate
strategy to:
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Resolve conflict and mobilize political will
Counteract biodiversity losses through habitat
destruction and fragmentation
Counteract biodiversity losses through climate
change.
Connectivity through partnerships, some
important developments
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New legislation in South Africa on protected
areas and biodiversity conservation
Replaces old fragmented legislation
Facilitates cooperative governance between South
Africa’s diverse array of conservation agencies
Strengthens the possibility of partnerships to develop
biodiversity-friendly land uses.
Connectivity through partnerships, some
important developments
Transboundary conservation areas promote new partnerships and
landscape connectivity over large areas
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Ai-Ais Richtersveld (Namibia-South Africa)
Kgalagadi (Botswana-South Africa)
Great Limpopo (Mozambique-South Africa-Zimbabwe)
Limpopo-Shashe (Botswana-South Africa-Zimbabwe)
Maloti-Drakensberg (Lesotho-South Africa)
Lubombo (Mozambique-South Africa)
Decision Making On A Local Scale
Decisions on individual protected areas, particular taxa
Traditional mindset: maintain species assemblages
that were preset in historical times, eradicate
invasive aliens.
New mindset: species that were historically
perceived to be alien may need to be permitted, or
even actively aided, to colonize.
Difficult Decisions
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Many confounding factors on a local scale, the effects of
climate change often difficult to distinguish from other factors.
For example:
What is the cause of a population decline, habitat
fragmentation through land use change, or climate
change?
What differentiates an ‘alien invasion’ from a climateinduced range shift?
The ‘correct’ management response will seldom be
unequivocal.
Further difficulties
Variable record of success in establishing
populations in new habitat, problems being the ‘small
population problem’ and poor assessment of habitat
suitability.
Climate change threatens to ‘reformulate species
communities’, making habitat suitability difficult to
predict.
Resolving dilemmas
Requirement: predictive understanding of
responses of plants and animals to a
changing climate.
Research that clearly demonstrates the
impact of climate change as distinct from
other factors will be of great value.