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To create a map of provincial targets and conservation status KwaZulu-Natal vegetation types. This will also subsume the targets and conservation status developed in 2009 using the 2005 transformation layer.

Jewitt, D and Escott, B.J. (2011) Conservation targets for vegetation types October 2011. Unpublished GIS Coverage [kznveg05v2_0_11_public_oct2011_constats_wll.zip], Biodiversity Conservation Planning Division, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, P. O. Box 13053, Cascades, Pietermaritzburg, 3202.

This map was developed based on the latest vegetation map [kznveg05v2_0_11_inhouse_w31]. This vegetation map has had many significant improvements over the previous vegetation map [kznvegforwet0509_w31], with a major emphasis being placed to

better mapping the historical extent and distribution of forests and wetlands (Scott-Shaw & Escott, 2011b) as well improvements in

vegetation type boundaries. This vegetation map has been approved by the National Vegetation Committee and will be incorporated into future editions of the National Vegetation Map (Mucina & Rutherford, 2006). It is important to note that a number of vegetation types have been removed and/or amalgamated into larger units, whilst a number of new vegetation types have been

identified, as described in Scott-Shaw & Escott (2011b). The targets used came from various sources,

- primarily the targets set nationally for the vegetation types of South Africa (Desmet, 2004; Mucina and Rutherford, 2006)) by SANBI,

- updated provincial targets for vegetation types (Jewitt, 2009), forest targets from Berliner (2005) and targets from the National

Protected Area Expansion Strategy 2008 (Government of South Africa, 2009).

- The non-forest targets are based on the Species-Area curve method for each vegetation type with sufficient data.

The higher of these targets were used. Differences in target estimates occur because of differences in the phytosociological data available at the time of the analyses, vegetation types that are endemic to KZN compared to vegetation types that extend beyond the provincial boundaries, the finer scale associated with a provincial vegetation map compared to a national vegetation map, and differences between extrapolated targets and calculated targets. A newer version of the land cover map is also available for the

province (EKZNW, 2011) based on 2008 conditions. The accumulated transformation from 1994 to 2008 was used to determine the level of transformation in the province (see Jewitt, 2012 for more information on the development of this product). This ensures that previously transformed areas such as old cultivated fields which have subsequently become abandoned or ‘snail-trail’mining (e.g. along the dunes on the north coast) do not revert to a natural category in later land cover maps. This is in line with the transformation definition which states that ‘areas that have and will remain permanently and irreversibly altered from a soil and indigenous floristic species richness and composition perspective’ are considered transformed. Similarly, untransformed areas are those ‘areas that have had no known recognisable anthropogenic impacts that have permanently changed indigenous floristic species richness and composition in the long term (100 years)’. This differs from previous assessments which used ‘buffered’ transformations around rural dwellings. For Grassland, Savanna and Indian Ocean Coastal Belt vegetation types, patches

smaller than 4ha were removed as the essential processes required to maintain these patches would not be able to operate effectively at such small scales. The Conservation Status is determined by comparing the amount of natural habitat remaining in the province with the biodiversity conservation target of the VT.

The degree of protection status compares the amount of land under formal conservation protection to the target and includes the Stewardship sites that were proclaimed as at October 2010 which include Hilton College NR, Gelijkwater NR, Somkhanda GR, Mbona

Private NR, BBCONR, Mt Gilboa NR, Roselands NR, Dalton Private NR, and Zululand Rhino Reserve.

This file was derived by converting the projected “kznveg05v2_0_11_public_oct2011_constats_w31” (Transverse Mercator, wgs 84 LO31) in ArcGIS 10 to geographic “kznveg05v2_0_11_public_oct2011_constats_wll”

Available documentation:

Conservation targets for vegetation types October 2011

- Jewitt, D. (2012). Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Surveillance/Monitoring Plan: Land Transformation. Unpublished report, Biodiversity Conservation Planning Division, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, P.O. Box13053, Cascades, Pietermaritzburg, 3202. (only available on request from author)

- KwaZulu Natal Vegetation Type Description Document for Vegetation Map 2011 Ver 2_1

- KZN Vegetation types targets and statistics October 2011 summary distribution

SANS 1878

FGDC-STD-001-1998