Threats and opportunities

Threats

The grasslands biome is one of the most threatened in South Africa as it contains the economic heartland of the country, is densely populated and is under huge development pressure – much of which is unsustainable.  The important biodiversity contained within the grasslands, which underpins life, is being eroded to such an extent that human wellbeing is threatened.

Some of the threats to South Africa's grasslands are from rapid urban and coal mining expansion. Much of this is based on land use decisions that externalise environmental losses, which means that the value of biodiversity is not accounted for in decision-making about where and how to locate economic activities. And cultivation of the grasslands (estimated at 23% of the biome) has resulted in habitat loss and fragmentation on a significant scale. If plans for planting bio-fuel crops and expanding plantation forestry on uncultivated land proceed without due regard for biodiversity priorities, considerable further degradation could occur.

Opportunities

About 65,2% of the biome is grazed by the bulk of South Africa's livestock and game. If managed appropriately through stocking densities and veld management systems, rangeland use is highly compatible with sustaining the biodiversity of grasslands. The red meat sector (from farmers, feedlotters and abattoirs to retailers and the customer) can play a critical role in securing and sustaining this biodiversity lifeline.

Thirty percent of the biome has been irreversibly transformed and only 1,9% is formally conserved. As a result, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan has identified the grasslands biome as one of the spatial priorities for conservation action.