Mountainlands Nature Reserve forms part of an ecosystem which was recently listed by the Department of Environmental Affairs as vulnerable and in need of protection.
The first national list of threatened terrestrial ecosystems was gazetted on 9 December 2011 (National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act: National list of ecosystems that are threatened and in need of protection, (Notice 34809 in Government Gazette 1002), 9 December 2011).
In terms of this the 70 000 hectare Barberton Mountainlands ecosystem was listed as vulnerable. This means the ecosystem has a high risk of undergoing significant degradation of ecological structure, function or composition as a result of human intervention, although it is not a critically endangered ecosystem. Threats include commercial afforestation, mining, farming practices, invasive alien vegetation, over-grazing and the misuse of fire.
The Barberton Mountainlands ecosystem includes 37 threatened or endemic plant and animal species and is part of the Barberton Centre of Plant Endemism. It also includes important sub catchments; provides an escarpment corridor and is important for grassland and forest processes. Approximately 52% of the ecosystem is protected in Barberton Mountainlands Nature Reserve, Barberton Municipal Nature reserve, Cynthia Letty Nature Reserve, Ida Doyer Nature Reserve, Nkomazi Wilderness, Queens River Primary Conservation Area, Songimvelo Nature Reserve, Tienie Louw Nature Reserve and Thorncroft Nature Reserve.
Fortunately ecosystems in the surrounding area were also listed, which includes the Noordkaap Greenstone Bushveld ecosystem, the Kaapsehoop Quartzite Grasslands, the Badplaas Mountainlands and the Crocodile Gorge Granite Mountainlands.
For more information visit the South African National Biodiversity Institute page.
