4.5. Respondents awareness and perceptions of the D’MOSS programme
4.6.4. Forest
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124 Table 4.42: Comparison of the quality of green spaces within selected forest sites using the eThekwini and Adapted typologies
Site No.
eThekwini Municipality
Adapted typology Classification
and area (m2)
Classificatio n
Area (m2) and percentage (%) relative
to total site area
Habitat, vegetation type and ecosystem threat status
Infringement
1 Degraded (11,941.54)
Good 4,984.50 41.7*
Habitat type: Semi-natural Vegetation type: KwaZulu- Natal Coastal Belt Grassland Ecosystem threat status:
Critically endangered
Considerable Intermediate 6,957.04 58.3*
2 Degraded (75,372.46)
Degraded 11,015.97 14.6*
Habitat type: Semi-natural Vegetation type: KwaZulu- Natal Coastal Belt Grassland Ecosystem threat status:
Critically endangered
Considerable
Good 64,356.49 85.4*
3 Good
(202,864.56) Good 202,864.56 100*
Habitat type: Semi-natural Vegetation type: KwaZulu- Natal Coastal Forest Ecosystem threat status:
Critically endangered
Considerable
4 Intermediate (54,394.52)
Degraded 4,142.70 7.6* Habitat type: Semi-natural Vegetation type: KwaZulu- Natal Coastal Belt Thornveld Ecosystem threat status:
Critically endangered
Considerable Intermediate 50,251.81 92.4*
5 Intermediate
(17,945.45) Intermediate 17,945.45 100*
Habitat type: Semi-natural Vegetation type: KwaZulu- Natal Coastal Belt Grassland Ecosystem threat status:
Vulnerable
Considerable
*𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 = (𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅/𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅/𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆/𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 ) × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
Terminologies: ‘Habitat’ - habitat type of the site according to Swanwick et al. (2003) typology; ‘Vegetation’
- vegetation type of the site according to SANBI KwaZulu–Natal vegetation type classification (2011);
‘Ecosystem threat status’ - ecosystem threat status of the site according to the National Biodiversity Assessment (2011); ‘Infringement’ - the level of infringement on site from land-use activities.
When the quality of the five forest sites considered above (Figure 4.11 and Table 4.42) was compared between the Adapted and eThekwini typologies, the quality classification differed between typologies for three sites (1, 2 and 4). It was for two sites (3 and 5) that the quality classification was in agreement between the typologies. However, it was evident that use of the Adapted typology resulted in the identification of more good and intermediate land than that reflected by the eThekwini typology; good micro-environments were identified in two sites (1 and 2), while intermediate micro-environments were also identified in two sites (1 and 4).
Moreover, use of the Adapted typology resulted in the identification of less degraded land than
125 that reflected by the eThekwini typology (sites 1 and 2); however, an additional degraded micro-environment was identified in site 4.
Table 4.43: Statistics incorporated into the Adapted typology calculated for all five forest sites cumulatively
Land cover characteristic and categorisation Percentage land cover associated with specific habitat and vegetation type, threat status, and infringement categories*
Habitat type Semi-natural habitats 100
Vegetation type KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Belt Grassland vegetation 29 KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Forest vegetation 56 KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Belt Thornveld vegetation 15
Threat status Critically endangered land 100
Infringement Land with considerable infringement 100
*Calculated as a percentage of the cumulative area of all the sites considered for this particular green space type (i.e. sum of the areas of the five sites sampled for forest which was equivalent to 362,518.52 m2)
The quality based land cover percentages calculated for the five forest sites as part of the Adapted typology (Table 4.42) should be interpreted in combination with the statistics shown in Table 4.43. The habitat type of the selected forest sites were classified as semi-natural habitats by both typologies. Additionally, the Adapted typology indicated that three different vegetation types occurred within this green space type: site 3 consisted of KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Belt Forest covering the majority of the land (56%); sites 1, 2 and 5 consisted of KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Belt Grassland vegetation covering 29% of the land; and only 15% of the land comprised of KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Thornveld (site 4). According to the eThekwini Municipality (2007), collectively these vegetation types occupy almost two thirds of the Municipality, however, over the past several years significant proportions of these vegetation types have been transformed due to the expansion of urban settlements. Furthermore, the relatively undisturbed portions of these vegetation types are usually confined to land situated close to river systems (eThekwini Municipality, 2007). However, many of these river systems provide a water source/ supply particularly for informal settlements within the Municipality, hence people residing in these areas have often encroached on forests in an attempt to access the river in them (eThekwini Municipality, 2013). These statements were further validated by the Adapted typology (Table 4.42 and Table 4.43), which showed that the five forest sites
126 investigated were all classified as critically endangered and with considerable infringement on vegetation.
When data obtained for the indicators of threat and infringement status for forest green spaces using the Adapted typology (Table 4.42) was interpreted using the orthophotos for these sites (Figure 4.11), it was evident that these green spaces were exposed to the highest levels of infringement in comparison to the previous green space types assessed. However, paradoxically these forest sites also comprised the highest percentage of good and intermediate land relative to other ecosystem conditions, despite their susceptibility to the infringement pressures stated above. This trend can be explained using evidence from the social survey, which showed that a significant proportion of respondents’ valued forests as important green spaces, expressing the imperative need to see these environments retained or conserved (section 4.3: Figure 4.5). Moreover, it was found that fewer respondents make use of forests, often because these environments are not always easily accessible, hence safeguarding these green areas to some extent (section 4.3: Table 4.13).
Research on this subject has shown that forest environments have become one of most protected biomes in the country (eThekwini Municipality, 2007; Mensah, 2014; Shackleton, 2006), which also explains why the sites which reflected the most intact (site 3) and intermediate (site 4) land, both fell under D’MOSS protection (Source for raw data: eThekwini Municipality, 2012). Furthermore, in KwaZulu-Natal, joint ventures between the eThekwini Municipality and Department of Water Affairs and Forestry have been undertaken to generate strict development guidelines on how to enhance the protection of forests within the province (eThekwini Municipality, 2007). In addition, the eThekwini Municipality has also implemented policies indicating that any development in the vicinity of forests requires a setback of no less than 40 m from the forest edge (eThekwini Municipality, 2007).
127 Table 4.44: Deviation index for selected forest sites: how much the quality of these green spaces differed between the Adapted and eThekwini typologies
0- No deviation, 1- Minimal deviation, 2- Moderate deviation, 3- High deviation
Site No. Deviation index
1 3
2 3
3 0
4 1
5 0
Cumulative percentage deviation* 46.7%
*C𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑑𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑇ℎ𝑤𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 = ( 𝑆𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠 (7)
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (3) × 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 (5)) × 100
The deviation indices calculated for the forest sites investigated (Table 4.44) revealed that three sites deviated from the classification defined by the eThekwini typology: high deviation was evident in sites 1 and 2, while site 4 showed minimal deviation. Only two sites (3 and 5) reflected no deviation from the eThekwini typology. In summary, the quality of the five forest green spaces assessed using the eThekwini typology collectively deviated by approximately 46.7% from that assessed using the more discriminatory Adapted typology. This is probably a reflection of the large tracts of intact and intermediate land identified in close proximity to urban settlements as evidenced in Figure 4.11.
Overall, it was evident that quality based land cover differed moderately when sites were compared using the eThekwini and Adapted typologies: some micro-habitats consisting of significant tracts of intact land within larger green environments were potentially misclassified when using the eThekwini typology. This is important to consider as forests are structurally diverse ecosystems harbouring many endemic species and species of high conservation value (Alvey, 2006; eThekwini Municipality, 2007). In addition, forests like woodlands play a critical role in carbon sequestration as they hold far greater carbon densities than other ecosystems (Alvey, 2006). Furthermore, these green spaces also have amenity value that adds to the aesthetics of eThekwini (eThekwini Municipality, 2007).
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