Establishment of Buffer Zone in the
Peripheries of Wilderness Areas in the
Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park World
Heritage Site, KwaZulu-Natal Province,
Republic of South Africa
William R. Bainbridge
Abstract—The Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is one of the most
important high altitude protected areas in Southern Africa. It
consists of four designated wilderness areas (including the first
wilderness area to be legally designated in the country), which make
up about 48 percent of the park’s total area. The park was recently
added to the World Heritage List, as both a Natural and a Cultural
Site. The KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission
has implemented an investigation to determine whether there is a
need to protect the natural beauty and high scenic values in private
and communal land in the peripheries of the park, in view of its
value for present and potential future tourism development. A
planning project was undertaken that recommended a zoning system, based on the Seville Strategy of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which
makes provision for a gradation of intensity of development away
from the eastern boundary of the park. The system includes two
primary zones, including a Buffer Zone immediately adjacent to the
park. A further planning project has recently been undertaken to
more precisely define the extent and functions of the Buffer Zone.
This is the first such initiative to formally establish a zoning system,
which will be entrenched in legislation and regional plans. This
paper discusses the expected benefits that will be provided by the
proposed Buffer Zone for the protection of the integrity of the park
and its inner wilderness system, as well as benefits for landowners
and communities resident within or adjacent to the zone by the
provision of tourism development opportunities immediately adjacent to the park. Control measures will be put in place to limit the
scale and location of such development, promote retention of environmental quality, and limit negative impacts on the park and
wilderness system. Also discussed are measures to be implemented
to promote collaboration between park authorities and private and
communal landowners. The eventual outcome of this initiative
could be the formation of a system of Biosphere Reserves in the
entire peripheries of the park.
William R. Bainbridge is an Environmental Consultant and a Director of
the Wilderness Action Group, 314 Alexandra Road, Pietermaritzburg, 3201
South Africa. E-mail: wrbainbr@iafrica.com
In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet, comps. 2003. Science and stewardship
to protect and sustain wilderness values: Seventh World Wilderness Congress symposium; 2001 November 2–8; Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Proc.
RMRS-P-27. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station.
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Introduction ____________________
The Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is one of the most
important high altitude protected areas in Southern Africa.
It is 242,813 ha (600,000 acres) in extent, and protects a significant proportion of the upper reaches of the Drakensberg
Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal Province, along the international border between Lesotho and South Africa. The border
lies along the watershed between the west-flowing Orange
or Senqu River system, and the east-flowing rivers of
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The park conserves important biodiversity resources in the most extensive portions within the
country in two of the seven floristic regions of Africa south of
the Sahara—the Afro-alpine and Afro-montane regions. The
park also protects the watersheds of the most important
rivers of the province, as well as valuable archaeological
heritage and natural resources. In addition, the Drakensberg
Mountains have an international reputation for their spectacular natural beauty, and the park preserves some of the
Drakensberg’s most scenic portions. The Drakensberg is
regarded as the most important inland tourism destination
in the province, and the park is the center of this attraction
(KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission
2001a).
The park is in the custody of Enzemvelo KwaZulu-Natal
Wildlife, the organization responsible for protected area management in the province. It comprises four wilderness areas
proclaimed under national legislation: Mdedelelo, Mlambonja,
Mkhomazi, and Mzimkulu, as well as a number of nature
reserves proclaimed under a provincial statute. The four
wilderness areas include the first wilderness to be legally
proclaimed in South Africa. They have a total area of 117,765
ha (291,000 acres), or about 48.5 percent of the park (Bainbridge
2001).
The park (and its component wildernesses) was recently
accorded World Heritage status under both natural and
cultural criteria. The natural criteria of outstanding universal value recognized by the World Heritage Bureau of
UNESCO were:
• Superlative natural phenomena or natural beauty and
aesthetic importance.
• The presence of significant natural habitats for in situ
conservation of biological diversity and, in particular,
outstanding species richness—it is a recognized Centre of Plant Diversity and Endemism, and a globally important endemic bird area.
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Establishment of Buffer Zone in the Peripheries of Wilderness Areas...
The cultural criteria refer to the important San (Bushman) rock art and other archaeological deposits present in
the park.
Threats to the Park and Its
Wilderness Areas _______________
As indicated above, the park and its wilderness areas
enjoy secure protection in law. However, while the park is
relatively large in local terms, it is relatively narrow in
width, and thus is vulnerable to unsympathetic development in the immediate peripheries. The wilderness areas
are protected by an internal buffer area, but this, consequently, is also of relatively narrow proportions, and thus
the wildernesses are also vulnerable to disturbance and
nonconforming physical development in the peripheries. As
an example, lights in some of the settlements and small
villages in the approaches to the park, although distant from
the park boundary, may be seen at night even from the top
of the main escarpment, and are certainly visible from many
vantage points in the wilderness areas.
Specific policies were formulated over a decade ago by the
provincial government for the control of nonconforming
physical development such as large-scale tourism facilities
on private land immediately adjacent to the park (Martin
1990). However, these policies lacked legal sanction and did
not apply to a number of land uses, such as commercial
timber plantations of alien tree species, which have recently
been responsible for significant landscape transformation in
the area. It was for these reasons that the study described
below was commissioned (KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission 2001a).
Initiative to Prepare a Special Case
Area Plan for the Drakensberg ____
Aim and Scope of the Study
The study was commissioned in 1999 by the KwaZuluNatal Town and Regional Planning Commission to consider
the desirability of designating the lower-lying portions of the
Drakensberg Mountains and agricultural lands of the province surrounding the park as a Special Case Area (SCA), and
to prepare a Special Case Area Plan (SCAP) for the mountains and influent surrounds. The need for the study arose
out of increasing pressure for various forms of development
in these mountains and peripheries, which had the potential
to negatively affect the integrity of the park and the unique
resources of the mountains, especially their biodiversity,
water production, and scenic values. Protection of the inner
wildernesses was seen as a key consideration. An SCA is
defined as an area with special or unique character, which
may require additional protection over and above normal
legislated development application procedures.
The study area forms an important component of a greater
study area (the Maloti-Drakensberg Conservation and Development Area) in the high altitude mountains shared
between Lesotho and South Africa, in which a parallel
feasibility study was undertaken by the two governments in
cooperation with the World Bank. The goals of these two
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Bainbridge
studies were broadly similar, with particular emphasis on
the promotion of sustainable land uses, conservation of the
unique natural resources, and economic upliftment of the
people resident in the area (KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission 2001b).
Summary of Principal Findings and
Recommendations
The study showed that existing legislation makes provision for the protection of all the principal resources of the
study area except landscape quality. Landscape transformation by a number of land uses such as agriculture,
commercial afforestation, and rural settlement was found to
be a significant threat to scenic values and the natural
beauty of much of the area. Tourism (and ecotourism) are
primary land uses in significant portions of the study area
together with agriculture, and thus the potential for these
uses could also be threatened by such land uses. Furthermore, uncoordinated or nonsustainable development was
found to be a primary cause of landscape transformation
impairment of scenic values of other portions with unrealized potential for tourism, to the probable future detriment
of current landowners and communities.
The planning strategy adopted was to select a candidate
SCA strategically located to protect both the integrity of the
natural resources and scenic values in the approaches to the
park, and of the park itself. A zoning system for the proposed
SCA was developed, based on the Seville Strategy of
UNESCO. This system incorporates the park itself as a core
area and makes provision for a gradation of intensity of
development eastward away from its eastern boundary. The
objectives for the zoning system were to provide a reasonable
level of development opportunities within each zone, as well
as to decrease the potential negative effects of development
as the visitor approaches the mountains. The system includes two primary zones: a Buffer Zone immediately adjacent to the park, with development largely restricted to
extensive forms of agriculture and limited low-intensity
tourism development; and a Commercial Agriculture Zone
away from the park, in which intensive forms of agriculture
and tourism are considered to be appropriate.
The principal findings and recommendations of the report
of the study (KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning
Commission 2001a) include:
• The area shown in figure 1 should be declared an SCA
for conservation of its unique natural resources, in
particular its scenic values and landscape quality.
• A system of zones, and in particular a Buffer Zone,
should form the basis for the regulations for the
Drakensberg SCAP.
• The policy provisions for the SCAP (and its zoning
system) should be integrated into the relevant subregional plans.
• The primary objectives of the SCAP are to contribute to
conservation of the unique natural resources, the integrity of the park and the promotion of sustainable land
uses, economic stimulation, and job creation.
• Consideration should be given to designation of a part,
or the entire SCA, as one or more Biosphere Reserves in
terms of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program.
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Establishment of Buffer Zone in the Peripheries of Wilderness Areas...
Figure 1—Buffer Zone, Drakensberg Special Case Area.
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Establishment of Buffer Zone in the Peripheries of Wilderness Areas...
• Areas of Resource Conservation Zone, identified in the
study, should be considered for formal designation as
protected areas.
• Tourism (and ecotourism) has the potential to become a
primary land use together with agriculture.
• Consultation with authorities and communities in the
study area should form a continuous component in the
implementation of the recommendations.
Project to Refine and Delineate the
Eastern (Outer) Boundary of the
Buffer Zone ____________________
Study Aim
One further recommendation of the SCAP study was that
there was a need for refinement of the eastern boundary of
the Buffer Zone, to ensure a rational basis for the implementation of regulations applied to the SCA, as well as to reflect
the underlying physiographic and environmental determinants. This second study was undertaken shortly after the
initial study (KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning
Commission 2001a,b).
Major issues that were addressed in this second stage
project were:
• Establish principles and criteria to be used for demarcation of the eastern boundary of the Buffer Zone.
• Relevant policies and legislation.
• World Heritage status and the need to protect the
important resources of the park.
• Consultation with interested and affected parties.
The approach employed for this study was based partially
on recently published guidelines for establishing policy and
best management practices for buffer zones in terrestrial
ecosystems in developing countries (Ebregt and De Greve
2000). These support the following definition of a buffer
zone, proposed by Wild and Mutebi, which was adopted for
this study:
Any area, often peripheral to a protected area, inside or
outside, in which activities are implemented, or the area
managed, with the aim of enhancing the positive, and reducing the negative impacts of (nature) conservation on neighboring communities, and of neighboring communities on
conservation (Ebregt and De Greve 2000: 7).
Ebregt and De Greve (2000) recommend a holistic approach for the establishment and management of buffer
zones. This implies that both conservation and development
considerations be employed as appropriate for the specific
conditions that pertain for each buffer zone, with social and
cultural settings considered at least as important as environmental factors, and that nature conservation and socioeconomic development are not only complementary, but also
strengthen each other’s effectiveness and positive impacts.
This summarizes the approach adopted for the present
study. Furthermore, the specific key needs identified for
delineation of the Buffer Zone included requirements for
protection of the integrity of the park and conservation of the
natural character of the Drakensberg foothills peripheral to
it, as well as to meet the needs of residents, tourists, and
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visitors to the Drakensberg, bearing in mind its location as
a key component of the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier
Conservation and Development Study Area.
Consultation
The consultation process involved a series of workshops
and consultative meetings with official agencies and stakeholder groups.
Summary of Principal Findings and
Recommendations of the Secondary
Study _________________________
This study confirmed the need for a buffer zone around the
entire eastern boundary of the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg
Park, that is, that this zone should form part of the zoning
system of the Drakensberg SCAP. It was decided that the
zone should principally comprise land of low agricultural
potential, that is, areas where soils and other physical
conditions such as slope are not conducive to intensive
agriculture or other forms of development. As far as practicable, land of high agricultural potential, which is a natural
component of the adjacent Commercial Agricultural Zone,
should be excluded. This proved feasible by virtue of the hilly
nature of the Drakensberg foothills. These and other considerations (such as the inclusion in the buffer of sensitive sites
and natural communities) provided the basis for development of a series of principles and criteria, which led to the
delineation on maps and aerial photographs of the precise
location of the eastern boundary of the Buffer Zone; the
western boundary consists of the park boundary.
The study further indicated that agriculture (and in some
instances settlement) are current primary land uses in the
Buffer Zone, but the zone is also well suited for small-scale
ecotourism, a use which should be promoted in order to offer
landowners another economic incentive compatible with the
overall vision for the area. The forms of tourism facilities
considered to be appropriate include small-scale chalet complexes, small hotels, camping, cottage industries, and arts
and craft outlets. The zone is also particularly suited for
nature-based forms of outdoor recreation, which should be
facilitated by development of a system of trails for use by
foot, horseback, or mountain bicycle.
Based on the principles and criteria defined for the purpose, the zone was delineated both in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and physically on the ground by means of
Geographic Positioning System (GPS) points to an accuracy
of 20 m (65.6 ft). The Buffer Zone varies in average between
a minimum width of about 500 m (546.8 yards) and a
maximum of just over 2 km (1.2 miles).
It is believed that the proposed Buffer Zone has the
potential to achieve the principal objectives of the SCAP, in
particular to make significant contributions to protection of
the unspoiled natural character, and the resources of outstanding universal value of the World Heritage Site and its
component inner wildernesses. It should also contribute to
the protection of the present, largely unspoiled natural
character of the landscapes, to scenic values and natural
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Establishment of Buffer Zone in the Peripheries of Wilderness Areas...
communities in the immediate peripheries of the park, and
to the promotion of sustainable land uses.
The SCAP makes provision for the formulation of spatial
framework plans and land use schemes that should address
the following:
• Identification and conservation of natural resources in
the Buffer Zone that are of outstanding universal value.
• Promotion of sustainable development and conservation of the other natural resources of the Buffer Zone
and other zones of the SCAP.
The recommendations of the second phase study include:
• Development of partnerships between the park authority and stakeholders for development of a comprehensive strategic land use management system for the
Buffer Zone within the framework of objectives for the
Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation and
Development Project.
• Consideration given to the nomination of all or part of
the SCAP as a Biosphere Reserve, as recommended by
the World Heritage Bureau and the SCAP Report.
The plan includes the provision of incentives to landowners and communities with title to the land to accept and to
benefit from the provisions of the plan. These include the
following recommendations:
• Tourism should be recognized and promoted as a primary land use along with agriculture, not only throughout the SCAP area, but also in the Buffer Zone.
• The permissible density for low-scale tourism development in the Buffer Zone should be increased from
previous levels.
• Provision should be made for direct access into the park
for guests to tourism facilities in the Buffer Zone (instead of through distant public entry points).
A primary product of the SCAP is a recommended system
of land use guidelines and controls for achievement of the
objectives of both studies. A list of preferred and nonpreferred
land use activities is provided for each zone. Table 1 provides
the recommended activities for the Buffer Zone.
Summary and Conclusions _______
As far as is known, this is the first attempt in South Africa
to delineate a buffer zone on private and communal land
around the peripheries of a major protected area such as the
Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park. The proposed Buffer Zone
was designed to benefit both the park itself, as well as
landowners, visitors, and tourists, through the implementation of control measures to conserve the integrity and natural character of both the protected area and the buffer, and
by promotion of sustainable land uses, including tourism
and agriculture. These measures could create the opportunity for the creation of one or more Biosphere Reserves in the
proposed SCA. They should also promote protection of the
integrity of the wilderness areas within the park through the
preclusion of nonsympathetic development in the approaches
to the park.
Acknowledgments ______________
I wish to thank the KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional
Planning Commission for permission to quote from its
published reports on these two projects. I also wish to
acknowledge, with thanks, the contributions made by my
colleagues J. van der Vegte, B. Martin, J. Alletson, C. Whyte,
and Professor J. McCarthy, who were coauthors of these two
reports.
Table 1—List of preferred and no-preferred land use activities for the buffer zonea.
Zone
Preferred activities
Nonpreferred activities
Buffer (overall)
Amenity planting with noninvasive species
Extensive agriculture
Intensive agriculture
Nature and resource conservation
Nature and culture-based tourism
Small-scale tourism
Small-scale agriculture
Subsistance agriculture
Trails
Agri-industry
Commercial afforestation
Industrial development
Intensive or semi-intensive human settlement
Large-scale infrastructural projects
Large-scale tourism development
Mines and quarries
New roads
Subdivision of land
Buffer (settlements)
Amenity planting with noninvasive species
Extensive agriculture
Intensive agriculture
Nature and resource conservation
Nature and culture-based tourism
Small-scale tourism
Small-scale agriculture
Subsistence agriculture
Trails
Agri-industry
Commercial afforestation
Industrial development
Large-scale infrastructural projects
Large-scale tourism development
Mines and quarries
New roads
Subdivision of land
a
Town and Regional Planning Commission 2001b.
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References _____________________
Bainbridge, W. R. 2001. Mountain wilderness in South Africa.
International Journal of Wilderness. 7(2): 30–34.
Ebregt, A.; De Greve, P. 2000. Buffer zones and the management,
policy and best practices for terrestrial ecosystems in developing countries. Theme Studies Series 5; Forests, Forestry &
Biological Diversity Support Group, National Reference Centre
for Nature Management: Wageningen, the Netherlands: International Agricultural Centre. 63 p.
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Martin, B. F. 1990. Drakensberg approaches policy. Natal Town &
Regional Planning Commission Report, volume 74. 70 p.
KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission. 2001a.
A special case area plan for the Drakensberg. Pietermaritzburg,
South Africa. 116 p.
KwaZulu-Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission. 2001b.
Refinement of the outer (Eastern) boundary of the Buffer Zone in
the Drakensberg special case area plan. 68 p.
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