INTEGRATING BIODIVERSITY IN STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND
SPATIAL PLANNING – A CASE STUDY OF THE UMHLATHUZE MUNICIPALITY, RICHARDS
BAY, SOUTH AFRICA
Jordan, Thea
UMhlathuze Municipality
Department of Integrated Development Planning – Environmental Planning
Private Bag X1004, Richards Bay, 3900, SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: +27 (0)35 901-5415
Fax: +27(0)35 901-5426
E-mail: tjordan@richemp.org.za
Diederichs, Nicci, Mander, Myles, Markewicz, Tony
FutureWorks!
PO Box 2221, Everton,3625, SOUTH AFRICA
Tel: +27 (0)31 208 4244
Fax: +27 (0)31 208 4288
Email: niccid@sai.co.za
O’Connor, Tim
Tim O’Connor and Associates
P.O. Box 379, Hilton, 3245, SOUTH AFRICA
Tel/Fax: +27 (033) 343 3491
Email: timoconnor@xsinet.co.za
ABSTRACT
Cities have been recognised world wide as important “sites” of national development and, as
urbanisation in South Africa increases, so the demand for its cities to perform in a sustainable and
efficient manner escalates. Therefore, it is imperative that cities are planned and managed in a
manner that enable a balanced utilisation of resources and the opportunity for an improved quality
of life.
Consequently, environmental issues are becoming a major concern in urban development. In
many cases the demand for environmental services exceeds supply and consequently results in:
 more frequent flooding with damage to roads, homes and stormwater infrastructure,
 unacceptable air pollution and communities opposed to new industrial developments,
 sedimentation of our estuaries with less ability to produce fish,
 poor water quality in rivers and the sea with costs to health, food production and tourism,
 less resources for the poor, who often rely on environmental services for their livelihoods.
The above illustrates a city wherein the human systems and the natural systems are not aligned,
and are generating costs, which somebody or a community in the region must and will bear. It also
highlights a situation where conflict between “economists” and “ecologists” is prevalent.
It is within this framework that the UMhlathuze Municipality undertook to extend its municipal
open space system into the new and expanding municipal area, in accordance with emerging
new approaches. It needed to move beyond merely identifying the open space “footprint”, and
required an elevation of the status of open space as a vital and valuable physical, social and
economic asset that is fundamental to the creation of liveable cities.
In order to proactively identify, value and protect these assets, a strategic assessment of the
services provided by the environment in the uMhlathuze area was undertaken within catchment
boundaries, since river catchments are becoming widely accepted as appropriate spatial units
within which planning and sustainable development should take place. The study identified the
boundaries of areas that should be protected, ecological linkages between these areas, the value
of the environmental services that these areas provide as well as planning and management
controls that need to be implemented to protect these areas. It is estimated that the environmental
services or assets within the City of uMhlathuze is worth R1,757 billion per annum.
1
Since the study originated in the Urban Planning Department of the Municipality, it was also
important to ensure that the outcomes of the study directly inform and be incorporated into other
local and regional plans, development programmes and land use controls.
This case study examines the process followed by the uMhlathuze Municipality’s Environmental
Planning Section to incorporate biodiversity or environmental services into Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA), or in the case of the uMhlathuze Municipality a Strategic Catchment
Assessment (SCA). It will also focus on how SEA and strategic planning could assist in alleviating
conflict between developers and environmentalist during Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
procedures, since the Municipality “would have done its homework” in terms of the importance of
certain areas for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
BACKGROUND TO THE CITY OF UMHLATHUZE
ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES
: ITS SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND
The towns of Richards Bay and Empangeni are situated approximately 200km north of Durban on
the east coast of South Africa and 50km south of the St. Lucia Estuary, which has been declared a
World Natural Heritage site. In 2002, Richards Bay and Empangeni as well as the surrounding
rural and tribal areas merged to form the “City of uMhlathuze” with a population figure of
approximately 300 000 people and an area of jurisdiction that covers approximately 800 km².
Until the early 1970’s, however, Richards Bay was a small fishing village overlooking the
Mhlathuze Estuary – an area rich in natural beauty and biodiversity. With the transformation of a
large portion of the Mhlathuze Estuary to form the Richards Bay deepwater harbour, Richards Bay
became the closest port to Johannesburg, the heartland of South Africa’s economic centre, and
development literally boomed.
As a result of the availability of land and linkages to the deepwater harbour, today Richards Bay is
a choice location for heavy industries. Existing industries include Billiton’s Hillside and Bayside
Aluminium smelters, Mondi’s Richards Bay and Felixton paper and pulp mills, various woodchip
exporting companies, RBCT (the largest coal exporting company in South Africa), Richards Bay
Minerals and Ticor South Africa (mining and processing of ilmenite), Foskor (producer of granular
fertilizer), Tongaat Hulett’s sugar mill, etc. Two large industries are in the process of finalising their
environmental impact assessments – these include a proposed ferrochrome smelter and a pulp
mill. In uMhlathuze, industry has for the past decade consistently shown the highest growth rate in
South Africa.
Richards Bay and Empangeni have therefore developed into bustling industrial and commercial
nodes, which are surrounded by extensive monoculture (sugarcane and commercial forestry) and
rural or traditional settlements that mostly rely on subsistence farming for their needs. The
population distribution by age shows that the population is relatively young, with 40% between the
age of 15-34 years and 33% being under the age of 15 years. Close to 18% of the population over
20 years old has no form of formal education. As a result, the unemployment rate in the area is
high, being 41%, with a large percentage of the tribal and peri-urban population earning no
income. However, the unemployment levels relate to the formal sector, and do not reflect the true
situation. For instance, economic activity in tribal areas such as production for own use, arts and
crafts and informal sales are generally disregarded (uMhlathuze Municipality, 2005). The tribal
population therefore create their own informal employment in most cases. This highlights the
importance of a healthy environment, which could provide relevant free services to these
communities in order to sustain their livelihoods.
Since the city is relatively young, most development applications are lodged for areas previously
not impacted upon by development (“greenfields” development). The result is that the remaining
natural resources in the area are becoming increasingly stressed with respect to absorbing
industrial outputs and providing the natural resources required to sustain the residents of
uMhlathuze. Already, quality of life and human health are impacted upon in certain zones by
industry and expanding human settlements. As much as 75% of the area is already transformed.
2
The uMhlathuze Municipality is faced with a challenging task – to encourage sustainable
development, which would address the high rate of poverty and unemployment in the area, while
protecting and/or utilising the remaining natural assets of the area in a sustainable manner.
With the natural environmental already 75% transformed, it is evident that conflict between the
environment and development will continue to grow in uMhlathuze, unless proper urban planning
takes place. Environmental critics are largely arguing that the Umhlathuze Municipality planners
have no “plan” for the management of its natural biodiversity assets and therefore every piece of
untransformed land that is proposed for land conversion has to be rigorously challenged during
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures. Developers, on the other hand, are arguing
that the EIA procedures are too onerous and that appeals lodged against EIA decisions cause
costly delays.
Until recently, planners had no means or criteria to judge the role or usefulness of any particular
land parcel in terms of its use for sustainable development or conservation, mostly as a result of
the lack of relevant environmental information. This lack of direction gives critics ample scope for
litigation and legal challenges. Planners therefore needed environmental information at the right
scale and in the right format to enable them to plan for a sustainable city.
When faced with decision-making in terms of the suitability of a certain land parcel for
development, planners without the necessary environmental information often relied on the EIA
process to assess the suitability of that land parcel. This approach poses a problem, since EIA as
an environmental tool is too low on the hierarchy of tools to effectively influence sustainable
planning and development.
A strategic assessment of the uMhlathuze area was therefore necessary to identify relevant
parcels of land for development with minimum impact on the remaining healthy ecosystems that
supply the Municipality with environmental goods and services.
STRATEGIC
ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT
1.
ASSESSMENT
VS.
STRATEGIC
CATCHMENT
Strategic Environmental Assessment in the South African context:
According to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s Guideline Document for
Strategic Environmental Assessment in South Africa (DEAT, 2000), the aim of an SEA is “to
ensure that environmental issues are addressed from an early stage in the process of formulating
policies, plans and programmes” and should be used as “a proactive management instrument”.
The main benefits are listed as:
it pro-actively informs the development of plans and programmes;
it identifies the opportunities and constraints which the environment places on
development;
it provides guidelines to ensure that development is within sustainable limits;
it has the ability to integrate across areas, regions or sectors;
it improves the way in which cumulative effects are dealt with in environmental
assessments, for example through the use of thresholds and limits of acceptable change;
it focuses on the maintenance and enhancement of a chosen level of environmental
quality rather than on minimising individual impacts.
At present, SEA’s in South Africa is not a legislative requirement.
2.
Why a Strategic Catchment Assessment for the uMhlathuze Municipality?
During the screening phase of the SEA process, the uMhlathuze Municipality identified the need to
assess, incorporate and monitor environmental sustainability in strategic planning and
development. The assessment would provide the Umhlathuze Municipality planners with a spatial
representation of the area’s natural assets that should be protected or used in a more sustainable
way, and by incorporating the information into a spatial planning system would also alleviate
3
conflict between conservationists and developers. The City of uMhlathuze’s Environmental
Planning Section approached FutureWorks! as consultants who developed a catchment-based
SEA process. There are various reasons why a catchment-based approach was followed:
1.
2.
3.
Catchments have been shown to be effective environmental entities for assessing the
synergistic impacts of urban development and for integrating the environment into
urban planning. The uMhlathuze Municipal Area has an unusual hydrology, in that
much of the water system is contained within groundwater rather than surface water
systems. In defining the Catchment Units for uMhlathuze, hydrological units were
defined that contain both the surface and sub-surface drainage systems of specific
land areas. In this case, an understanding of the hydrological interlinkages between
the different Catchment Units was also critical when using the information to guide
conservation, strategic land use planning and management.
Catchments provide a spatial template for the functioning of intact and transformed
ecosystems because they constrain key energy and material flows.
Catchments deliver water, a fundamental requirement for human activity and wellbeing. Catchments often reflect physiographic and climatic divides that influence the
nature of human activities.
Figure 1 shows the catchment boundaries identified for the uMhlathuze Municipality’s area of
jurisdiction within which a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the eight catchments was
undertaken.
FIGURE 1 – CATCHMENTS OF THE CITY OF UMHLATHUZE (Source: FutureWorks 2004)
THE UMHLATHUZE STRATEGIC CATCHMENT ASSESSMENT
SUSTAINABLE LAND USE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING
–
A
TOOL
FOR
The Strategic Catchment Assessment Process:
The Strategic Catchment Assessment was undertaken in the following phases:
Phase 1 : Create Transparency (Scoping):
In order to be transparent and to encourage consultation and cooperation between the project
team and local role-players / interested parties, a “Catchment Forum Group” was formed prior to
the study being undertaken. Local environmental and other specialists in the area (e.g. biodiversity
specialists, hydrologists, zoologists, planners, engineers, etc.) as well as other interested parties
were invited to take part in the study. A core group of approximately 20 people formed the
Catchment Forum Group. Regular feedback meetings ensured continued stakeholder interaction,
information sharing and decision-making throughout the process.
4
Seven strategic environmental sustainability issues were identified pertaining to the entire
uMhlathuze Municipal area that Council should address. These include:
1.
The global thrust towards sustainability will affect future industrial development
potential in the uMhlathuze Municipal area if development causes environmental
unsustainability:
Global market forces and competitive strategies by existing and potential international
trading partners could result in local industries being marginalized and having to close
down if uMhlathuze is associated with environmental unsustainability.
National
environmental policy is increasing and being more stringently applied, resulting in both
public and private development projects being delayed or stopped. In order to facilitate
sustainable economic growth and investment, future development must be
environmentally sustainable.
The Municipality must therefore be proactive in ensuring that current and future
development will not threaten environmental sustainability in the Municipal area or the
environmental assets it contains, and it should take steps to ensure that environmental
sustainability requirements and standards are timeously implemented.
2.
The uMhlathuze Municipality is not in direct control of land uses that generate
significant environmental impacts and degradation within its area of jurisdiction:
Many of uMhlathuze’s larger river catchments extend far inland. Impacts on the rivers
higher up in the catchments, outside of the Municipality’s borders, will cause opportunity
and management costs for this Municipality. The Municipality should therefore engage
with upstream and adjacent authorities to promote land use management in these areas
that protect environmental quality, services and opportunities in the uMhlathuze municipal
area.
Major developments in this area are being driven by national and provincial government /
parastatal agendas and plans. These agents may not be optimising the use of the natural
assets in the Municipal area for the benefit of all residents. The strategic value of the
natural assets and resources in the Municipal area should be recognised, protected and
managed through the uMhlathuze Municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and
should promote sustainable development.
3.
Future adequate water supply for both industrial development and domestic use is
severely constrained:
Water is a scarce resource in uMhlathuze, which will limit future growth and development
in the area. Existing land users and developments that consume large quantities of water
(industrial, agriculture, commercial forestry, etc.) should be incentivised to reduce, reuse
and recycle their demand on water to ensure that future growth opportunities are not
constrained.
The 3 major lakes in this area (Lakes Mzingazi, Cubhu and Nsese) are strategic water
supply resources, as the ability of the Mhlathuze River to continue to supply adequate
water is already threatened by a high regional water demand. Except for the Crocodile
River, the Mhlathuze River is the highest stressed catchment in South Africa. Land use
management and planning should therefore focus on protecting these resources. At
present, no such management plans exist.
4.
The natural environment is important for the survival of the poor, but it has not
been protected or managed to continue to perform this service:
Jobless people rely on the environment to provide clean water, building material, flood
attenuation, food, fuel wood, etc. The environment cannot supply for these needs unless
it is protected and sustainable use of natural resources is encouraged. Therefore Local
5
Economic Development (LED) and poverty alleviation initiatives should include investment
into the management of natural assets and supply of alternatives through job creation,
food security and basic services delivery.
5.
The natural environment and the services it is currently delivering to the
Municipality for free is under significant threat:
The environment provides free goods and services. It is estimated that uMhlathuze’s
environment provides free services amounting to R1,7 billion per annum.
Most
catchments have been rated “red” or “orange” indicating that the environmental services
are already oversubscribed, and Council picks up the cost for the decrease in the ability to
provide services. For instance, polluted water and waste is pumped into the ocean every
day at a minimal cost to Council. If this practice is no longer allowed, Council would have
to construct and operate a wastewater treatment plant amounting to millions per annum in
order to treat the polluted water and sewer.
Strategic planning and protection of the environment is therefore very important. The
environment should be allowed to renew itself and the pressures on the environment
should therefore be minimised and managed. Strategic planning relating to water, air,
waste, recreation, etc. should therefore be undertaken now in order to prepare for the
future. Council should therefore have a vision for the next 20-50 years to address these
strategic issues.
6.
Air quality and related human health and safety issues are becoming significant in
the uMhlathuze Municipal Area:
Existing industrial and agricultural land uses are generating significant air pollution, which
is increasingly threatening human health, safety and quality of life of all citizens in the
uMhlathuze and certain adjacent areas.
Council has to respond by ensuring that all future development applications require a
relevant impact and risk assessment and management plans.
Furthermore, the
municipality must install appropriate air quality monitoring and policing mechanisms, as
well as appropriate and more effective impact cost apportionment mechanisms, e.g.
polluter pays principle.
7.
Conflicts between the Spatial Development Framework, land use proposals,
sustainable environmental services delivery, nationally important biodiversity and
maximisation of environmental opportunities:
Current conflicts include: industrial development and biodiversity, residential expansion
and water supply, rural settlement and productive agricultural land, development in
floodplains. The uMhlathuze Municipal area is believed to contain approximately 174 Red
Data Book and Conservation-worthy Species and a number of natural habitats of
international significance – both of which have a high potential for attracting tourism with
the development of an appropriate supporting facility. Each tourist bed would create 3
permanent jobs. Current economic development plans may reduce the significance of this
area for tourism.
Council’s response to these issues should be to compare the real economic,
environmental and social costs and benefits of each development and appropriate
measures put in place to ensure that future job creation and economic development
opportunities are maximised across all sectors. Environmental opportunities should be
protected and development should aim to benefit from these.
Nationally and
internationally important biodiversity must be recognised and protected through a
management policy and action plan, which should be integrated with all IDP’s and
development plans.
6
Phase 2 – Technical Assessment:
During this phase the catchment units were defined, as shown in Figure 1 above.
The next step was to undertake a “landscape assessment” in order to define the natural asset that
provides the environmental goods and services. The landscape assessment was undertaken
making use of digital ortho-corrected aerial photography. The remaining indigenous habitat types
that are in good condition with adequate ecosystem linkages were mapped and ground-truthed
and the information is available to the Municipality in GIS format (Institute of Natural Resources,
2003). Figure 2 shows the result of the landscape unit assessment:
FIGURE 2 – ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICE ASSET FOR THE CITY CATCHMENT (Source: Institute
of Natural Resources, 2003)
As part of the landscape assessment phase, the conservation authority (eZemvelo Kwazulu-Natal
Wildlife) was consulted to determine their conservation targets for the area and to ensure that the
Municipality’s planning will support the conservation authority’s biodiversity conservation targets
for the area (O’Connor and Associates, 2003). The Municipality also identified the habitats that
could support Red Data Book Species and flagged these as important conservation areas
(O’Connor and Associates, 2003).
With the baseline information available, the next step was to undertake a Status Quo assessment
of the Catchment Units. This provided information on the current environmental sustainability of
each catchment. A set of indicators was developed in coordination with the Catchment Forum,
clustered around a set of environmental themes (air quality, flood risk, natural products supply,
etc). Figure 3 is an example of the indicators identified and assessed during the process:
7
FIGURE 3 AN EXAMPLE OF THE INDICATORS USED IN THE ASSESSMENT OF THE EIGHT
CATCHMENTS (Source: FutureWorks 2004)
Summary of Catchment Conditions – Nseleni Catchment
Water Quality
Water Quantity
Air Quality
Natural Products
Pest & Disease Control
Biodiversity
Recreation & Culture
Flood Risk
Soil Erosion Control
Agricultural Productivity
Climate
By making use of a Pressure-State Response Model, each indicator and eventually each of the
eight catchments, were then rated RED, ORANGE or GREEN:
GREEN catchments are in good condition and currently developed within environmentally
sustainable limits. They have predominantly low to moderate levels of pressure, and have
moderate to good states. These catchments are coping with current levels of pressure, and
environmental quality remains relatively good – they are generally environmental opportunity
areas. Management and proactive action that is required include:
Managing the environmental services asset;
Managing current land uses that will impact on the environmental services asset;
Proactive planning for appropriate type, location and design of development that will not
increase pressures on the catchment such that environmental quality declines; and
Development should be combined with boosting environmental services supply.
ORANGE catchments are in moderate condition and are nearing unsustainability. They have a
combination of high and low levels of pressure, and have poor, moderate and good states. These
catchments are being stressed by current land use, and the environmental quality has declined.
Changes in land use may increase the levels of pressure such that environmental quality would
decline substantially – i.e. and become RED rated. A combination of remedial, management and
proactive action is required:
Increased management investment into the environmental service asset, particularly to
increase supply of services under pressure;
Identification and management of high-impact and polluting land uses; and
Careful planning, control and design of new developments to maintain and enhance
environmental quality.
8
RED catchments are in poor condition and already unsustainable. They have predominantly
moderate to high levels of pressure, and poor to moderate states. These catchments are under
stress and the environmental quality has already declined significantly. Remedial and
management action is required:
Increased management investment into improving the supply of environmental services;
Identification and management of high-impact and polluting land uses; and
Stringent control and careful design of development to avoid worsening the condition of
the catchment.
Environmental opportunities and constraints as well as the existing development scenario and the
implications thereof for the catchment status quo was identified for each of the eight catchments.
FIGURE 4 – SUMMARY OF THE UMHLATHUZE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
STATUS QUO (Source: FutureWorks 2004)
The Strategic Catchment Assessment revealed that:
-
2 of the 8 catchment units (Mhlathuze and City Catchments) in the uMhlathuze area are
rated RED. The use and demand for environmental services have largely exceeded
supply of services in these areas, and remedial measures are needed to mitigate the
recurrent costs and threats to future development that the Municipality faces;
-
5 of the 8 catchments (Nseleni, Lake Mzingazi, Harbour, Lake Cubhu and Umlalazi
Tributaries Catchments) are rated ORANGE. The use and demand for environmental
services have affected the ability of the natural environment in these areas to provide
good quality and high volumes of environmental services. In some cases remedial action
is required, but for all these areas future development must proceed with caution to avoid
creating an environmentally unsustainable situation.
-
1 catchment (Estuary Catchment) is rated GREEN. Although certain components of the
natural environment have been affected, environmental condition is largely good. This
catchment is a high-opportunity zone for development and use that is environmentally
sustainable, and can maximise the benefits provided by the environmental quality and
high environmental service supply.
Phase 3 – Use Information in Decision-making:
This step involved the development of strategic land use planning and management interventions
for each catchment in response to the specific environmental sustainability status quo indicators.
9
Depending on this status quo, different levels and types of strategic planning and management
responses are required, for instance at a strategic planning, land use level, infrastructure level or
environmental service asset level.
Phase 4 – Post-decision monitoring and evaluation:
Since the Strategic Catchment Assessment (SCA) relies on the assessment of specific
environmental sustainability status quo indicators, it is fairly easy to monitor and update the
assessment from time to time in order to track progress or lack thereof. It was therefore
recommended that the SCA be updated every 5 years.
TAKING THE STRATEGIC CATCHMENT ASSESSMENT FURTHER – ENVIRONMENTAL
SERVICES MANAGEMENT POLICY AND PLANS
The Strategic Catchment Assessment (SCA) provides strategic information about the importance
of biodiversity within the uMhlathuze area and proved that the natural environmental is already
75% transformed. As a result, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Kwazulu-Natal’s provincial conservation
body, considers the remaining 25 % of uMhlathuze’s surface area under indigenous cover largely
irreplaceable. Supporting documentation used in the SCA identified a total of 174 Red Data Book
Species that may occur within various habitats in the uMhlathuze area, which is probably amongst
the highest in the country for an area of its size. Many of these species depend on grasslands and
wetlands habitats - areas prone to development and subsistence farming (O’Connor and
Associates, 2003).
It is therefore vital to proactively protect these areas by means of relevant land use planning and
controls. More detailed information was necessary than the Strategic Catchment Assessment
(SCA) could provide to influence land use planning and controls.
With the SCA as background, the Municipality’s Environmental Planning Section therefore initiated
a spatial mapping process, in cooperation with eZemvelo KZN Wildlife, which aimed to identify:
(1)
(2)
(3)
sensitive ecosystems that should be conserved;
linkages between ecosystems; and
areas that could be developed without impacting on the area’s ability to provide
environmental services.
More importantly, the process aims to identify the management actions that need to be
implemented in areas to ensure not only the survival of key biodiversity assets, but also the
sustainable use of biodiversity resources to benefit all residents of uMhlathuze.
The first deliverable in this process was an “Environmental Services Management Policy” that
aims to support the Municipality in securing quality environmental services that provide a safe and
healthy living environment for the people living in the municipal area and to promote equitable
access to these services to meet basic needs. The policy demonstrates to environmental
stakeholders and authorities that the Municipality has addressed the issues of sustainability and
natural resource management, helping to release development progress and assisting the
Municipality in meeting international and national obligations relating to biodiversity protection and
management.
The Policy is underpinned by “Environmental Services Management Plans”, drafted for each of the
eight catchments identified during the SCA process. The broad aim of the Environmental Services
Management Plans is to provide the uMhlathuze Municipality with a clear understanding of
activities that need to be undertaken to protect and enhance the supply of environmental services
in the uMhlathuze Municipal Area. The key objectives of the Environmental Services Management
Plans are to:

Provide a clear spatial description of each catchment unit, highlighting the particular
environmental services provided by the natural assets in the catchment unit;
10




Identify the role of each catchment unit in meeting the demand for environmental services in
the Municipality;
Identify logical environmental service supply and management zones for each catchment
unit;
Identify threats to the supply of environmental services in each catchment unit; and
Identify the management response required for each environmental service supply and
management zone for the protection of environmental services supply. The management
responses are linked to Town Planning Scheme Controls.
Management zones within each catchment were defined and spatially represented as follows:

Conservation Zone (RED - Level 1): Included in the conservation zone are areas of
biodiversity / environmental significance that require some form of legal protection, wetland
and forest areas that are protected in terms of national legislation and all areas that fall
within the 1 in 100 year flood line (non-developable). No transformation of the natural
assets or the development of land for purposes other than conservation should be permitted
in this zone.

Open Space Linkage Zone (GREEN - Level 2): Included in the Open Space linkage zone
are areas that provide a natural buffer for Level 1 Zones, areas that provide a natural link
between Level 1 Zones and areas that supply, or ensure the supply of, significant
environmental services. Transformation of natural assets and the development of land in
these zones should only be permitted under controlled conditions, for instance only after
obtaining approval for the proposed development through an Environmental Impact
Assessment process.

Development Zone (CLEAR - Level 3): Includes all areas that are not included in Level 1
and Level 2 Zones. Areas in this zone are either already developed or transformed and
contain land and natural assets that are not critical for environmental service supply.
Although it is recognised that the development of these zones can impact on environmental
services supply they should be developed in a manner that supports, or at least does not
adversely impact on, the sustainability of environmental service supply in Level 1 and 2
Zones.
Management interventions for each catchment were identified, and could include acquisition of
land where land, which is to be protected by law, does not belong to the Municipality (Level 1
zones), legal controls to facilitate land use management in Level 1, 2 and 3 zones (such as
controls incorporated in the Municipality’s Town Planning Scheme), financial incentives to property
owners who protect and manage areas on behalf of the Municipality and subsidized management
programmes that would rely on donor funding for the management and protection of certain areas.
Figure 5 is an example of the Environmental Services Management zones identified for the City
Catchment.
11
FIGURE 5 : ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES ASSET ZONES – EXAMPLE OF THE CITY CATCHMENT(Source: FutureWorks 2004)
Environment Service Asset
Northern Wetlands &
Forest Patches
City canals &
drainage
Western drainage system
& wetlands
City Swamps
Thulazihleka Pan
Complex
City Biodiversity
Complex
12
With the finalization of the Environmental Services Management Plans for each of the eight
catchments, a draft Conservation Plan was formulated. The Draft Conservation Plan shows the
proposed Level 1 zones (in red) for the entire uMhlathuze Municipal area. The Municipality is
currently in process of further negotiating the Conservation Plan with eZemvelo KZN Wildlife.
FIGURE 6 : DRAFT CONSERVATION PLAN FOR THE CITY OF UMHLATHUZE (Source:
FutureWorks 2004)
OTHER SPATIAL INFORMATION NECESSARY TO INFLUENCE SUSTAINABLE PLANNING
Formerly, urban planning primarily focussed on social and economic indicators to influence where
and how development should take place. However, with the onset of the global mandate for
environmentally sustainable development, this planning focus now has to expand to include the
environment as a priority. This is not always easy for planners, since in most cases, the
environmental information available to them is at an inappropriate scale, if available at all.
In the last three years, the Environmental Planning Section of the uMhlathuze Municipality placed
a lot of emphasis on gathering relevant environmental information to aid in decision-making.
In this paper the focus was placed on biodiversity-related information, but to address the
numerous environmental constraints that exist in uMhlathuze, the Environmental Planning Section
also focussed on:
1.
geohydrological information to determine buffers around important hydrological
assets, to identify areas of concern and to establish an updateable water quality
database;
2.
geotechnical information to determine areas where development can take place
without restriction, areas that are developable with minor or costly constraints and
areas where development should not take place;
3.
floodlines and flood risk; and
4.
air quality buffer zones or separation distances, using ambient air quality limits, to
ensure that incompatible land uses are located in a way that minimises impacts
caused to people or the environment by noise, odour or polluting air emissions.
13
The information is available in GIS format, and by overlaying these maps could be used to identify
areas of opportunity and areas where development constraints would be prevalent.
LESSONS LEARNT:
Biodiversity issues in the City of uMhlathuze have lead to various conflict situations between
developers and environmentalists. As a result of the pressure on Municipalities to provide basic
services and employment opportunities to the poor, the authority is mostly in favour of
development. Environmental concerns have, however, received more attention due to changes in
legislation and impacts on the resident’s lifestyle as a result of unsustainable planning and
development.
In terms of biodiversity concerns, the following lessons have been learnt:
Lesson 1
:
“Biodiversity” vs. “Environmental Services”
Instead of identifying and declaring conservation-worthy areas a “no-go”, the Strategic Catchment
Assessment undertaken on behalf of the uMhlathuze Municipality stresses the “environmental
services” that the environment provides for free. The experience has been positive - politicians
reacted negatively to the term “biodiversity”, but more positively once they realized that
environmental services have an economic value. Through this process, the value of environmental
services was estimated at R1,7 billion per annum.
The following table presents the annual value of each of the key ecosystem services supplied by
the natural assets of the uMhlathuze Municipality. In uMhlathuze, nutrient cycling and waste
management, water supply, water regulation, flood and drought management are some of the
most highly valued services.
TABLE 1 : ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (Source: FutureWorks 2004)
Ecosystem Services
Estimated annual
value (millions)
Atmosphere regulation - CO2, etc
R 23,39
Climate regulation - urban heat sinks
R 0,00
Flood and drought management
R 244,11
Water regulation - timing, rate
R 137,39
Water supply - volume
R 297,92
Erosion control
R 16,10
Soil formation
R 0,65
Nutrient cycling
R 714,90
Waste treatment - assimilation and dilution
R 137,74
Ecosystem services
Estimated annual
value (millions)
Pollination - legume and fruit crops
R 1,53
Disease and pest control
R 9,74
Refugia - for wildlife and nursery for fisheries
R 15,90
Food production
R 30,18
Raw materials - housing, medicinals, craft
R 20,90
Genetic resources - chemicals
R 2,33
Recreation
R 37,73
Cultural
R 67,20
Annual total value (millions)
R 1,757,72
As different habitats deliver each of these services in the uMhlathuze Municipal Area, it is
important to understand the total value of these habitats. It is clear that water-related habitats
generate some of the greatest values in terms of service delivery. Wetlands have a particularly
high value, relating to the high costs of trying to replace a vital but finite resource.
TABLE 2 : VALUE OF SERVICES PER ECOSYSTEM (Source: FutureWorks 2004)
Value of services per ecosystem
Dams & lakes
Floodplains – disturbed
Floodplains - undisturbed
Forest – coastal
Forest – dunes
Forest - riparian and swamp
Grasslands – primary
Grasslands – utility
Grasslands – secondary
Estimated annual
value (millions)
R 162,54
R 32,54
R 27,42
R 34,12
R 37,36
R 29,62
R 9,37
R 0,06
R 4,62
Value of services per ecosystem
Rivers & streams
Sandy beaches & foredunes
Thicket – alien plants
Thicket
Wetlands – estuarine
Wetlands
Savanna/woodlands
Nearshore ocean
Total annual value (millions)
14
Estimated annual
value (millions)
R 49,47
R 1,67
R 3,53
R 3,90
R 433,47
R 570,89
R 9,52
R 347,62
R 1,757,72
The above also highlights the importance that water quality management should play in the
management of ecosystems in uMhlathuze.
Lesson 2
:
Presentation of Information
Text-only documents are often not user-friendly and often end up as reference material in a library.
The aim of the Strategic Catchment Assessment was to provide information in an easy-tounderstand format without too much text that would be used on a day-to-day basis for decisionmaking by planners, engineers, the public and other decision-makers. The result is very colourful
A3 document, with numerous maps, pictures, graphs, tables, etc.
The one drawback of this approach is that the paper format of the document is expensive to
reproduce, and the electronic format is difficult to e-mail to interested parties as a result of the size
of the document.
Lesson 3
:
Ongoing Education
Ongoing environmental education is a key issue that has been identified during this process. Full
understanding of the importance of biodiversity and conservation can only follow once politicians,
developers, planners, residents, etc. have been educated.
Lesson 4
:
The role of planners in sustainable development and biodiversity
conservation
Planning aims to integrate social and economic development needs with environmental resources
available. If sustainable development is to be achieved, urban planners should be empowered to
incorporate environmental concerns, such as biodiversity, into spatial planning.
Spatial planning is concerned with “where” development could take place, and it is therefore
important for environmental practitioners to present information to planners in a spatial format that
could easily be incorporated into planning.
The Strategic Catchment Assessment and Environmental Services Management Plans fulfilled a
critical role in improving decision-making, by:
1.
providing updateable information at the right scale and in the right format (GIS), which
was previously not accessible;
2.
identifying strategic sustainability issues that should be addressed by the Municipality;
3.
highlighting the role of biodiversity in providing free services to the Municipality;
4.
providing a baseline from which more detailed assessments could be undertaken;
5.
proactively avoiding environment impact by means of improved planning instead of
managing the environment reactively; and
6.
alleviating the conflict between conservationists and developers during the EIA
process, since the Municipality’s planners have “done their homework” in terms of nogo areas that should be protected.
15
REFERENCES
DEAT (2000). Guideline Document: Strategic Environmental Assessment in South Africa,
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Pretoria, South Africa.
FutureWorks (2004). uMhlathuze Strategic Catchment Assessment : A tool for sustainable land
use management and planning. Report prepared for the uMhlathuze Municipality.
FutureWorks (2005). uMhlathuze Environmental Services Management Policy. Policy prepared for
the uMhlathuze Municipality.
FutureWorks (2005). uMhlathuze Environmental Services Management Plans. Report prepared for
the uMhlathuze Municipality.
Institute of Natural Resources (2003). Integrating Catchments into Spatial Planning Phase 1 –
Natural Areas Identification, Mapping and Functionality Assessment. Report prepared for
the uMhlathuze Municipality.
O’Connor and Associates (2003). Identification and prioritisation of Red Data Book Species and
other conservation-worthy species in KZ282. Report prepared for the uMhlathuze
Municipality.
O’Connor and Associates (2003). EZemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Conservation Targets for KZ282.
Report prepared for the uMhlathuze Municipality.
UMhlathuze Municipality (2005) Key statistics for the uMhlathuze area. online Available at
http://www.richemp.org.za . Date of access August 2005.
16