- Over 30 000 ha (300 km2)
of land within the CMA has some form of conservation status. This represents close to 14%
of its total area of 2 159 km2.
Flora
- Sand Plain Fynbos:
- Less than 1% remaining in the CMA. Highly
fragmented remnants with few, if any, corridors for seed dispersal or recruitment.
- Renosterveld:
- Less than 3% remaining in the CMA, much of
it threatened by mining and urbanization in the Tygerberg Hills.
- Strandveld:
- 32% currently remaining in the CMA. This
figure is, however, falling rapidly due to development on the West Coast and in the south
and south-east near Muizenberg.
- Mountain Fynbos:
- Well conserved in Cape Peninsula National
Park, but experiences a high degree of infestation by alien vegetation. The loss of
low-lying wetlands, which breed essential pollinators for Fynbos, is also a cause for
concern.
- 15 core botanical sites have been identified
on the Cape Flats, which contain over 80% of Red Data Book plant species.
Fauna
- Mammals:
- Approximately, 41 mammal species have been
recorded, or are likely to occur on the Cape Peninsula, none of which appear in the South
African Red Data Book for Mammals.
- Avifauna:
- Consolidated data for avifauna biodiversity
of the CMA does not yet exist. The Cape Peninsula supports 155 regularly breeding bird
species. Of these, eight are listed in the South African Red Data Book for Birds. A loss
of habitat has caused the exclusion of some species, such as the Grass Owl, from the CMA.
Certain alien bird species, such as the House Crow and Mallard Duck, are associated with
urban areas. Both are competing with locally indigenous species and the latter is
interbreeding with indigenous species.
- Invertebrates:
- It is estimated that approximately 111
endemic invertebrate species are found in the Cape Peninsula. The CMA is the centre of
diversity for butterflies, with 75 species occurring on the Cape Peninsula and at least
four Red Data Book butterfly species on the Tygerberg.
- Amphibians:
- Of the 18 species recorded on the Cape
Peninsula, four are listed in the South African Red Data Book for Reptiles and Amphibians.
Their status is classified as follows: three endangered and one vulnerable.
- Reptiles:
- Some 48 snake, lizard and tortoise species
have been recorded on the Cape Peninsula. Of the five reptile species mentioned in the
South African Red Data Book on Reptiles and Amphibians, one is endangered, one is
vulnerable and three are rare, with two of these being snakes.
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The following responses are
being undertaken by the CMC:
- The extension of the mapping of core
botanical sites to include other areas and ecosystems of the CMA. A working group of CMC
and MLC representatives has been set up to ensure adequate conservation and management of
these sites.
- An environmental significance mapping
project, which will include for the first time ecosystems mapping of the CMA, has been
commissioned. Environmental Significance Mapping will form a key input to the further
definition and protection of a Metropolitan Open Space System (MOSS) as envisaged in the
MSDF.
- Catchment Management Plans are being
prepared, which inter alia, will determine interim MOSS area demarcation and
management guidelines.
- The Driftsands Implementation and Management
Plan is being developed.
- The mapping of all reserves and protected
areas (national, provincial and local authority reserves and private reserves).
Additional responses underway:
- There are initiatives underway by CMC and
MLCs to declare nature reserves and protected natural environments, e.g. Rietvlei,
Zeekoeivlei and Blaauwberg.
- The Table Mountain Fund, together with the
Global Environment Facility (GEF) of UNEP are currently undertaking a number of studies
and initiatives to support the conservation and management of the Cape Floristic Kingdom,
which includes the CMA.
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