Developments and poor management practices in mountain areas are increasing on private and government land and mountain wilderness is shrinking. Threats to South African mountains are numerous but mainly fall under the headings of unsustainable land use practices and potentially threatening situations.

Unsustainable land use practices include:

    • Over-burning of indigenous mountain vegetation, which has devastating and severe effects on mountain vegetation
    • Cultivation, even on moderately steep mountain slopes, which leads to erosion. The loss of vegetation cover has several consequences, namely landslides, siltation of dams, drying up of perennial streams, flash floods downstream and loss of biotic diversity
    • Plantations of imported invasive tree species located in mountain catchments which cause a massive loss of run-off
    • Over-grazing in fragile mountain areas which leads to loss of natural vegetation
    • Badly located and unsuitable infrastructure which has an accumulative adverse effect on mountain ecology and landscapes, leading to loss of natural vegetation cover and to pollution.

Potentially threatening situations include the following:

    • South African mountains are not high in global terms and therefore affords easy access for exploitation to core wilderness areas
    • Many largely unspoilt public mountain reserves are being developed for eco-tourism to provide funds for management and other government agendas
    • Some private land owners are now looking at developing their mountain land to gain short-term benefits for economic survival
    • Politics and the resultant insecurity of title usually leads to exploitation of land in the short term, which could have a noticeable impact on mountains
    • Lack of respect for the natural environment is often at the root of abuse of mountain land
    • Climate change takes its toll. If carbon dioxide levels double by 2050, some of the Cape fynbos, for example, will disappear as it will be unable to adapt to climate/atmospheric changes.

Strategies for the future

Although South Africa does not have a formal mountain management policy, various partnerships are working together towards achieving sustainable development in mountains. There is a need to include mountain communities in decision-making regarding mountain management and to ensure that these communities derive benefits from ecotourism. More projects aimed at environmental education and job creation for mountain communities need to be initiated.

International Mountain Day

International Mountain Day is celebrated every year on 11 December. The day gives an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the situation of and constraints in mountain development and to build partnerships that will bring positive change to the world’s mountains and highlands.

 

Sources:
http://www.fao.org/

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