: IS DURBAN S FLAGSHIP REFORESTATION PROJECT MEETING STATED TARGETS? Kathryn Terblanche, Kevin Kirkman, Hylton Adie, Debra Roberts, Errol Douwes

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1 : IS DURBAN S FLAGSHIP REFORESTATION PROJECT MEETING STATED TARGETS? Kathryn Terblanche, Kevin Kirkman, Hylton Adie, Debra Roberts, Errol Douwes

3 South Africa s major port city Population: 3.5 million Area: km 2 (888 mi 2 ) 30 40% unemployment 37% 20+ completed high school Contains four of South Africa's eight biomes Seven vegetation types Over 2000 indigenous plant taxa Durban is part of a global biodiversity hotspot

Substantial development deficits - created by: shortage of human and financial resources, increasing levels of informality, poor governance, environmental degradation, biodiversity

4 Substantial development deficits - created by: shortage of human and financial resources, increasing levels of informality, poor governance, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, poverty, growing inequality. This ultimately means that environmental projects need to address poverty alleviation and help to reduce inequality to be sustainable in the long term.

5 The Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department (EPCPD) - EThekwini Municipality. Restore natural forest and woodland in the buffer zone of the Buffelsdraai Regional Landfill site. Offset a portion of the carbon emissions related to the hosting of the carbon neutral 2010 FIFA World Cup. Climate change adaptation role to improve city resilience.

6 The location of Buffelsdraai Community Reforestation Project within the ethekwini Municipal Area

Wildlands Conservation Trust s Indigenous Trees for Life concept.

7 100 ha footprint but is surrounded by a 800 ha buffer zone. Initially covered by over 500 ha of sugarcane. Wildlands Conservation Trust s Indigenous Trees for Life concept. Through tree planting, these projects are able to sequester carbon as well as alleviate poverty.

8 Previously sugar cane Depleted seed bank Uplift local communities Quick

9 Forests supply many ecosystem services buffer. Trees are easier to trade. Grasslands are a fire risk to the landfill.

10 To determine whether active restoration implemented at Buffelsdraai will satisfy stated objectives of the restoration program.

11 1. To examine: species richness; species diversity; stem density; species composition; and functional diversity (partially explored). 2. To compare active restoration sites with a reference ecosystem.

12 It is critical for management of the project. This study will: Determine biological composition of sites being restored. Aid adaptive management on site and allow the department to fine-tune/adjust their management of the site. Provide baseline data for monitoring. Is the project meeting its stated goals?

Three active restoration sites. Project planting blocks -2009, 2010 and 2011.

13 Three active restoration sites. Project planting blocks -2009, 2010 and m 2 (2153 ft 2 ) circular plots at each site. Chosen randomly prior to field work.

14 Steel peg with a 7.98 m (26 ft.) length of tape attached to it. Plant identification. Active restoration planted specimens only. 7.98m

15 Are we going in the right direction? Intact forest/woodland patches at Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve. Same methodology (20x 200 m 2 (2153 ft 2 ) random plots). Stems dbh >10 cm (4 in)

17 Stems per hectare Implications: Sprawling trees Grass dominated Fire Competition 0 Site 1 (2009) Site 2 (2010) Site 3 (2011) Mean planting density (stems per ha). Error bars represent 95% CI. All sites below recommended reforestation planting density

18 40 Rarefied species richness Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 (KS) No. of Individuals Tree species encountered per number of individuals through Mao-Tau samplebased rarefaction in EstimateS (Colwell)

19 35 Effective number of species Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 (KS) Species diversity (Shannon exponential) (Chao and Shen, 2010). Error bars represent 95% CI.

20 KS B1 B2 B Differences in communities illustrated by an MDS plot using Bray Curtis similarity (PRIMER 6). Error bars indicate 95% CI.

21 Acacia caffra Acacia karroo Erythrina lysistemon Dalbergia obovata NITROGEN FIXERS / SPRAWLING STRUCTURES / PERSIST IN FIRE Croton sylvaticus Englerophytum natalense Searsia chirindensis Xylotheca kraussiana Drypetes arguta FOREST ONLY Fast growing, sprawling species dominating the reforestation sites, but forest species missing

) Survival Effective number of species 35 30 25

22 Treepreneur choices (Easy to grow? Fast growing?) Seed collection (what's in the vicinity?) Survival Effective number of species Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 (KS) Sites

23 More sun tolerant trees planted now, could act as nurse trees for the forest trees, which can be added at a later stage.

24 Not yet complete Traits Wood density (g/cm 3 ) Seed mass (g) SLA (cm 3 /g) Dispersal mode (CATEGORICAL) Resprouter (CATEGORICAL) Analyses (SPSS) Log transform MANOVA and post hoc tukey - continuous data Chi square - categorical data

Source a good quality forest nearby where seeds can be collected.

25 Increase density to reduce the risk of fire and speed up growth. Increase diversity. Start teaching people to grow forest species. Source a good quality forest nearby where seeds can be collected. Be prescriptive about what trees to be grown. Perhaps offer incentives for the more rare / forest species.

Terblanche (213573257) Kathryn.Terblanche@durban.gov.

27 University of KwaZulu-Natal College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science Grassland Science Masters by Dissertation Kathryn Terblanche ( ) Thanks to: Prof Kevin Kirkman, Dr Hylton Adie, Dr Debra Roberts & Mr Errol Douwes Funding:

Working towards a climate smart African city. Some reflections..

Durban s Municipal Climate Protection Programme Working towards a climate smart African city. Some reflections.. $130 billion Dr. Debra Roberts Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department