Accounts for Protected Areas report, 1990 to 2020: some key findings

Key findings from the accounts for protected areas were extracted at the national, provincial and biome level, showing the size and composition of the protected area estate from 1900 to 2020 across seven different types of protected areas. This period was divided into 11 accounting periods, with 20-year intervals from 1900 to 1960, ten-year intervals from 1960 to 2000, and five-year intervals from 2000 to 2020.

Land-based protected area estate covers 9,2% of the mainland South Africa

●       The closing stock of protected areas in 2020 was 11 280 684 ha, meaning that the land-based protected area estate covered 9,2% of the mainland surface area of South Africa. In other words, for every 100 square metres of land across the country, just over 9 square metres are protected and managed for biodiversity conservation.

●       The protected area types that contribute most to the protected area estate are Nature Reserves, National Parks, and Protected Environments.

●       At the end of 2020, Nature Reserves accounted for 4,1% of the mainland area and made up 44,5% of the protected area estate.

●       At the end of 2020, National Parks made up 3,5% of the mainland area and contributed 37,4% to the protected area estate.

●       At the end of 2020, Protected Environments, despite being a relatively recent type of protected area, made the third largest contribution to the protected area estate. They contributed 7,1% to the protected area estate and covered 0,7% of mainland area. The largest increase in absolute terms was in the most recent accounting period 2015 to 2020, during which 507 116 ha was declared as protected environment.

●       In the accounting period 2015 to 2020, the extent of the land-based protected area estate increased more than it did in the previous 15 years combined. It increased by nearly 1,2 million ha, representing a 11,7% increase in the protected area estate.

The most protected provinces by proportion and by area protected

●       The contribution to the protected area estate has differed substantially across provinces and across time periods.

●       At the end of 2020, the proportion of provinces protected varied from 3,6% in North West province to 22,0% in Mpumalanga.

●       The most extensively protected province in terms of the proportion of the province protected was Mpumalanga, with just under 1,7 million ha and 22,0% of the province protected at the end of 2020.

●       Limpopo province makes up 10,3% of South African mainland and at the end of 2020, 2 429 536 ha had been protected. In absolute terms, Limpopo had the largest extent of protected area across all provinces and contributed 21,5% to the country’s total protected area estate and protected 19,3% of the province.

●       The Northern Cape makes up 30,6% of the South African mainland and at the end of 2020, 2 043 328 ha was protected. This was the second largest extent of protected area of all the provinces, and while protected areas in the Northern Cape contributed 18,1% to the country’s total protected area estate, it amounted to only 5,5% of the province.

●       Over the period between 2000 and 2020, the largest increase in proportion of province protected was seen in Gauteng and Eastern Cape.

The proportion of each biome protected has increased over time

●       At the end of 2020, the Forest Biome was the most well protected biome with 40,1% of the biome protected. Fynbos and Desert biomes both had the second largest proportion protected with 22,4% of the biome protected.

●       The Desert biome was not protected until the end of 2000 accounting period when 104 635 ha was declared as the Richtersveld National Park, which is part of the |Ais-|Ai-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

●       The biomes with the largest increase in the extent of protected areas over the five-year period from 2015 to 2020, were the Nama-Karoo (105,5% increase) and Albany Thicket (42,5% increase).

●       The proportion of the Nama-Karoo biome protected more than doubled from 0,9% at the end of 2000 to 2,2% at the end of 2020. Despite this, the Nama-Karoo biome had the lowest proportion its area protected by the end of 2020.

●       The Albany Thicket biome makes up 2,4% of South African mainland and by the end of 2020, 377 082 ha had been protected. The proportion of the Albany Thicket biome protected increased from 6,5% at the end of 2000 to 12,9% at the end of 2020, which means that the size of the protected area in this biome almost doubled between 2000 and 2020. This is largely attributable to the declaration of nearly 150 000 ha of Protected Environment.

●       The Grassland biome had the second largest absolute increase in area protected since 2000, with 503 103 ha protected. Despite this, the biome still had the second lowest proportion of biome protected at the end of 2020 (second to Nama-Karoo biome).

●       The Succulent Karoo biome makes up 6,9% of the country and is part of a global biodiversity hotspot that stretches into southern Namibia. At the end of 2020, 620 489 ha had been protected. The proportion of the Succulent Karoo biome protected more than doubled from 3,4% at the end of 2000 to 7,4% at the end of 2020.