Private landowners are vital custodians of biodiversity

BirdLife South Africa explains why private landowners’ co-operation can be extremely helpful and is actually essential for the protection of biodiversity.

BirdLife South Africa, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats, understands the importance of the grasslands of South Africa for the conservation of birds and other animals. For this reason, the organisation decided to focus much of its work on the grassland biome. The most recent National Biodiversity Assessment shows that grasslands are one of South Africa's most threatened ecosystems.

Grasslands are highly fragmented and threatened ecosystems due to substantial habitat loss and deterioration. In addition, these sites also support Strategic Water Source Areas (SWSA).

SWSAs provide 50% of the region's water from 8% of the land, making them crucial to conserve in a water-scarce country such as South Africa.

Grasslands host about 20 globally threatened bird species, with 11 endemic to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. These birds are found nowhere else on earth. At least eight of these species are reliant on healthy grasslands, including Southern Bald Ibis

Geronticus calvus, Yellow-breasted Pipit Anthus chloris, Botha's Lark Spizocorys fringillaris, and Rudd's Lark Heteromirafra ruddi.

Unfortunately, grasslands are generally poorly protected, mostly due to the economic importance of this region. Many key economic activities take place in this ecosystem, including mining (especially coal mining), agriculture, cultivation, plantation forestry, and urban settlement.

Generally, the lack of physical barriers such as mountains or large rivers leads to the uncontrolled expansion of these activities, which further influences the hydrology and ecology of the landscape (e.g.

reducing vegetation cover, disrupting the soil profile, and modifying water movement above and below the soil). This can have far-reaching impacts on the ecosystem, service delivery and the economic activities that rely on a healthy environment.