Project Site: Threats

Veld management:
Owing to the site's very close proximity to the suburbs of Treverton, with several homes abutting the site to the north and northwest, the inclusion of fire as a tool to manage the veld's quality is currently out of the question due to the associated risk to life and property. This sadly entails a threat to the site as the vegetation will eventually degrade past maturity (it's current age) and in a few years time, become increasingly senescent. Evidence of this change is already present in the form of many naturalized exotics, including species of Verbena, Oenothera, and Tagetes, beginning to encroach in abundance in the lower and upper regions of the slope catena where seasonal moisture is most prevalent and widespread. Some property owners to the south occasionally burn (atleast once every 2 years) their fields near the riverbank to promote fresh graze for their livestock. It would be beneficial to convince these landowners to extend their burns to atleast the southern most limits of the project site (burning any further would most likely require a trained crew to contain the fire within the grassland). However, as the ownership status of the plot is still uncertain, this is currently unfeasible

Pollution:
There are certain area's within the project site where construction rubble is dumped, likely relating to the maintenance of nearby Eskom electricity pilons. There are also several areas where household refuse and garden litter is dumped, the latter posing a threat to the biological integrity of the site from alien invasive organisms

Livestock:
Seasonal grazing occurs within the project site each year, predominantly between the months of October and February where the grazing value of the grassland in the site reaches its peak. Due to the size of the herds passing through here (>100 goats, >25 cattle), there is a risk to the plant life within the site should it be exposed for too long a period to grazing

Other Threats:
Other threats which do not pose a direct danger to the site but contribute to harmful factors such as continuing fragmentation include wood harvesting, as well as a lesser degree of light pollution owing to the site's geographical location between settlements

Posted on March 26, 2021 10:29 AM by anthonywalton