Service Contract No 2007 / 147-446 Strategic ... - Swaziland

5.4.3 Expected impacts in absence of the NASBiodiversity in Swaziland is under increasing threats to both its distribution as well as itscomposition. The threats extend beyond just land conversions to cane but include severalother activities that are causing its decline or degradation.Many species in Swaziland have declining populations, some of which have already goneextinct such as the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). A necessary first step to conservation isan assessment of species status to identify and, where possible, quantify rates of decline.Swaziland has produced two recent red data lists; one for plants (Dlamini and Dlamini, 2002)and one for vertebrates (Monadjem et al, 2003a). The former list has been updated for trees(Loffler and Loffler, 2005).A total of 132 species of vertebrates are listed in this book, consisting of 11 species of fish, 4species of amphibians, 14 species of reptiles, 55 species of birds and 48 species ofmammals (Table 13). These threatened species represent between 9-20% of the totalnumbers of fishes, amphibians, reptiles and birds occurring in Swaziland, but a significant38% of the mammalian fauna. When only the high risk categories are considered (i.e.regionally extinct, critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable), the threatened birdsand mammals represent between 7-9% of their total species richness, while the fishes,amphibians and reptiles represent between 2-4% of their diversities. Therefore, in bothabsolute and relative terms, birds and mammals are disproportionately threatened inSwaziland.Table 13:Summary of the number of vertebrates in each threat categoryNumber of speciesThreat category Fishes Amphibians Reptiles Birds MammalsRegionally Extinct 0 1 (2%) 0 7 (1%) 3 (1%)Critically endangered 3 0 0 1 0Endangered 1 0 0 12 3Vulnerable 2 0 2 14 6Sub-total (threatened) 6 (10%) 0 2 (2%) 27 (5%) 9 (7%)Sub-total (others) 5 3 12 21 36Total 11 (18%) 4 (9%) 14 (13%) 55 (11%) 48 (37%)Values in brackets represent the percentage of the total indigenous fauna occurring in SwazilandOf the 34 high risk species of birds, 13 (38%) species are birds of prey and a further 9 (26%)species are water birds (or birds associated with wetlands). These two groups of birds,therefore, account for almost two-thirds of threatened birds (Monadjem and Rasmussen,2008), even though they only represent less than one-third of the species diversity. Of the 12high risk species of mammals, 9 (75%) are either ungulates or large carnivores (>10 kg).These four groups (birds of prey, water birds, ungulates and large carnivores) account for61% of all high risk vertebrates.A total of 305 species of plants have been included in the red data list for the country,representing 9% of the total plant species richness. However, 62 species (2%) arethreatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable), while 155 species are datadeficient.In the absence of the NAS, biodiversity decline will continue due to several other threatsaffecting biodiversity around the country.Land degradation, fragmentation of habitats, alien plant invasions and rapid degradation ofthe biological resources are the key challenges to be addressed by the country. The variouspolicy and legislative initiatives launched by government since Rio have so far remainedRDMU (Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Adaptation Strategy) - Page 70