干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Most of the bird species in the Succulent and Nama Karoo, South Africa, are represented in statutory protected areas. However, representation in larger protected areas (>10 km(2)) is poor, particularly in the Succulent Karoo. Priority species for protection are the Karoo endemic birds, dryland and aquatic nomadic species, and larks (Alaudidae). Localities that are species-poor, but rich in Karoo-endemic species, lack protected areas, and it is to these parts of the Karoo that conservation initiatives should be directed. We used a Geographical Information System (GIS) approach and databases compiled by the Southern African Bird Atlas Project and Cape Nature Conservation to identify parts of the Succulent and Nama Karoo that contain particular elements of the avifauna, and identified a set of localities in the Succulent and Nama Karoo that could be further investigated for suitable potential protected sites. All of the potential protected sites are in rangelands in the Karoo and are currently used for livestock production. We considered the effect of the removal of productive rangelands from livestock ranching and concluded that this might be important to the national economy if the area was large and particularly productive. Fifteen quarter-degree squares (QDS) were identified as first-tier priorities for further investigation for protected areas, 11 QDS as second-tier priorities and a block of squares in the north central Nama Karoo as worthy of investigation for protected areas.