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The focus of conservation action, in terms
of biodiversity protection, has shifted from protecting individual
species to conserving habitats and ecosystems. The designation of
protected areas, such as national parks, is one of the most widely
used approaches for conserving conserving biodiversity on all levels
of organisation, i.e. from genes to landscapes (UNEP, 2002).
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| Assessment of
Data |
This indicator identifies areas of high
biodiversity within Mpumalanga province and comprises and
aggregated index of important landscapes, communities and species
that occur within the province. The important community and species
themes included wetlands, forests, vegetation communities,
centres of endemism, cave ecosystems, threatened plants, medicinal
plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish and
invertebrates.
Within the province, 23.6% of land of very
high intrinsic biodiversity value falls within protected areas, with
the sites classified as the lowest biodiversity value receive the
most protection (43.9%). The distribution of sites of intrinsic
biodiversity value, ranked from high to low, as well as the
distribution of protected areas, is indicated on the map below.
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