South African forests cover less than 1% of the country’s land surface, yet it harbours a diversity of plant and animal species out of proportion to their size. The average national occurrence of species per hectare is the highest for indigenous forests (418 species per ha of the biome) compared to the average 98 species per ha for the fynbos biome, which covers a much larger area. The protection of forests can therefore make a major contribution to biodiversity conservation in the country.

Transkei coastal platform forest Source: DWAF	Western Cape Afrotemperate Forests - Orange kloof, Houtbay Source: DWAF

Following the completion of a national forest type classification for the South African indigenous forests, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) embarked on a strategic national planning programme for forest protected area planning. The main objectives of this process are to determine the relative conservation values (irreplaceability ratings) of forest patches; to assess the the relative socio-economic values of forest patches and threats to these forests; to identify priority forests for protection and to propose appropriate protection categories for the various forest patches. For that purpose DWAF started developing a compu?erised decision-support tool that would assist it in selecting and designing a protected area network that is representative of forest biodiversity (including the protection of representative samples of the national forest types). This computerised system consists of a GIS database with maps and supporting information for over 16 000 forest patches, which can be viewed at national or regional scale depending on the level of protected area planning needed. Information on any forest patch, such as the forest type to which it belongs, its current conservation status etc. can be called up at the click of a button.

This computerised tool will enable DWAF and the relevant conservation agencies (national and regional) to follow a more objective and systematic approach to forest protected area planning.

It is based on the well-tried C-plan conservation planning model applied to other biomes such as the Cape Floral Kingdom and the Succulent Karoo. Available data on the species diversity of forest patches were gathered as a first step. Forest patches of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) were used as the units of analysis, supplemented with other data to fill in some gaps of the NFI. Conservation targets were determined for the forest biome with inputs from various conservation bodies, and through computer analysis. These targets take the diversity of plant and animal species, the occurrence of red data species, the sensitivity of ecosystems, the rarity of forest types and other attributes into account. The KwaZulu Natal Coastal forests for example, have a high conservation target of 71% due to their high biodiversity. These forests are currently under threat from coastal development.

An irreplaceability analysis was done for all the forest patches, based on the conservation targets and the available biodiversity data. GIS maps and supporting spreadsheet databases were generated, indicating a range of conservation values for forests from high irreplaceability (high conservation value) to low irreplaceability (low conservation value). Finally an analysis was done of the extent to which the various forest types are represented in existing protected areas, and how far these fall short of the set conservation targets, and what kind of protection would be most suitable (according to IUCN protected area categories). Where the irreplaceability rating will assist decision-making on which forests to ?rioritise for protection, the suitability analysis will assist in determining which protected area categories should be considered for each of these forests

At further workshops held with stakeholders it was concluded that while this forest protected area planning system is a useful tool for national strategic planning, it should be fine-tuned for the regional level of forest protected area planning. The next phase will be to refine the national protected area planning for forests for implementation at the regional level, by gathering information on the forest subtype level. Consultation with relevant conservation agencies will continue in the development of this decision-support tool, and in its eventual application to protected area planning. This conservation tool has been noted at international conservation fora as a first of its kind – breaking new ground in the field of systematic forest protected area planning.