South Africa’s Golden Gate Highlands National Park management plan: Critical reflections

Protected Areas and Ecosystem Services — Integrating Grassland Conservation with Human Well-Being in South Africa

“…Anecdotal evidence from the interviews suggest that in some cases grass is harvested illegally, thus limiting the benefits that should trickle to local communities. This has also been found in a previous study conducted in the same park [27]. Although the current park management plan (compiled in 2011) provides the legal framework for the managing of natural resources at Golden Gate, the plan fails to quantify and account for the resources that are being harvested by adjacent communities.…”

“…If managed properly, grass and grass harvesting can provide a long-term sustainable benefit to neigbouring communities and economic institutions, but the guidelines for such harvesting need to be set clearly in the park's management plan. Consequently, as previously pointed out [27], there is a clear need to monitor, evaluate and set the boundaries for grass harvesting in the park, and to clearly stipulate these limitations in the management plan. This problem, however, is not unique to Golden Gate, as there is a general lack of published research on resource extraction from national parks in South Africa, as well as from protected areas in general.…”

High genetic diversity of spider species in a mosaic montane grassland landscape

“…[33], it is the only National Park in the Free State Province of South Africa. The park itself is classified as a montane grassland [34], with a variety of fragmented and insular shrubland patches occurring throughout the grassland matrix, most prominently in ravines and gorges [35].…”