Less than x% of river extent is considered Well Protected, placing rivers among the least protected ecosystems in South Africa. A whole catchment approach is needed to bend the curve on river conservation, as rivers are highly connected linear ecosystems that may be impacted by human activities throughout their catchment. Xx of rivers within Protected Areas that were assessed to be Poorly Protected due to their ecological condition may be prime targets for effective restoration.
13%
of 222 river ecosystem types
Well Protected
of 222 river ecosystem types
Well Protected
61%
of 222 river ecosystem types
Not protected
of 222 river ecosystem types
Not protected
Approximately #% of the country’s river length occurs in protected areas. Of the rivers within protected areas, only #% of these were assessed to be in a natural or near-natural condition. For this reason, only #% of river ecosystem types in South Africa are considered Moderately to Well Protected1 while #% are considered Not Protected2.
The rivers of northern KwaZulu-Natal, Lowveld and Succulent Karoo are generally less threatened than other regions of the country. Protection levels are particularly low in the northern interior of the country, reflecting the spatial distribution of the current protected areas network.
In terms of river geomorphological zone, only 16% of the river ecosystem types within the lower foothill and mountain stream zones are Well Protected. More than half of lowland river ecosystem types are Not Protected (61%), reflecting the bias of the protected area network towards mountain versus lowland areas. It is evident that formal protection does not guarantee biodiversity conservation as rivers are highly connected linear ecosystems that may be impacted by human activities throughout their catchment. A whole catchment and OECM approach, including conservation corridors, to river conservation is therefore required since most land-based protected areas were not designed to protect rivers.
| Zone | Well Protected | Moderately Protected | Poorly Protected | Not Protected | Total | Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Depression | 5.0000 | 2.0000 | 12.000 | 3.0000 | 22.000 | count |
| Floodplain | 2.0000 | 1.0000 | 10.000 | 6.0000 | 19.000 | count |
| Seep | 2.0000 | 4.0000 | 8.000 | 7.0000 | 21.000 | count |
| Unchannelled valley-bottom | 0.0000 | 3.0000 | 11.000 | 6.0000 | 20.000 | count |
| Total count | 9.0000 | 10.0000 | 41.000 | 22.0000 | 82.000 | count |
| Depression | 277.1032 | 115.0607 | 5547.704 | 1713.5289 | 7653.397 | extent |
| Floodplain | 928.4678 | 560.1942 | 10315.630 | 1913.9062 | 13718.198 | extent |
| Seep | 202.9078 | 423.0544 | 2393.020 | 1934.8550 | 4953.837 | extent |
| Unchannelled valley-bottom | 0.0000 | 785.6035 | 2338.487 | 457.2984 | 3581.389 | extent |
| Total extent | 1408.4788 | 1883.9129 | 20594.840 | 6019.5884 | 29906.820 | extent |
Download the data here.
[photo]
It is encouraging that the extent of river length within the Protected Area network has increased by 10% / xx km [check] since the previous NBA analysis and that there is increased attention to rehabilitation of freshwater ecosystems within National Parks [cite] and Provincial Nature Reserves [cite]. While mountain streams have always enjoyed a stronger coverage than other river zones, it is [positive] to see an improved protected extent of lowland rivers as we strive to ensure that a well represented range of river types and geomorphological zones are conserved.
Rivers along PA boundaries are not considered well-protected.
Methods
[Link to EPL_explained.qmd] Ecosystem Protection Level measures how well represented South Africa’s river ecosystem types3 are within the Protected Areas4 network.
We measured whether 30% of every river ecosystem type falls within a Protected Area. This is the current “target” we have set for our river ecosystems. This target is met if 100% of a river ecosystem type target (i.e the entire 30%) falls within the Protected Area network. The extent of each ecosystem type within the Protected Areas network is expressed as a proportion (target) of the total extent of that type. For the previous National Biodiversity Assessment (2018), the Ecosystem Protection Level target was set at 20% for freshwater ecosystems, but with the adoption of the 30% targets for Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the Ecosystem Protection Level target has been increased to 30% in the EPL calculations.
Importantly, the current condition of the river is also taken into consideration in the calculation. Ecosystem condition data [for each time point], was derived from the WRC-DWS Present Ecological State xxxx project. This allowed that only good condition river reaches were able to be considered as representative of Well Protected status; [while for MP PP and NP the condition of the rivers is used to calculate their contribution to meeting targets - higher integrity / condition rivers contribute more to meeting PA targets than low integrity / condition rivers.]
There are four classes of protection and they are calculated as follows: Well Protected: 100% of a river ecosystem type’s target falls within the Protected Area network; but only rivers in an A and B condition are considered to contribute; Moderately Protected: 50% to 99% of a river ecosystem type’s target falls within the Protected Area network; and rivers in an A and B condition contribute 100%, rivers in a C and D condition contribute 30%, while E and F condition rivers contribute only 10%; Poorly Protected: 5% to 49% of a river ecosystem type’s target falls within the Protected Area network; and A&B condition rivers contribute 100%, C and D condition rivers contribute 30%, E and F condition rivers contribute 10%; Not Protected: less than 5% of a river ecosystem type’s target falls within the Protected Area network; and A and B condition rivers contribute 100%, C and D condition rivers contribute 30%, E and F condition rivers contribute 10%.
Acknowledgements
Michael Silberbauer, WRC and DWS project team and specialists, SANParks assessment
Technical documentation
Github repositories
Skowno. 2025. Methodology and R code.
Data availability
The following datasets and their associated metadata are available for download from the indicated data repository:
BGIS Map of Ecosystem Protection Level of South Africa’s river ecosystem types
Recommended citation
Job, N.M., Skowno, A.L., other names xx. 2025. Freshwater (inland aquatic) realm - River Ecosystem Protection Level (EPL). National Biodiversity Assessment 2025. South African National Biodiversity Institute. http://nba.sanbi.org.za
Notes
Well-protected ecosystem types are those where 100% of the target for an ecosystem type is included in one or more protected areas, and overall condition is xxx.↩︎
Under-protected ecosystem types are those categorised as Not Protected, Poorly Protected and Moderately Protected in the protection level assessment.↩︎
River ecosystem types [link to page] are xxx.↩︎
Protected Areas include xxx↩︎