The proportion of bird, butterfly, mammal and plant species’ ranges remaining in an untransformed state was quantified. As the results indicate some of these areas have a high biodiversity value, land reform programs should therefore refrain from promoting cultivation on marginal lands in these conflict areas, as they provide the last safe havens for many species.
Most of the arable areas, that are not currently under some form of land-use, are marginal lands where the physical land characteristics demand high input costs, give rise to low yields and are thus not suitable for full scale commercial cultivation. Areas of potential conflict appear to be central Gauteng, the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, Maputuland and the escarpment of Mpumalanga. areas with a high biodiversity value facing large current or future land transformation threats to be identified. Integrating species distribution, land-cover and land capability data allowed for potential conflict areas, i.e. These areas of biodiversity conservation importance were then evaluated in terms of their (1) potential overlap with areas currently transformed by land-uses in the region and (2) potential co-occurrence with areas of natural vegetation cover likely to become cultivated. Plant and animal species distribution data were employed to identify areas of high biodiversity value in the major summer crop production region in north-eastern South Africa. Transformation of natural vegetation to other land-uses, such as crop cultivation and urban development, presents the most important threat to biodiversity.