Assessment Report - Cineraria ngwenyensis

	IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
	Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
PLANTAE	TRACHEOPHYTA	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	ASTERALES	ASTERACEAE

Scientific Name:	Cineraria ngwenyensis
Species Authority:	Cron
Common Name/s: -
Synonym/s:	-
Taxonomic Notes:	-

Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:	Vulnerable D2
Year Assessed:	2023
Assessor/s:	Braun, K.
Reviewer/s:	Raimondo, D.
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification: This species has an extremely limited distribution, its known population having declined drastically due to open cast iron ore mining. The surviving population has a distribution with an estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) of less than its area of occupancy (AOO) of 4 km². There is a potential threat from resumption of mining activities in the area which could result in this species becoming Critically Endangered or even Extinct within a short period of time if the mining activities cause loss of habitat for this species. Based on this it has been assessed as Vulnerable under criterion D.
History:	-

Geographic Range
Range Description:	This plant has only been found in the Ngwenya Mine area within Malolotja Nature Reserve, in Eswatini.
Countries:	Native: Eswatini;

Population
Population:	According to Cron et. al. (2006), this species is very rare and restricted in distribution with small subpopulations, currently known from three locations.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology:	The species is found in the grassland biome,vegetation type KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al. 2018). According to Cron et. al. (2006), this species is found in the shade of rocks on mountain north-west facing spurs, near the summit of quartzite ridges.
List of Habitats:	4 Grassland 4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude

Threats
Major Threat(s):	There are five known records, representing five subpopulations, two of these have been lost as a result of the operation of Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine between 1964 and 1979. While mining activity is not currently taking place, feasibility studies for further mining are currently being undertaken. There is therefore the potential for further mining activities and associated infrastructure development having an impact in future.
List of Threats:	3 Energy production & mining 3.2 Mining & quarrying

Threats

Major Threat(s):

There are five known records, representing five subpopulations, two of these have been lost as a result of the operation of Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine between 1964 and 1979. While mining activity is not currently taking place, feasibility studies for further mining are currently being undertaken. There is therefore the potential for further mining activities and associated infrastructure development having an impact in future.

List of Threats:

3 Energy production & mining
3.2 Mining & quarrying

Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions:	The entire distribution of this species falls within Malolotja Nature Reserve. However, in spite of this being a proclaimed protected area, mining activities maybe resumed in the area, potentially affecting the remaining populations of this species. The plant is found on quartzite spurs, so it is possible that the mining activities might not directly be aimed at these areas, but there could be habitat loss due to mining infrastructure being established.
List of Conservation Actions:	3 Species management 3.4 Ex-situ conservation 3.4.2 Genome resource bank

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

The entire distribution of this species falls within Malolotja Nature Reserve. However, in spite of this being a proclaimed protected area, mining activities maybe resumed in the area, potentially affecting the remaining populations of this species. The plant is found on quartzite spurs, so it is possible that the mining activities might not directly be aimed at these areas, but there could be habitat loss due to mining infrastructure being established.

List of Conservation Actions:

3 Species management
3.4 Ex-situ conservation
3.4.2 Genome resource bank

Bibliography
	Bachman, S., Moat, J., Hill, A.W., de la Torre, J. and Scott, B. 2011. Supporting Red List threat assessments with GeoCAT geospatial conservation tool. In: Smith V, Penev L (Eds) e-Infrastructure for data publishing in biodiversity science. . ZooKeys 150: 117-126. Cron, G.V., Balkwill, K. & Knox, E.B. 2006. A revision of the genus Cineraria (Asteraceae, Senecioneae). Kew Bulletin 61: 449-535.

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