UNDP-GEF Grasslands Project: Conserving Mountain Biodiversity in Southern Lesotho

The Kingdom of Lesotho contains some 70% of the Drakensberg-Maloti Mountains, recognised as the Eastern Mountains Centre of Biodiversity and Endemism of southern Africa. The Mountains have globally significant plant diversity, with unique habitats and high endemism. These resources have been increasingly degraded by a grazing regime based on communal access, with reduced regulatory capability. Lack of ownership has restricted investment in conservation. Lesotho has the lowest Protected Area coverage of any nation in Africa (\u3c0.4%). Biodiversity is thus at risk