SAEON Node update

"We want more of this kind of workshop." Educators from the Phalaborwa high schools got to learn more about environmental science and its practical applications at a Teachers Support Workshop held by SAEON at Letaba restcamp in the Kruger National Park. (Picture © SAEON)

SAEON Ndlovu Node

'It was too good to be true'
- Joe Sibiya, Environmental Science Outreach Officer, SAEON Ndlovu Node

During the weekend of 17-18 February 2006, twelve educators from the local (Phalaborwa) high schools attended a Teachers Support Workshop on environmental science at Letaba restcamp in the Kruger National Park (KNP), the first in a series of workshops planned by the SAEON Ndlovu Node.

Patience Mdungasi of the KNP's People and Conservation initiative, and Raymond Duba of the Palabora Foundation's education unit gave up some of their leisure time to liaise closely with SAEON and be part of this historic occasion.

The workshop included presentations by:

• SAEON Ndlovu Node manager Dr Dave Balfour - "Our changing world" and "Elephant management in the KNP",
• KNP's Hendrik Sithole - "The role of invertebrates in the KNP ecosystem",
• Transvaal Museum's Dr Rob Toms - "Mopani worm ecology and sustainable harvesting", and
• KNP's Dr Andrew Deacon - "Biodiversity, using the fig tree as an example".

Seeing the educators (even the most reserved ones) engaged in group discussions, emphasised that workshops like these are the way to go in teaching. Educators said after the workshop, "We want more of this kind of workshop".

SAEON's education outreach coordinator, Sibongile Mokoena commented: "Again, this is to say it was too good to be true. How can you get it so right the first time? You have set this standard, now you have to keep it. You put in a lot of effort, sleepless nights and it worked."

Another workshop, Introduction to Ecology is planned for April 22. It will involve an eight-hour guided walk (field trip) for educators on Makhushane Hill near Namakgale Township, Phalaborwa.

Core site selection process largely completed

The process of deciding on the logic to be used in an interactive way with stakeholders and GIS interrogation to determine the core research sites for the Ndlovu Node has been largely completed and will be sent to reviewers for comment shortly.

The mandate of the SAEON Technical Steering Committee is to establish one or two core monitoring sites at each node. It is envisaged that this site (approximately 1km²) will serve as the focus of intensive monitoring conducted by node staff and will provide reference data sets for other less intensely sampled monitoring sites.

There are a number of criteria that core sites should meet in terms of requirements such as representivity, accessibility, and security of tenure. However, the mandate is broad.

The core site selection process also the subject of a poster Dr Dave Balfour, Manager of the SAEON Ndlovu Node, presented at the SAEON Summit, entitled Ndlovu Node: a logic for determining a core site for long-term monitoring. The poster details the process that has been adopted and the logic that has been developed to narrow the options down to the final site (or possibly two sites).

It details an interactive GIS process (not unlike conservation planning processes) where inappropriate sites are excluded, as well as stakeholder workshops where the benefits of the remaining areas (such as existing legacy data) are maximised.

SAEON Node for the Coastal Inshore Zone

Safeguarding coastal environmental quality through observation science
- Johan Pauw, Head of SAEON

The development of a SAEON Node for the coastal-Inshore zone is a major step forward for coastal communities because down the line they will have access to information about the status of the coastal environment where they live and make a living. Not only will scientifically collected data be stored at the Node, but information tools will be produced that will assist environmental governance at all levels, from the bottom up.

At the same time scientists and students will start to share their data freely and this will provide opportunities for incremental growth in our understanding of how the coastal-inshore zone functions, what it consists of and how it is changing over time.

The Node will obviously not have the financial resources and human capacity to monitor the zone continuously and will therefore designate a number of strategically chosen research areas on which it will concentrate. When the data from these sites are combined and analysed, scientists will be able to show and predict trends in environmental quality, one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of South Africa.

The Node will not become an environmental activist, because its mandate is confined to that of science and technology. Rather, the Node will be an independent source of information and all the stakeholders and players in the coastal-inshore zone should contribute to and use the Node appropriately and accurately.

With regard to human capacity development and in addition to being a training platform for research students, the Node will develop an education outreach programme that will initially focus on providing forums for local science educators to share their experiences and ideas with each other and with scientists.

Furthermore, the Node will assist science educators to establish hands-on environmental monitoring programmes for their schools and in that way build up a portfolio of scientific methods, data and understanding that will be transferred from class to class over the years to come. We are confident that we will produce many a budding marine scientist in this way.

The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) was chosen from among other competitors to host the Node because of its open access culture and also its strategic central positioning in the Eastern Cape within the context of the 3000 km South African coastline that the node has to cover. SAIAB is a leading, vibrant and growing research institute and therefore an excellent platform for the Node. Both SAEON and SAIAB will benefit from the collaboration due to the increased critical mass that will be gained by the joining of intellectual capacity and skills.

On the administrative side, the South African taxpayer gains by SAEON's reliance on SAIAB's support, as this does away with any unnecessary duplication of staff, equipment and systems.