Home
Forgot your password?
Forum coordinates research in Lowveld
|
- Nikki Stevens, Data Scientist, SAEON Ndlovu Node
Following on from the tradition started by Dr Mike Peel of the Agricultural Research Council’s Range and Forage Institute, SAEON has successfully organised the latest annual Lowveld Coordinated Research Forum (Locores).
Locores was started by Dr Peel in 1991 as a means of communicating important and relevant scientific findings to the conservation community in the area. The Locores Forum and the close link between management and research in the Lowveld’s private protected areas was one of the factors behind the region being chosen for SAEON’s first long-term environmental observation node – the SAEON Ndlovu Node.
Over the years, as the following increased, SAEON became actively involved to maximise its contact with the Lowveld research and conservation community. This year’s Forum was attended by 60 people, comprised of land-owners, conservationists, interested members of the public and conservation managers.
The event, hosted by Thornybush Private Game Reserve , was held at a bush camp within the reserve. Presentations revolved around the themes of conservation, management and research, with the aim of keeping people informed of new developments in research and management philosophies, as well as important conservation initiatives in the area.
Management
Robert Buitenwerf of SAEON discussed his findings from a long-term data set looking at how grass species composition and productivity has changed over time in the private reserves in the area. He explained how these changes are related to management actions and the local environment.
Dr Peel explained and discussed the philosophy of holistic land management, which had been the subject of a large workshop in the Kruger National Park a few weeks prior to the Locores meeting.
Research
SAEON presented some of its research and monitoring initiatives in the area. SAEON registered student, Edward Kohi gave a presentation on the research he is conducting in the private reserves. He showed that elephant browsing causes a positive response in browsed trees. In the time following the browsing event, the browsed areas put out more leaves which stay greener for longer. However, these effects vary depending on which geology type the trees occur on.
Dr Wayne Twine of Wits Rural Facility updated the audience about the resource utilisation and HIV impact research being undertaken in the communal rangelands in the Acornhoek region. The research revealed how households impacted by AIDS-related and non-AIDS-related deaths utilise the natural resources in the area differently.
Conservation
Debbie Thompson, one of the founding members of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere region (under which the most of the Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa regions fall), gave a talk on recent developments in the biosphere region and revealed some exciting sustainability and conservation initiatives currently in progress. One such project aims to provide incentives for fruit farmers in the region to convert to organic farming methods by setting up a contract with a German organic juice manufacturer.
Cailey Owen and Monika Ogden of Leopard Ecological Assessment presented the beginnings of a national leopard conservation initiative which promises to reveal considerable information about the status of the leopard in South Africa.
