Kruger2Canyons.com

HOEDSPRUIT - The Vhembe region of Limpopo province became South Africa’s sixth biosphere reserve this week, when Unesco announced the addition of 22 new sites to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

These sites, part of Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, are used to experiment with and learn about conservation and sustainable development. In other words, they are “living laboratories” in finding ways to improve people’s relationship with their environment and to reconcile economic development with the conservation of biodiversity.

A golden rhinocerous found at an archaeological dig in the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site.

Vhembe is in north-eastern Limpopo, a region of bushveld dotted with iconic baobab trees and abundant animal and bird life. It also has a rich cultural history that dates back to the San and includes the ancient African kingdoms of Mapungubwe and Thulamela.

The new biosphere reserve includes the northern part of the Kruger National Park, the Makuleke Wetlands Ramsar Site, which lies mostly in the Kruger Park, the Soutpansberg and Blouberg biodiversity hotspots, the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site – an area of mystery and legend which contains the remnants of an ancient African civilisation - and the Makgabeng Plateau, which has more than 1,000 rock art sites.

The main economic activities in the biosphere reserve are agriculture, including subtropical fruit and vegetable farming, cattle and game farming and hunting.

Biosphere reserves share their experience and ideas nationally, regionally and internationally within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. There are 531 sites worldwide in 105 countries.

Labels: biosphere, vhembe

Looking after our natural environment is no longer a cause simply for the conservation-minded. In fact, it may become the only way to ensure a good quality of life in the future, with access to sufficient water, secure food supplies, good health and ultimately even our own survival. It is each individual’s responsibility to make the lifestyle and consumer choices to reduce our personal contribution to the causes of climate change and global warming.

With this in mind, the town of Hoedspruit will be hosting its second annual Sustainable Living Festival.

The Festival will be held over the weekend of the 24th-26th April 2009, at the unique Southern Cross School - home of the phenomenal concept of "Nature-based Education".

SCHEDULE

Friday 24th April

09h30 Festival Opens
10h00 Tourism Workshop – Mike Gardener : School Hall
10h30 Tourism continues – Open Africa : School Hall
10h30 School Public Speaking Competition : Founders Circle
11h00 Tourism continues – Kevin Leo Smith : School Hall
11h30 Tourism continues – Green Leaf Enterprises : School Hall
12h00 Jacaranda Broadcast to start : Festival Grounds
12h30 Biosphere Symposium (Stewardship Programme & Schools in Biospheres): Leadwood Lapa
13h00 Public Speaking Prize Giving : Founders Circle
13h15 Wilderness Vision Pledge Drive : Founders Circle
12h30 Agrisymposium – ZZ2 Natuurboerdery Talk : School Hall
13h30 Agrisymposium – Biogrow talk : School Hall
14h00 Schools Music Festival : Founders Circle
14h30 Agrisymposium – Kevin Leo Smith : School Hall
15h30 Singita Cooking Course : Jackalberry Lodge
16h00 Jacaranda Broadcast to end : Festival Grounds
16h30 Miko Coffee Course : Founders Circle
17h30 Exhibitors Close
17h30 Food & Wine Pairing (Ultimate Wines): Founders Circle
18h00 Wine Tasting (Ultimate Wines) : Founders Circle
18h30 “Spirit of the Beat” drumming circle : Founders Circle
20h00 Founders Circle Closes

Saturday 25th April

07h00 Start of Cycling Race
07h30 Start of Adventure Orienteering Race
09h00 Festival Opens
10h00 Jacaranda Broadcast to start : Festival
10h00 Margaret Roberts Workshop : School Hall
12h00 Adventure and Cycle Race Prize Giving : Founders Circle
13h00 “Die Nutsman” Workshop Founders Circle
14h00 Jacaranda Broadcast to end : Festival Grounds
14h30 Wilderness Vision Pledge Drive : Founders Circle
14h30 Eco Design - Andy Horn : School Hall
16h30 Wine Tasting (Ultimate Wines) : Founders Circle
17h00 Super 14 Rugby – Vodacom Bulls vs Chiefs : Founders Circle
17h45 Prize Giving for “Greenest Blue Bull”
18h30 Exhibitors Close
19h00 Freshlyground Gates Open : Earth Circle
19h30 Southern Cross Drummers & Marimbas : Earth Circle
20h00 Lemongrass to start : Earth Circle
20h30 FRESHLYGROUND to start : Earth Circle
21h30 Concert Ends & After Party : Safari Junction
22h00 Festival Grounds Close

Sunday 26th April

09h00 Festival Opens
09h15 Cobb Building Course
10h00 Sandbag Building Course
10h00 Reptile Demonstration : Founders Circle
11h00 Michelle & Riaan Garforth Venter showcase : Founders Circle
12h30 Grade 2 Eco-play : Founders Circle
13h00 Cotton & Outdoor Clothing Fashion Show : Founders Circle
14h00 School Kids “Recycled” Fashion Show : Founders Circle
15h00 Final Pledge Drive
16h00 Festival Closes

Labels: biosphere, hoedspruit, sustainable living festival

"Benefits for Landowners by Engaging in Biodiversity Conservation"

Friday 24th April, 12h30 - 14h00

The Sustainable Living Festival, in partnership with the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region will be hosting an information sharing session for all land owners on Friday 24th April at Southern Cross School. The session will focus on assisting landowners to participate in biodiversity conservation and derive benefits from it.

Ms Willeen Olivier from DEAT will talk about South Africa's Protected Area Expansion Strategy and how national biodiversity goals can be achieved by involving landowners through the stewardship programme. The Stewardship Programme will assist landowners to get land tax rebates and to derive other benefits.

Mr. Martin Albertus of the Winelands Biosphere will also do a presentation on how they organize their biosphere in close cooperation with Local Government. We are inviting all our municipalities to come and learn from their experience.

Mr. Anthony de Boer of Southern Cross Schools is also going to facilitate a workshop arround a possible "Schools in Biosphere Programme".

Venue: Southern Cross School, Raptor's View Wildlife Estate, Hoedspruit

R20 per adult.

Entrance fee into the festival grounds is required for participation in the Symposium, R10 of this will be donated towards the K2C Educational Trust from each person registering at the Biosphere Symposium

Labels: biosphere, sustainable living festival

Some highlights of next month's inaugural Kruger to Canyons Sustainable Living Festival have now been revealed:

Thursday Night 15th May 2008

STARGAZING & Marshmallow Braai

@ Southern Cross School Pre-primary School

Time: 19h00

Cost: R30 per adult & R20 per child

Tickets available from the Southern Cross School

Friday Night 16th May 2008

Mango Groove Live Concert

@ Southern Cross School - High School Buildings

Time: 19h00 for 19h30

Cost: R200 per person

Tickets Available at Desperate Housewives @ Kamagelo Centre or by email from festival@bushveldconnections.co.za

Saturday Night 17th May 2008

Final Gala Dinner

@ Dumb Waiter Restaurant

Time: 18h30 for 19h00

Cost: R150 per person

Tickets available through festival@bushveldconnections.co.za

Programme for Gala Dinner

Opening Address

Mr Colins Chabane (MEC Limpopo Province): K2C- Two Provinces, One Biosphere

Keynote

Prof Manfred Niekisch (IUCN Regional Counselor, Director Frankfurt Zoo, Germany): "Biodiversity- the basis for Sustainable Development and Poverty Alleviation"

STARTERS

Findings from Biodiversity Day

Ms J Newenham (Scientific Advisor to K2C): The Grassland Biome

Dr M Peel (Agricultural Research Council): The Afro-Montane Biome

MAIN COURSE

Dr M Peel (Agricultural Research Council): The Savannah Biome

Ms J Newenham (Scientific Advisor to K2C): Aquatic Systems

Launch of the "From the Region, For the Region" Project

Ms D Thomson (Project Coordinator for K2C Biosphere)

DESSERT

Message of Support

H E Dieter Walter Haller (German Ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland) "From K2C to Bonn: Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity"

The Way Forward

H E Rejoice Mabudafazi (Deputy Minister- Dept of Environmental Affairs & Tourism): "Linking Landscapes, People & Minds- Restitution & Sustainable Development in K2C"

Vote of Thanks

Ms M-T Uys (Chairperson K2C EXCO)

Labels: biosphere, conservation, hoedspruit, kruger to canyons, sustainable living festival

The Kruger to Canyons Biosphere will be holding its first Sustainable Living Festival from the 15th-17th May 2008. It is expected that these will become an annual feature in the Hoedspruit calendar.



The 3 day festival will showcase projects, products and organisations involved in Sustainable Development, as well as Biosphere-related projects and practices.

The Festival includes a local celebration of international Biodiversity Day on Saturday May the 17th.

The Kruger to Canyons Annual General Meeting will start off the festival.

A number of workshops will follow focusing on Sustainable Development, Responsible Tourism and Organic and Biodynamic Agriculture.

At the venue (Southern Cross School) a number of stalls and exhibitions will underline the central challenges of the festival: what is our ecosystem doing for us - and what can we do for our ecosystem?

Associated with the festival will be Art and Craft competitions for the school children (illustrating eco-system living), an adventure race exploring the local environmental and use of land within the region, evening activities and a wide range of entertainment.

The entire festival will culminate in a Gala Dinner which will be attended by a number of national and international role players and decision makers and other invited guests. There will also be a number of additional tickets sold to interested parties.

Entrance to the festival will be charged at R30 per adult and R15 per child per day. Special "Full Festival" Tickets will be available at R60 per ticket and will enable you to enter the festival on all 3 days.

Dates: 15th - 17th May 2008
Venue: Southern Cross School, Raptor's View Wildlife Estate, Hoedspruit, Limpopo

Labels: biosphere, conservation, festival, hoedspruit

Friday's launch of the Kruger to Canyons (K2C) Biosphere Reserve near Hoedspruit is seen as an important step in the economic development of the Central Lowveld region, which straddles the boundary between Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Stretching from the Blyde River Canyon to the Kruger National Park, the Biosphere incorporates the 1.5-million people, mainly rural poor, who live there.

It is the fourth internationally recognised Biosphere in South Africa. The others are in the Koegelberg, West Coast and Waterberg regions.

In September 2001 Kruger to Canyons was registered by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) as the the 411th Biosphere Reserve in 94 countries worldwide, under its International Man and Biosphere Programme.

According to the Programme, Biosphere Reserves are regions where internationally important protected areas, like the Kruger National Park, lie next to human settlements.

People in the area may have been displaced when the reserves were declared, remaining on the margins and increasing pressure on local resources, exposing entire ecosystems to stress.

Restricted or prohibited access to communities' historic resource base may have changed land-use patterns for the worse.

The people living in the Kruger to Canyons reserve are predominantly black (97%), unskilled, illiterate and rurally based.

Morgan Lewele, Chairperson of the Biosphere Initiative, said the launch came after seven years of consultations between all involved.

"The realisation that we all have a responsibility to protect the environment has created a common bond between us," Lewele said at the launch. "Our mission will be to maintain the K2C biosphere as an eminent conservation and development model."

Public meetings were held during the consultation process, where biosphere components such as core areas, buffer zones and transitional regions were identified.

At the launch, a Unesco certificate confirming Kruger to Canyon's biosphere status was handed to Collins Chabane, Limpopo MEC for the environment.

Chabane told the gathering that the biosphere reserve concept sought to place environmental protection at the centre of economic development. Ecotourism was expected to create a large number of jobs, he said.

He also announced the launch of an educational programme to promote environmental protection and the responsible use of natural resources.

"We have not merely inherited this land from our forefathers; we've borrowed it from our children," Chabane said.

The reserve

South Africa is the third most biologically diverse country in the world, according to the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. The K2C biosphere contains widely diverse landscapes, ranging from 300m above sea level in the east to over 2,000m in the Drakensburg Escarpment.

Kruger to Canyons is the third-largest Biosphere in the world. It is home to game, commercial and crop farming, tourism and related enterprises, as well as 149 mammal, 510 bird and 57 fish species.

The average rainfall ranges from 368mm a year to 3,000mm on the plateau. These two factors help create a wide variety of habitats and niches for flora and fauna.

The K2C Biosphere covers three biomes: savannah woodlands, afromontane forests and montane grasslands. These protected areas cover some 4.8-million hectares, including transfrontier and escarpment regions.

These make up a unique constellation of public, provincial, private reserves and natural resource areas.

In terms of Unesco's Man and Biosphere Programme, Biosphere Reserves offer political processes to stimulate the sustainable use of resources within a framework of economic empowerment and growth.

The philosophy is one of development and public participation through education, training and involvement in research and monitoring.

Each Biosphere Reserve has three zones: a core area devoted to strict protection, a delineated buffer zone where only activities compatible with conservation objectives can take place, and a transition zone used for sustainable resource management in cooperation with local communities.

Development

The 1.5-million people living in the K2C area are predominantly black (97%), unskilled and rurally based. There are huge social and economic inequalities.

Most of the people live in poor-rural conditions: only 50% functional literacy, high levels of male absenteeism, low direct incomes and a high percentage of young people.

Ninety percent live outside urban areas, compared with a national average of 35%. Some 20% of the population is under the age of four, and half are under 15 years old.

A high proportion of the population is not economically active, with households relying on subsistence farming, old-age pensions and remittances from relatives working outside the area to survive.

Limpopo has the lowest per capita income of the provinces in South Africa and the highest unemployment rate: almost 51% of the rural population is jobless.

There are a number of development initiatives under way in the Kruger to Canyons region. They range from broad empowerment to the transfer of ownership and conversion of marginal agricultural land to commercially viable ecotourism destinations, such as the governmental Phalaborwa sub-corridor initiative, to the establishment and registration of a new community school, the Hope School.

There is an effort to establish what will probably be the last consolidation of privately owned game lands into an official nature reserve in the Central Lowveld region, the Blyde-Olifants Conservancy.

Part of this effort is the inclusion of local community interests through the Maburuburung Trust.

See the official central government release on SouthAfrica.info here.

Labels: biosphere, development, hope school, maburuburung