Kruger2Canyons.com

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

MASSINGIR- On Monday, Mozambican President Armando Guebuza visited a site where houses are being built to resettle people who had previously been living within the boundaries of what is now the Greater Limpopo National Park (PNL), in the southern province of Gaza.

Guebuza visited Chinhangane, on the outskirts of Massingir town, where 20 of the 148 families transferred from the park are being rehoused. The other 128 will live in the locality of Banga.

The resettlement project is budgeted at 2.2 million euros (about 2.9 million US dollars).

The main attraction of the resettlement is that the National Park is guaranteeing better housing for all those who move. At the very least, each family receives two brick structures- the main house and an adjacent latrine. Barns and hen coops are also provided.

Thus families living in homes built of flimsy materials valued at 25,000 meticais (1,000 dollars) will receive a brick house valued at 125,000 meticais.

In cases where the family was living in a rather better, but still traditional, two room house, valued at around 40,000 meticais, their new home will be larger, budgeted at 162,000 meticais.

Those whose original homes were already built of brick will receive a house of the same size, but using improved materials and technologies.

The project also compensates the families concerned by providing them with new fields and fruit trees.

The establishment of the PNL affects about 28,000 people living along the Limpopo and Elephants rivers, and particularly along the Shingwedzi river (about 6,000 people), which is in the heart of the park.

The PNL is part of the Greater Limpopo Cross-border Park, which also includes the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Gonorhezou park in Zimbabwe.

Tourism between these three connected parks began in earnest in 2006, when the Giriyondo border gate, on the Mozambique/South Africa border was inaugurated by Guebuza, and by his South African and Zimbabwean counterparts, Thabo Mbeki and Robert Mugabe.

The first quarter of this year saw about 4,500 tourists pass through the Giriyondo gate.

Labels: conservation, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, massingir

PRETORIA- Conservation fees for all South African National Parks, including the Kruger, will rise, SANParks said on Wednesday.

Spokesperson Wanda Mkutshulwa said the increase was a result of various factors in the day-to-day management of national parks.

"Among others, the South African CPIX (Consumer Price Index) has generally increased, which has resulted in increased costs" Mkutshulwa said in a statement.

Conservation fees are the fees visitors pay each day when visiting and using the parks' resources.



Mkutshulwa said with the decline in the value of the Rand over the past years, exchange rates generally favoured international visitors.

"Infrastructure maintenance and other National Parks' security elements also had a major contribution to the tariff increases."

In Parks with cross-border agreements, there were increased collective costs, such as joint marketing and administration, she said.

SANParks head David Mabunda said they were confident that the increase would not have a negative effect on the Parks' visitor profile.

"In fact, it will make visitors realise how valuable and important these national assets are to South Africa and the rest of the world", he said.

For the large and established Kruger and Kgalagadi National Parks, standard conservation fee rates will increase by 10 percent from R120 to R132.

Rates for South African and Southern African Development Community (SADC) nationals increase by 10 percent from R30 to R33 and R60 to R66 respectively.

At Addo Elephant Park, which has developed and expanded considerably over the past few years, fees increase by 25 percent from R80 to R100 for the standard conservation fee, R40 to R50 for SADC nationals and R20 to R25 for locals.

At medium-sized parks standard conservation fees for SADC nationals would increase by 16.7% from R60 to R70 and for South Africans by 16.7% from R30 to R35.

Parks in the developing category maintain the same rates.

The increase will be effective from November 1st.

Labels: conservation

All three major rivers in the drought-hit Kruger Park dried up during Water Week last month, sparking a row between environmentalists, farmers and the department of water affairs.

Kruger spokesperson Raymond Travers confirmed last month that the Crocodile, Letaba and Olifants rivers stopped flowing “for short periods”. They were now flowing again, but slowly.



Environmentalists are questioning whether water is being properly managed and whether the Water Affairs Department is complying with its own Water Act.

The legislation makes provision for a reserve which gives precedence to water for basic human use and the environment, ensuring that rivers continue to flow. It is the only right to water in the Act.

Travers said that after the rivers stopped flowing, Kruger’s water management officials immediately contacted the water authorities, who restored flow to the rivers. River flow is controlled by gates which regulate how much water is let through, with the quantity decided by water use associations and other stakeholders, including the department.

However, some Kruger officials query whether the park’s rivers are getting their fair share and whether farmers downstream are not being unduly favoured.

“Why, after more than 10 years of the new Water Act, do water affairs officials not ensure that the only right to water, river flow, is met before all other users?” one official asked. “By law, users can only use what is ‘left over’ after the river gets its share.”

"It is now the end of summer and these rivers are supposed to be flowing well," said Head of the Park's Conservation Services Department, Dr Freek Venter.

Instead, the rivers are flowing at the rates at which they normally flow after winter, in September or October.

Dr Venter urged consumers who draw water from the rivers upstream, such as farmers, sugar companies and municipalities, to use water more sparingly.

"Water usage outside the boundaries of Kruger has a significant effect on what happens when the rivers eventually reach Kruger."

He said an example of good co-operation among all water users in a river system was found downstream of the Nyaka Dam.

A certain amount of the water available in this system was allocated to the Sabie and Sand rivers, which eventually flowed into the Kruger National Park.

"The Nyaka Dam is a classic win-win situation and we would hope that similar agreements can be made with other water users in the various catchment areas of the other rivers that flow into the park," Dr Venter said.

But Jurg Venter, head of the Letaba Water User Association, dismissed the claim, saying the drought was depriving everyone in the area of water. “Farmers are not the only users and they’re already heavily rationed,” he said. “Like other users, the Kruger Park simply has to do with less water. It’s great that the government wants to provide water to more users, but you also have to examine how many users a water resource can support, especially in dry periods.”

Department of Water Affairs and Forestry spokesperson Hilgard Matthews said the Water Act was not being enforced, adding that it was incorrect to say Kruger’s rivers had dried up. The park had experienced problems as water was flowing along alternative routes and had not reached the pumping sumps.

The past two months had seen an extremely dry weather spell with very high temperatures, causing major vapour transpiration and evaporation from all water surfaces.

“This is a natural phenomenon we can do nothing about,” he said. “These are stressed catchments where special efforts and challenges are encountered in distributing water fairly.”

Three years ago the department and South African National Parks almost landed in court when the Olifants River stopped flowing and water management officials were blamed for taking incorrect decisions. Kruger is understood to have received a slap on the wrist for taking on a fellow government department.

Kevin Rogers, director of the Centre for Water in the Environment at Wits University, warned that perennial rivers contained many animal and plant species that required flowing water all year round. “Stop the water from flowing and they die. Simple as that.”

He said that as river pools evaporated, fish become concentrated and easy prey for crocodiles, fish eagles, kingfishers and cormorants.

“Even more dramatic is the effect of hippos who feed on land at night and defecate in the pools by day,” he said. “The faeces build up and their decomposition uses up the oxygen in the water, killing aquatic species.”

Meanwhile, Kruger announced this week that it would soon implement water restrictions in its camps.

The previous time when water restrictions of this nature had to be implemented was three years ago. However some camps, relying on bore hole water, are out of danger.

Travers says "Our major problem with the situation now is that the water rainfall coming down are less than it use to be the water utilisation has stayed the same."

Visitors favour winter months to flock to the reserve and that is when rainfall decreases. Possible water restriction will not have an effect on visitor's normal water usage during busy times. One step to save water is for management to provide visitors with an option to have their used towels replaced once a week and not daily.

Travers told reporters said: "We will first target things like gardens, lawns and stop spraying with water. We will see the lawns and gardens becoming smaller and drier. The water board will decide within the next two weeks if water restrictions will be implemented."

Labels: conservation, hippos, hydrology, olifants

SKUKUZA- The patrolling of the two million hectare Kruger National Park (KNP) became a bit easier today when the KNP’s Executive Director, Dr Bandile Mkhize accepted five brand new motorbikes from a generous Gauteng-based sponsor.



“These motorbikes will considerably enhance the effectiveness of the KNP ranger corps by providing them with tools to patrol ever larger areas,” said Dr Mkhize.

The company, Alberton-based Off Road Caravan Safaris, will not only donate the initial five machines, but will also give two machines every year for the next four years. The motorbikes will be a mixture of 230cc, 250cc and a 650cc machines.

Legendary KNP ranger Mr Louis Olivier said that these motorbikes considerably enhance the ability of rangers to patrol the huge areas under their responsibility.

“Using game paths and management or patrol roads, KNP rangers can access remote areas with these bikes, which might not have been accessible by other means,” Mr Olivier said.

The KNP has been using motorbikes as patrol tools-of-the-trade since the mid-1970s. Other patrols are conducted on foot, with bicycles, vehicles and, most recently, an ultralight “Bantam” aircraft which was introduced last year as part of continued efforts to strengthen the anti-poaching patrol methods in the park.

Labels: conservation, rangers, skukuza

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Park Times)- When announcing the expected proclamation of the Blyde River Canyon National Park, environmental affairs minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said that “the canyon and its surrounds contain amongst the richest combination of plants and animals in southern Africa.”

This rich biodiversity is now threatened in some areas by applications made to prospect for gold and silver on farms adjoining the park, and possibly also one farm inside the park’s boundaries. An application to prospect on the farm London, which immediately borders the Blyde River Canyon Park, has been lodged with the department of minerals and energy by Tamarron Trading 157 (Pty) Ltd.

In the environmental management plan that accompanies the application, the intention is announced to prospect for gold and silver using a JCB/backactor, three types of drilling equipment and a high density concentrator, with about 40 prospecting boreholes or trenches being created. The plan also indicates that roads will need to be constructed in order to prospect.

Since the prospecting application came to the attention of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), they have opposed this application and others that have been lodged in the past, as any mining activities are likely to negatively impact on several red data species, as well as potentially damage sensitive wetlands of extremely high conservation importance.


MTPA spokesperson Jimmy Masombuka indicated that the wetlands are regarded as “irreplaceable” in the province’s Strategic Environmental Assessment plan. Not only are the wetlands in the immediate vicinity thought to be under threat, but a tributary of the Treur river runs through the proposed prospecting area. If pollution or contamination from any prospecting activities passed along this tributary into the Treur itself, the once extinct and now re-introduced critically endangered Treur river barb is likely to be harmed.

The pollution could also potentially pass into the Blyde River, one of the cleanest rivers in the country and the saving grace of the health of the lower Olifants River. Mercury, a dangerous environmental toxin, is often used in small scale gold mining operations.

Cyanide salts are also commonly used to purify gold. Further, in an assessment carried out by SANBI(South African National Biodiversity Institute), the farm London was earmarked as having a high biodiversity value and was intended to be put forward for gazetting as a protected environment in terms of the Protected Areas Act early next year.

The area has also been registered as a Natural Heritage Site. Despite the sensitivity of the area, the environmental management plan submitted in support of the prospecting application is merely a standard 19-page document supplied by the department of minerals and energy in which details have been filled in by hand.

Although one section of the MTPA was informed by the department of minerals and energy (DME) of the prospecting application as is routine, it seems that the MTPA in its role as custodians of the Blyde River Canyon Park was not considered to be an interested and affected party.

They are not identified as such in the environmental management plan submitted to DME, despite the fact that they are named as an adjacent farm in the same document. The only interested and affected party named is Global Forest Products, who own the land where the prospecting is planned. Global Forest Products has declined to comment on the issue as they say they have instigated legal proceedings regarding the matter and they do not wish to jeopardise these proceedings.

However, sources indicate that Global Forest Products and the MTPA have been in consultation about the possibility of creating a small sustainable boutique hotel on the farm London, away from the sensitive wetland, which the potential prospecting or mining activities could jeopardise.

Sources also indicate that a previous application made to prospect on the farm London has been approved despite vehement objections from Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. The Department of Minerals and Energy spokesperson said that confirmation of the status of the application could only be released through recourse to the Public Access to Information Act.

The Kruger Park Times telephoned Philipp Betz, who is listed as the contact person in the Tamarron Trading application. Betz declined to comment on the matter over the telephone, and a mutually convenient location and time for discussion could not be made before going to press. Sources have linked Betz’s name to other prospecting applications on other farms in and around the Blyde River Canyon Park, namely Berlyn and The Peak, which have also been opposed by the MTPA.

MTPA spokesperson Jimmy Masombuka said that the department “will consider the relevant channels to challenge the issue.” The matter of the opposed prospecting applications has apparently been taken from a regional to a national level, and the department of environmental affairs and tourism and the department of minerals and energy should be engaged in cooperative governance discussions to decide whether the search for new gold and silver mines may go ahead in what Marthinus van Schalkwyk has described as an area that “has the potential to become one of the fastest growing malaria-free tourism destinations in Africa”.

By Melissa Wray
Kruger Park Times

Labels: blyde canyon, conservation, mining

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Park Times)- Raptor experts hunting for South Africa's rarest breeding bird on the border of Limpopo and Mpumalanga have discovered a total of four pairs of breeding Taita Falcons in the Drakensberg escarpment, and believe that there may be more pairs lurking on the mountains' inaccessible cliff faces.

Over the last month, a team of raptor specialists have been scrutinising the cliffs in search of the diminutive birds of prey, and team leader Andrew Jenkins called their mission “a qualified success”, saying that they did not find as many pairs as previously hoped for.

He added that there were some logistical issues to be overcome, but the team learnt a lot and any further work in the area would be “meaningfully informed by what has already been done." Jenkins hopes to return later in the year as the birds’ breeding season really gets into full swing, when he believes he will find more pairs in areas where the recent survey did not reach."

If our suspicions become reality then the area supports a very significant part of one of the world's rarest raptor populations." The name ‘Taita’ comes from the place in Kenya where the bird was first identified.

It is a naturally rare bird, and is hard to spot in the areas where it occurs because it habitually perches for hours on cliff faces. The highest density of Taita Falcons confirmed is thought to be in the Batoka Gorge between Zimbabwe and Zambia, where ecotourism activities are thought to be threatening the population.

The falcons also occur from Tanzania to Ethiopia. Little is known about these birds because of their rarity and the inaccessibility of their nest sites.

Whilst searching for the small and elusive Taita Falcon, the birders kept track of the other cliff nesting raptors that crossed their field of view.

Although not all the observations are compiled yet, Jenkins estimates that they saw about 12 pairs of Lanner Falcons, three pairs of Peregrine Falcons, about 20 pairs of Rock Kestrels and five pairs of Verreaux’s Eagles.

He says that the statistics gathered will help provide a benchmark for the management of the Blyde Canyon National Park. He commented that there has been a striking change in the numbers of Lanner Falcons, which have increased significantly when compared with a previous survey carried out in the area some years ago.

The numbers of peregrine falcons have declined when compared to the previous survey." It is an interesting thing to note. The figures are telling us something…The trick is to figure out what the reason is." He said that the change could have been caused by something as concrete as a change in land use practices in the area, or something not immediately transparent to observers, such as global warming.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times


Explore our birding safaris: the Blue Swallow Southern Birding Safari, and the Limpopo Lanner (Birds of the North) Safari.

Labels: blyde canyon, conservation, hoedspruit, taita falcon

LONDON- In the shadow of towering cliffs streaked with yellow and red, Nile crocodiles bask beside the swirling waters of Olifants gorge.

This corner of Kruger National Park, one of South Africa's premier attractions, serves as an ideal breeding ground for hundreds of crocodiles. They dig nests in sandy river banks along the eight-mile gorge, laying about 50 eggs each.

But much of this vista- and countless nests- will soon disappear under water. Thirty miles upstream in neighbouring Mozambique, work has begun on raising the Massingir dam, a project that will increase the gorge's water level by about 30ft.

At a stroke, the crocodiles will lose a major breeding ground and the natural beauty of one of Africa's most famous national parks, which attracts a million visitors every year, will be diminished.

Nile crocodiles are not facing extinction. They are found in rivers, lakes, swamps, and freshwater marshes across most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Kruger being the southern extent of their range. They appear on the world conservation union's "red list" of endangered species and trade in their hides is banned.

If Kruger, one of Africa's best protected national parks, cannot safeguard them, conservationists say their future is bleak. "Crocodiles are persecuted all over Africa," said Lawrence Anthony, the founder of the Earth Organisation ecological group. "This is one of the world's most famous protected areas. We can't afford to lose a major breeding ground. "

The Mozambican authorities did not consult Kruger about raising the dam. The park has not been officially informed when work will be finished - even though one of its safari lodges is also expected to be flooded.

Constantly growing numbers of poverty-stricken people surround every national park in Africa. Even if poaching is reduced to minimal levels, as Kruger has managed to accomplish, the wildlife can still be threatened by developments outside. When complete, the Massingir dam will provide water to tens of thousands of subsistence farmers. If the interests of human beings clash with those of Nile crocodiles and an area of outstanding beauty, the Mozambican authorities have no doubt about whose should take precedence.

The dam could be raised by a smaller amount to allow some crocodile breeding areas to survive. But nobody discussed a possible compromise with Kruger. The park authorities say there has been no cross-border co-operation and as far as they know, Mozambique did not even conduct an impact assessment.

"We understand that people over the border need water and they need help," said Raymond Travers, a spokesman for Kruger Park. "We have had very good co-operation with the Mozambican side in the past but it was not forthcoming this time."

Labels: central kruger, conservation, crocodiles, massingir, olifants

JOHANNESBURG- Africa's lion population could die out in the next decade if nothing is done to save the estimated 30,000 animals, a South African newspaper reported on Sunday quoting experts responsible for the latest research on the issue.

Conflict with humans and livestock, a loss of habitat due to development and a virus similar to the feline immunodeficiency virus has caused the continent's lion population to dwindle from an estimated 200,000 in the 1980s, according to a study, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

The study released at the Eastern and Southern African Lion Strategy Conference in Johannesburg this week pointed to a sharp drop in the number of lions in Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana.

While lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park were identified as having a good chance of survival, it has already been shown that of the 103 cubs born in Botswana's Okavango Delta in the last six years, only 10 have survived.

It was critical that Africa embarked on action to defend its wild lions, animals that played a crucial role in the continent's economy through tourism and trophy hunting, researcher Kate Nicolls of Lion Aid in Botswana was quoted saying in the report.

The report of the meeting is here.

Labels: conservation, lions

Different arms of the government are at one another’s throats over a proposed 21-storey dam on a major river that passes through the Kruger National Park and feeds Mozambique.

South African National Parks (SANParks) has threatened legal action against its principal sponsor, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.

Water Affairs plans to start building the R4billion De Hoop dam on a tributary of the Olifants river in the middle of this year, mainly to feed mining interests.

But SANParks and critical NGOs protest that the project violates national and international laws and pits ministries against each other.

“It will boil down to which department has the most political clout,” said Nick King, executive director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), which rejects the project. “Water Affairs’ mandate is the delivery of water; Environmental Affairs must conserve the resource base and SANParks protects biodiversity.”

In last year’s State of the Nation speech, President Thabo Mbeki announced the proposed De Hoop dam is “to provide water for platinum mining and agriculture”. Half a dozen platinum mines are planned for surrounding Sekhukhuneland, which straddles the border between Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

But the Steelpoort river, where the dam will be built, is a major tributary feeding the Olifants. For the first time on record, the Olifants stopped flowing last year for 78 days because of drought and growing demands on its water.

Late last year, Environmental Affairs approved Water Affairs’ application for construction of the dam in a controversial record of decision, against which SANParks and at least four NGOs have appealed.

Water Affairs said one reason it wants to build the dam is to supply three local municipalities with domestic water. But, asked the EWT in its appeal, “How will domestic supply be guaranteed? No evidence is provided that local communities will receive water, let alone be able to pay for it.”

In its appeal, SANParks said the dam would negatively affect tourism, wildlife and concession areas in the Kruger. “If our rivers dry up, the value of the tourism experience in Kruger will be diminished and tourism support for the area will cease.”

If the project went ahead without clear assurances that Kruger would continue to receive its share of downstream water— known as an “ecological reserve”— “SANParks will have no alternative but to approach an appropriate court for appropriate relief”.

SANParks added that the dam proposal “seriously compromises the relationship between South Africa and Mozambique”, which is upgrading the Massingir dam on its end of the Olifants river. Massingir has also come in for criticism, because it will flood parts of the Kruger and endanger an important breeding habitat of the Nile crocodile.

Vera Ribeiro, coordinator of the Mozambican environmental NGO Geasphere, said the Mozambique government had been notified about the De Hoop development. “But we are concerned there hasn’t been enough information adequately disseminated or disclosed on the project and about the potential impact on communities. The available information is mostly in English and almost impossible for Mozambicans to assess and make informed decisions on.

“The two governments must adhere to the Southern African Development Community’s protocol on shared watercourses, with close cooperation to ensure the sustainable use of shared water bodies.”

Ribeiro expressed concern not only about the quantity of downstream water on the Mozambican side, but that chemical pollutants and heavy metals from mining would affect water quality.

Ironically, the EWT added, environmental affair’s own research had identified the Sekhukhuneland region as one of nine national conservation priority areas because of its high biodiversity and ecosystems service value. At least 20 species of plant found nowhere else on Earth will be flooded by the 1,700ha dam, along with at least 20 animal and reptile species already threatened with extinction.

Opponents of the dam were furious when environmental affairs released its record of decision in late November, giving them 30 days over the holiday period to appeal. SANParks said it was given no official communication of the decision, but “only received notification early in December 2005 through other means”.

JP Louw, head of communications at environmental affairs, said there was nothing malicious or intentional about the timing. “The fact that both the Wild Coast [N2 tollroad] and De Hoop decisions were issued towards the end of the calendar year is purely coincidental, and there is certainly no deliberate intent by the department to issue decisions on big or controversial applications during this period.”

After the furore over the Wild Coast decision in December 2004, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk extended the appeal period for 30 days. But no such concession was made for the De Hoop dam this week.

“The law does not provide for an extension of the appeal period. Appellants will, however, be provided a second opportunity to make inputs when the minister avails the applicant’s responses to the grounds of appeals to appellants,” said ministerial representative Riaan Aucamp.

Read about the Kruger Park's river systems here.

Labels: conservation, dams, de hoop, massingir, olifants, SANParks, van schalkwyk

LONDON — The South African government has postponed a controversial proposal to resume culling elephants from Kruger National Park where overcrowding is causing problems, a leading conservation scientist said.

The proposal last year from the national parks authority to end a 10-year ban had outraged many conservationists who said it was unnecessary.

"They listened to our arguments and have agreed to postpone the cull, but we don't know for how long," said Rudi van Aarde Wednesday. "We want at least three years for more research."

Van Aarde, on a brief lecture tour of Britain, is professor of conservation ecology at the University of Pretoria and a member of a panel of scientists set up to advise the government on the proposed cull.

The SANParks proposal could have meant removing thousands of elephants from the 12,500 in the sprawling park, where the optimal number had been set at 7,000 for about 30 years.

In the years before the ban, more than 14,000 elephants had been culled to keep numbers around 7,000.

A spokesman for the South African Environment Ministry denied any specific figure had been considered, and said consultations on a range of options were still under way.

The elephants have been accused of damaging large sections of the park because they bring down trees and crowd around watering holes placed for the convenience of tourists.

"Remove the artificial watering holes and the elephants will resume their natural behavior of seasonal migration, giving places they have left a chance to recover," van Aarde told a briefing organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

He also discounted a problem with the people who live around the park's borders, noting that population density was very low to the north of the park.

But in place of parks such as Kruger- which stretches along the border with Mozambique- van Aarde proposed creating a vast multinational conservation region.

The proposed area runs north of a line across South Africa from the south of Kruger to southern Namibia up to a line crossing from southern Angola to northern Mozambique and taking in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi on the way.

This area already contains 116 million people and 270,000 elephants, he said.

Seven large parks within the conservation area would house "metapopulations"- a concept meaning isolated populations of animals which occasionally intermingle.

Not only would this relieve the environmental pressure on restricted game parks like Kruger, but it would also promote biological diversity and could help animal populations to cope better with effects of global warming such as droughts.

"Biodiversity conservation is the concept," van Aarde said, admitting it would be hard to persuade eight national governments to participate in the plan.

Labels: conservation, contraception, culling, elephants

HOEDSPRUIT- Hundreds of fish have died in the Olifants River about 15km from Olifants camp in the Kruger National Park (KNP) as the river dries up.

Dr Thomas Gyedu-Ababio, the KNP's aquatic biodiversity conservation manager, said the fish are believed to have died from oxygen starvation.

Gyedu-Ababio found at least 500 dead fish on the banks of a pool in what remains of the Olifants River when he visited the site recently. The 500 fish were what remained after birds had feasted on the dead fish, Gyedu-Ababio said. They were mostly catfish, yellowfish and tilapia.

Once the Olifants River was one of the largest continuously flowing rivers in South Africa, but at this time of year it is reduced to a series of pools in the KNP, kept alive by water released from the Phalaborwa barrage.

Balule camp had no water on Monday because the Olifants' flow is so diminished.

Hippos are forced to congregate in the remaining pools of water. In the pool where the fish died, Gyedu-Ababio found almost 100 hippos in less than 500m.

In a reversal of their normal behaviour, Gyedu-Ababio said, "the hippos ran out of the water when they saw people", as there was not enough water in the pool to cover them.

The hippos have been living and defecating in the pools, producing an excessive quantity of dung that is now decomposing. The decomposition removes oxygen from the water, causing the fish to suffocate. Fish jumping out of the water in other pools is also a sign of oxygen shortage.

The Phalaborwa barrage is required to release water for the ecological needs of the Olifants River, but also has to provide water for human use. Gyedu-Ababio said the flow out of the barrage for several days prior to the fish deaths was so low that the gauging weir in the park could not accurately measure it.

The barrage has very limited water storage, as almost 90% of the dam is occupied by silt. It is estimated that there is only enough water in the barrage when it is full for two to three days' water supply. In the dry season, the barrage relies on water releases from the Blyde Dam to boost the flow of the Olifants River.

Measurements of water flow at the gauging weir in the KNP show that the flow into the park is what it would be during drought conditions. The park has requested a higher flow from the barrage, as the Olifants River is not reaching Balule camp.

The silt in the barrage is to be the subject of an environmental study that went out to tender in February. The tender has yet to be awarded, the Lepelle Northern Water authority said.

The release of large volumes of silt-laden water from the barrage has previously caused fish deaths in the Olifants.

The silt is largely derived from soil erosion caused by poor agricultural practices further upstream in the Olifants River, in Sekhukhuneland.

Labels: conservation, dams, fish, olifants

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- Laparoscopy, or keyhole surgery, is now a common medical procedure – but not when carried out on elephants. Four free-ranging male elephants from Makalali Private Game Reserve near Hoedspruit entered the history books when they underwent laparoscopic surgery to remove a 5cm section of their vas deferens– an elephant-sized vasectomy.

This is only the second time that the procedure has been carried out on live elephants, and the surgical team are continually refining their technique to decrease logistical problems and operating time. In future, vasectomies may be a means of controlling elephant population growth, especially in smaller reserves (Makalali is a "mere" 30,000 hectares in size).

The operation was carried out by a team of wildlife specialists, including Catchco vet Douw Grobler (formerly of the Kruger National Park and Walt Disney’s Animal Program vets Mark Stetter and Dean Hendrickson, a leader in the field of animal laparoscopy.

Innovative equipment is needed for this cutting-edge surgery, including specialised intubation equipment for elephant sized airways to ensure the lightest possible anaesthetic. The elephant is kept standing during the operation with a combination of slings and splints, the splints allowing the animal to support some of its own weight. The slings are slackened periodically throughout the operation to ensure good blood flow in the legs.

While grabbing and cutting tools in the laparascope find their target 60cm deep in the elephant’s side, a second team is cleaning and preparing the other side of the elephant for a quick snip in his other testicle. The equipment requires only an eight centimetre long cut. Once the procedure is complete on both sides, the elephant’s anaesthetic is reversed and he is free to roam again. Satellite collars have been fitted to keep track of the now-sterile bulls.

Catchco wildlife specialist JJ van Altena has said that in nine months to a year the elephants will have their collars removed, and scans will be performed as a follow up.

The procedure was carried out on Makalali not as a means of controlling the size of the population on the reserve, but to test the practicality of the exercise for future use. The 70-strong elephant population on Makalali is already intensively monitored as another form of contraception is in use there. The majority of the elephant cows are prevented from getting pregnant by a vaccine known as PZP, which uses the animal’s own immune system to prevent sperm fertilising eggs.

The PZP programme on Makalali is the longest running project of its kind on free-ranging elephants, with some cows having spent five years on the contraceptive. This year a number of animals will not receive their annual dose of contraceptive to observe the rate of reversal of the vaccine.

Makalali’s head of the immuno-contraception programme, Audrey Delsink, has said that although researchers are trying to source alternative methods of elephant contraception, so far PZP seems to be one of the most effective methods.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times

Labels: conservation, contraception, culling, elephants, makalali

JOHANNESBURG- South Africa will be split into two extreme climate zones in the east and west within the next 50 years.

The Western and Northern Cape will become more drought-stricken while Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal will endure long dry spells followed by torrential rain and flooding.

Bleak predictions of how climate change would impact on water supplies and agriculture were presented by the South African National Biodiversity Institute at a meeting attended by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, in Cape Town this week.

Without intervention from the government, expected changes caused by weather in the future included:

- An inability to produce maize in the western parts of SA;

- A drastic decrease in river flows in western parts of the country and also, on a smaller scale, the eastern regions;

- Possible extinction of numerous plant species in less than 100 years - the Karoo, home to unique floral species, would be significantly affected, as would the southwest Cape's fynbos;

- A decline in bird and mammal populations, with high rates of extinction in the central Highveld and the Lowveld; and

- Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo are at risk of becoming malaria hotspots due to higher temperatures.

Rainfall patterns could change dramatically, depending on how much fossil fuel was burnt worldwide, with up to 45mm less rain in the Western Cape in July 2050 compared to now. Up to 55mm more rain could fall in KwaZulu-Natal in December 2050, according to the Climate Systems Analysis Group at the University of Cape Town.

A National Climate Change Response Strategy was launched by the government last year to tackle the challenges of climate change.

Guy Midgley, the head of the South African National Biodiversity Institute's Climate Change Research Group, said warning signs were already visible in the northern and southern hemispheres.

"We think that the increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is allowing trees to grow much more efficiently in relation to grasses, and that leads to bush encroachment," he said.

Read more about the climate of the Kruger National Park here.

Labels: climate, conservation, van schalkwyk

CAPE TOWN- Government will inject a further R193 million into new Transfrontier conservation projects.

This is in addition to the R159 million that has already been invested into these projects under the previous Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

New funding includes more than R25 million for Limpopo-Shashe transfrontier park, R50 million for the Greater Limpopo and about R60 million for Maloti-Drakensburg.

Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced this today during his budget vote presentation.

"I am also pleased to announce that construction of the South African side of the Giriyondo Border Post between the Kruger National Park and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique has now been completed and is due to be officially opened later this year," he said.

In the next two years, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in collaboration with its regional partners, will engage in a major investment drive to put in place critical infrastructure and tourism development plans for Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs).

This drive will target southern African investors as well as the international investor community with key investment initiatives undertaken in Europe and the United States.

"Investment in our TFCAs is not only important because of sentiment; it makes business sense," Mr Van Schalkwyk said.

Labels: conservation, great limpopo park, greater limpopo park, transfrontier park

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- The small village of Massingir, about 330km north east of Maputo, is slowly shedding her rural leathers and garbing herself in urban feathers. The driving force behind the new electricity supply, more buildings, upgrade of the local clinic, school, even the waste disposal system and road network can be traced to the rehabilitation of the Massingir Dam. This is not perceived as good news all round.

The project has been met with diverse responses ranging from resistance to gratification, on both sides of the border.

In Mozambique, the government obtained an US$80million loan from the African Development Bank and assigned ARA-Sul (Administraco Regional de Aguas do Sul) as Executing Agent, under the chairmanship of the National Directorate of Water (DNA), to co-ordinate the rehabilitation of the dam and Xai-Xai smallholder agricultural project downstream.

DNA appointed the Project Implementation Unit (PIMU) to manage the various rehabilitation activities of the project. PIMU comprises two Component Implementation Units (CIUs) for the dam and the irrigation activities.

The Olifants River Forum, comprising stakeholders such as the Lepelle Water Board, the Kruger National Park, Palabora Mining Company, Sasol, Foskor, Eskom and other corporations with a stake in the river maintain serious concerns about the ecological impacts the dam will have on the river and its unique habitats, because of the scale of construction that is being undertaken.

The rehabilitation could lead to the destruction of sections of an 8km gorge that has no parallels elsewhere in South Africa. Though the South African and Mozambican governments seem well aware of these effects on the Olifants River gorge in the Kruger National Park, no interventions are apparently planned to prevent the destruction of this pristine and one-of-a-kind wilderness area.

The matter has been raised by conservation organisations like the Olifants River Forum, as well as at a workshop that was initiated by the Kruger National Park and held in Letaba last year, but there seems to have been a lack of coordination at the various sectoral levels that should have ensured consultation and consequent implementation of measures that would have prevented an ecological disaster to a national asset– Kruger National Park.

The upper sections of the Massingir dam, the second largest in Mozambique, is about 4km downstream from the eastern border of the Kruger National Park (KNP). It was built in the early 70s, in terms of an agreement between South Africa and Portugal, prior to South Africa’s current environmental and water laws, to ensure irrigation to the Lower Limpopo Valley in Mozambique and to possibly supply hydro-electrical power.

The Mozambican civil war hampered the final completion of the dam, notably the installation of the sluice gates. These are now being repaired and will be installed as part of the rehabilitation process. Rehabilitation also entails restoring the dam wall to enable the dam to carry its full reservoir of 2 800 million cubic metres.

Environmental Impact Assessment

The process around the initial Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Rehabilitation of the dam is confusing. It appears Kjell Essel of Norplan did an EIA for the Mozambican ministry of Industry and Energy and African Development Bank in 1993. Though the Kruger National Park is a primary interested and affected party, it was never consulted and neither has a copy of the EIA ever been made available to the Park for comments.

The Department of Water Affairs (DWAF) told the Kruger Park Times it could not trace the EIA either. Themba Khumalo, spokesperson, said a professional service provider has been appointed to do a further EIA at this time. “They would also make the terms of reference available to South Africa but it is still awaited,” says Khumalo.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism told the Kruger Park Times that it “shares a view that the rehabilitation of the Massingir Dam has a potential to cause ecological impacts on the Olifants River gorge in Kruger. This matter has been raised at the Joint Management Board and Ministerial meetings of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park initiative. In these meetings, Mozambique undertook to conduct an environmental impact assessment. Further consultations are underway regarding this matter to ensure that impacts on the KNP are mitigated.”

Mitigation measures

According to Dr Freek Venter, Head of Conservation Services in the KNP, there is no mitigation work that could be done to save the Olifants River gorge.

“The dam will cause massive sedimentation in the gorge and even possibly as high as the Olifants Wilderness Trails camp, but there is no information available because no proper study has been undertaken. The sedimentation will destroy the deep pool-rapid ecosystem in the lower Olifants and Letaba rivers.”

”Once lost this national treasure cannot be regained. It will be lost for ever,” says Venter.

It is unclear how DWAF hopes to mitigate the impacts as the rehabilitation is currently ongoing without specified intervention to ensure the gorge will not be destroyed.

On the Mozambican side, PIMU contracted specialists to identify, propose and implement mitigating measurements. These include fauna and flora, ecosystems, land issues, maintenance of watercourses and environmental mitigating measures during construction.

Marcus Wishart from Australia, has been doing different Environmental Impact studies on the dam and river on behalf of IMPACTO, a private company in Mozambique.

Douw Swanepoel, a crocodile expert, has been contracted by PIMU for baseline monitoring of wildlife in the Massingir area.

The wildlife assessment project comprises three basic phases – a census during the first year, correlation and verification during the second year and to monitor the impact of the dam when it is full during the last phase.

The rehabilitation will be finalised in October 2006 when the dam will be filled.

Floods and filling the dam

In their newsletter a year ago the Olifants River Forum stated its concern that when the Massingir dam is full, and it rises an additional 10m, the dammed water will push back into the gorge section of the KNP. During floods the water will push even further up the gorge, depositing silt. The inflow area of dams is where sediment is dropped when water flow reduces speed.

Two major floods of the Olifants River in 1996 and 2000 filled up deep pools in the lower third of the gorge with sand. What was previously a single, narrow channel with a large, slow flowing water body and deep pools, inhabited by large populations of fish and hippopotami, has been changed into a shallow, sandy stream.

The Massingir dam has already slowed water in the Olifants River in Kruger down, especially during floods, increasing the siltation of the gorge.

This has resulted in increased siltation within the lower third of the gorge. Almost all the deep pools in the lower part of the gorge were filled with sand, so much so that they have disappeared completely. It is now feared that the rest of the gorge and further upstream in the Olifants and Letaba rivers will be destroyed.

When the dam overflows, it is likely to back up the water even more, as the water rises above the crest of the dam wall. This will deposit sediment even further upstream than occurs when the dam is only partially full.

A build-up of siltation has already occurred in the upper reaches of the Massingir Dam itself where sediment has been deposited in a fan-like delta as a result of the flow rates decreasing due to the dammed up water. It can be expected that this process will continue.

According to the Olifants River Forum one mitigation option that was proposed is to operate the dam at a lower level than normal for several years to allow smaller floods to remove the sediment from the gorge. Unfortunately, due to the restricted release from outlet valves in most older dams, it is not possible to manage dams so that they have lower levels during extreme flood events.

Crocodile population

The gorge section of the Olifants River differs completely from the rest of the 100km of river and all other gorges in South Africa. It has a deep, single thread, pool-rapid structure and is well known for its deep clear pools and prolific crocodile populations.

According to Swanepoel the initial indication show the major impacts will be on the fish, crocodile and hippopotamus populations in the river, and specifically, the gorge.

The fish population in the river has already been severely depleted with the number of dams (2500) in the river.

Crocodiles are prehistoric animals and “are some of the most adaptive species on earth,” says Swanepoel. He believes, as the dam fills the upper 1,5km of the gorge, the crocodiles will do one of three things.

“They will either stay in the remaining 3.5km of the gorge, or move upstream or into the Massingir Dam.”

He does not think it is likely the animals will move upstream due to the general condition of the river and believes it probable that they will move on towards the dam.

These studies are ongoing.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times

Labels: conservation, crocodiles, massingir, olifants

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- “There is a very real possibility that South Africa may lose its ground hornbills within the near future if something radical is not done.”

This was one of the conclusions drawn at the Ground Hornbill Population and Habitat Viability Workshop held at the Southern African Wildlife College near Hoedspruit from February 7th to 11th.

Classified as Vulnerable due to its high risk of extinction in the wild in South Africa, there are thought to be fewer than 1,500 ground hornbills left in the country. The workshop brought together 35 ground hornbill enthusiasts from all walks of life, including traditional healers, national and provincial parks’ staff, forestry companies, academics and reintroduction specialists from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as well as other conservationists.



The group developed a prioritised action plan after identifying the major threats and conservation priorities for the charismatic bird and its natural habitat. The themes that will be focussed on in future conservation attempts are research into ground hornbill biology, their ecological needs, quantification, qualification and mitigation of their threats and education and awareness.

Ground hornbill conservation will be spearheaded by the establishment and registration of a management plan for the species. The management plan will also cover the bird’s natural habitat, the savannah ecosystem. This is in line with the new National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) Ground Hornbill Working Group also pointed out that the declining ground hornbill population could be a sign of another problem. “The savannah ecosystem has always been considered to be off the threatened list – but if Ground Hornbills are indicators of the status of this habitat, the savannah may require a lot more attention than previously thought.”

Ground hornbills are cooperative breeders that live in social groups where only the alpha male and female breed. It is estimated that a pair of ground hornbills fledge an average of one chick every nine years. This low productivity means that the steady decline in the species’ numbers is unlike to undergo a turnabout under present conditions. In the last thirty years the birds have lost half of their natural range and declined in numbers by over 10 percent.

The workshop was sponsored by The Green Trust, Sasol, Johannesburg Zoological Gardens and the National Zoological Gardens.

by Lynette Strauss, Kruger Times

Labels: birds, conservation, ground hornbill

HOEDSPRUIT- The Southern African Wildlife College will establish a world-class veterinary training and research facility next to the Kruger National Park in Limpopo.

Negotiations will be concluded soon with the Limpopo government to establish the centre at the existing Hans Hoheisen research facility. The planned facility will be used for research into diseases.

Willem van Riet, the chief executive officer of the Peace Park Foundation, which is a major funder of the college, says research and knowledge of the proper management of animal diseases is lacking.

Van Riet says the recent establishment of transfrontier parks in the SADC region allows for the cross-border movement of animals and therefore facilitates the spread of disease.

International appeal

The college was opened in 1997 and is located 10 kilometres west of the Orpen Gate of Kruger National Park. It accommodates students from all over the continent and upon completing the courses; they are awarded with certificates and diplomas.

Apart from the planned research facility, R32 million will be used to expand the existing college premises. The expansion will entail duplicating the tourism training of the SA College of Tourism in Graaff Reinet - in the end it will be known as an International Centre of Excellence in Environmental Training and Research.

Although the World Wildlife Fund- South Africa and the Peace Parks Foundation are the major funders and supporters of the college, there are other initiatives that will also contribute toward making the college self-sustainable.

College students

All the students trained at the college are professionals with at least three to five years experience. Some already have doctorates, but need to upgrade their conservation management skills.

The latest group of certificate and diploma students graduated yesterday. Felix Chadwala, a representative of the Malawian ministry of tourism, parks and wildlife at the Nkhota-kota Reserve, says the diploma course content directly addresses conservation challenges experienced in his home country.

The college will soon be able to accommodate more of these students, as well train people from the local communities in tourism-related skills, like lodge management.

Labels: conservation, education

HOEDSPRUIT (Kruger Times)- In June the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) announced further details of the second phase of the Olifants River Water Resources Development Project, which involves the raising of the dam wall on the Flag Boshielo Dam by five metres and the construction of the new De Hoop dam on the Steelport River, a tributary of the Olifants River.

Environmental impact assessments are being carried out for the project as announced at the beginning of June, and the Kruger National Park’s rivers department and the Olifants River Forum has met with other interested and affected parties to voice their concerns.

According to the KNP’s River Manager Dr Thomas Gyedu-Ababio, the park has submitted several concerns to the environmental impact agency, in the hopes that they can be mitigated during construction. Most of the concerns related to the changes in water quality that can be expected after the dam is constructed.

Gyedu-Ababio said that irregular releases of water from the dam could adversely affect the living creatures in the Olifants River system. Animals in the river have a physiology adapted to a certain flow rate, and surges and dips in the water volume can interfere with their lifecycles.

He also said sedimentation of the dam, and the subsequent release of silt when sluice gates are opened can harm the fish in the river. Fish in the Olifants River in the park already face problems when the sluices at the Phalaborwa barrage are opened and silt rushes out. The silt can not only cause immediate fish deaths, but it also alters the river bed and habitats may be lost for both fish and invertebrates. The bigger the dam, the larger the impact that can be expected downstream.

Dr Gyedu-Ababio also said that if the dam is planned without suitable fish ladders, those fish species that migrate upstream during their lifecycles will be compromised.

Other concerns related to the fact that dams can act as a reservoir for nutrients and heavy minerals, as well as alien species. When the dam sluices are opened, these are released and will flow downstream towards the Kruger Park, where they will have knock-on effects. Recreational activities on the dam can also introduce pollutants into the water.

Dr Gyedu-Ababio said that it was important that communities that live on the banks of the dam are educated about the importance of water, and how their activities can impact those downstream.

On the positive side, he added that if the dam is constructed and the reserve of the Olifants River is properly determined and then implemented, this could benefit all downstream, as they could be sure of a constant minimum supply of water.

The initial proposal for the De Hoop dam showed that the dam should yield about 90 million cubic metres of water a year, and cost about R1,000 million. The dam wall would be about 70m high, and the water is estimated to cover about 1600ha of land.

One of the tasks of the environmental assessment is to ensure that the size of the dam allows it to meet the downstream requirements of the water reserve, and not just the proposed water extraction targets.

The Olifants River Water Resources Development Project is not restricted to the construction of the De Hoop dam and the raising of the Flag Boshielo dam wall. It also includes extensive bulk water distribution (300km of pipelines), five reservoirs and pumping stations. Water will be used not only to expand the largely platinum mining activities in the area, but also to provide drinking water to many of the poor local communities.

Some water is also expected to be piped to the Olifants/Sand Transfer scheme that provides water for Polokwane, and a branch pipeline is planned for Jane Furse and the Nebo Plateau.

DWAF expect construction of some of the infrastructure to begin next year, and say that the De Hoop dam could provide full yields by 2011, subject to environmental approval. The project is expected to create extensive employment opportunities, directly through the dam building process, and also through the expansion of the mining industry.

A preliminary study was carried out last year that also looked at placing a dam directly on the Olifants River at Rooiport near Mafefe village, but the De Hoop site on the Steelport tributary was deemed to be the better option, both economically and in terms of water storage. There are already seven large dams in the Olifants River upstream of the Rooiport site, whereas this would be the first large dam on the Steelport River.

by Melissa Wray, Kruger Times

Labels: conservation, dams, de hoop, olifants

South Africa's National Research Foundation has launched a major study of long-term environmental changes, including climate patterns, and how they affect natural resources and the communities that rely on them.

The main task of the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) will be to produce reliable and accessible information on the environment. Its results will be used to draw up guidelines for sustainable development. One of its focuses will be addressing environmental degradation seen on community land but absent in protected areas.

The researchers will also study the Olifants River, which has been heavily affected by local industries and settlements— with downstream effects in the Kruger National Park and Mozambique.

The Department of Science and Technology will fund SAEON with an annual budget of five million rand (US$780,000). As well as undertaking research, SAEON will train postgraduate researchers and conduct environmental science education in schools.

Saeon's first area of study, known as the Ndlovu Node, will be situated near the Kruger National Park's (KNP) Ba-Phalaborwa gate and will concentrate on studying the Savannah Biome ecosystems of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

David Mabunda, chief executive officer of South African National Parks, welcomed the initiative, saying scientific research in national parks and their surrounds is vital to conservation in SA.

"Conservation is a combination of scientific research and sustainable development, which are vital tools in preserving our natural heritage and our communities, who are economically dependent on natural resources," he said.

Mabunda pointed out the differences between conservation areas and community land that has suffered environmental degradation.

"Community land has suffered environmentally, impacting on the lives of rural people, while on the other side of the fence, you have a pristine natural environment," he said.

Saeon's environmental research will address these problems, said Mabunda, by determining a long-term strategy to repair existing natural resources and to limit further damage to them.

Speaking at the launch of Saeon in Ba-Phalaborwa this week, Saeon's head, Johan Pauw, said the primary task of Saeon was to produce reliable and accessible scientific information on the environment.

"Furthermore, it aims to promote social development through postgraduate research training and environmental science education programmes for schools," he said.

Pauw said that scientific information produced by Saeon would set guidelines for sustaining a natural environment and assist in reducing society's vulnerability to long-term

"Superimposed on climatic effects are intensifying human impacts on the functioning of natural ecosystems... to sustain this natural capital will require far-sighted and well-informed planning," he said.

The president of the NRF, Khotso Mokhele, said it was important that the scientific knowledge gathered by Saeon be filtered down to improve the lives of communities reliant on South Africa's natural resources.

"Sustainable development cannot be sustained if communities who depend on our natural resources are not involved in the research process," he said.

Mokhele said scientific research needed to plan for long-term solutions to the country's environmental degradation.

"Saeon's task is essentially to ensure that future generations have a healthy natural environment to exploit without creating further damage," he said.

Pauw pointed out that the Olifants River, which flows from Gauteng and through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean, will be an important focus area for Saeon.

"The river is heavily impacted on by local industries and settlements all along its course and this has down-stream effects in the KNP and Mozambique," he said.

The river supplies water to mining activities in Ba-Phalaborwa and is dammed outside the town before it flows into the KNP.

"This dam has a significant impact on the river's ecology, the effects of which are clearly seen when the river is compared above and below the dam site," Pauw said.

A national as well as a regional perspective on environmental change was needed, Pauw said, in order to determine an effective environmental policy.

"This is the justification for conducting long-term environmental research, not just environmental monitoring," he said.

Labels: conservation, monitoring, olifants, research