SUBURBAN BLISS FOR BIODIVERSITY
Dominic Henry, Ecological Modelling Specialist, EWT Conservation Science Unit (CSU)
Reference: Chamberlain, D.E., Reynolds, C., Amar, A., Henry, D.A.W., Caprio, E. & Batáry. 2020. Wealth, water and wildlife: landscape aridity intensifies the urban Luxury Effect. Global Ecology & Biogeography. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geb.13122
Biodiversity plays an important role in urban ecosystems and restricted access to it can profoundly affect human wellbeing. Unfortunately, urban dwellers rarely have equal access to biodiversity. Ecologists studying urban ecosystems have in many cases revealed a pattern whereby wealthier neighbourhoods in many cities have higher levels of biodiversity than poorer areas – a phenomenon that scientists have called the “Luxury Effect”. The Luxury Effect is indicative of environmental injustice, as the benefits associated with biodiversity are not shared equitably across society.
A new study published in Global Ecology & Biogeography by an international team of scientists from the University of Turin in Italy, the University of Cape Town and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and the Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary, and co-authored by EWT staff member Dominic Henry, conducted a meta-analysis (an analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies) to determine the generality of the Luxury Effect and identify factors that drive variation in this pattern. The authors tested the Luxury Effect across 96 studies from around the world that examined the relationship between socioeconomic status and biodiversity.
The authors found that there was a significant positive relationship between terrestrial biodiversity (including the abundance and species richness of plants, birds, reptiles and insects) and the level of wealth in a city, confirming the existence of a global luxury effect. An interesting finding was that this relationship was far more prominent in the drier regions of the world suggesting that the Luxury Effect could partly be driven by water availability. Wealthier people living in more arid regions may invest more in water features, such as ponds or swimming pools, or in irrigation of their gardens and parks. Alternatively, wealthier areas may be associated with wetter areas within these arid landscapes, with higher property prices associated with lakes, rivers, or other wetland features.
The relevance of this finding in a South African context is profound given how city planning under the apartheid government fell along racial lines. Within cities, most black South Africans continue to live on the periphery in areas where the land is degraded, and often within close proximity to industrial sites where access to clean air and water are limited. Understanding the finer details of the mechanisms that drive and maintain the Luxury Effect can help with the creation of more equitable cities in the future. Acknowledging that access to biodiversity is an incredibly important part of our lives can help facilitate the management of urban areas to make access to the benefits of biodiversity more equal across the socioeconomic spectrum.
CONSERVATION CHAMPION: IRENE AMIET
Alison Janicke, EWT Head of Resource Development, alisonj@ewt.org.za
Irene Amiet is a freelance writer and internationally renowned photographer. A native of Basel, Switzerland, Irene currently lives Ribble Valley in Lancashire, UK.
Irene has volunteered and worked on exciting projects all over the world, including research on Leatherback Turtles in Panama and big cat density research in Limpopo, working as a correspondent for Coast Magazine and running an online blog on outdoor photography for the Galveston Daily News in Texas. In addition to a large variety of images featured internationally, Irene has also produced breath-taking collections of images, such as that entitled “Avian Ballet”, which captures the dance-like performances of wading birds’ in their natural seagrass habitats, and “Love Letters From Africa”, a coffee table book of wildlife and nature in Southern Africa, with diary extracts from Irene Amiet. All proceeds of the sale of this book will go to the Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa.
As a nature and wildlife photographer, I believe it’s a duty to give back a little towards conservation efforts. The regions I’ve been privileged to live and work in are closest to my heart and as I know the grassroots conservationists personally, I am convinced their work makes a difference and can assure you that any moneys raised goes directly into the right hands.
Over the years I have put signature pieces of mine up for sale with the revenue going straight to these organisations.
Irene Amiet
See here for more detail regarding these incredible collections.
CATCHMENTS: WHERE COMMUNITIES AND BIODIVERSITY MEET
Nkosinathi Nama
Nkosinathin@ewt.org.za
Water is a precious resource and as a water scarce country, South Africa needs to protect and manage its limited water resources, for the benefit of both people and the environment. With a rapidly growing population, emerging economy, and climate change challenges, a holistic approach to the management of our water resources is needed, encompassing social, ecological, and built infrastructure interventions to improve water availability to communities. At the same time, we need to maintain the critical services provided by rivers, wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems as well as biodiversity. These services include the mitigation of drought and floods, which can cost the country billions of Rands and lead to individual hardship and loss of life; reducing soil erosion; keeping our wetlands healthy; mitigating the impacts of pollution; and provision of food, medicine, fibre, building materials, and economic opportunities, including tourism.
Biodiversity is under threat globally with the rate of species loss higher than ever recorded before. Freshwater ecosystems, home to about 40% of fish species globally, are under threat and 20% of freshwater fish species have already gone extinct as a result of pressures such as over-extraction of water from rivers, pollution, overfishing, and climate change. In South Africa, more than 90% of our surface water is depleted or degraded by development or agriculture.
Catchment areas encompass land that is drained by a river and its tributaries, as well as other water runoff. They usually include areas with hills or mountain ranges such as the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal and the Amathole Mountains in the Eastern Cape. Catchments are critical for biodiversity conservation and human survival, but are often severely impacted by mining, agriculture, forestry, and other human activities. To balance competing human needs, catchment management strategies need to take a multi-pronged and holistic approach, as mentioned above, considering both socio-economic and ecological objectives, and ensuring that the needs of communities living within the catchments are met. This approach, putting communities at the centre of biodiversity conservation within catchments, gives these ecosystems their best chance at survival, particularly if people are included in management strategies. Recognising that communities are important custodians of catchment areas, and ultimately of the biodiversity in these areas, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has applied this approach in its projects in the Amathole (Eastern Cape Province) and Groot Marico (North West Province) water catchments, as well as through partnerships in the Mzimvubu catchment in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Amathole mountains in the Eastern Cape are recognised as a strategic water source area. Invasive alien vegetation is a significant threat to many of these ecosystems, including the Amathole, where widespread stands of species such as the Black Wattle occur. Indigenous to Australia, and without any natural control agents in South Africa, the Black Wattle is a prominent invader that is costly to manage and poses a serious threat to biodiversity and water provision. The species consumes a substantial amount of water and can alter flow rates of a river. Dense stands growing along river systems can change the ecology of the systems. For example, both water temperature and water chemistry can be altered by the shade of the trees, which in turn affects the diversity of aquatic species.
To address the impacts of Black Wattle and create much needed employment opportunities for people living in the area, the EWT collaborated with the then Department of Environment Affairs (DEA) to train and employ 150 contract workers to clear Black Wattle. The EWT also trained five local entrepreneurs as qualified Natural Resource Management contractors. They received training in computer skills, business management, plant identification, chainsaw operations, basic rangeland management, as well as health and safety, and basic first aid. Through this initiative, the EWT and the then DEA cleared 1,250 hectares of Black Wattle stands in the catchment.
To monitor the impact of alien clearing on the river health in the Amathole Catchment, the EWT implemented a biomonitoring programme in the Tyume River, one of the main rivers in the catchment. Water quality and flow rates are measured throughout the year, together with the status of indigenous and alien fish species.
Indigenous aquatic species act as good indicators of aquatic health, but many are under pressure through human activities. In the Amathole, the introduction of alien fish species such as the rainbow trout has significantly impacted indigenous fish species that they prey on. Biomonitoring has however shown early signs of improvement in the population status of two Endangered freshwater fish species, the Border Barb and the Eastern Cape Rocky, both of which only occur in this region. Local community members have also been trained in ecological monitoring techniques, equipping them to become citizen scientists. Through this and additional training, members of Tyume communities have gained insights into the dynamics of rangelands and aquatic ecosystems, as well as the need to maintain biological diversity.
As with the Border Barb and Eastern Cape Rocky, the Critically Endangered Amathole Toad is endemic, occurring only in the region. The habitat of the Amathole Toad includes Amathole Montane Grassland and Amathole Mistbelt Grassland, both of which are vegetation types that only occur in the Eastern Cape and are classified as ‘Poorly Protected’. The site also supports Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane Fynbos, which includes patches of unique Fynbos that have not yet been mapped in the Amathole Mountains. The EWT is working with private landowners towards obtaining formal protection of this important habitat and its unique species, which also contributes to securing reliable water provision for the Eastern Cape.
To further support local livelihoods in the Amathole water catchment, the EWT also provides training on climate smart agriculture, soil erosion management, and improved management of livestock. Climate smart agriculture enables farmers to adapt to drought, seasonal fluctuations, and weather patterns, and mitigate risks to their incomes. In the Tyume valley, farmers identified improved husbandry as a critical need to build the resilience and production capacity of their herds, particularly during times of drought. These efforts all contribute to improved natural resource management.
The EWT has also trained former contract workers in beekeeping. The Tyume Valley Beekeepers Association have had four harvests to-date and are collaborating with private landowners in Hogsback to increase the amount of fodder available to the bees. Through this type of valuable local support, the beekeepers will be able to grow a much-needed micro-enterprise and provide quality honey to residents, tourist lodges and other outlets in the Amathole.
By recognising community needs and involving people who live in the Amathole Catchment in conservation management strategies, as well as sharing skills, scientific feedback, and management experiences, the EWT and its partners have developed strategic interventions for improved water and biodiversity management in the region. This critical work cannot be implemented by one organisation alone. We are grateful to the Rand Merchant Bank for financial support of the project, and extend our appreciation for our ongoing partnerships to members of the Amathole Catchment Forum, the Department of Forestry Fisheries and Environment (DFFE, formerly DEA), the Department of Water, Sanitation and Housing, the Dept of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, and the Amathole Forestry Company, amongst many others.
DR KEITH HENRY COOPER 1937–2020
The forest is echoing with sad silence and shock at the passing of a great South African conservationist. He was passionate about our trees and forests, and it can indeed be said of Keith Cooper that a great tree has fallen.
Keith was one of a band of conservationists mentored by the likes of Dr Ian Player, Dr Ian Garland, Prof. Eugene Moll, and Dr Nolly Zaloumus, who were closely allied to The Wildlife Society (WESSA). The seeds grew.
Keith was respected by authorities, NGOs, and ordinary people, and became a legendary pioneering force in WESSA for the sustainable conservation of South Africa’s animal and plant biodiversity, and terrestrial, marine, and urban environments. He remained active in conservation and was always willing to help when asked, giving of his time and experience freely. Many of us grew into our conservation jeans or slacks at his feet. He coordinated WESSA’s Conservation Committee (CONCOM) including leading academics and conservationists; together the group formulated WESSA’s scientifically and socially sound conservation policies and kept long-standing interpersonal and inter-NGO links. CONCOM meetings were a wonderful classroom. Keith pioneered many conservation principles that are now deeply embedded in our country. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2003 for his scientific and conservation work in preserving South Africa’s biodiversity, and in 2016 received WESSA’s highest award for his contribution to conservation.
He was an avid birdwatcher and, while stationed in Mtubatuba, the young Cooper fell among the local Wildlife Society members and teamed up with bird ringers. Later, as Administrative Officer of the Oceanographic Research Institute where he worked for 11 years, his interests in biodiversity conservation were further nurtured. Keith joined the Committee of the then Natal Branch of the Wildlife Society and represented them as a National Councillor. In the mid-1960s, he was asked to become a full-time Wildlife Society employee to run the National Office as the Director (1972). The position of Director did not fit comfortably with Keith, however, and he moved sideways to become the Society’s Director of Conservation in 2002 and dedicated his life full-time to biodiversity conservation, with the support of his more than able assistant Di Dold and wife Mae.
In the early days Keith and Eugene Moll produced several fieldwork reports on areas that later became Nature Reserves, and they led monthly excursions to places of interest for Natal Branch members’ families and kids (with numbers sometimes up to 100 people).
Keith was ahead of his times. During his WESSA tenure he set up many conservancies, nature reserves and protected areas around the country and helped communities next to conservation areas to develop eco-tourism and associated conservation projects. He established and developed the Society’s ACE (African Conservation Education) project (the first of its kind in South Africa, set up to educate black teachers in the field of environment and conservation); in this he worked closely with Mr Simeon Gcumisa who was later employed by the Society.
His survey of forests in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Transvaal, and Transkei included all flowering plants, particularly those with medicinal value. The consummate citizen scientist, he was a prolific recorder of observations, authored two forest surveys, many WESSA field reports, and was editor with Prof. Mike Bruton of the book Studies on the Ecology of Maputaland. He drove the project to identify all important areas for conservation in Natal and Kwa Zulu in 1978 and was instrumental in the development and final production of the Kwa Zulu Natal Environmental Atlas — the first such undertaking in South Africa, and a valuable tool for Iand-use planning.
While Keith’s contributions were primarily in KZN and the Eastern Cape (Transkei), they extended significantly to other areas of South Africa and all Society regions, branches and members through direct interventions and by example. Keith was a strong, highly respected master in lobbying decision makers, politicians, State and Provincial authorities, local authorities, local communities and other NGOs; he was Chairman of the Kwa Zulu Natal Branch of the Society from 1970 to 1972 and was generous in sharing his experience and providing informed advice and inspiration to others. He surveyed the indigenous forests of the Transkei and wrote an extensive series of reports on proposed conservation areas in Kwa Zulu-Natal, Transvaal, QwaQwa, Transkei, Lebowa and other areas. The raw data he collected have been digitized by Prof Timm Hoffman’s group at UCT for future research on vegetation changes over time (something we could all consider in order to save our unique personal records for future research). Keith and Prof. John Grindley of UCT initiated proposals for marine and estuarine reserves in South Africa. Indeed, there have been few South African conservation plans that have not benefited from his insights.
After retiring Keith and Mae continued to be actively involved with black communities in both rural and urban areas in Tongaland, Maputaland, the Pondoland coast, Drakensberg, and informal settlements around Durban. He served on many conservation committees and Trusts. He completed a botanical survey of the Mbona Private Nature Reserve. His Karkloof projects doubled the area of conserved Afro-montane forest – another huge commitment over many years.
All this and more from an astute, humble, and real gentleman.
IN MEMORIAM: FAREWELL TO FURY, A CONSERVATION HERO (7 FEBRUARY 2012 – 3 JUNE 2020)
Ndifelani Mulaudzi, Trade Officer, EWT Wildlife in Trade Programme
NdifelaniM@ewt.org.za
Much-loved Conservation Canine, Fury, sadly passed away on 3 June, as a result of complications arising from a twisted spleen, despite his handler and best friend, Shay Seebran, and the vet’s every effort to save him.
Fury, a German Shepherd, was an incredible conservationist, working tirelessly to protect endangered species in many public and private game reserves in South Africa. As a detection dog, he was trained to detect wildlife products such as rhino horn and ivory, as well as arms and ammunition. Over a two-year period, he and Shay conducted 5,213 vehicle searches at 27 gates in 16 game reserves. They also conducted compound, open area and cargo searches at various airports.
The EWT pays tribute to Conservation Canine Fury for the massive difference he has made with his successful seizures of wildlife contraband and illegal arms and ammunition, helping in the fight against illegal wildlife trade, and preventing many poaching incidents from occurring.
More than that, Fury was a constant companion and partner to Shay, whose life he saved more than once. These best friends had been working and learning together for over two years, travelling South Africa as a team, and spending every moment of their days together, trying to leave a lasting footprint in the anti-poaching world. Shay is devastated by his loss, and says, “The legend may be gone, but certainly not forgotten. I will always appreciate your service, Fury. Rest in power, son.
Conservation Canine Fury was indeed a legend, and well-known to many around the world. He has left an amazing legacy behind, to be carried on by many conservationists just like him. He has been laid to rest at his home, the EWT Conservation Campus.
Fury’s work was funded by U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and Tourvest, and supported by Royal Canin and Boehringer-Ingelheim.
MY JOURNEY IN CONSERVATION AND THE ROAD AHEAD
Innocent Buthelezi, Field Officer, EWT Wildlife and Transport Programme
innocentb@ewt.org.za
I was born on 27 January 1990 at Jericho Clinic. Jericho is a rural village in the North West Province of South Africa. I grew up in Johannesburg, where my mother worked as a domestic worker. During the school holidays, I would alternate between visiting my maternal family in North West and my paternal family in KwaZulu-Natal, where my parents now live in Madadeni, near Newcastle.
While my parents were growing up, neither of them had the opportunity to finish their schooling, but they were determined to build a better future for me and provide me with the opportunities that they never had. Living in Johannesburg, I was fortunate to receive a higher standard of education than many other children residing in the more rural areas of the North West or KwaZulu-Natal. At the age of seven, I discovered a love for karate, and progressed to Red Belt by the age of 13. I stopped my karate lessons when I went to high school, but continued with other sports such as soccer, rugby, and athletics. My love of rugby encouraged me to build up my strength and stamina, and I started lifting weights that I made from cement compressed into empty paint cans.
During my teenage years, while not doing sports, I developed an interest in watching National Geographic and Animal Planet on DSTV, where my passion for nature really took hold, and eventually led me to pursue a career in nature conservation. I matriculated in 2008, and I started my studies at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in 2009. I graduated from TUT with a National Diploma in 2012, which I would never have achieved without the generosity of my mother’s employer, who financially supported my studies. No one else in my family had completed schooling, let alone tertiary studies. After graduating I volunteered with SANBI and worked at Rand Water as an assistant until 2017, when I embarked on my current career with the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife and Transport Programme (WTP).
Upon joining the EWT in 2017, I felt the urge to pursue a Bachelor’s in Technology (BTech), and with support from the EWT and a generous study bursary from Trans African Concessions (TRACN4) to conduct my BTech through a research project entitled ‘Assessing the effectiveness of road signage in altering driver behaviour in the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa,’ based on reports on social media (specifically Facebook) that indicated levels of public concern for the number of animals being killed on the roads (i.e. roadkill) inside the KNP.
I have always been a dreamer; it is what has always kept me going throughout my conservation career, and my ultimate goal is to achieve a PhD. Despite the disruption of the academic year by the COVID-19 pandemic, I aim to complete my BTech this year and I hope to graduate in 2021.
I will not deny that working full-time and studying has not been without its challenges, particularly while fulfilling the role of a husband and father. Fortunately, a lot of my studies have related directly to the work I do with TRACN4, and without the bursary it would have been extremely difficult to support my family and further my studies. I am eternally grateful for the faith they have placed in me and bringing me ever closer to my destination as a wildlife conservationist.
