CONSERVATION CHAMPION
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“I have always been someone who cares and who wants to make some kind of difference and this side of me started to really itch when I was 12/13. I would always try and come up with some kind of idea to do something, to help someone or make an impact, and that’s when the thought occurred to me to do a fundraiser. I came across the EWT, and everything they do immediately pulled me in. Nature and the incredible creatures God gifted us has always held a special place in my heart, and the fact that we are killing them, destroying their homes and taking away their families devastated me, and I knew I had to do something, anything to try and help, and raising funds for EWT was the perfect opportunity.”
I feel like we raised some good funds and I am eternally and incredibly grateful for the opportunity I got, but I am definitely not going to stop there. I will keep on trying to make a difference, step by step.”
“We need your help! The global covid crisis has shown us more than ever how important it is to work together to support the future of our planet – the people, the environment and the animals within it.
We will be running together and on our own over the next few months, and we will add our distances together to make up the 535 km journey from our school to Big Ben in London. We hope you will cheer us on by donating to this very worthy charity – www.ewt.org.za”
GUEST ARTICLE: MY JOURNEY IN ROAD ECOLOGY
A rewarding part of my career has been training and capacity-building and seeing people and organisations become local, regional, and world-leaders in their work. A highlight for me has been watching the growth of Wendy Collinson and the Endangered Wildlife Trust to become local and international leaders in transportation ecology.
My name is Dr Rodney van der Ree, and I first met Wendy Collinson in around 2010. Our first collaboration was to co-organise a symposium at the International Wildlife Management Congress in Durban in 2012, followed by a workshop at the EWT office in Johannesburg a couple of days later. The concept of ‘road ecology’ was explored for the first time in Africa at these two events, and participants clearly understood its importance. Wendy and the team at EWT continued to develop the program and established partnerships with local road agencies (namely Bakwena, N3TC and TRAC N4), SANParks and universities to begin collecting data and training students.
In 2015 I returned to South Africa to support another series of workshops on road ecology in Africa run by EWT at a conference in Howick (The Symposium of Contemporary Conservation Practice) and Johannesburg (The Green Mile). It was incredible to see the growth in the field since the initial visit in 2012 and participation by a larger and more diverse group of people. This was also an exciting trip for me because I brought about 30 copies of my recently published ‘Handbook of Road Ecology’ (www.handbookofroadecology.org), which included four chapters from Africa, including a Chapter by Wendy and colleagues at the EWT. The handbook has 62 chapters written by more than 100 leading transportation ecologists from around the world, and I have half-price copies available as part of the 2nd ACLIE congress (see ACLIE article) that was just held. If you are interested, please send me an email rvdr@unimelb.edu.au and I can give you a quote for postage.
I started my career as a post-doctoral researcher at The University of Melbourne Australia and very quickly became focused on quantifying and mitigating the impacts of roads and traffic on wildlife. With numerous students and collaborators (including Dr Manisha Bhardwaj, who wrote an article in this newsletter last month), this field of research and practice’s critical importance is growing rapidly. I have since moved into ecological consulting to work more closely with those who are planning, designing, building and managing the roads, railways and other linear infrastructure that is being built across Africa at a pace never seen before. In an effort to improve access to important information, I established the open-access resource hub www.TransportEcology.info earlier this year, with Wendy and Lucy Waruingi (from the African Conservation Centre) on the editorial board. The site includes blog-style summaries of relevant peer-reviewed scientific articles, as well as space for case studies and best-practise notes. You are invited to submit your articles for publication and encouraged to subscribe to receive notifications when new articles are published.
Transportation ecology in Africa has come a long way since Wendy, and I ran those initial meetings almost a decade ago. With Wendy spearheading the establishment of ACLIE and the successful online ACLIE congress in August 2021, there is now a much larger group of people involved and dozens of research and management projects across many parts of Africa. Importantly, there is a growing realisation in government of the need for applied research, comprehensive environmental impact assessments, and innovation to ensure the roads, railways, and other linear infrastructure we build today do not undermine our ecosystems’ ecological integrity and sustainability for decades to come.
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A WORD FROM THE CEO
Yolan Friedmann, EWT CEO
yolanf@ewt.org.za It all began with an email in March 2015 from a wonderful ally and friend in conservation, Rob Brett, who works with our partner Conservation International. Rob asked me if we could meet regarding the potential for the EWT to get involved in the conservation of land in the Soutpansberg Mountains as he was engaging with Phil and Sue Roberts, an Australian couple who had visited the area, fallen in love with it, and wanted to help purchase a property to secure this critical landscape for Leopard conservation. For 40 odd years, the EWT had held the belief that our most effective position was to support other landowners to conserve habitats and species and not be in the ‘land game’ ourselves. But this conservation with Rob sparked my interest, and the more we spoke about this forgotten mountain, the urgent need for its formal protection, the critical importance of its water catchments, cultural heritage sites and extraordinary levels of species endemism, the more it became evident that the best way to catalyse urgent conservation attention was to have some skin in the game as a landowner ourselves.
From what began with Phil and Sue’s passionate desire to invest in African conservation in 2015 has now become a conservation success story unfolding before our eyes, where an overlooked and little-known Garden of Eden is becoming a model for sustainable conservation and an emerging nature-based local economy.
The Roberts’ funding resulted in the initial purchase of the 1,400-hectare Medike Nature Reserve. In just six short years, with the extraordinary support of partners like the Rainforest Trust and Doug Wilson, we doubled the reserve’s size to include Medike West. The dream to create a 23,000-hectare Protected Area is fast becoming a reality, with the commitment of several landowners to include their properties through the establishment of the Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve Association in 2020 to protect and manage the area through the biodiversity stewardship programme, increasing the protection of the mountain’s unique biodiversity. With funding from the F E van Pletzen / L Steynberg Trust, we reached another fantastic milestone last week by opening up over 40 km of trail running paths and another 68 km of hiking trails across several spectacular landscapes and farms in the magical mountain. I was fortunate enough to be part of the recce team, which spent five days testing these virgin trails that will open access to nature lovers globally to enjoy this serene wilderness and support its ongoing conservation. Moreover, it is part of creating sustainable, nature-based employment opportunities for our trail-cutters, rangers, and guides who hail from local communities and are eager to share their natural and cultural heritage with visitors. This is a unique opportunity to undertake a true wilderness hike in which you can experience absolute quiet, untampered vistas, pristine wilderness, overwhelming beauty, unique biodiversity, large numbers of endemic and highly threatened species, and ancient cultural history. Just some of the features you will see on this hike and nowhere else is a Yellowwood forest with trees of over 80 m high, Euphorbias, Giant Strelitzias, and Samango monkeys and a Leopard density that turns sand roads into veritable tracking highways every morning.
Watch this space for the official opening of hiking, trail running, and mountain bike trails next month, as well as opportunities to do specialist experiences for birders and tree huggers, all to the benefit of conservation and the upliftment of communities in this special place. For more, visit our EWT Destinations page and watch the video The Forgotten Mountain.
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WILD DOGS REINTRODUCED TO MALAWI AFTER DECADES OF ABSENCE
On 27 July 2021, 14 African Wild Dogs were translocated successfully from South Africa and Mozambique to Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve in a historic project to reintroduce this Endangered species to Malawi. The translocation was undertaken through a collaboration between the Endangered Wildlife Trust [EWT] and African Parks, which manages Liwonde and Majete protected areas in partnership with Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). While helping to repopulate both parks, the reintroduction represents a major international effort to conserve African Wild Dogs, with only 6,600 individuals, or just 700 breeding pairs, estimated to be left on the continent.
“The Wild Dog is one of Africa’s most Endangered mammals, so we’re extremely proud to have been able to establish safe spaces in Malawi where their long-term survival can be assured”, said the Director of Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Brighton Kumchedwa. “The conservation of our country’s natural heritage is central to our· national development strategy. Over the past two decades, our collaboration with African Parks and local communities has helped to restore multiple iconic species to our protected areas, contributing not only to meeting global biodiversity targets but to sustainable economic growth”.
The African Wild Dogs were sourced from Gorongosa National Park and Karingani Game Reserve in Mozambique, and Somkhanda Community Game Reserve and Maremani Nature Reserve in South Africa. On 27 July, all 14 animals were flown in a single aircraft from Mozambique’s Massingir Airport to Blantyre in Malawi. Eight dogs were released into bomas in Liwonde National Park and six into bomas in Majete Wildlife Reserve, where they will remain for several weeks, allowing them to adjust to the new conditions before being fully released into the wider park areas. Each pack has been fitted with a mix of satellite and radio collars to facilitate the continual monitoring of their location and habitat use and ensure their long-term protection in the parks.The dogs
The Liwonde National Park (Malawi) females were born in Somkhanda Community Game Reserve, the only community-owned reserve in the Wild Dog Range Expansion Project. Wild Dogs were introduced into the reserve in 2015, and from the reserve’s successes, Somkhanda Community Game Reserve can now contribute back to the Wild Dog range expansion work. In this case, three sisters born in 2019, offspring of the Kalahari females and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park males, recently showed signs of dispersal, and the collaborative decision was to capture them and bond them to male Wild Dogs and introduce the newly formed pack into Liwonde Game Reserve. Thank you to Somkhanda Game Reserve, Wildlands, Wildlife ACT – Focused Conservation, UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve (Colchester Zoo), and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for making this possible.
The Liwonde National Park (Malawi) males were born in Maremani Nature Reserve, a beautiful game reserve in the tropical savannah in northern Limpopo, close to the Limpopo River in the northernmost area of South Africa.
The males dispersed from their natal pack and went in search of females. In the space of ten days, the group covered 600 km, which included a stint into Bubye Valley Conservancy (Zimbabwe). Due to their vulnerability to several threats (persecution, snaring, and roadkill), a decision was made to capture the male Wild Dogs, bond with the Zululand females and introduce them into Liwonde National Park. Maremani Nature Reserve has been vital in the success of this Wild Dog population and a champion for the species in the surrounding areas.
The Majete males come from the original pack introduced into Gorongosa National Park in 2018. Gorongosa National Park is Mozambique’s flagship reserve and now boasts a thriving Wild Dog population with more than 100 Wild Dogs now roaming the landscape.
Several months ago, the Gorongosa-born males, having just turned two, dispersed from their natal pack and roamed into the buffer areas outside the park. Dr Antonio Tonecas, the head Gorongosa vet, captured the males and brought them back to safety the safety of the Gorongosa boma. Following the decision to include these males in the Majete Wildlife Reserve reintroduction, the group was relocated by air by the Mozambican veterinarian team and placed in the predator boma at Karingani Game Reserve, where they were bonded with females.
The Majete females were born on Karingani Game Reserve. The Karingani Pack was introduced in 2019 and has thrived in Karingani since. Karingani is situated in the southwest of Mozambique, bordering South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The strong conservation focus and monitoring at Karingani have seen the Wild Dog population double in the past two years.
In addition to this, Karingani has also been working in close partnership with the young organisation, Mozambique wildlife alliance – an emerging Mozambican wildlife veterinary team, mandated by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), with high conservation impact across the country.
The Karingani pack found the Gorongosa males only days after they arrived in the Karingani boma. The Karingani team cleverly and skillfully lured the three selected females into the second compartment of the boma, capturing them without the use of anaesthesia. Since these females needed no convincing to choose the Gorongosa males, the bonding in the Karingani boma went very smoothly.
FUTURE FIELD GUIDES FOR NIEUWOUDTVILLE
JP le Roux, EWT’s Drylands Conservation Programme Field Officer, jeanpierrel@ewt.org.za
The town of Nieuwoudtville is situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape, on the Bokkeveld Plateau. This region is known as the “bulb capital of the world” because it has the highest number of indigenous bulbous flower species on Earth. The Bokkeveld Plateau is also home to Papkuilsfontein, https://papkuilsfontein.com/, a farm in the process of being declared a Protected Environment. This initiative is part of the GEF 5 Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Project.
Although Papkuilsfontein is a commercial sheep and rooibos tea farm, the Van Wyk family farm has always put conservation at the forefront of farming activities. The family also diversified their income by venturing into tourism, renovating several historical buildings into quiet retreats for guests, and more recently developing hiking and mountain bike trails in collaboration with the EWT. While sustainable land management and biodiversity conservation are priorities, providing employment opportunities is also high on Papkuilsfontein’s agenda, as this is an important function in rural regions such as this, where employment opportunities are limited.
As part of the project, the EWT and Papkuilsfontein are training two local community members, Dustin Gouws and Jeraldo Skippers, as Apprentice Field Guides (NQF2) through FGASA. We have provided them with tablets and guiding books, are mentoring the aspiring guides to get their qualifications, and doing weekly contact sessions to ensure their studies stay on track.
Aside from the theory component, Apprentice Field Guides need to have sound knowledge of the history, geology, plants and animals in the specific area of their guiding operation. To achieve this, we assist the guides with various training events and take them on practical excursions in and around the Nieuwoudtville area. The trainee guides have had an action-packed year and completed a diverse range of training interventions, including their Introduction to Guiding, First Aid (Level 1 and 2), Plant Identification, photography, and planning guided tours.
On 5 August 2021, Bonnie Schumann, EWT’s Nama Karoo Coordinator, hosted a practical training session for the two trainee guides at Papkuilsfontein. The training focused on using camera traps to assess animal biodiversity in the area so that the aspiring guides can learn which mammals occur there. Camera traps are great as they offer an effective non-invasive monitoring method to assess the species richness of medium to large terrestrial mammals and capture images of elusive nocturnal species. The camera trap survey will be aimed at capturing images of the 36 mammal species that can be found on the farm, which include Leopards, Black-backed Jackals, Silver Foxes, Bat-eared Foxes, Smith’s Red Rock Rabbits, Porcupines, duikers, Cape-clawless Otters, Pole Cats, baboons, Rock Hyraxes, Klipspringer, and Aardvarks. The training started early at the Papkuilsfontein reception. The large and informative map details the vegetation types, topography found on the farm, points of interest, and the hiking and biking trails. Bonnie used this as an opportunity to discuss where best to place cameras, taking into account what animals might be found in the different habitats. It is important to cover all the different vegetation and habitat types when placing cameras as these determine which species occur where. After a quick cup of Outliers coffee, http://outlierscoffee.co.za/product/endangered/, an introduction to using a GPS and setting up a camera trap followed.
We spent the whole day on the farm placing ten cameras in the different areas. Being out in the field offered great opportunities to explore, interpret what we found, and discuss the patterns and processes such as nutrient cycling and the role of pioneer plants. A lucky sighting of a Black Spitting Cobra opened a great discussion on snakes, their role in the environment and relevant first aid. The cameras will be left for about eight weeks, after which the guides will assess the footage and learn to use Google Pro to plot their discoveries. The camera trap survey will also directly contribute to a better understanding of the biodiversity richness of the area. Stay tuned to find out what we capture. The GEF 5 Sustainable Land Management Project https://karooforever.org.za/ is implemented by the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Dryland Conservation Programme (EWT) and is funded by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with the Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries and Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development. The GEF 5 SLM project promotes innovative approaches to protecting vulnerable ecosystems in dryland areas.
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