THE PASSING OF DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR BOB SCHOLES
The EWT is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Professor Bob Scholes, one of the world’s leading scientists on Climate Change.
Professor Bob Scholes passed away on the evening of Wednesday, 28 April 2021, following a hike with friends and colleagues.
The Wits community, in announcing his passing, stated that they are shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of such a giant in the field of climate science, not only in South Africa, but in the world. Professor Scholes was a true leader, a conscientious and dedicated scientist, and a teacher to all. An A-rated scientist and Professor of Systems Ecology at Wits, he served as the Director of the Global Change Institute (GCI). He was among the top 1% of environmental scientists worldwide, based on citation frequency, and published widely in the fields of savannah ecology, global change, and earth observation.
Professor Scholes led several high profile studies and held high profile positions in the fields of climate change and environmental studies globally. He was one of the lead authors in the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the present and future impacts of climate change and how we can adapt to, or reduce it. He has also served as a member of the steering committees of several global earth observation bodies.
The EWT and our colleagues and friends far and wide are saddened by the loss of Professor Scholes, and extend our sincere condolences to Mary, his family, friends, and colleagues during this very difficult time.
A WORD FROM THE CEO
Yolan Friedmann, EWT CEO
yolanf@ewt.org.za South Africans and nature lovers around the world celebrated the news that the film My Octopus Teacher won not only a BAFTA award but a much-coveted Oscar as well. A remarkable achievement indeed, and a big congratulations must go to the team – a collaboration between Off the Fence, Netflix, and the Sea Change Project, an NGO raising awareness of the beauty and ecological importance of South Africa’s kelp forest. Directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, executive produced by Ellen Windemuth, and produced by Craig Foster, My Octopus Teacher is a tribute to the extraordinary relationship between a human being and a species primarily viewed only as food to many.
Amidst a sea of films about the state of our natural world, the loss of biodiversity and the devastating impact that humans are having on the planet, this film stands out for its emphasis on the intimate relationship between two individuals across the species divide, as well as its focus on the power of human connection to nature and other animals. Most conservationists baulk at the idea of naming the subjects of their wildlife research or getting too personally involved with individuals, preferring to focus on systems and processes instead. Most would criticise interspecies friendships as being anti-science. And yet we know that the intimate connection to nature in small bites that we can touch, feel and, yes, name is what attracts and retains most people’s interest in and empathy for those with whom we share our natural world. I can even admit that EWT staff have, on occasion, named some standout individuals, including Wild Dogs, Cheetah, and Leopards, for their resilience, courage, persistence, and of course, the teachings they imparted as their stories were told. So, is it a bad thing for conservationists to name, individualise, and share personal relationships with specific animals when taught to focus on systems and species instead?
Humans need to connect for anything to matter. The COVID pandemic has certainly brought home the suffering that goes with the loss of human connection, and nature keeps paying the price for our increasing disconnect with the natural world characterised by children who think that milk comes from a carton and that waste no longer impacts the planet if it is put into a bin. We also know that human connections with other species have helped prolong lives in care homes and rehabilitate offenders in the prison system. Humans connect to nature in dozens of ways, through experiences like hiking, diving, trail running, camping, and so much more. Mountain ranges are named, and dreams are borne out of a desire to experience and – as humans do – conquer extreme climbs, trails, and ski slopes. It is our own personal relationship with nature and what this does for us on an intimate level that changes us the most – and may well be the saving grace for much of our imperilled natural world in the end. Stories about the natural world that centre around the human-nature connection are more adept at driving home messages about the fragility of our world and our own role in it, as well as the complexity and interdependence of all relationships, human or otherwise.
Craig Foster talks about how his relationship with his Octopus Teacher improved his relationship with his son and many other people, teaching him much more than just lessons about marine biology. This is probably true for many biologists, too, as life lessons about survival, communication, and above all, love are often better learned from our relationship with other species. Should there even be a debate about whether or not anthropomorphism has a place, not just in film-making and storytelling, but also in science-based conservation and the race to save the planet? Or perhaps both are just different sides to the same story after all.
EWT AND BUSINESS FOR NATURE CALL ON COMPANIES TO HELP REDUCE NATURE LOSS IN THIS DECADE.
Dr Gabi Teren, EWT’s Business and Biodiversity Network, Programme Manager gabit@ewt.org.za Healthy societies, resilient economies, and thriving businesses rely on nature. The natural resources that power businesses are under huge strain and the private sector is a major contributor to nature’s depletion. The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s National Biodiversity and Business Network (NBBN) has joined Business for Nature, a global coalition that brings together business and conservation organisations and forward-thinking companies. Together we amplify a powerful leading business voice calling for governments to adopt policies now to reverse nature loss this decade.
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) recognised the need for a body to assist businesses to integrate biodiversity into their strategies and activities and established the NBBN in 2013, in partnership with the Department of Environmental Affairs (now the Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries), and leading SA companies such as De Beers, Pam Golding Properties, Nedbank Limited, Hatch, Pick n Pay, and Transnet. In 2016, the list of NBBN partners grew to include Woolworths and Eskom. The NBBN aims to reduce the impacts businesses in South Africa have on nature by developing and disseminating relevant tools and guidelines to enable a more positive relationship with nature.
Businesses depend on a healthy planet to provide a stable operating environment, customers, and workforces, and the natural resources necessary for production – food, fibre, water, minerals, building materials, and more.
Nature also provides ecosystem services worth at least US$125 trillion/year globally, from which businesses benefit at no cost through, for example, waste decomposition, flood control, pollination of crops, water purification, carbon sequestration, and climate regulation. Losing nature means losing these services and creating extra costs and vulnerability for businesses. In fact, more than half of the world’s GDP – an estimated US$44 trillion of economic value generation – is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services.
Leading businesses are making ambitious commitments and taking decisive action for nature. Businesses have a critical role to play in reversing nature loss, protecting biodiversity, and preserving species, and business action is about more than a responsibility – there are real and material risks associated with nature’s decline.
Businesses that act now to achieve net-zero and become nature-positive across their value chains will gain a competitive advantage.
In October this year, a new global agreement on nature called the ‘Global Biodiversity Framework’ is due to be agreed at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) in Kunming, China. An ambitious, clear, implementable, and enforceable international agreement at COP15 will help realise nature’s true value to livelihoods, society and our economy.
But businesses cannot address this global crisis on their own. To accelerate action, governments must set ambitious nature and climate policies that provide direction and momentum. This gives the private sector clarity to unlock new business opportunities and creates a level playing field and stable operating environment. Hundreds of companies representing trillions in combined revenue are urging governments to adopt policies now to reverse nature loss through the Nature Is Everyone‘s Business Call to Action.
Whether you are a global corporate giant, an SMME or a sole practitioner, you can sign up your company today to the Call to Action, and join over 700 businesses from around the world who are calling for ambitious and collective action for nature. Companies of any size, location or industry can add their voice.
Sign up here: bit.ly/BfNCTA
For more information on the EWT’s National Biodiversity and Business Network, contact Gabi Teren GabiT@ewt.org.za
THE CITY NATURE CHALLENGE
www.iNaturalist.org
The City Nature Challenge is an annual international event organised by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences and has been taken up by cities worldwide. It is tricky for scientists to conduct biodiversity surveys in urban areas because the habitats are so fragmented, and it is not always possible to access private properties. This iNaturalist challenge calls on citizen scientists to help record the wildlife occurring in their cities.
Cities contain ecosystems that, while not all in a natural state, are filled with wildlife that have adapted their behaviour to survive and thrive in these environments and are essential in maintaining a balance in green spaces and urban ecosystems, which provide us with critical services such as oxygen and carbon sequestration, flood and drought regulation, water, recreational space, and many more. To maximise our understanding and protection of the wildlife in cities, scientists need to have all the information they can get, and you can help just by looking around and recording what you see!
“Citizen scientists collect thousands of valuable records every day on biodiversity and the environment to assist conservation and research efforts across the globe. Play your part in helping to protect your patch of nature in your city by participating in this great global initiative and recording what species occur there.”
Dr Lizanne Roxburgh, Senior Scientist, EWT Conservation Science Unit
This year’s challenge takes place in two parts. The first phase (30 April–3 May 2021) involves taking pictures of wild plants and animals. The second phase (4 May–9 May 2021) is dedicated to identifying what was observed during the challenge.
To participate, download the app and sign-up to iNaturalist, find a project in your city (or start one!) and join in the fun – it’s addictive! See www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021 for more information.The following projects in South Africa have been registered so far:
Nelson Mandela-Bay
Ethekwini
City of Cape Town
Garden Route
Tshwane
Check out the project journals for training, helpful hints, and other great resources to get you started!
RESCUE AND REHABILITATION OF A POISONED EGYPTIAN GOOSE
Dr Lindy Thompson (lindyt@ewt.org.za) and John Davies (EWT Birds of Prey Programme Field Officers), Rebecca Lambert and Nikita Jackson (Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre), and Carrie Hickman (APRN Ground Hornbill Project). In December 2020, while conducting fieldwork along the Olifants River, we found a poorly-looking Egyptian Goose showing signs that indicated it might have been poisoned. While the goose appeared to be in an otherwise good condition , with no visible injuries (broken bones or bleeding) or signs of trauma, it stumbled, fell, and rolled down the riverbank when it tried to get away from us as we approached. It was unable to fly. The African Wildlife Poisoning Database contains records of 724 Egyptian Geese that have been poisoned in Africa between 1998 and 2020. The substances used are usually organophosphates and carbamates (pesticides), and we think that most cases emanate from human-wildlife conflict due to crop damage by the geese. In this case, we suspect the goose may have been grazing in lucerne that was recently sprayed with insecticide.]
We collected the unfortunate goose and drove it to Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, leaving it in the capable hands of their experienced clinic team. On its arrival, the Egyptian Goose was treated with Atropine (used to treat organophosphate and carbamate poisoning) and activated charcoal (which binds to many toxins and prevents their absorption), and then it was given Ringers solution (to replace fluids and electrolytes) every two hours. After that, the goose received tubed pet food (a recovery food that is easy to digest), and then later, it was fed with pigeon pellets, crushed mealies, mealworms, flying ants, and grasshoppers. On 4 February 2021, after all this treatment and time to heal, the rehab team was happy with the bird’s condition, and we released it close to where we found it on the Olifants River. It flew off as though nothing had happened, without a backward glance – just how we like it to be every time we return wildlife to the wild. Click here to see a video of this bird being released: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLB80t5AvGy/ After publicising this rescue on Instagram, people asked us why we bothered rescuing a bird many people view as a pest species because its numbers are increasing. Firstly, when we found the bird and realised that it had been poisoned and was suffering we decided to rescue and rehabilitate it as the possible death of this bird would have bene due to human action and not natural causes. Secondly, if we had left the poisoned goose in the bush and it had died, it may have been fed on by scavengers such as vultures and jackals, which in turn may have experienced secondary poisoning. Thirdly, the EWT’s John Davies’ work with the annual Balule Waterbird Survey showed that Egyptian Goose numbers have increased along the Olifants River and a few other river systems in the Lowveld, mainly due to the deterioration of water quality due to human actions and large-scale losses of riparian forest, which has created open banks suitable for this species. Egyptian Geese exploit suitable conditions, and when these environmental conditions change, we expect their numbers to decline again. In 2020, in Balule Game Reserve, there were 377 Egyptian Geese along 49.8 km of river, including 47 chicks, while 84 Egyptian Geese were counted near the Phalaborwa barrage, and 71 at Three Bridges, almost half were found at the two most transformed (polluted) sections of the Olifants River. For most of the river, the average number of Egyptian Geese was just over four adults per kilometre, likely still slightly higher than normal, but not excessive. This is similar to parts of the Kruger National Park large-scale loss of riparian habitat have taken place. 
On the property where the goose was found, none of the 19 vulture nests we are monitoring was lost due to disturbance from Egyptian Geese. In fact, over the last six years of the EWT’s vulture nest-monitoring in the Lowveld, we have found only one case where an Egyptian Goose tried to breed in a nest still used by a recently-fledged Hooded Vulture. After numerous interactions between the geese and the vultures, the Goose’s breeding attempt failed, and there was no negative impact on the vultures. See here for more details
Thank you to Andre Botha for sharing records from the African Wildlife Poisoning Database, https://www.africanwildlifepoisoning.org/.
Please submit records of any poisoned wildlife to this database, and please contact Dr Gareth Tate at GarethT@ewt.org.za for details of Wildlife Poisoning Response Training in the Lowveld.
