Kruger Park E-times 4

Kruger Park e-Times October / November 2009 - e4

How To Feed The World in 2050 New Trails in Kruger Karoo National Park to Introduce Lions

Kruger National Park Steps Up Fight Against Poachers photo: Lynette Strauss

Conservation Targets Too Small to Stop Extinction

Newsclips Politicians, unite… and scientists, speak up! Writing exclusively for a special issue of Physics World on the “energy puzzle”, the physicist Lord Browne, former BP chief executive, asserts that politicians need to avoid compartmentalizing energy and climatechange issues - and to work across Government and with international partners to pursue action that binds economic prosperity, national security and environmental integrity. If all goes to plan, political leaders at December’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) will agree to a successor to the Kyoto protocol and make further promises to cut greenhousegas emissions. But the issue will, as always, be how to put those promises into action. To mark the significance of the occasion, this issue of Physics World looks at the scientific challenges of the energy and climate-change problem, and at the political hurdles and the importance of communicating the right messages, at the right pitch, to much wider audiences. In addition to calling for joined-up political thinking, Lord Browne also says we should rethink the state’s role in energy markets. “The market is the most effective delivery system available to society,” he says, “but it needs strategic direction and a framework of rules if it is to provide the more diversified energy structure that we urgently need.” On the challenge of communication, Joseph Romm, a physicist at the US think tank Center for American Progress, says that scientists, and physicists in particular, need to do more to warn the world of the dangers of climate change. As he writes, “The fate of perhaps the next 100 billion people to walk the Earth rests with scientists trying to communicate the dire nature of the climate problem as well as the ability of the media, the public, opinion-makers and political leaders to understand and deal with that science.”

C

onservation biologists are setting their minimum population size targets too low to prevent extinction. That’s according to a new study by University of Adelaide and Macquarie University scientists which has shown that populations of endangered species are unlikely to persist in the face of global climate change and habitat loss unless they number around 5000 mature individuals or more. The findings have been published online in a paper ‘Pragmatic population viability targets in a rapidly changing world’ in the journal Biological Conservation. “Conservation biologists routinely underestimate or ignore the number of animals or plants required to prevent extinction,” says lead author Dr Lochran Traill, from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute. “Often, they aim to maintain tens or hundreds of individuals, when thousands are actually needed. Our review found that populations smaller than about 5000 had unacceptably high extinction rates. This suggests that many targets for conservation recovery are simply too small to do much good in the long run.” A longstanding idea in species restoration programs is the so-called ‘50/500’ rule. This states that at least 50 adults are required to avoid the damaging effects of inbreeding, and 500 to avoid extinctions due to the inability to evolve to cope with environmental change. “Our research suggests that the 50/500

rule is at least an order of magnitude too small to effectively stave off extinction,” says Dr Traill. “This does not necessarily imply that populations smaller than 5000 are doomed. But it does highlight the challenge that small populations face in adapting to a rapidly changing world.” Team member Professor Richard Frankham, from Macquarie University’s Department of Biological Sciences, says: “Genetic diversity within populations allows them to evolve to cope with environmental change, and genetic loss equates to fragility in the face of such changes.” Conservation biologists worldwide are battling to prevent a mass extinction event in the face of a growing human population and its associated impact on the planet. “The conservation management bar needs to be a lot higher,” says Dr Traill. “However, we shouldn’t necessarily give up on critically endangered species numbering a few hundred of individuals in the wild. Acceptance that more needs to be done if we are to stop ‘managing for extinction’ should force decision makers to be more explicit about what they are aiming for, and what they are willing to trade off, when allocating conservation funds.” Other researchers in the study are Associate Professor Corey Bradshaw and Professor Barry B r o o k , both from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute. The paper is online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.09.01 Photo: Ian Whyte

The Kruger Park e-Times is published regularly to keep you updated on conservation, science, sustainable development and tourism issues in and around South Africa’s national parks, transfrontier parks and other environmental hotspots. Send your comments and contributions to: [email protected]

kruger park times - 2 - kruger park times

Kruger National Park Steps Up Fight Against Poachers Lynette Strauss

W

ith the appointment of 57 new field rangers, the Kruger National Park (KNP) is stepping up its crime fighting ability against the increasing incidences of rhino and other animal poaching. This according to South African National Parks, chief executive, Dr David Mabunda, who said the new recruits will be adopting a multi-disciplinary approach and will draw on the skills and expertise of various law enforcement agencies involved in the fight against poaching of South Africa’s fauna and flora. “We as a conservation agency and the public at large are paying a high price with these senseless killings of our animals, while some leader of a syndicate is winning the minds and hearts of ordinary and poor members of society to be on the frontline of these evil operations.” Dr Mabunda was speaking at the recent field ranger training pass out parade which took place in Skukuza in October.

Mabunda warned poachers that their ‘days are numbered.’ “We are on their trail and closing up quickly on them.”  He said the country continues to lose animals through poaching. “Since the beginning of the year the country has lost 94 rhinos, of which 38 was lost in KNP, seven in Gauteng, nine in Limpopo, five in Mpumalanga, 10 in North West, four in the Eastern Cape and 21 in Kwa-Zulu Natal.” To date SANParks rangers have arrested 22 poachers “Our cross-border operations which include patrols with members of the South African Police Services, and our counterparts in Mozambique have yielded huge successes.” The Kruger National Park is divided into three regions - Nxanatseni in the north, Nkayeni in the central area and Marula in the south. There are 22 ranger sections. The parade was inspected by SANParks top rangers, Dr Mabunda and high ranking officials of the SAPS and SANDF border patrol units.     According to Dr Mabunda a total of

R5, 2 million has been invested in the fight against poachers. “The funds allocated have been used to acquire amongst others motorbikes, bicycles, a bantam aircraft to be used in patrols and night surveillance equipment as poachers often conduct their operations at night. Dr Mabunda welcomed the decision by the South African Government to return the military to patrol the 450 km national border on the eastern boundary of the KNP. The withdrawl of the military forces in this area three years ago increased the burden of Kruger’s rangers . “Discussions with the military are already at an advance stage and an announcement in this regard will be made soon. Photo: Laura Mukwevho

The South African National Parks, chief executive, Dr David Mabunda and lieutenant colonel Gavin Willard of South African National Defence Force inspect the pass-out drill.

kruger park times - 3 - kruger park times

Honorary Rangers’ Counter Poaching Raises More Than R1 million in Last Year

Newsclips Migration myths dispelled in UNDP report Most migrants do not move from developing to developed countries, and when they do, rather than hurting host economies, they benefit them, according to a new report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP’s Human Development Report 2009, launched globally on 5 October in Bangkok, dispels several myths about migration, instead underlining the economic and social benefits for countries. “Mobility can bring large gains in development,” Jeni Klugman, director of the report, told IRIN. “It’s presently very much constrained by a whole range of barriers, and reform [of] these barriers could allow much greater potential to be released.” The annual report calls for several migration reforms, including for states to ensure basic rights for migrants, and the mainstreaming of migration into national development plans. © IRIN. All rights reserved.

S

ince the beginning of 2008, the Honorary Rangers Counter Poaching and Ranger Support Services National Project (CP&RSS) has raised over R1 million from events and cash donations and donated two motor boats, cyber trackers and essential specialised equipment for counter poaching operations and ranger field equipment. The Honorary Rangers (HR) organisation comprises volunteers who focus their efforts in support of South African National Parks (SANParks). The counter poaching section of the HR is chaired by John Turner of the Johannesburg region. They have developed a well tested fundraising model where they offer two popular products in the Kruger National Park that raises funds in support of the Environmental Crime Investigation unit and to obtain equipment for the rangers in the parks. These include the Sunset Serenade Weekend in Letaba Camp where classical music enthusiasts enjoy light classical music performed in the bush settings and the Mokhohlolo Bush Camp weekends aimed at inf luential people who care about biodiversity and nature conservation and are happy to contribute financially to this cause. This year they ran five Mokhohlolo camps (two in April and three in July/August) over three nights each at a private bush camp 300m

from the Mokhohlolo Dam between Lower Sabie and Crocodile Bridge in section ranger Neels van Wyk’s area. The Mokhohlolo Dam, which means “to cough” in Tsonga and aptly named after the presence of the local leopard population, has water throughout the year, even in the middle of winter and so in addition to the resident hippos, it attracts a stream of game from elephant to flocks of birds. During their stay, guests enjoy early morning and afternoon bush walks under the guidance of highly qualified trail rangers and the opportunity to observe a game capture exercise conducted by Johan Malan and the veterinary wildlife services game capture team. Accommodation are in two-man tents with communal ablution facilities, a mess tent and a full bar. Perhaps the most important aspect is the communal camp fire where participants meet for coffee before sunrise and bond in the moonlight over a few drinks until late. The camp fire is the place where the world’s problems are fully debated and regularly solved. A typical scene will see a lively discussion about biodiversity and conservation issues which often result in donation huge pledges for specific projects in the parks. The camp and events are run by the experienced team of John Turner and Snowy Botha supported by section ranger Neels van Wyk and the camp offers excellent African bush cuisine. Recently the CP&RSS hosted a group of zoo keepers led by Peter Clark, director of the Adelaide City Zoo and the largest open zoo in the world. The 1 500 hectare Monarto Open Range Zoo, is situated north of Adelaide in South Australia. This group of well informed animal lovers stayed in a rugged bush camp in a wilderness setting where they observed animals in their natural habitat. They exchanged technical notes with the game capture team on sedative darts and capture techniques. A Mokhohlolo camp accommodates 20 guests and the cost this year was R150 000 per camp or R7 500 per person. For more information about the 2010 Mokhohlolo bush camps contact John Turner @ [email protected] Photo: Dominic Barnhardt

kruger park times - 4- kruger park times

How Birds See is Key to Avoiding Power Line Collision

C

onservationists at the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) have, with the financial support of Eskom, embarked on a research project that will enable them to better understand how birds see in the hope that this will help them to prevent birds from flying into power lines. “Many of our bird species are prone to colliding with overhead power lines whilst in mid flight” says Jon Smallie, Manager of the EWT’s Wildlife and Energy Interaction Group (EWT-WEIG), which incorporates a long-standing strategic partnership with Eskom. “To solve this problem, conservationists and electrical utilities around the world have, over the last 30 years, developed various marking devices that aim to make power lines more visible to the birds. These devices have largely been developed based on what we think birds can see, but bird vision is fundamentally different from human vision. We hope that with a better understanding of how birds see their surroundings, we will be able to design improved marking devices and ultimately save more birds.”  Preliminary findings show that bird families differ in their ability to see, and that several of the relevant species have far better peripheral than frontal vision. This has major implications for collision with power lines that are invariably in front of birds in flight. Drawing a bird’s attention to the front, in order to see an overhead power line, may be even more important than previously thought. The final results of the study will be ready by early 2010 and will be published on the EWT’s website at www. ewt.org.za. The EWT intends to incorpo-

rate this new knowledge into the design of marking devices as soon as possible through its strategic partnership with Eskom. Graham Martin – Professor of Avian Sensory Science at the University of Birmingham - is an international expert in bird vision. Professor Martin has developed a method for measuring bird visual fields (where they see) and acuity (how well they see) and is instrumental in this project, leading the research that will help the EWT understand how large birds, which are particularly prone to flying into power lines, experience the world while in flight.   Professor Martin recently spent two weeks in South Africa, measuring visual

fields on blue cranes (Anthropoides paradiseus), white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and kori bustards (Ardeotis kori), all species that are frequently killed as a result of flying into power lines. This is the first time that research of this nature has been undertaken with regard to bird power line collisions. Data were collected using captive birds at two participating institutions. Tygerberg Zoo in Cape Town and the Johannesburg Zoo provided four blue cranes and two white storks and a kori bustard respectively.   Various different power line marking devices are currently available, but all are installed five to 10 metres apart along power lines that are considered to be of collision risk to birds. While these devices have been effective in reducing the number of collisions, they do not completely eliminate deaths and effectiveness varies between bird families. The EWTWEIG is working with Eskom to improve their effectiveness. The Eskom-EWT Strategic Partnership started 13 years ago in response to problems such as bird collision and is a world leader in addressing this major unnatural cause of death in large birds.  This research is funded by Eskom and was undertaken in collaboration with Professor Graham Martin of Birmingham University, and University of Cape Town Phd student Jessica Shaw.  The Tygerberg and Johannesburg Zoos provided captive birds, and expert bird handling expertise. photo: Lynette Strauss  

kruger park times - 5 - kruger park times

Newsclips Animals now picking up bugs from people, study shows Globalisation and industrialisation are causing diseases to spread from humans to animals, a study has shown. Researchers from The Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh have shown that a strain of bacteria has jumped from humans to chickens. It is believed to be the first clear evidence of bacterial pathogens crossing over from humans to animals and then spreading since animals were first domesticated some 10,000 years ago. The study identified a form of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus – of which MRSA is a subtype – in chickens, and found that the bacteria originally came from humans. Genetic testing showed that the bacteria crossed over from one species to another around 40 years ago, coinciding with a move towards intensive poultry farming practices.

New Entrance Gate, Upgraded Roads Opened at Mountain Zebra National Park

O

n October 28, 2009, Mountain Zebra National Park, situated near Cradock in the Eastern Cape, celebrated the official opening of a newly upgraded entrance gate and the complete renovation of its tourist roads. The project to renovate the tourist roads was completed in just over a year, involving the upgrade of 42.7 km of existing gravel roads and the construction of 13.4 km of new roads. “Visitors can now explore all areas of the Park for wildlife viewing on roads suitable for all vehicle types, “ said Lucius Moolman, South African National Parks (SAN-

Dr Paul Du Plessis Kruger (right) officially opens the Sasol Gate as Regional Manager Lucius Moolman (left) and Park Manager Lesley-Ann Meyer look on. Right below: Regional Manager Lucius Moolman and Park Manager Lesley-Ann Meyer officially open the newly constructed roads in Mountain Zebra National Park.

Parks) regional manager, as he officially opened the roads. Cutting the ribbon on the newly constructed Link Road, Moolman added that

the new 13.4 km road provided an important link between the Ubejane and Rooiplaat Loops, making travelling around the Park easier. The road upgrade project, funded by the department of environmental affairs’ Infrastructure Development Programme saw 40 local people being employed with a spend of R11 million. Dr. Paul Du Plessis Kruger, former Sasol chairman, officially opened the Park’s newly upgraded entrance gate – now named the Sasol Gate - in recognition of Sasol’s contribution to Park expansion made just over 10 years ago. Sasol provided funds at a crucial stage of Park development to purchase a property that was on the market. This donation, along with other donations and fundraising initiatives initiated by SANParks and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, helped to increase the Park size from 6 536 hectares to over 28 000 hectares. Organisations such as the Barbara Delano Foundation, WildAid and Vesta Medicines also played an important role. This Park expansion facilitated the reintroduction of species such as buffalo, cheetah and brown hyena and assured the conservation of the endangered Cape mountain zebra, which now number over 500 in the Park. Park Manager Lesley-Ann Meyer said she was proud to announce that the renovations to infrastructure had already succeeded in increasing both day and overnight visitor numbers. Visitor numbers have increased by a massive 40% and occupancy rate has increased from 61% to 70% for the first six months of the financial year. Moolman announced that the plans to link Mountain Zebra National Park to Camdeboo National Park in GraaffReinet to form a mega-conservation area of about 300 000 hectares had now been officially declared by SANParks. These plans envisaged a linkage formed through contractual agreements with private game reserves and landowners, some of whom had already expressed interest in the idea. Photo: Megan Taplin

kruger park times - 6 - kruger park times

New Trails To Open in Kruger National Park Lynette Srtauss

T

wo new adventure trails will be launched in the Kruger National Park within the next six months. Both trails are based in the northern parts of Kruger - the Phalaborwa and Shingwedzi areas. As from November 1, 2009 adventure seekers can explore the management roads north-east of the Phalaborwa Entrance Gate on an overnight guided trail. This trail will depart on a daily basis from Phalaborwa Gate and will be available throughout the year. “However, during heavy rains or other urgent management related issues, the route may be changed or even be closed temporarily,” says William Mabasa, spokesperson for the park. Only five vehicles plus the guide vehicle will be allowed per trail, with a maximum of four people per vehicle. In April next year, the Mphongolo Back Pack Trail will allow visitors to experience

the Lowveld bush between Shingwedzi and Mphongolo rivers close to the Shingwedzi rest camp, on foot. Trailists will leave from the camp on Wednesdays and return Sundays, midday. Taking into account the rainy season, the trail will only be open from February to the end of November. “There are no overnight huts on this trail and back-packers must provide for all their needs for the duration of the trail such as sleeping bags, tents and food. The trail takes a maximum of eight and a minimum of four visitors at a time and it will be guided by two experienced trails rangers.” The existing Nonokani 4x4 Adventure Trail, which runs in the Phalaborwa section up to the Olifants River, will be permanently closed. “We experienced a number of visitor related problems in the

past that affected the experience of tourists who took part in this trail and that is why we are closing it now;” says Ben van Eeden, regional manager of Nxanatseni Region. Bookings can be done at the SANParks central reservation centre on 12 428 9111. Photos: Archive: Olifants River Backpack Train in KNP. Andrew Desmet

kruger park times - 7 - kruger park times

Conservation Headlines Elephant dies of old age The elephant cow that provoked an outcry from an animal rights group when it was spotted, apparently distressed and in pain, on an Mpumalanga game reserve’s live webcam a fortnight ago, has died.

 “The elephant cow died on Sunday afternoon, October 4, of natural causes, i.e. old age,” Djuma Private Game Reserve owner Jurie Moolman told Sapa in an e-mail on Monday.
The cow, which last week managed to rejoin its herd, had been at the end of its natural life, with her last set of teeth worn to the point of not being able to chew her food.

 Looking out for her calf 
“She kept up with the herd, and it is difficult not to think that she had one last thing to do before she died - ensuring that her calf was accepted into the herd. Her calf is with the herd and seems to be doing well.
 “Hopefully this is a lesson to us all about interfering; we should not, unless humans caused the suffering,” Moolman said.
Djuma is one of more than a dozen lodges and reserves that make up the 65 000 hectare Sabi Sand Reserve, which shares an unfenced 50km border with the Kruger National Park.
 On Monday last week, the group Animal Rights Africa demanded that the reserve’s owners help the elephant. According to the group, the elephant was suffering with what appeared to be birth complications.
The Sabi Sand Reserve has a “policy of nonintervention when it comes to animals in distress not caused by humans”, but its ecological committee decided to take action in this case.

 When the animal was found by rangers, it was seen to be suffering from old age and constipation.
“It was determined that she is very old - so old that her teeth are too worn for her to masticate her food properly, and thus a bolus of unchewed food is blocking her alimentary canal,” Moolman said at the time.
At one point there were plans to euthanise the elephant, but it was granted a reprieve when it rejoined its herd. It was closely monitored over the past week.
The cow - which has a three-year-old calf - was estimated to be between 50 and 60 years of age, an advanced age for an elephant.
Moolman reported the calf was no longer suckling and should have no prob-

lems surviving without its mother. African elephants, the world’s largest land mammals, die more often of starvation than old age.
They go through five sets of teeth in their lives, but once these are gone - worn away by the up to 250kg of bark, leaves and twigs an adult elephant chews its way through in a day - they are no longer able to eat.
News 24

Inoculation Misinformation Wild rumors are flying about the newly developed vaccine for pandemic influenza H1N1, also known as “swine flu.” We’ve seen e-mails stating that the vaccine is tainted with antifreeze or Agent Orange, causes Gulf War syndrome, or has killed U.S. Navy sailors. One says the vaccine is an “evil depopulation scheme.” The claims are nearly pure bunk, with only trace amounts of fact. If you are the sort who trusts anonymous e-mails more than you do doctors and experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, you may wish to stop reading now. For others, here are the facts as stated by the best authorities we can find: The vaccine does have some risks – the same risks as the seasonal flu vaccine. Except for the virus, it is functionally identical to the vaccine that’s given every year. The multidose formulation of the vaccine contains thimerosal, which prevents contamination. Some have accused thimerosal of causing developmental disorders in children, but scientific evidence doesn’t support this. The vaccine does not contain squalene, which has been accused – also without good evidence – of causing Gulf War syndrome. There’s no reason to believe that a vaccination would cause Guillain-Barre syndrome. GBS was associated with several hundred flu vaccinations in 1976, but there’s been no evidence of an association since then, despite close monitoring. Update, October 23:  On October 22, New York State suspended the requirement for health care workers to be vaccinated. The governor’s office cited vaccine shortage concerns as the reason for the change. www.factcheck.org/2009/10/inoculation-misinformation/

Namibian Private Game Farm Denied Permission to Import Elephants The Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism has denied the country’s biggest private game farm, Erindi permission to import 200 elephants from South Africa’s Kruger National Park. “Erindi needs elephants desperately and the ministry have shut the door in our face,” said Gert Joubert, the owner of the country’s biggest game reserve. Joubert said seven years ago, Erindi identified the need, with the help of experts and specialists, for a substantial amount of elephants. 
 “We proceeded to purchase state of the art elephant catching equipment for the catching and relocation of elephant family groups according to the latest techniques and practices. The cost to us was N$1 million. We applied for a source and a permit to the ministry to bring elephants to Erindi. Unlike in South Africa, where you can pick up the phone and order elephants like groceries, in Namibia it is different, with the ministry being the only entity owning and controlling all elephant in Namibia. The ministry owns all elephants in Etosha, in Damaraland, in Kaokoveld, in Okavango, in Caprivi and more. 
 He said for five years now Erindi has been writing letters to the ministry but it has refused to have Erindi import the elephants. 
“We have bought twelve elephants from the ministry at an auction in 1994 from Etosha Pans,” he said.
I decided to apply for two hundred elephant from the bigger Kruger National Park area. We received an approval promptly for two hundred elephant for Erindi free of charge. All we had to do was to go and fetch them. We then applied again to the ministry for a permit to relocate these elephants to Erindi. Once again, no acknowledgment, no answer was given.
“As a last desperate measure, I took the decision to see the lawyers. Six months later and N$ 200 000 out of my pocket, Erindi Game Reserve submitted a fully comprehensive, legally correct application with every issue covered by experts addressed to the ministry. Six weeks later, we received an answer. The ministry has now proclaimed a moratorium on the import of elephant from South Africa. No explanation was given,” he said. www.economist.com.

kruger park times - 8 - kruger park times

Conservation Headlines Twenty years after ivory ban, activists up in arms Twenty years after the decimation of Africa’s elephant population through poaching prompted a ban on the international ivory trade, animal rights activists are calling for a new all-out ban, saying partial sales have led to a fresh spike in poaching. Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) ban on ivory trade. The decision, taken on October 17th, 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the UNbacked CITES was in response to alarming levels of elephant poaching in Africa in the 1980s. Africa’s elephant population from about 1.2 million to 600,000 in the space of 10 years before the ban, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Following the ban, “ivory prices plummeted and so too did the incentives to kill elephants - a good example of a conservation plan,” IFAW’s Southern Africa director Jason Bell-Leask wrote in a opinion article in South Africa’s Sunday Independent this month. But as elephant populations began to recover, CITES, which has 171 members, also came under pressure to relax the ban to allow some African countries, which had well-managed, healthy elephant populations, sell off their stockpiles of the so-called white gold. In 1999, CITES allowed the first such one-off sale. Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were allowed sell 50 tonnes of ivory to Japan. In 2007, CITES went further, allowing the same three countries plus South Africa to sell 106 tonnes of ivory that had accumulated in their national parks to Japan and China. South Africa estimates the four countries together have over 312,000 elephants, or over half the continent’s current estimated population of 470,000. The ivory comes mostly from elephants that died a natural death, or, in the case of South Africa, elephants that were culled before a moratorium on culling in 1995. CITES ordered that the proceeds of the sale be put towards wildlife management and community development. IFAW, Germany’s Pro Wildlife and other animal rights group say these sales have whetted the demand for ivory in Asia,

where ivory is used mainly in carved ornaments, and led to an increase in elephant poaching. They point to large seizures of ivory by authorities across Africa and Asia over the past year as proof of a resurgent black-market trade, which they say is leading to the killing of over 30,000 elephants a year. As the CITES ban turns 20, Tanzania and Zambia have petitioned CITES to further open up the trade by allowing them to also sell off ivory stocks, according to Pro Wildlife. Mozambique is also preparing a similar submission, the German organization says. At the same time, seven other African countries, which are battling to contain poaching - Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo and Congo Brazzaville - are calling for a return to a complete ivory ban CITES will decide on which route to take at its next conference, set to take place in March 2010 in Qatar. The four countries that liquidated their stocks have been banned from any further trade in ivory for nine years. Earth Times

Volunteers sought to help with large-scale Olifants river pollution study   The ecological health and the entire ecosystem of the heavily polluted upper reaches of the Olifants river are to come under the spotlight in a study that kicks off this month with the collection of rainwater samples in the river’s catchment by a team of volunteers. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) principal researcher and divisional fellow Dr Peter Ashton tells Engineering News that, once sampling sites for the study have been identified, the council will be in a position to say how many volunteers will be needed to assist with the collection of rainwater samples and to identify the areas for collection. He stresses that volunteers in the catchment are the “eyes” and “ears” of the scientists, who are based in Pretoria. By collecting rainfall data and writing down anything unusual that they observe in the vicinity of the sampling sites, they will help the scientists in the interpretation of analytical data

when the chemistry of the samples has been determined. A team of more than 35 scientists and offi- cials from the CSIR, the universities of Stellenbosch and Pretoria, the Department of Water Affairs, the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and the Olifants River Forum have come together in an attempt to tackle one of the country’s most polluted rivers in a multidisciplinary way. “We are not just going to monitor water quality. This will be the first time in South Africa that such a big team will look at the ecological health of the entire ecosystem in the catchment and how that impacts on water quality,” explains CSIR limnologist and project leader Dr Paul Oberholster. The team will report its preliminary findings by the end of 2010, when it will present them at a public hearing of the Olifants River Forum. The purpose of the hearing will be to moti- vate funding for further research needs, confirm the identity of problem areas with stakeholders and present preliminary findings as well as possible suggestions for remedial action that can be considered. Martin Zhuwakinyu, www.engineeringnews.co.za

98 ivory tusks seized in Douala A total of 98 ivory tusks were seized between Sunday and Monday at the Autonomous Port of Limbe (PAL), 80 kilometres south-west of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, sources told PANA here. According to the Regional Delegate of Forestry and Wildlife for the Littoral, François Issola Dipanda, the large shipment of elephant tusks were seized by Cameroonian customs officials in Limbe, aboard the “Monica Express”, a ship flying a Nigerian flag, as the vessel was about to set sail for Calabar, in Nigeria. The 98 tusks weigh about 500 kilogrammes and may have been obtained from 49 elephants killed illegally by poachers. Cameroon, with its vast surface areas of forest and Savannah, is a hub for trafficking on ivory tusk in Africa. Afrique en ligne

kruger park times - 9 - kruger park times

Newsclips Wildlife As a Source for Livestock Infections A bacterium possibly linked to Crohn’s disease could be lurking in wild animals. According to research published in the open access journal BMC Microbiology, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map), can be transmitted between wildlife and domestic ruminants, supporting the theory of wildlife reservoirs of infection. A research team lead by Karen Stevenson, from the Moredun Research Institute in Scotland, used three different genotyping techniques to identify specific strains of Map in 164 samples taken from 19 different livestock and wildlife species from the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and Spain. The results were combined to investigate sources of Map infections and show the possibility of transmission between wildlife and domestic ruminants. “Identical genotypes were obtained from Map isolated from different host species co-habiting on the same property, strongly suggesting that interspecies transmission occurs”, the authors say, adding, “Map infects a variety of wildlife and host species that potentially could be reservoirs for infection of domestic livestock and have serious implications for infection control”. Related to the bacteria causing tuberculosis in humans and in cows, Map causes severe diarrhea in ruminants, and has been suggested as a possible cause for Crohn’s disease in humans. The role of wildlife reservoirs for infection needs further assessment, to determine whether transmission is passive or active, and to examine the likelihood of contact between wildlife and domesticated ruminants. For more information: www.biomedcentral. com/bmcmicrobiol

Trees Facilitate Wildfires as a Way to Protect Their Habitat

F

ire is often thought of something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors. The study, which appears in the December 2009 issue of the journal The American Naturalist, says that positive feedback loops between fire and trees associated with savannas can make fires more likely in these ecosystems. “We used a mathematical model to show that positive feedback loops between fire frequency and savanna trees, alone or together with grasses, can stabilize ecological communities in a savanna state, blocking conversion of savannas to forest,” said the study’s leading author Brian Beckage, associate professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Vermont. The study’s co-authors are William Platt, professor of biology at Louisiana State University, and Louis Gross, director of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and mathematics at the University of Tennessee. Beckage was a short-term visitor conducting research at NIMBioS in 2009 and will be on sabbatical at NIMBioS in 2010.

The promotion of fire by the savanna trees increases their own abundance by limiting the establishment and growth of tree species that are better competitors for resources and that might ultimately displace the savanna trees. The research results suggest that some trees may modify or “engineer” their environment, including the characteristic fire frequencies in a landscape, to facilitate their own persistence at the expense of their competitors, Beckage said. The research proposes a scenario for the development of savannas in landscapes that would otherwise become closed forests. Examples of savanna trees that facilitate frequent low-intensity fires include the longleaf pine and the south Florida slash pine, both of which frequently shed their needles providing fodder for wildfires. The savanna tree initially invades grassland, but by facilitating frequent fires, it limits its own density and thus prevents conversion to a forest. The research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. The study was recently published in the journal The American Naturalist. It can be viewed at http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/ an/0/0 Photo: Navashni Govender

kruger park times - 10 - kruger park times

Wildlife and African folklore Richard C Haw Many African tribes had a tradition regarding wild creatures. Certain birds and animals were given the status of protected creatures because of their rarity or beauty. Others were regarded as sacred. Even today there are still categories of royal game or protected species. Although many modern-day Africans grow up without ever laying an eye on animals in the wild, there was a time when certain animals were wellknown to them, many being featured in African folklore. Some of these protected animals were allowed to be killed under certain circumstances or, if they were caught, had to be taken to the local chief. Anyone finding a scaly anteater or pangolin, had to take it to the chief alive; and after satisfying local curiosity, it was killed to provide relish for the food of the chief and his senior wife.

The scales were used for medicinal purposes. Porcupines were also regarded as royal game and any slaughtered animal had to be taken whole to the chief, where the quills were removed and the carcass gutted. The chief would then reward the presenter with a fowl or similar gift. In the case of an ostrich the hunter was presented with a goat, and was allowed to keep the meat, while the chief kept the feathers and any eggs that were found. Elephant and eland were also protected game, and if any were killed, the local chief would be informed. Either the chief or a deputy then had to be present when the animal was skinned. The chief got the heart, the surrounding fat and certain other parts, while the hunter could keep the rest. In the case of a lion or leopard, the hides automatically became the chief ’s property, but the hunter was treated as a hero for killing the fearsome animal with the primitive

weapons of the time. After taking the skin and the hairball found in the stomachs of some of these animals to the chief, the hunter was treated to a drink of beer and presented with an ox which he could either slaughter on the spot or drive home to his kraal. The chief valued the hairballs, believing that they would give him power to roar or frighten his subjects. Crocodiles were not often killed. They were believed to be associated with some witch or wizard. If a killing was made, the chief or delegated headman had to be present. The ‘stone’ found near the gall bladder was prized by the chief as a charm. It was believed to confer long life if ot was swallowed. The crocodile carcass had to be thrown back into the water. Failing this, drought was believed to ensue. From Custos, December 1991, courtesy of SANParks. Photo: Lynette Strauss

kruger park times - 11 - kruger park times

Report to Guide Cheetah and Wild Dog Conservation in South Africa

A

new report will guide the way forward for Cheetah and African Wild Dog conservation in South Africa. Carnivore conservationists will establish a biodiversity management plan for these species based on this report, for submission to the department of water and environmental affairs. If accepted and signed by the minister, it will become legislated, providing an enforceable means of achieving the plan’s outlined objectives. Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) share similar biological traits and face similar threats. For this reason the decision was taken to coordinate their conservation. Both species are wide ranging and occur at naturally low densities, even in protected areas. Both are adversely affected by competition with other large predators, and both are declining in number, primarily due to persecution by humans. The goal of this plan is therefore to improve the status of cheetah and wild dogs within their historical range in South Africa, and the objectives are to: ·  develop capacity in all aspects of cheetah and wild dog conservation in South Africa; ·  improve knowledge of the conservation biology of cheetah and wild dogs across South Africa; ·  develop and implement mechanisms for the transfer of information relevant to the conservation of cheetah and wild dogs and ensure active stakeholder commitment; ·  minimise and manage conflict and promote co-existence between cheetah, wild dogs and people across South Africa; ·   minimise adverse effects of existing land use patterns and promote practices conducive to the conservation of cheetah and wild dogs; ·  improve national and provincial governmental commitment to the conservation of cheetah and wild dogs in South Africa; ·   review, and where necessary amend

international, regional and local legislation, norms and standards, policies and protocols affecting the conservation of cheetah and wild dogs, and promote the compliance thereof; and · establish viable populations of cheetah

and wild dogs within a matrix of land uses using a metapopulation approach in these species’ extirpated and resident distributions. The Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London are coordinating a continent-wide conservation planning process for cheetah and African wild dogs in Africa, under the auspices of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Cat and Canid Specialist Groups. This has involved the convening of a number of regional conservation planning meetings, followed by national meetings. The southern African conservation action planning meeting was held in Jwaneng, Botswana in December 2007 and the Endangered Wildlife Trust then took the lead role in coordinating the South African national conservation action planning process. The first step in this process was the convening of a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshop for cheetah to complement the PHVA conducted for Wild Dogs in 1997. During recent years, cheetah have been reintroduced into at

least 37 small to medium sized fenced reserves, significantly increasing the numbers and geographic range of the species. However, most of these reserves contain small populations, and without coordinated management, there is a risk that inbreeding will occur. The PHVA provided the tools to manage isolated reintroduced populations as a coordinated metapopulation, where subpopulations are linked by management interventions.  Following the PHVA, the National Conservation Action Planning meeting for cheetah and wild dogs was held in June 2009, in Bela Bela, Limpopo. Here stakeholders mapped out a comprehensive conservation strategy for cheetah and wild dogs in South Africa.   Another workshop was then held in September 2009 to discuss the way forward for cheetah conservation. At this workshop it was agreed that the EWT’s Carnivore Conservation Group (EWT-CCG) would coordinate the process, while the EWT’s IT 4 Conservation Group (EWT-IT4CG) is well placed to develop the baseline cheetah database. This will contain information critical to ensuring demographic and genetic integrity of the cheetah population and avoiding over-population in small reserves.  The next step is to gain buyin from all landowners with cheetah on their property and to put together a management plan for the cheetah metapopulation.  The report that will form the basis for the Biodiversity Management Plan for Species has been finalised and is available at http:// ewt.org.za.  The Biodiversity Management Plan for Species will take another year to finalise. The national planning process was made possible by a grant to the EWT by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation’s African Cheetah Initiative. photo: Ian Whyte

kruger park times - 12 - kruger park times

Karoo National Park to Introduce Lions

K

aroo National Park, situated near Beaufort West, celebrated its 30th Anniversary with the announcement that lions would be introduced to the Park in 2010. Speaking on behalf of South African National Parks (SANParks) executive management, Dr. Nomvuselelo Songelwa made the announcement at an event held today to commemorate 30 years of the Park’s existence after its proclamation on 12 September 1979. “The introduction of lions will bring back a historically-occurring species to the Great Karoo ecosystem,” said Songelwa. Songelwa added that the introduction would take place in the first half of 2010 once measures had been put in place to ensure the safety of visitors walking around the Park’s rest camp. The decision had been made after careful consideration of the viability of introducing this top predator, taking into account the numbers of prey species most likely to be targeted by lions in the Park. Truman Prince, Executive Mayor of the Central Karoo District Municipality, opened the celebrations with a welcome speech. Prince pledged the full support of the district and local municipality for Park conservation initiatives in general, as well as a specific fencing issue delaying the full completion of the Park’s predator-proof fencing. Upon receiving a Kuduzela from the Park manager, Prince – an executive member of the South African Football Association - declared that he would put it into use at Bafana Bafana’s next match against Japan. Beaufort West Executive Mayor, Juliet Jonas, highlighted the contri-

bution to the Park’s existence by the local community which commenced in 1976 with the donation of communal land to form the core of the Park prior to proclamation. Jonas also expanded on the role that national parks play, saying: “Like the Karoo National Park, all national parks lie at the centre of our South African character. They reflect and strengthen our sense of place; they protect and support our unmatched biodiversity and increasingly, they anchor growth, job creation and hope through tourism for our communities.” SANParks regional manager, Lucius Moolman, declared that the cooperation with and support from local government was “the best experienced by any national park in the country”. Mzwandile Mjadu, Karoo National Park Manager, expanded on the major developments and achievements in the Park over the 30 years of its existence. Highlights included the opening of the Park’s rest camp in 1989, the opening of SANParks first-ever 4x4 trail in 1992 and the opening of the first Braille fossil trail in the world in 1994.

More recent developments of tourist facilities include the opening of the Interpretive Centre in 2005, Bulkraal picnic site and swimming pool in 2006 and Grantham Environmental Education Centre and in 2008. New 4x4 eco-trails and overnight facilities were opened earlier this year. Mjadu praised the Karoo National Park management and staff over the years for their dedication and service to SANParks, saying this is what had led the Park to its current success. Testament to the improvements in tourism facilities is the increase in visitor numbers by 26% and an increase in accommodation unit occupancy by 5% over six months. Karoo National Park’s rangers put on a parade to demonstrate their skills while the Park’s choir entertained guests with a few songs. Photo: Megan Taplin   Karoo National Park rangers demonstrate their skills at the 30th Anniversary celebrations

kruger park times - 13 - kruger park times

Learning from insects

Newsclips Clean-up campaign for SA’s borders South Africa wants to create an awareness amongst all communities residing in the vicinity of its borders, to take care of the environment. Deputy water and environmental affairs minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi and Zimbabwean environmental minister Francis Nhema on Friday, October 16 launched an awareness campaign at the Beit Bridge border post. The Clean-Up Campaign is the first of its kind and is not limited to cleaning the borders, said Mabudafhasi. She said it would also be used to highlight other critical environmental issues, including climate change, air quality and the need for the continent to forge strong links in matters relating to sustainable development. The two will also use the platform to create awareness about xenophobia. “We are starting to create awareness among communities residing in the vicinity of all our borders. This is being done in partnership with countries with which we share borders,” said Mabudafhasi. The campaign, she went on, will be rolled out to other countries sharing borders with SA, including Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and Mozambique. The deputy minister further pointed out the need for the continent to adopt a common position at the forthcoming talks on climate change which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. “As the most vulnerable continent we are have to speak with one voice. We are among the ones likely to bear the brunt of climate change the most. Our continent is one of the areas where the adverse effects will be felt.” - BuaNews

U

nseen and unheard, insects are all around us. And with more than a million different species, each one perfectly adapted to its environment, no other form of animal life comes close to matching insects for diversity. Scientists now want to exploit this diversity to develop and test new medicines, new methods of pest control, new industrial enzymes and even bionic systems. In search of this goal, the Justus-LeibigUniversity Giessen and the FraunhoferGesellschaft will build and expand a collaborative “Insect Biotechnology” research program supported by the Land of Hessen, which is providing four Mio Euros from its research fund, LOEWE (Initiative for the Development of Scientific and Economic Excellence). “Up to now, there has been no facility that systematically develops and economically benefits from the potential of insect biotechnology”, explains Prof. Ulrich Buller, senior vice president for research planning at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft“ in Munich, Germany. Therefore, we anticipate gaining a truly unique position within Europe.” The stated goal of the Bioresources project group is to identify new enzymes and metabolites in domestic insects that can be used in medicine, pest control and industrial biotechnology. For example, an array of previously unknown substances has been discovered by studying how insects successfully defend themselves against microbes, and the Insect Biotechnology project group will soon embark on research that will use these substances to develop new antibiotics. “The strategic alliance between these two partners is fostering synergy in the fields of medicine, nutrition and the environment,” says Hessian minister for science and the arts Eva Kü h n e H ö r m a n n c o m firms, “Not to mention the fact that this structural development is a scientific and economic

Jason Trollip boon to central Hesse”. The establishment of a new Fraunhofer facility together with the university is planned in the mediumterm,” adds Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, first vice president of JLU. “Now we can work intensively from a multifaceted perspective on a totally new kind of field of research, which will allow us to create the foundations for the targeted long-term presence of Fraunhofer in Gießen. We hope to gain the state’s long-term commitment to these structural development perspectives, which are setting the trend for all life sciences departments at our university.” The Fraunhofer project group will initially be housed at the Technology and Innovation Center (TIC) Giessen, as a satellite office of the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME which has facilities in both Aachen (molecular biology) and Schmallenberg (applied ecology). Prof. Vilcinskas and his team have their sights set on three specific topics: the development and testing of new drugs, innovative strategies in pest control and integrated risk management for food and feed. The third of these topics involves the use of certain insect species (e.g. rice flour beetles) as tools to develop highly sensitive test systems that can be used in the future to monitor the quality and safety of food on an affordable and reliable basis. The researchers are also focusing on insects with powerful immune systems, such as rat tail maggots. These larvae from certain hover flies are the only animals that can survive and thrive in sludge and liquid manure pits, feeding on the microbes there. Pest control will feature strongly in the research because insects can be major pests in fields and in storage warehouses, but may also hold the secret to controlling other insect populations. It is important to implement pest control without harming beneficial species such as bees, whose pollination activity is required for the propagation of many crops. Insects also possess enzymes that enable them to exploit otherwise indigestible substances, such as wood, as food. With bundled research competency, it is now possible in Hessen to tap the potential of insects as a resource for new enzymes for use in white biotechnology (another name for industrial biotechnology). For example, researchers will try to develop a way in which butterfly cells could be used in future industrial facilities to produce high-grade raw materials or enzymes.

kruger park times - 14 - kruger park times

Working on how to feed the world in 2050

C

ould the world go through another food crisis on a scale similar to the one in 2007/08? “Never say never again’”, was the general consensus at a two-day HighLevel Expert Forum on How to Feed the World in 2050, organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy. During a robust debate on the outlook for food and agriculture, Kitty Smith, administrator of Economic Research Services (ERS) at the US Department of Agriculture, said the 2007/08 crisis was “symptomatic of what we can expect in the future”. Global cereal prices more than doubled between 2007 and 2008, pushing 100 million more people into chronic hunger, and the global total of hungry people to more than a billion. Homi Kharas, an economist and expert at the Brookings Institution, a US-based public policy think-tank, said there was still “uncertainty” over the reasons for the last crisis: climate shocks, market speculation, increased demand for grains in populous countries, and volatile energy prices. In the first session of the forum, which began on 12 October, the links between food and energy prices were mapped out. The 2007/08 food price crisis was partly driven by steeply rising fossil fuel prices, which led to an increased demand for grain to produce biofuel as a cheaper alternative. Jacques Diouf, director general of FAO, said food production would face increasing competition from the biofuel market, “which has the potential to change the fundamentals of agricultural market systems”. He said biofuel production was set to expand by nearly 90 percent over the next 10 years, reaching 192 billion litres by 2018. Michiel Keyzer, of the Centre for World Food Studies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, said

there was an urgent need to regulate the global production and sale of biofuel. The world’s population is projected to increase from the current 6.7 billion to 9.1 billion in 2050, requiring a 70-percent growth in farm production. The 300 or so experts attending the gathering will try to design policies and propose ways to meet the burgeoning demand, which will set the scene for a global meeting of heads of state on the issue in Rome in

November. Jikung Huang, agricultural advisor to the Chinese government, said the 2007/08 crisis had been a “wake-up call” for many countries to focus on agriculture, but now “I think some countries need an even bigger wake-up call.” © IRIN. All rights reserved. photo: Lynette Strauss

kruger park times - 15 - kruger park times

2010 must be used to change Africa’s image The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has called on 2010 FIFA World Cup organisers to use next year’s tournament to change Africa’s image reports Bua News. “There is great power in this [tournament]. It is a time to present a different story of the African continent, a story of peace, democracy and investment,” Ban told Local Organising Committee (LOC) boss Dr Danny Jordaan in a meeting in New York on Wednesday, October 21. Jordaan was in New York to update the United Nations General Assembly on the preparations towards the World Cup, with emphasis on the legacy benefits of the tournament for the African continent. Ban said the tournament was about far more than the 90 minutes on the pitch and was an event which touched every corner of the globe. The game of football above all other sports, unifies people and builds solidarity and consensus, said Ban, adding that he believed this would be the case when South Africa hosted the World Cup in June and July next year. All members of the United Nations General Assembly this week passed a resolution to endorse next year’s event in South Africa as a platform for social development and peace across the African continent. “More than ever, we are beginning to see the legacy of this event take shape and it is given more impact and impetus to have the endorsement of all the 192 member states of the General Assembly,” Jordaan enthused. He thanked Ban for his assistance in helping South Africa take the message of hope to the world, saying that peace is not just the absence of war but it create circumstances that create hope. “The legacy of this World Cup embarks on changing the circumstances of many people through its social legacy projects, job creation and advancements in telecommunications and infrastructure,” Jordaan told Ban. The LOC boss has also extended an invite to Ban to attend Africa’s first World Cup next year and later, saying that it was imperative for the UN Secretary General to attend the tournament.

Carbon finance is key to better protection of gorillas and elephants

T

he United Nations Ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla, Ian Redmond, has called for the inclusion of gorillas and elephants, as important components in African rainforests, in the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Large mammals, such as elephants and gorillas, are keystone species in their relevant ecosystems. Gorillas act as ‘gardeners’ in the rainforests of the Congo Basin, and protecting them helps prevent loss of flora that are ecologically dependent on them.  Gorillas are second only to elephants in the number of seeds they disperse each day in the forests of Africa. When eating fruit and seeds, the seeds pass through their system and are in this way prepared for germination.  UN Ambassador, Ian Redmond, who has just returned from a fact-finding mission across eight African gorilla range states said: “The gorillas and elephants of Africa are doing the world a service. UNEP has just succeeded in its Seven Billion Tree campaign, but I would estimate that the apes and elephants of Africa disperse some seven billion seeds every day! The full extent of the role they play in maintaining the health of their forest habitat - a central component of the Earth’s climate regulation -is still poorly understood.”  Fifteen years of armed conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa, accompanied by illegal exploitation of minerals to finance militias, led to a sharp increase in demand for bushmeat. In addition, rapidly growing urban populations accelerated deforestation through charcoal production. Consequently, gorillas and elephants have been poached in large numbers.  A dramatic decline in the diversity of vegetation can be observed in parts of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. As gorillas

declined and elephants vanished from the montane area, the forest’s flora changed into denser, less diverse vegetation. Weed-like plants, which were formerly held in check by elephants and gorillas, have become much more dominant and are suffocating trees, thereby accelerating deforestation. Myrianthus fruit trees, whose seeds had formerly been dispersed especially by large mammals, are being killed by the Sericostachys scandens vines and if this continues may become increasingly rare.  By building nests, gorillas break off branches and create gaps in the forest canopy that allow light through to the forest floor enabling smaller plants to grow.  The survival of forests requires the protection of the animals in them as well as the trees. In the long term, deforestation is as much a consequence of over-hunting as of cutting trees for charcoal or timber.  Insights gained from encounters with senior government officials, ex-militia, park wardens, conservationists, poachers, loggers and farmers highlight the need for a comprehensive approach to conserve rain forests and gorillas in the Congo Basin.  Supporting existing national action plans to halt deforestation of gorilla habitat is one of the major objectives of the CMS Agreement on the Conservation of Gorilla and their Habitat during the Year of the Gorilla campaign.  The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals works for the conservation of a wide array of endangered migratory animals worldwide through the negotiation and implementation of agreements and species action plans. With currently 112 member countries, many of them in Africa, CMS is a fast-growing convention with special importance due to its expertise in the field of migratory species. Photo: Pieter Strauss

kruger park times - 16 - kruger park times

Trying to work from the same weather page

C

limate scientists describe Africa as an information “black hole”. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) notes that there are only 744 weather stations, but only a quarter of them are of international standard; at least 3,000, evenly spaced across the continent, are needed, with another 1,000 in densely populated areas; ideally, Africa should have at least 10,000 stations. The need for better weather information is clear - at the beginning of September 2009, floods inundated West Africa, dislocating 250,000 people; a quarter of the normal annual rainfall was dumped on Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, in one day. In contrast, the Horn of Africa is reporting a major drought every two years, and the countries there are taking up to five years to recover. At the World Climate Conference (WCC3) in Geneva, Switzerland, Michel Jarraud, Secretary General of WMO noted: “Strengthening weather observation in Africa will benefit Africa, but it is also going to benefit the rest of us. It’s a win-win situation.” Government representatives at the conference did not have the required mandate to commit but the meeting laid out a blueprint for moving forward towards a global framework for collecting and analyzing climate information for adaptation to climate change. Jarraud’s sentiments were echoed by Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who stressed that it was important to standardize data and set up a global framework for providing climate services, so that experts and weather services could work from the same page. “Different countries have different philosophies about information related to the climate,” she said. “It is not that one is right and the other wrong; it is that they need to be harmonized.” The proposed framework has four components: observation and monitoring; research, climate modelling and prediction; a climate services information system; and a user interface programme. The first two components already exist but need strengthening.

The last two components will constitute a “World Climate Service System”. An intergovernmental meeting at the end of 2009 will establish a task force to draft a blueprint for designing and implementing the framework, and submit its report to the WMO congress in 2011 for action. Plans to improve climate services are already underway. One reason is that the wealthier industrialized countries realize that they are also being affected by climate change. Thomas Karl, who heads the NOAA’s climate services, reported that the US has been experiencing reduced rainfall in its western states and unusually heavy precipitation events in the northeastern states.

New opportunities Growing recognition of the seriousness of the problem is opening the door to innovative ideas like “Weather Info for All”, a global public-private partnership initiative to put automated weather stations on the cellular phone towers springing up across Africa. The project involves the WMO, Ericsson, an international telecommunications and information technology company; Zain, a Middle Eastern telecommunications company; the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the US; and the Global Humanitarian Forum, an annual gathering of humanitarian community leadership in Geneva, Switzerland. The automatic weather stations draw electric power from the cell phone towers and use sensors to measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed, precipitation and sunshine. The information is transmitted to nation-

al meteorological and hydrological services, analyzed, and fed back to national decisionmakers in Africa, and eventually to farmers and other clients in the field. In the first phase of the project, 19 such stations are on a trial run in Tanzania; in phase II, 489 stations will be set up across the rest of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, and become operational after technical kinks have been ironed out. The initial rollout of 508 automated weather stations is expected to cost just under US$9 million, and the partnership hopes to expand the programme to the rest of Africa. One of the functions of the climate services framework will be to provide hard data to demonstrate to decision-makers and the public why it is important to act now. In Africa, especially, there has been an understandable tendency to spend on pressing short-term problems and worry about the weather later, but it is becoming increasingly clear that major climate events like floods, droughts and cyclones are driving more people below the poverty line. Sudden increases in rainfall also increase health risks, ranging from malaria to red fever and meningitis, and decision-makers need a broader understanding of the hidden threats of climate change. Climate emergencies cannot be avoided, but with good planning based on solid information, a country’s vulnerability to such events and the often crippling costs of recovery and reconstruction can be reduced considerably. For these reasons, climate is emerging as a major factor in development. Reducing greenhouse emissions is likely to prove more complicated, but NOAA’s Lubchenco told reporters in Geneva that the urgency of dealing with the climate is now becoming apparent, even to sceptics who previously questioned global warming. “Regardless of what happens in Copenhagen [where the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will meet in December to set new targets for emission cuts] the need for information will only increase.” © IRIN. All rights reserved. photo: Lynette Strauss

kruger park times - 17 - kruger park times

Sable Dam in the Kruger National Park towards the end of the dry season, October 2009

Digest of Rangers’ Diaries: February 1941 Kruger National Park Section 1

Patrol duties were carried out by the ranger on the 3rd, 4t, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th and 28th. The lorry with 20 staff went to Numbi on the 10th with locust poison as locusts are hatching there. The ranger accompanied them. The Numbi picket also reported small swarms of locusts near the Kruger Park boundary. The matter was investigated. Two umfaans were caught for catching a wildebeest in a snare. A zebra was also caught in a snare near the gate in the adjoining reserve.

Section 3

Patrol duties were carried out by the

ranger on the 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 28th. On the 25th the grass in the Gomondwan area was burnt and the grass near the camp was burnt on the 26th.

Section 4

A patrol was made to Saliji and Mlondozi between the 1st and 8th. No game were seen, but the grass is tall and green all over. Some of the old veldt near Sololwe was burnt. Numerous small hatchings of hoppers are to be seen between Tshokwane and Salij, but none near human habitation. Sufficient time having now elapsed for the crocodile at Esweni picket to digest its gruesome prey, a snare was set to catch it, which was successful the first night. The beast was a big one

(12’6”). There is a lot of zebra and wildebeest along the Makonkolwine road. The ranger has a bad bout of fever. Some more blasting was done on top of the mountain, thus completing the clearance of this road for its full length. The climb is one and 3/4 miles long. All of it needs more metaling, prior to grading. On the 13th the gang was reduced to seven labourers so that the work will progress only slowly. More grass was burnt along the Saliji road and Sololwe spruit, incidentally destroying all swarms of hoppers in that area. Large numbers of hoppers are in the Mlondozi area, but these do not, as yet, threaten any crops. There are hundreds of storks in this section praying on hoppers and all but very large hatchings will be accounted for by the birds. Hawks, and even continued on page 19

kruger park times - 18 - kruger park times

Digest of Rangers’ Diaries: February 1941 Kruger National Park continued from page 18 eagles feed on them in swarms, a phenomenon observed for the first time this year. A young lion which was badly mauled and had taken up its position at the Mazite dam, was shot. An old local trespasser gave the field rangers from Esweni a headache by the aimless manner in which he had walked across country from the PEA border. They followed his spoor. He was ultimately found late in the afternoon at the Mazite dam in an exhausted state and the lorry was sent to fetch him - this undoubtedly saving him from being killed and probably eaten by lions, for a troupe of 10 was seen at the spot the next morning! His emaciated condition was mainly due to starvation. Mason Knoetze suffered from a fairly severe attack of fever. Large herds of wildebeeste and zebra concentrated along the Manzentodo River from Tshokwane to Kumane. It has not been a very successful breeding season for these two species in this area. Sporadic birth are still taking place at the moment, but the number of calves are still small.

Section 5

Patrol duties were carried out by the ranger on the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 22nd, 3rd, 24th and 25th. Grass was burnt on the 13th, 23rd, 24th and 25th. Four lions were killed on the 12th at Semane. Two of them were eaten by others during the night.

Section 6

Patrol duties were carried out by the ranger on the 3rd, 4th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 26th and 27th. Grass was burnt on the 19th, 21st, 22nd and 24th. Field rangers George, Solomon and Malunzane report having counted a herd of nine buffaloes on the Maradze spruit. About 25 wild dogs were seen at Mafulene on the 9th. On the same date the causeway was also under water. Total rainfall for month 1.18”. The warden arrived at the rest camp on the 27th on his way to Punda Maria.

Section 7

Patrol duties were carried out by the ranger on the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 20th, 22nd and 25th.

the names taken of the male Europeans. The ranger went down with fever on the 19th was taken to the hospital on the 21st and returned on the 24th. Kruger National Park, 7th March, 1941

Sections 8 and 9

Patrol duties were carried out on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 25th and 28th. Eland were seen by the field rangers on the Mojolo side but very few calves. On his way to Pafuri Rest Camp the ranger saw very few game and in every case a very small percent of increase. On a patrol down the Shingwedsi river it was observed that the grass is dry due to excessive heat and no rain. Game few and scattered. Lions seem to have returned to this area. A lorry of poachers have been active again outside the Park about seven miles from the boundary. Judging by the tracks one lorry and one light car or vanette were used. Signs show that two tsessebe were killed. On the 10th it was gathered from field rangers and sgt Oosthuizen that buffalo have been drinking at the Punda Maria dam. It rained in patches but some areas are very dry. It has been noticed that the nyala are lambing and several does were seen with very small kids. A poacher was brought in to the field ranger Philip from Pukwane and sent off to Punda Maria. On the 14th the field rangers Fifteen and July reported that a lorry with Europeans and locals were camped in the veld outside the Park boundary. The ranger went to the site and found six males and two female Europeans, a lorry and a quantity of meat also a kuku dull skin and ears. The owner was asked for his gun, and the skin and ears were also taken. The number of the lorry was noted and

The Secretary National Parks Board Ranger Kirkman I have already advised the above officer of what took place at the recent board meeting in connection with his application to join the Defence Force. He has not, however, yet made any official application in writing and I gathered from him verbally that there had been some hitch in connection with the appointment which he had hoped to secure. I will advise you at once of any development in this matter. (sgt) J Stevenson-Hamilton Photos: Sasha Strauss

kruger park times - 19 - kruger park times

Demining is not a never ending story

M

ozambique’s effort to become the first of the world’s major mine-contaminated countries to be declared mine-free is faltering on the home straight. There are a variety of reasons: Mozambique’s donor-dependent government no longer sees demining operations as a priority; the withdrawal of humanitarian demining operations, sending the wrong signals to donors that the job was done, and that the focus of global demining activities has largely shifted to Iraq and Afghanistan. “We can finish this. We can get rid of them [landmines] ... This is not a neverending story,” Aderito Ismael, Mozambique’s Mine Action coordinator for Handicap International (HI), a non-governmental organization, said. “I want to be out of a job by 2013, or maybe by 2012.” Handicap International, one of three humanitarian demining operations still working in the mine-infested territory, is only continuing operations through the support of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), while the HALO Trust - Mozambique’s largest humanitarian deminer - is working below capacity because of funding shortfalls. APOPO is the third and smallest of the operations in the country. When demining activities began in 1992, predictions were that clearing anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance left by four decades of independence and civil wars could take about 50 years. “Mozambique could set an example of a country significantly affected by mines ... ticked off as cleared ... we are talking about a marginal timeframe,” Hanoch Barlevi, UNDP’s chief technical advisor seconded to Mozambique’s Institute of National Demining, said. If donor funding had not subsided, Mozambique may have already lost its sobriquet as one of world’s most heavily mined countries, leaving such countries as Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia as reluctant holders of the title. Mozambique, a signatory to the 1999 Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), was granted a five-year extension of the 1 March 2009 deadline to remove all known anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance on its territory, saying that “Through a relatively modest investment [about US$39 million] on the part of both the Republic of Mo-

zambique and the international community, Mozambique can indeed fulfill its obligations in a relatively short time.” The government attributed its failure to meet the deadline to the size of the job 123 of the country’s 128 districts were identified as mine contaminated - the competing needs of demining and poverty alleviation in one of the world’s poorest nations, and “some donor fatigue, which in turn resulted in a slow-down of efforts to implement Article 5 [of the MBT].” Article 5 of the treaty states that “Each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible but not later than ten years after the entry into force of this Convention [MBT] for that State Party.”

 A country that became a minefield Exactly how many mines were planted during the conflicts is unknown - estimates vary from millions to about 500,000 - but whatever the numbers, there were enough to place the southern African country in the premier league of mine contaminated countries. Mozambique began to address the daunting challenge 17 years ago. There were no records or maps of where landmines were laid, memories had dimmed, witnesses to the laying of minefields had died, and some communities still feared retribution for informing the authorities about where mines had been planted. Landmines were widely used. The Portuguese colonial administration and Mozambique’s first post-colonial government, ruled by the Frelimo party, used them for “defensive purposes” to protect infrastructure. In the civil war that followed independence Frelimo often commandeered schools to use as army barracks and surrounded them with landmines to deter attacks by Renamo, the anti-government rebel movement. Mine belts turned villages and towns into fortresses, as much for government soldiers to defend their positions “as to ensure control of population movement,” a former Frelimo soldier said. Renamo would sometimes create phan-

tom minefields, planting landmines by day in view of communities and then removing them clandestinely at night, but the effect of denying land to communities was the same.

 Better information Mozambique’s extraordinary progress towards becoming a mine-free state has been achieved by meticulously digging out the weapons - which have no expiry date - and more accurate assessments by deminers. The first survey in 1992 estimated there were about two million mines, but the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) in 2001 - the first comprehensive survey, later recognized as flawed - said that about 1.5 million Mozambicans, or nine percent of the population, lived in 1,374 mine-affected areas covering an area of about 561,689,063 square metres. Most information on the location of minefields was provided by local communities, but flooding in 2000 displaced thousands of people and the LIS was undertaken after the water subsided. HI’s Ismael told IRIN that the “large number of suspected sites [identified by the LIS] did not represent reality”, and the survey was undertaken by people who often did not have the technical skills to gauge the extent of a minefield. In 2007 the HALO Trust, which removes war debris, produced the Baseline Assessment after eradicating duplicate sites, conducting thousands of site visits, and collating data from HI and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), and concluded that 12,166,401 square metres of Mozambique at a total of 541 sites were known to be contaminated. Having a mine-free state suddenly became possible, as the task of clearing more than 500 million square metres was reduced to a more manageable area of just over 12 million square metres within six years. However, after 13 years in Mozambique, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) closed its operations in 2006, following the exit of other international operators, such as the German deminer Menschen Gegen Minen (People against Landmines) in 2003, and the Washington DC-based humanitarian and commercial mine action and ordnance disposal organization, Ronco, in 2006, creating the perception that mines were no longer a major problem. Per Nergaard, the NPA director of mine continued on page 21

kruger park times - 20 - kruger park times

Demining is not a never ending story continued from page 20 action, told IRIN the organization was comforted that HALO Trust and HI remained in the country when the decision was made “to take our limited resources [elsewhere].” UNDP’s Barlevi said the Baseline Assessment and NPA’s decision to withdraw led to two different responses by donors between 2006 and 2007. Some donors used NPA’s exit to close the chapter on their funding, while the findings of the Baseline assessment encouraged other donors to return because the task had been defined. “The paradox is that the number of mine victims has dropped to a few a year, and if there was 50 mine accidents each year people would jump up, that is the irony. The human impact is going down, but it is not going away,” Barlevi said. “There is less money around, and even less in Mozambique.”

 An ever present danger According to Mozambique’s 2008-2014 National Mine Action Plan, between 1993 and 2006, 269 million square metres were demined, 173,091 landmines were cleared and 133,143 items of unexploded ordnance were destroyed. The four northern provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Zambezia are currently undergoing a verification process following the end of demining operations; the remaining provinces of Tete, Manica, Sofala, Inhambane - seen as the worst affected province - Gaza and Maputo had yet to be cleared. Landmines had also been found along

200km of the border with Zimbabwe, as well as in a belt around the Cahora Bassa dam, and beneath about 200 electricity pylons stretching 80km between the South African border town of Komatiepoort and into the high density suburbs of the Mozambican capital, Maputo. Further surveys were required in areas bordering South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Swaziland. Helen Gray, HALO Trust’s Mozambique’s programme officer, like others in the demining community, is optimistic that the 2014 deadline can be met with “an increase in funding ... soon”. They expect to have 208 deminers in the field by November 2009, but ideally require 364 deminers, excluding support staff and management, to meet the revised deadline. Gray said they needed about $4.2 million annually for the Mozambique operation, but were getting by with about $2.5 million. “Achieving a milestone like [demining the] Maputo [pylons] will help things,” she said. Peri-urban communities scratch a living on the vacant land along the corridor created by the pylons from Komatiepoort to Maputo, growing the staple maize and other crops, often within a few metres from the estimated 20,000 landmines planted along the pylon route. Up to 200 mines have been found at each pylon, planted by Frelimo to protect the electrical infrastructure from saboteurs during the civil war; it takes two or three deminers about a month to clear a pylon. “We are behind the curve ... but we still might meet the ... deadline by 2014,” Gray said. © IRIN. All rights reserved.

Economics cannot solve climate change”, researchers say Policymakers are relying too heavily on predictions of the impacts of climate change, a new study says. As a result, they are claiming they need more research and more predictions before they can take action – and when policies are made, too little action follows. Research by Dr Mark Charlesworth of Keele University and Dr Chuks Okereke of the Oxford University’s Smith School of

Enterprise and the Environment also warns that decision-makers are assuming impacts will take effect gradually without sufficient evidence. The study, published in the journal Global Environmental Change, urges governments and others to rely less on cost-benefit analyses in determining policies because they may not be appropriate.

South Africa’s Sumbandila satellite lifts off South Africa made history on the September 17, 2009 with the successful launch into space of its low-earth orbiting satellite, SumbandilaSat. The 81 kg microsatellite blasted into space at exactly 17:55 (South African time) from Baikonour in Kazakhstan, aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. Naledi Pandor, the minister of science and technology, was in Kazakhstan to witness the historic occasion. Pandor said SumbandilaSat had paved the way for bigger and better things. “We look forward to implementing our space strategy so that we can join other nations in exploring the myriad possibilities presented by scientific and technological research.” Director-General of science and technology, Dr Phil Mjwara, said the launch reinforced South Africa’s role in national, regional and international space initiatives. “This is a momentous occasion, not just for the department of science and technology and its partners and stakeholders, but also for the people of South Africa. This launch is a milestone in our efforts to develop and enhance space science and technology in our country.” The satellite carries a high-resolution camera that will produce images for use in monitoring agriculture, mapping infrastructure and land use, tracking population movement, and measuring the water levels of dams. Data will be streamed to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Satellite Applications Centre (SAC) at Hartbeeshoek, near Pretoria, for analysis and policy development purposes. The SAC will carry out command and communication functions by tracking the satellite using a large dish antenna. In addition to the camera, the satellite carries a secondary communication payload from the Department of Communications and experimental payloads for the scientific community in the areas of low-frequency radio waves, radiation, software defined radio, forced vibrating string and radio amateur transponder.

kruger park times - 21 - kruger park times

No place like home: Africa’s big cats show postcode preference

T

he secret lives of some of Africa’s iconic carnivores, including big cats, are revealed in a new study in the journal, Animal Conservation. The results shed light on how different habitats are used by some of Tanzania’s most elusive meat eaters, such as the leopard.  Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) carried out the largest survey of Tanzania’s carnivores, using a novel approach making use of over 400 camera trap locations.  The research reveals that many species, including the leopard, are particularly fussy about where they live, actively avoiding certain areas.  Surprisingly, all the species surveyed tended to avoid croplands, suggesting that habitat conversion to agricultural land

could have serious implications for carnivore distribution. “Camera traps provide a fantastic opportunity to gain knowledge on habitat use and spatial distribution of otherwise elusive and poorly known species. This methodology represents a powerful tool that can inform national and site-based wildlife managers and policy makers as well as international agreements on conservation,” says Dr Sarah Durant from ZSL. Until now, many of the species had been under reported because of their nocturnal habits, or because they live in heavily forested areas. The strength of the technique to document habitat preference of elusive species is highlighted by camera trap observations of bushy tailed mongooses – including the first ever records of this species from one of the most visited areas in the country. These data can also be used to understand how Tanzania’s carnivores may re-

spond to habitat changes caused as a result of environmental change.  “Carnivores are generally thought to be relatively tolerant to land conversion, yet our study suggests that they may be more sensitive to development than previously thought, and that protected areas need to be sufficiently large to ensure that these charismatic animals will roam in Tanzania for the decades to come,’ says Dr Nathalie Pettorelli from ZSL. She adds: “All species were affected by rivers and habitat, and the analysis provides important information relevant to the examination of future impacts of climate change.” The project continues to map carnivore distribution across the country, working closely with the wildlife authorities to support local conservationists and to generate information that is used to inform conservation planning. Photo: Tommy Javerfalk

kruger park times - 22 - kruger park times

City sprawl, City Crisis

C

airo and Alexandria, some 200 km apart, could merge in the foreseeable future, a spectra that presents a nightmare for urban planners and managers in Egypt. A future of sprawling unending cities is already a bleak reality in other parts of the world. In Latin America, Mexico City (Mexico) has encroached upon two different states, while Buenos Aires (Argentina) covers 30 different municipalities. A major feature of North American cities is urban sprawl, which has been attributed to permissive land-use planning and the growth of affluent households. By 2000, sprawl was increasing at twice the rate of urban population growth in the United States, with Las Vegas being the fastest growing metro area. Canada currently has three of the world’s 10 urban areas with the most extensive sprawl. They are Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto. Fifty-two per cent of the world’s 3.3 billion urban population live in cities and towns of fewer than 500,000 people. In developed and developing countries 54 per cent and 51 per cent of urbanites, respectively, live in such cities. However, as city populations grow, so cities expand by consuming most of the previously separated towns and cities. In some cases this results in turning such areas into metropolises, and others into peri urban entities. Either way, the process of urban sprawl is presenting a major challenge for urban planners and urban management worldwide. Urban sprawl is one of the challenges facing urban planners and local authorities according to the new UN-HABITAT report Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009. The report argues that increasing socio-spatial challenges, especially social and spatial inequalities, urban sprawl and unplanned peri-urbanization are some of the key challenges facing the 21st century city. “There are a number of key messages emerging from the Global Report, all of them contributing towards finding a new role for urban planning in sustainable urban development,” says Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of UN-HABITAT. “One important message is that governments should increasingly take on a more central role in cities and towns in order to lead development initiatives and ensure that

basic needs are met. It is clear that urban planning has an important role to play in assisting governments to meet the challenges of the urban century.” Asia is home to the most megacities in the world. A major trend is that urbanization is pushing past metropolitan borders, leading to the formation of enormously extended mega-urban regions (such as Shanghai and Beijing in China) that have developed along infrastructure corridors, then radiating over long distances from core cities. This has created complex planning and governance problems within the region. In Asia, urbanization is taking ruralopolitan urban forms, an entirely new phenomenon. This is occurring in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan where vast stretches of rural lands are being engulfed by expanding cities. Sprawl of this kind, then, explains the unique mixture of rural and urban land use in this region.

Sub-Saharan Africa Urban sprawl in Sub-Saharan Africa is not as drastic but it is occurring. Many cities are spreading out and engulfing surrounding rural land and adjacent towns, leading to continuous belts of settlements. This process is largely informal and is driven by the efforts of low-income households to secure affordable land at reasonable locations. Another facet of sprawl characteristic of the region is the growth, primarily, in the capital city. One consequence of this merging of previously non-adjoining towns and cities around the world is metropolitanization. The process refers to the conversion of rural land into urban uses and the engulfment of adjacent municipalities by larger cities to constitute new metro areas. Developed countries present a contrasting picture of urban sprawl. A common feature of developed countries is that urban densities have been declining, and this has been contributing to urban sprawl. Between 1960 and 1990, Amsterdam (the Netherlands) experienced a 10 per cent reduction in its population density, but expanded its land area by more than 60 per cent. One factor that accounts for urban sprawl in these countries is economic prosperity. The problem has been more acute in North America, where a significant segment of the population owns cars. Another rea-

son for sprawl is that population growth has intensified the density of some inner-city areas, prompting the wealthy to relocate to suburbs. Consequently, in Western Europe, sprawl is acute in Belgium; the Netherlands; eastern, southern and western Germany; northern Italy; the Paris and Madrid regions; Ireland; and Portugal. A major determinant of sprawl is government policy, which has been more tolerant in North America, but more stringent in Western Europe. Development of core areas of many Western European and Japanese cities before the era of the automobile explains their relative compactness, compared to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. However, the need in European cities today to commute is evidence of sprawl of the North American kind. Oceania and Japan: Sprawl is a major environment concern. Throughout this region, sprawl has become a major planning concern, as traffic congestion and pollution have worsened. In New Zealand, cities are expanding and blurring urban-rural boundaries, as peri-urban populations grow. This complicates municipal governance. In Australia, annexation and consolidation are resulting in the “disappearing towns syndrome”. There, Hursbridge, Bellowie, Adinga Beach and Golden Bay-singleton disappeared and became parts of Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Mandurah, respectively. Transitional Countries: During the communist era, centralized decision-making structure permitted the state to establish compact, highly dense cities with functional public transport. However, since the political and economic reforms of the 1990s, which presided over the whittling away of communism in these areas, low-income families and lower-level retail business has moved form inner city to low-cost neighbourhoods on the urban fringes. Here also, sprawl has been encouraged as private developers erect exclusive and high-income suburban enclaves. The report concludes by calling on urban planners to encourage more compact cities in a bid to reduce green house gases and emissions. UN-HABITAT report Planning Sustainable Cities: Global Report on Human Settlements 2009

kruger park times - 23 - kruger park times

Saving the planet, and money

Solving Hydrogen storage Limit to Power Green Cars Hydrogen fuel, because its only byproduct is steam, should be the ultimate in green alternatives to fossil fuels, but it hasn’t delivered on its promise yet because of one enormous stumbling block, storage. Now a team of chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has developed a computational model that shows that carbon nanotubes may offer a solution. Results are presented in the October 2009 online issue of the journal, Applied Physics Letters. “If this works as we expect, it’s perhaps no longer science fiction to hope for a briefcase-sized hydrogen battery to run a bus or car,” says UMass Amherst chemical engineering professor Dimitrios Maroudas. The UMass Amherst computational model strongly lends itself to verification in laboratory experiments, say Maroudas and colleagues, and it provides ample testable hypotheses for future experimental research. Specifically, Maroudas shows that proper arrangement of carbon nanotubes can overcome hydrogen transport limitations in nanotube bundles. It should also prevent ineffective and nonuniform hydrogenation, which is caused by nanotube swelling due to chemisorption of hydrogen atoms on the nanotube walls. If one were to think of carbon nanotube bundles as something like a toothbrush, one strategy that Maroudas and colleagues recommend for holding hydrogen atoms most efficiently is that the brush arrangement should not be too dense. If it is, when the tubules swell they’ll block efficient passage and diffusion of the hydrogen, Maroudas explains. In addition to an optimal bundle density, further improvement can be achieved by optimizing the individual nanotube configurations to limit their swelling upon hydrogenation. Following this approach should result in one hydrogen atom being able to chemisorb onto — form a chemical bond with — each carbon atom of the nanotubes, leading to 100 percent (atomically) storage capacity, he adds. This chemisorbed hydrogen, bound to the surface, can then be easily released by applying heat.

A

s South Africans grapple with huge hikes in their electricity bills, the residents of an informal settlement on the outskirts of Cape Town have turned to the sun to provide for their heating needs in Africa’s first project registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The almost 2,000 families in Kuyasa, a low-income informal settlement that is part of the sprawling Khayelitsha township, have not only managed to cut their electricity costs by 35 percent a year, but are also doing their bit to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Each solar water heater helps save around 1.29 tonnes of carbon dioxide per household per year from being emitted, which equates to the total carbon emission in a flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to Surabaya in Indonesia. The CDM, set up under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), allows industrialised countries to meet part of their commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by investing in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries, while also contributing to the sustainable development needs of the host country. Projects registered under the CDM can earn saleable Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) credits, each equal to one metric tonne of carbon dioxide. The Kuyasa project was developed by

SouthSouthNorth (SSN), an NGO working to counter climate change, for the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Resource Management Department and Urban Renewal Programme. The project hopes to complete installing solar water heaters in 2,300 houses by 2010, with funding from the national department of environment and tourism and the Western Cape Province government. The Cape Town City Council, owners of the Kuyasa project, have already sold CERs to the UK government and hope to generate and sell more credits so as to maintain the water heaters and invest in other community development projects. Funding has come from national and provincial governments and the South African Export Development Fund (SAEDF), a non-profit organization has underwritten the project. Eskom, a parastatal utility, generates most of South Africa’s electricity in coalfired power stations, and the cheap energy alternative presented by Kuyasa has stirred some interest. Zuko Ndamane, the project manager, is pushing for integration of the solar power generator model into new low-income housing developments, because “It is more expensive to retrofit houses with energysaving devices, like we did in Kuyasa.” © IRIN. All rights reserved.

Tracking down human smell Each of the 6.7 billion people on Earth has a signature body odor — the chemical counterpart to fingerprints — and scientists are tracking down those odiferous arches, loops, and whorls in the “human odorprint” for purposes ranging from disease diagnosis to crime prevention. That’s the topic of an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine. C&EN Senior Correspondent Ivan Amato points out that police long have used trained dogs to sniff out these uniquely personal scents in pursuing criminals. Scientists now are trying to decipher the chemistry of human odor to develop technology

that can detect and classify smells. That’s a difficult task, the article says, noting that each person’s odorprint is a complex mixture impacted by multiple environmental factors, including diet and cosmetics. The article describes progress in that direction, explaining that scientists already have identified odors in human breath and skin associated with diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. Scientists are even trying to detect the “smell of deception,” or chemical changes that occur with heightened stress that may help screen and identify, for example, terrorists planning to blow up an airplane and criminals intending to rob a bank.

kruger park times - 24 - kruger park times

Treaty partners learn of 40 proposed wildlife trade rule changes Proposals for tighter trade controls for species such as the Atlantic blue fin tuna, sharks and corals have been submitted for the next meeting of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). The meeting, which will have changes to trade rules for an unusual proportion of marine species on its agenda, will be held in Quatar in March 2010. Controversy is also expected over conflicting proposals concerning elephants. WWF especially welcomes the proposal by the Principality of Monaco to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I to the convention, which would ban international trade for commercial purposes and was submitted  as Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are declining dramatically because of uncontrolled overfishing. “An Appendix I listing for Atlantic blue fin tuna has become imperative if we are to save the species,” said Amanda Nickson, director of the WWF international species programme. “If we act now we can secure the future of this species and guarantee that fishing can be resumed in the future, but at a sustainable level.” Proposals to list several shark species on

Appendix II, which allows for international trade but imposes strict regulations and requires proof that trade is sustainable and legal, were also submitted. Threats such as bycatch and shark finning and illegal fishing and overfishing have caused serious declines in shark populations.  Also proposed for an Appendix II listing were red and pink coral, which are used to make jewellery. Red and pink corals are found throughout the world’s tropical and temperate seas but the absence of effective international trade controls has led to overharvesting. 

Elephant debate expected to be controversial Elephants will be a topic of debate at the CITES meeting  as potentially conflicting proposals were submitted for elephants. Kenya submitted a proposal – together with a group of west African countries - that would impose a 19 year ban on other countries seeking permission for one-off ivory sales, such as the one that took place under CITES supervision in 2008, and that would suspend the legal sale of ivory souvenirs in Namibia and Zimbabwe. 

One the other hand, Zambia and Tanzania submitted proposals that would have elephant populations within their borders moved from Appendix I to Appendix II in order to ease the permitting rules for trophy hunting and allow for the sale of government-owned ivory stockpiles.  “WWF recognizes that some southern African elephant range states have successfully demonstrated that their populations should be placed on Appendix II,” said Nickson.     “However, Tanzania and Zambia have yet to prove their case by demonstrating that their management of ivory stockpiles is adequate enough to prevent laundering of poached ivory. “And while we acknowledge the concerns that have motivated Kenya’s proposal, we must not forget to address what WWF sees as the main issue driving elephant poaching – that is, unregulated domestic markets in central and West Africa.”  Two other of WWF’s priority species that were not the subject of listing proposals but that will be discussed at the meeting are tigers and rhinos, which are both critically endangered and are being poached in order to feed the illegal market for their parts and derivatives. Tiger numbers could now be as low as 3,200 and rhino poaching has reached a 15 year high according to new research released this summer.  WWF will now engage with its partners TRAFFIC and IUCN, which will do a full analyses of the proposals in order to assess whether or not they meet the criteria required for a species to be listed in the CITES appendices. WWF will formulate its position on each proposal based on this analysis.  photo: Lynette Strauss Elephants near the Letaba Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park

kruger park times - 25 - kruger park times

Kruger Krazies’ Claim to Shame

These photos of transgressors of Park rules are published in an attempt to assist in restoring basic respect for others and the Park. Entries are sent by visitors, rangers and all people concerned wit the welfare of the Park and its visitors.

kruger park times - 26 - kruger park times

Volunteers get dirty at school Volunteers, greater Hoedpsruit basedbusinesses and staff from the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve and Children’s Eco Training joined hands with teachers, pupils and parents of Mawuvana Primary School on a clean-up drive at the school. All contributed to the success of ‘Doit’Day’ by planting, painting, putting in windows, restoring and fixing desks, replacing desk tops and surprising the school with new shelves in the storeroom. “This hard work and incredible changes gave the school new hope and a sense of belonging and pride,” says Zani Kunz of Children’s Eco Training. “We would like to thank all of you, the volunteers and our sponsors, who assisted in making this an awesome experience,” says Zani. School principal S Ndlovu said he is

delighted to see their planning come into fruition. “The participation of teachers and parents are much appreciated,” he said. Sponsors: Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (main Sponsor), Gomo Gomo Lodge, Mica Hoedspruit, The Waterhole, Lowveld Building Supplies, Hoedsruit Spar, Honey Suckle, Glass Planet, Bavaria, Campfire Safaris, Johan du Preez, Bertie Vorster, Hennalie Steyn, Willem van der Nest, Johan van Zyl, Gert Rautenbach, Wouter & Annamarie de Vos, Ammie Minnaar, Chris & Barbara Huddle, Jaco & Ilonka Craukamp, Theo Sauerman, Auto Doctor, Maliflora, KPNR staff: Erik Manyike, Lawrence Mathonsi, Newman Mahatlane,

Reuben Motloutsi (CET), CET staff: Elvis Mathebula, Thabo Mhangane and Ronald Moropane, KPNR volunteers: Nikiwe Ndlovu (KPNR) and Frank (Matamani camp).

kruger park times - 27 - kruger park times

DID YOU KNOW?

Cities and Climate Change

T

he impact of climate change on cities and towns, as well as the reduction of dependency on fossil fuels are among the foremost challenges to urban management today in creating sustainable cities. The creation of sustainable cities requires the minimized use of non-renewable resources; the use of renewable resources; and for cities to stay within the absorptive capacity of local and global waste absorption limits. Measures taken to attain these objectives provide the link between the natural and built environments, or, put another way, between the green and brown agendas.

Green and Brown Agendas A significant dilemma for urban planners and politicians trying to implement sustainable urban development is how to integrate different concerns of the green and brown agendas. The Green Agenda refers to the natural environment: it is about the natural systems of the local, bioregional and global ecosystems that cities and other settlements use as services for open space, biodiversity, water provision, waste dispersion, health air, and reliable climate, food and fibre. The Brown Agenda concerns the human environment. The agenda is essential for making a city work; for a healthy and liveable environment; and for creating the human and economic opportunities that have been driving cities. This agenda is about optimizing land use; engineering of waste systems; minimizing energy consumption and transport; reducing use of materials; and creating an efficient built environment. The rapid growth of cities in the past 50 years has meant that the brown agenda of providing buildings and transport, while coping with waste, has often overwhelmed many cities, especially in the developing world. Brown functions of a city often degrade its green resources, unless city intervenes through processes such as urban planning and environmental management. This is no longer feasible and cities need to slash their impact on the natural environment, and ensure that bioregional and global ecosystems are shielded from degradation. Key innovat ions are occurring globally

to synergise the green and brown agendas. They are as follows:

Development of Renewable Energy This enables cities to create healthy environments using minimum fossil fuels. Some urban areas are now partly powered by renewable energy techniques and technologies, from the region to the building level. Harnessing solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power for urban use: Urban planning is necessary to create the infrastructure needed to support renewable sources of power at the scale necessary to help power a city. Transport: electric vehicles can play a critical role in enabling renewable to build up as a much higher proportion of the urban energy grid. Fossil fuels: The move away from fossil fuels requires serious localizing and local sourcing of building materials. Striving for carbon-neutral cities: The key objective of this trend for “carbon-neutral cities” is to ensure that every home, neighbourhood and business is carbon neutral. Carbonneutral cities are able to replace fossil fuels, thereby providing a basis for the regeneration of the ecology. Minimizing carbon footprints: This needs to become a feature of whole neighbourhoods and even complete cities if the world is to move to post-carbon cities. Increasing photosynthetic spaces as part of green infrastructure: Growing energy and providing food and materials locally is becoming part of urban infrastructural development. Development of distributed power and water systems: this aims to shift cities from large centralized power and water systems to small-scale and neighbourhood-based ones. Newer forms of power and water are increasingly smaller scale: This will ensure a reduction in the use of water. Distributive systems are being tried in cities such as Malmo (Sweden) and Toronto (Canada). The urban eco-efficiency agenda includes the “cradle to cradle” concept for the design of all new products and new systems such as industrial ecology, where industries share resources and wastes like an ecosystem.

Sustainable Transport

Increasingly, more energy efficient cities neighbourhoods and regions are being planned, by offering walk-able transitoriented options and renewable energy powered vehicles. Such cities have been able to reduce use of fossil fuels, as well as through reduced urban sprawl and reduced dependence on car-based infrastructure. The agenda for large cities now is to have more sustainable transport options to reduce traffic while reducing greenhouse gases by 50 per cent.

Street Planning and Mobility Management As cities build freeways, more car traffic follows. On the other hand, if transit traffic is emphasised, it could enable streets to become an important part of the sustainable transport system. Streets can be designed to favour pedestrian and cycle traffic. Whenever this is done, cities become more attractive and business friendly. now contain grocery stores, childcare centres and improved public toilets.

Cities without Slums “Cities without slums” is one of the most important goals of urban planning in developing countries today. Slums pose a significant threat to the green agenda, at the same time; the brown agenda is seriously compromised for those living in slums. There are two trends in resolving the phenomenon of slums: first, is upgrading of existing slums; second, is adoption of urban and housing policies that prevent the emergence of slums. Slum upgrading consists of improving security of tenure and installing new or improving existing infrastructure and services up to satisfactory levels, especially water supply, sanitation and waste management. This includes storm water drainage, electricity, access roads and footpaths. UN Habitat: Global report on Human Settlement 2009

kruger park times - 28 - kruger park times

Battered and Bruised Abused Elephants to Be Rescued in Zimbabwe

T

he rescue of nine abused elephants from a commercial training facility in Zimbabwe will begin on Monday, November 2, 2009 the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) has announced. The elephants were confiscated in April 2009 after an inspection by the Zimbabwe National Society for the Protection of Cruelty against Animals (ZNSPCA) found cruel and torturous methods were being used to “tame and train” them for the elephant back safari industry - a popular tourist activity in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in southern Africa. The ZNSPCA requested IFAW to step in and assist in translocating the elephants to a safe haven with a view to rehabilitating the elephants and releasing them back into the wild. “These elephants have been subjected to the most appalling cruelty, all in the name of servicing an indefensible form of safari industry,” said Neil Greenwood, spokesman IFAW Southern Africa. “In fact 10 elephants were originally caught for training. Tragically one - a young male named Dumisani - died of malnutrition and the abuse he was subjected to. Given all of this, IFAW has assembled a top team of capture experts to translocate the remaining nine elephants to safety with the least possible stress.” The elephants will be transported from a privately owned ranch in the West Nicholson area, south of Bulawayo where the elephants were being “trained,” to Hwange National Park, some 700 kilometres (437 miles) further east. The wild elephants were originally caught on protected land in October 2008. In April 2009 when the ZNSPCA inspected the training facility they discovered some of the following abuses taking place: * Elephants chained on one leg and being fed from a distance requiring them to stand on three legs and strain at their chains to reach their food.

This practice was intended to enforce the dominance of the handlers and caused severe wounds to the chained legs. * Restricted access to water and shade. * Varying degrees of wounds caused by training techniques and chaining. * An adult female elephant separated from her male calf causing unnecessary stress and physical suffering to both calf and mother. * Chaining for long hours preventing the elephants from socialising with each other. The translocation of the elephants will begin on Monday afternoon, 2nd November and has been mandated by the Government of Zimbabwe. The elephants will be darted and transported in a single group to Hwange National Park overnight before being released into a large rehabilitation boma for monitoring before eventually being released into the park. For more information on the translocation and on making a donation to support the move, please visit www.ifaw.org. International Fund for Animal Welfare

South Africa to host G20 Tourism Meeting in 2010 South Africa has been elected as the Africa representative to the executive council of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at the organisation’s 8th annual assembly in October 2009. “Our election follows an absence of ten years from the Executive Council. During this four-year term, South Africa will use its position to advance Africas development agenda and the objectives of the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD).We will also actively work towards the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), because we, as an African country, regardtourism as pivotal to unlocking greater economic growth, infrastructure development, trade promotion and job creation on our continent,” says South Africa’s minister of tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk. He was addressing the 8th annual tourism conference which took place in Johannesburg on October 30, 2009. In Kazakhstan, the ministerial representatives from the G20 countries also met to discuss tourisms contribution to the economic stimuli required for the recovery of the global economy. South Africas will host a first meeting of the G20 tourism ministers from 22 to 24 February 2010 in Gauteng under the theme Travel and tourism: Stimuli for G20 economies. As the new UNWTO Roadmap for Recovery report adopted in Kazakhstan highlights, there is growing evidence that tourism and travel could make a valuable contribution to the process of global economic recovery, which will include amongst others rebuilding consumer confidence, stimulating source markets and, in the longer term, supporting the transition to a greener economy. The new UNWTO Roadmap to Recovery recognises the fact that tourism is one of the worlds top job creators (providing 75 million direct jobs worldwide) and that it drives the viability of many small and medium enterprises.

kruger park times - 29 - kruger park times

Our Planet Reviewed On the eve of 2010, International Year of Biodiversity, the National Museum of Natural History and Pro-Natura International are working in partnership with IUCN to launch’ Our Planet Reviewed’, an unprecedented programme of naturalist expeditions. The expeditions will span ten years to conduct a massive inventory of biodiversity in geographical areas which, up until now, have been little explored. The objective is to accelerate the scientific discovery of new species, by focusing our efforts on the regions of the planet which are considered a priority in terms of nature conservation. Madagascar and Mozambique received the first of a series of expeditions on sea and land in April 2009. The last is scheduled for June 2010. Under the leadership of Professor Philippe Bouchet, from the National Museum of Natural History, and Olivier Pascal, from Pro-Natura International, these expeditions aim to develop existing knowledge of biodiversity in regions which are considered to be the richest in species, but which are also lesser known and the most threatened on the planet. Over four months of research in the field, around a hundred participants across all disciplines, from all around the world, and exceptional technical resources bear witness to the scale of this inventory project. These new expeditions will draw on the expertise acquired during Santo 2006, an inventory operation carried out in the Vanuatu archipelago, in the heart of the South Pacific, which revealed several hundred new species. Essentially dedicated to neglected biodiversity, such as marine and land invertebrates, plants and fungi, which represent 95 percent of biodiversity and play a fundamental role in the balance of ecosystems, the Mozambique/ Madagascar project intends to return this field of research, all too often ignored in favour of large fauna, to its proper place and thereby encourage new conservation policies, which are no longer solely based on emblematic species. Disappearing habitats (forests, coral reefs), overexploitation, pollution, climate

change - there are numerous causes for the disappearance of living things and the scale of the biodiversity crisis is now proven. The actual number of living species could be between eight and 30 million, yet only 1.8 million are currently known. A quarter, or even half, of these species could disappear from the planet by the middle or the end of this century; the issues at stake are therefore substantial and, now more than ever, it is time to start a new pattern of exploring and describing biodiversity. Mozambique and Madagascar are home to an exceptionally rich flora and fauna, which is still largely unknown, despite the attention which has been accorded to Madagascar, in particular, by nature protection organizations over a number of years. Therefore, it is natural that these two large countries should form a strategic target for scientists. The Museum has created a bilingual website (French/English) entirely dedicated to the project: This allows the public to follow the expeditions, take a look behind the scenes and share the researchers day to day

experience through photos, reports, interviews and much more. www.laplaneterevisitee.org and www.ourplanetreviewed.org

The Ploughshare Tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) was uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered in 2008. This species has a very small range, occurring only around Baly Bay in northwestern Madagascar. The total wild population is estimated at about 600 individuals and is declining. Its current restricted range and past declines are believed to be the result of exploitation (poaching for the international pet trade) and habitat loss caused by deliberate fires. It is near certain that the species will become extinct within the next generation (42 years) if the current level of threats continue unabated. Photo © Anders Rhodin.

The Kruger Park e-Times is published regularly to keep you updated on conservation, science, sustainable development and tourism issues in and around South Africa’s national parks, transfrontier parks and other environmental hotspots. Send your comments and contributions to: [email protected]

kruger park times - 30 - kruger park times