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
 Newsclips
Politicians, unite…
and scientists,
speak up!
Writing exclusively for a special is-
sue of Physics World on the “energy
puzzle”, the physicist Lord Browne,
former BP chief executive, asserts
that politicians need to avoid com-
partmentalizing energy and climate-
change issues - and to work across
Government and with international
partners to pursue action that binds
economic prosperity, national secu-
rity and environmental integrity.
If all goes to plan, political leaders
at December’s United Nations Cli-
mate Change Conference in Copen-
hagen (COP15) will agree to a succes-
sor to the Kyoto protocol and make
further promises to cut greenhouse-
gas 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 prob-
lem, 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 avail-
able 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 communica-
tion, Joseph Romm, a physicist at
the US think tank Center for Ameri-
can Progress, says that scientists, and
physicists in particular, need to do
more to warn the world of the dan-
gers of climate change.
As he writes, “The fate of perhaps
the next 100 billion people to walk
the Earth rests with scientists try-
ing 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 sci-
ence.”
kruger park times - 2 - kruger park times
Conservation Targets Too
Small to Stop Extinction
C
onservation biologists are set-
ting their minimum popula-
tion size targets too low to pre-
vent extinction.
That’s according to a new study by Uni-
versity of Adelaide and Macquarie Univer-
sity scientists which has shown that popula-
tions 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 under-
estimate 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 conserva-
tion recovery
are simply too
small to do
much good in
the long run.”
A long-
standing 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 ef-
fects of inbreeding, and 500 to avoid ex-
tinctions due to the inability to evolve to
cope with environmental change.
“Our research suggests that the 50/500
The Kruger Park e-Times is published regularly to keep you updated on
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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 chal-
lenge that small populations face in adapt-
ing to a rapidly changing world.”
Team member Professor Richard
Frankham, from Macquarie University’s
Department of Biological Sciences, says:
“Genetic diversity within populations al-
lows them to evolve to cope with environ-
mental 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 num-
bering a few hundred of individuals in the
wild. Acceptance that more needs to be
done if we are to stop ‘managing for ex-
tinction’ should force decision makers to be
more explicit about what they are aiming
for, and what
they are
willing to
trade off,
when allo-
cating con-
servation
funds.”
Other re-
searchers
in the study
are Associ-
ate Profes-
sor Corey
Bradshaw
and Profes-
sor Barry
B r o o k ,
both from the University of Adelaide’s
Environment Institute. The paper is on-
line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bio-
con.2009.09.01 Photo: Ian Whyte
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 increas-
ing 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.
kruger park times - 3 - kruger park times
Mabunda warned poachers that their
‘days are numbered.’
“We are on their trail and closing up
quickly on them.”  acquire amongst others motorbikes, bicy-
He said the country continues to lose ani-
mals 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.     Force inspect the pass-out drill.
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
cles, a bantam aircraft to be used in patrols
and night surveillance equipment as poach-
ers 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 bur-
den 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
 Newsclips
Migration myths
dispelled in UNDP
report
Most migrants do not move from
developing to developed countries,
and when they do, rather than hurt-
ing host economies, they benefit
them, according to a new report by
the UN Development Programme
(UNDP).
The UNDP’s Human Develop-
ment Report 2009, launched globally
on 5 October in Bangkok, dispels sev-
eral myths about migration, instead
underlining the economic and social
benefits for countries.
“Mobility can bring large gains
in development,” Jeni Klugman, di-
rector 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 sev-
eral migration reforms, including
for states to ensure basic rights for
migrants, and the mainstreaming of
migration into national development
plans.
© IRIN. All rights reserved.
kruger park times - 4- kruger park times
Honorary Rangers’ Counter
Poaching Raises More Than
R1 million in Last Year
S
ince the beginning of 2008, from the Mokhohlolo Dam between Lower
the Honorary Rangers Coun- Sabie and Crocodile Bridge in section rang-
ter Poaching and Ranger Sup- er Neels van Wyk’s area.
port Services National Project The Mokhohlolo Dam, which means “to
(CP&RSS) has raised over R1 million from cough” in Tsonga and aptly named after
events and cash donations and donated two the presence of the local leopard popula-
motor boats, cyber trackers and essential tion, has water throughout the year, even in
specialised equipment for counter poaching the middle of winter and so in addition to
operations and ranger field equipment. the resident hippos, it attracts a stream of
The Honorary Rangers (HR) organisa- game from elephant to flocks of birds.
tion comprises volunteers who focus their During their stay, guests enjoy early
efforts in support of South African National morning and afternoon bush walks under
Parks (SANParks). the guidance of highly qualified trail rang-
The counter poaching section of the HR ers and the opportunity to observe a game
is chaired by John Turner of the Johan- capture exercise conducted by Johan Malan
nesburg region. They have developed a and the veterinary wildlife services game
well tested fundraising model where they capture team.
offer two popular products in the Kruger Accommodation are in two-man tents
National Park that raises funds in support with communal ablution facilities, a mess
of the Environmental Crime Investigation tent and a full bar. Perhaps the most im-
unit and to obtain equipment for the rang- portant aspect is the communal camp fire
ers in the parks. where participants meet for coffee before
These include the Sunset Serenade sunrise and bond in the moonlight over
Weekend in Letaba Camp where classical a few drinks until late. The camp fire is
music enthusiasts enjoy light classical mu- the place where the world’s problems are
sic performed in the bush settings and the fully debated and regularly solved. A typi-
Mokhohlolo cal scene will see a lively discussion about
Bush Camp biodiversity and conservation issues which
weekends often result in donation huge pledges for
aimed at specific projects in the parks.
inf luential The camp and events are run by the ex-
people who perienced team of John Turner and Snowy
care about Botha supported by section ranger Neels
biodiversity van Wyk and the camp offers excellent Af-
and nature rican bush cuisine.
conserva- Recently the CP&RSS hosted a group of
tion and zoo keepers led by Peter Clark, director of
are happy the Adelaide City Zoo and the largest open
to contrib- zoo in the world. The 1 500 hectare Mon-
ute finan- arto Open Range Zoo, is situated north of
cially to this Adelaide in South Australia.
cause. This group of well informed animal lov-
This year ers stayed in a rugged bush camp in a wil-
they ran five derness setting where they observed animals
Mokhohlolo in their natural habitat. They exchanged
camps (two technical notes with the game capture team
in April on sedative darts and capture techniques.
and three A Mokhohlolo camp accommodates
in July/Au- 20 guests and the cost this year was R150
gust) over 000 per camp or R7 500 per person. For
three nights more information about the 2010 Mok-
each at a hohlolo bush camps contact John Turner
private bush @ johnturn@iafrica.com
camp 300m Photo: Dominic Barnhardt
How Birds See is Key to Avoiding
Power Line Collision
C
onservation-
ists at the
Endangered
Wildlife
Trust (EWT) have, with
the financial support of
Eskom, embarked on a
research project that will
enable them to better un-
derstand how birds see in
the hope that this will help
them to prevent birds from
flying into power lines.
“Many of our bird spe-
cies are prone to collid-
ing with overhead power
lines whilst in mid flight”
says Jon Smallie, Manag-
er 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 elec-
trical utilities around the
world have, over the last
30 years, developed vari-
ous 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 fun-
damentally different from
human vision. We hope
that with a better under-
standing 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 fam-
ilies differ in their ability to see, and that
several of the relevant species have far bet-
ter 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-
kruger park times - 5 - kruger park times
fields on blue cranes
(Anthropoides paradiseus),
white storks (Ciconia ci-
conia) 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 colli-
sions. Data were collect-
ed using captive birds at
two participating insti-
tutions. Tygerberg Zoo
in Cape Town and the
Johannesburg Zoo pro-
vided four blue cranes
and two white storks
and a kori bustard re-
spectively.
  Various different
power line marking de-
vices are currently avail-
able, 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 effective-
ness varies between bird
families. The EWT-
WEIG is working with
Eskom to improve their
rate this new knowledge into the design of effectiveness. The Eskom-EWT Strategic
marking devices as soon as possible through Partnership started 13 years ago in response
its strategic partnership with Eskom. to problems such as bird collision and is a
Graham Martin – Professor of Avian world leader in addressing this major un-
Sensory Science at the University of Bir- natural cause of death in large birds. 
mingham - is an international expert in This research is funded by Eskom and
bird vision. Professor Martin has developed was undertaken in collaboration with Pro-
a method for measuring bird visual fields fessor Graham Martin of Birmingham Uni-
(where they see) and acuity (how well they versity, and University of Cape Town Phd
see) and is instrumental in this project, lead- student Jessica Shaw. 
ing the research that will help the EWT The Tygerberg and Johannesburg Zoos
understand how large birds, which are par- provided captive birds, and expert bird han-
ticularly prone to flying into power lines, dling expertise.
experience the world while in flight. photo: Lynette Strauss
  Professor Martin recently spent two  
weeks in South Africa, measuring visual
 Newsclips
Animals now picking
up bugs from people,
study shows
Globalisation and industrialisa-
tion are causing diseases to spread
from humans to animals, a study has
shown.
Researchers from The Roslin Insti-
tute 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 ev-
idence of bacterial pathogens cross-
ing 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 chick-
ens, and found that the bacteria origi-
nally came from humans.
Genetic testing showed that the
bacteria crossed over from one spe-
cies to another around 40 years ago,
coinciding with a move towards in-
tensive poultry farming practices.
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.
kruger park times - 6 - kruger park times
New Entrance Gate, Upgraded
Roads Opened at Mountain Zebra
National Park
O
n October 28, 2009, Moun-
tain 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 Mool-
man, South African National Parks (SAN-
Parks) regional manager, as he officially
opened the roads.
Cutting the ribbon on the newly con-
structed Link Road, Moolman added that
the new 13.4 km road provided an impor-
tant link between the Ubejane and Rooi-
plaat Loops, making travelling around the
Park easier.
The road upgrade project, funded by the
department of environmental affairs’ Infra-
structure 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 new-
ly 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 fund-
raising initiatives initiated by SANParks
and the David Shepherd Wildlife Foun-
dation, helped to increase the Park size
from 6 536 hectares to over 28 000 hect-
ares. Organisations such as the Barbara
Delano Foundation, WildAid and Vesta
Medicines also played an important role.
This Park expansion facilitated the re-
introduction of species such as buffalo,
cheetah and brown hyena and assured
the conservation of the endangered
Cape mountain zebra, which now num-
ber 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 over-
night visitor numbers.
Visitor numbers have increased by a
massive 40% and occupancy rate has in-
creased 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 Graaff-
Reinet 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 Ta-
plin
New Trails To Open in Kruger
National Park
Lynette Srtauss
T
wo new adventure trails will
be launched in the Kruger Na-
tional Park within the next six
months. Both trails are based
in the northern parts of Kruger - the Phal-
aborwa 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 avail-
able 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
kruger park times - 7 - kruger park times
the Lowveld bush between Shingwedzi and past that affected the experience of tourists
Mphongolo rivers close to the Shingwedzi who took part in this trail and that is why
rest camp, on foot. we are closing it now;” says Ben van Eeden,
Trailists will leave from the camp on regional manager of Nxanatseni Region.
Wednesdays and return Sundays, midday. Bookings can be done at the SANParks
Taking into account the rainy season, the central reservation centre on 12 428 9111.
trail will only be open from February to the Photos: Archive: Olifants River
end of November. Backpack Train in KNP. Andrew Des-
“There are no overnight huts on this trail met
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 maxi-
mum of eight and a minimum
of four visitors at a time and it
will be guided by two experi-
enced trails rangers.”
The existing Nonokani 4x4
Adventure Trail, which runs in
the Phalaborwa section up to
the Olifants River, will be per-
manently closed.
“We experienced a number of
visitor related problems in the
 Conservation Headlines
Elephant dies of old age
The elephant cow that provoked an out-
cry from an animal rights group when it was
spotted, apparently distressed and in pain,
on an Mpumalanga game reserve’s live we-
bcam a fortnight ago, has died.

 eat.
News 24
“The elephant cow died on Sunday after-
noon, 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 man-
aged 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.

 seen e-mails stating that the vaccine is taint-
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.
 If you are the sort who trusts anonymous
“Hopefully this is a lesson to us all about
interfering; we should not, unless humans
caused the suffering,” Moolman said.
Dju-
ma is one of more than a dozen lodges and
reserves that make up the 65 000 hectare
Sabi Sand Reserve, which shares an un-
fenced 50km border with the Kruger Na-
tional Park.
 same risks as the seasonal flu vaccine. Ex-
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 non-
intervention when it comes to animals in
distress not caused by humans”, but its eco-
logical committee decided to take action in
this case.

 which has been accused – also without good
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 eu-
thanise 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 el-
ephant.
Moolman reported the calf was no
longer suckling and should have no prob-
kruger park times - 8 - kruger park times
lems surviving without its mother. African
elephants, the world’s largest land mam-
mals, 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
Inoculation
Misinformation
Wild rumors are flying about the newly
developed vaccine for pandemic influenza
H1N1, also known as “swine flu.” We’ve
ed with antifreeze or Agent Orange, causes
Gulf War syndrome, or has killed U.S. Navy
sailors. One says the vaccine is an “evil de-
population scheme.” The claims are nearly
pure bunk, with only trace amounts of fact.
e-mails more than you do doctors and ex-
perts from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and the U.S. Food and Drug Ad-
ministration, 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
cept 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 con-
tamination. Some have accused thimerosal
of causing developmental disorders in chil-
dren, but scientific evidence doesn’t support
this.
The vaccine does not contain squalene,
evidence – of causing Gulf War syndrome.
There’s no reason to believe that a vac-
cination would cause Guillain-Barre syn-
drome. 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/inoc-
ulation-misinformation/
Namibian Private Game
Farm Denied Permission
to Import Elephants
The Namibian Ministry of Environment
and Tourism has denied the country’s big-
gest 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 mil-
lion. 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 ele-
phants. 
“We have bought twelve elephants
from the ministry at an auction in 1994
from Etosha Pans,” he said.
I decided to ap-
ply for two hundred elephant from the big-
ger Kruger National Park area. We received
an approval promptly for two hundred el-
ephant 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, Er-
indi Game Reserve submitted a fully com-
prehensive, 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.
Conservation Headlines
Twenty years after ivory
ban, activists up in arms
Twenty years after the decimation of Afri-
ca’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 Conven-
tion on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) ban on ivory trade.
The decision, taken on October 17th,
1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the UN-
backed 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 Inter-
national Fund for Animal Welfare.
Following the ban, “ivory prices plum-
meted and so too did the incentives to kill
elephants - a good example of a conserva-
tion 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 popula-
tions, sell off their stockpiles of the so-called
white gold.
In 1999, CITES allowed the first such
one-off sale. Botswana, Namibia and Zim-
babwe 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 accumu-
lated 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,
kruger park times - 9 - kruger park times
where ivory is used mainly in carved orna-
ments, 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-mar-
ket 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 fur-
ther 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 organiza-
tion 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 coun-
tries 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 Re-
search (CSIR) principal researcher and di-
visional fellow Dr Peter Ashton tells Engi-
neering News that, once sampling sites for
the study have been identified, the council
will be in a position to say how many vol-
unteers will be needed to assist with the col-
lection of rainwater samples and to identify
the areas for collection.
He stresses that volunteers in the catch-
ment are the “eyes” and “ears” of the scien-
tists, who are based in Pretoria. By collect-
ing rainfall data and writing down anything
unusual that they observe in the vicinity of
the sampling sites, they will help the scien-
tists 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 wa-
ter quality,” explains CSIR limnologist and
project leader Dr Paul Oberholster.
The team will report its preliminary find-
ings by the end of 2010, when it will pres-
ent 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 pres-
ent preliminary findings as well as possible
suggestions for remedial action that can be
considered.
Martin Zhuwakinyu, www.engi-
neeringnews.co.za
98 ivory tusks seized in
Douala
A total of 98 ivory tusks were seized be-
tween Sunday and Monday at the Autono-
mous 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, Fran-
çois Issola Dipanda, the large shipment of
elephant tusks were seized by Cameroo-
nian 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 kilo-
grammes 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
 Newsclips Trees Facilitate Wildfires as a Way
Wildlife As a Source
to Protect Their Habitat
for Livestock
Infections

F
ire is often thought of something The promotion of fire by the savanna
that trees should be protected trees increases their own abundance by
A bacterium possibly linked to from, but a new study suggests limiting the establishment and growth of
Crohn’s disease could be lurking in that some trees may themselves tree species that are better competitors for
wild animals. According to research contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in resources and that might ultimately dis-
published in the open access journal order to promote their own abundance at place the savanna trees. The research re-
BMC Microbiology, Mycobacterium the expense of their competitors. sults suggest that some trees may modify
avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map), The study, which appears in the Decem- or “engineer” their environment, including
can be transmitted between wildlife ber 2009 issue of the journal The Ameri- the characteristic fire frequencies in a land-
and domestic ruminants, supporting can Naturalist, says that positive feedback scape, to facilitate their own persistence at
the theory of wildlife reservoirs of loops between fire and trees associated with the expense of their competitors, Beckage
infection. savannas can make fires more likely in these said.
A research team lead by Karen ecosystems. The research proposes a scenario for the
Stevenson, from the Moredun Re- “We used a mathematical model to show development of savannas in landscapes that
search Institute in Scotland, used that positive feedback loops between fire would otherwise become closed forests.
three different genotyping techniques frequency and savanna trees, alone or to- Examples of savanna trees that facili-
to identify specific strains of Map in gether with grasses, can stabilize ecological tate frequent low-intensity fires include the
164 samples taken from 19 different communities in a savanna state, blocking longleaf pine and the south Florida slash
livestock and wildlife species from the conversion of savannas to forest,” said the pine, both of which frequently shed their
Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, study’s leading author Brian Beckage, asso- needles providing fodder for wildfires. The
The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland ciate professor in the Department of Plant savanna tree initially invades grassland, but
and Spain. The results were com- Biology at the University of Vermont. by facilitating frequent fires, it limits its own
bined to investigate sources of Map The study’s co-authors are William Platt, density and thus prevents conversion to a
infections and show the possibility of professor of biology at Louisiana State Uni- forest.
transmission between wildlife and do- versity, and Louis Gross, director of the Na- The research was supported by grants
mestic ruminants. tional Institute for Mathematical and Bio- from the National Science Foundation. The
“Identical genotypes were obtained logical Synthesis and professor of ecology study was recently published in the journal
from Map isolated from different host and evolutionary biology and mathematics The American Naturalist. It can be viewed
species co-habiting on the same prop- at the University of Tennessee. Beckage was at http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/
erty, strongly suggesting that interspe- a short-term visitor conducting research at an/0/0 Photo: Navashni Govender
cies transmission occurs”, the authors NIMBioS in 2009 and will be on sabbatical
say, adding, “Map infects a variety at NIMBioS in 2010.
of wildlife and host spe-
cies that potentially could
be reservoirs for infection
of domestic livestock and
have serious implications
for infection control”.
Related to the bacte-
ria causing tuberculosis
in humans and in cows,
Map causes severe diar-
rhea 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 rumi-
nants. For more informa-
tion: www.biomedcentral.
com/bmcmicrobiol

kruger park times - 10 - kruger park times

Wildlife and African folklore
Richard C Haw
Many African tribes had a tradition re-
garding 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 well-
known to them, many being featured in Af-
rican folklore.
Some of these protected animals were
allowed to be killed under certain circum-
stances or, if they were caught, had to be
taken to the local chief.
Anyone finding a scaly anteater or pan-
golin, 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.
kruger park times - 11 - kruger park times
The scales were used for medicinal pur-
poses.
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 os-
trich 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 ani-
mal 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 kill-
ing 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 ani-
mals 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 pres-
ent. 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 swal-
lowed.
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: Ly-
nette Strauss
Report to Guide Cheetah and Wild Dog
Conservation in South Africa
A
new report will guide the way
forward for Cheetah and Af-
rican 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 en-
forceable means of achiev-
ing the plan’s outlined ob-
jectives.
Cheetah (Acinonyx juba-
tus) and wild dogs (Lycaon
pictus) share similar biologi-
cal traits and face similar
threats. For this reason
the decision was taken to
coordinate their conserva-
tion. Both species are wide
ranging and occur at natu-
rally low densities, even in
protected areas. Both are
adversely affected by com-
petition with other large
predators, and both are de-
clining in number, primarily
due to persecution by humans.
The goal of this plan is therefore to im-
prove the status of cheetah and wild dogs
within their historical range in South Af-
rica, and the objectives are to:
·  develop capacity in all aspects of chee-
tah and wild dog conservation in South Af-
rica;
·  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 pro-
mote 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 gov-
ernmental commitment to the conservation
of cheetah and wild dogs in South Africa;
·   review, and where necessary amend
kruger park times - 12 - kruger park times
international, regional and local legislation,
norms and standards, policies and proto-
cols 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 distribu-
tions.
The Wildlife Conservation Society and
Zoological Society of London are coor-
dinating a continent-wide conservation
planning process for cheetah and African
wild dogs in Africa, under the auspices of
the International Union for the Conserva-
tion of Nature’s Cat and Canid Specialist
Groups. This has involved the convening
of a number of regional conservation plan-
ning meetings, followed by national meet-
ings. The southern African conservation ac-
tion planning meeting was held in Jwaneng,
Botswana in December 2007 and the En-
dangered Wildlife Trust then took the lead
role in coordinating the South African na-
tional conservation action planning process.
The first step in this process was the con-
vening of a Population and Habitat Viabil-
ity Assessment (PHVA) workshop for chee-
tah 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 re-
serves, significantly increasing the num-
bers 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 rein-
troduced populations
as a coordinated meta-
population, where sub-
populations are linked
by management inter-
ventions. 
Following the PHVA,
the National Conserva-
tion 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 Sep-
tember 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 con-
tain information critical to ensuring demo-
graphic and genetic integrity of the cheetah
population and avoiding over-population in
small reserves.  The next step is to gain buy-
in 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
Karoo National Park to Introduce Lions

K
aroo National Park, situated bution to the Park’s existence by the local More recent developments of tourist fa-
near Beaufort West, celebrat- community which commenced in 1976 with cilities include the opening of the Interpre-
ed its 30th Anniversary with the donation of communal land to form the tive Centre in 2005, Bulkraal picnic site and
the announcement that lions core of the Park prior to proclamation. swimming pool in 2006 and Grantham En-
would be introduced to the Park in 2010. Jonas also expanded on the role that na- vironmental Education Centre and in 2008.
Speaking on behalf of South African Na- tional parks play, saying: “Like the Karoo New 4x4 eco-trails and overnight facilities
tional Parks (SANParks) executive manage- National Park, all national parks lie at the were opened earlier this year.
ment, Dr. Nomvuselelo Songelwa made the centre of our South African character. They Mjadu praised the Karoo National Park
announcement at an event held today to reflect and strengthen our sense of place; management and staff over the years for
commemorate 30 years of the Park’s exis- they protect and support our unmatched their dedication and service to SANParks,
tence after its proclamation on 12 Septem- biodiversity and increasingly, they anchor saying this is what had led the Park to its
ber 1979. growth, job creation and hope through current success.
“The introduction of lions will bring back tourism for our communities.” Testament to the improvements in tour-
a historically-occurring species to the Great SANParks regional manager, Lucius ism facilities is the increase in visitor num-
Karoo ecosystem,” said Songelwa. Moolman, declared that the cooperation bers by 26% and an increase in accom-
Songelwa added that the introduction with and support from local government modation unit occupancy by 5% over six
would take place in the first half of 2010 was “the best experienced by any national months.
once measures had been put in place to en- park in the country”. Karoo National Park’s rangers put on a
sure the safety of visitors walking around Mzwandile Mjadu, Karoo National Park parade to demonstrate their skills while the
the Park’s rest camp. The decision had been Manager, expanded on the major develop- Park’s choir entertained guests with a few
made after careful consideration of the vi- ments and achievements in the Park over songs. Photo: Megan Taplin
ability of introducing this top predator, tak- the 30 years of its existence.  
ing into account the numbers of prey spe- Highlights included the opening of the
cies most likely to be targeted by lions in the Park’s rest camp in 1989, the opening of
Park. SANParks first-ever 4x4 trail in 1992 and Karoo National Park rangers dem-
Truman Prince, Executive Mayor of the opening of the first Braille fossil trail in onstrate their skills at the 30th An-
the Central Karoo District Municipality, the world in 1994. niversary celebrations
opened the cel-
ebrations with a
welcome speech.
Prince pledged
the full support
of the district and
local municipality
for Park conserva-
tion initiatives in
general, as well as
a specific fencing
issue delaying the
full completion of
the Park’s preda-
tor-proof fencing.
Upon receiving
a Kuduzela from
the Park manager,
Prince – an ex-
ecutive member
of the South Afri-
can Football Asso-
ciation - declared
that he would put
it into use at Bafa-
na Bafana’s next
match against Ja-
pan.
Beaufort West
Executive Mayor,
Juliet Jonas, high-
lighted the contri-

kruger park times - 13 - kruger park times

 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 Mabudaf-
hasi 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 Mabudaf-
hasi.
She said it would also be used to
highlight other critical environmental
issues, including climate change, air
quality and the need for the conti-
nent 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 aware-
ness among communities residing in
the vicinity of all our borders. This is
being done in partnership with coun-
tries with which we share borders,”
said Mabudafhasi.
The campaign, she went on, will be
rolled out to other countries sharing
borders with SA, including Botswa-
na, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and
Mozambique.
The deputy minister further point-
ed 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 conti-
nent 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
kruger park times - 14 - kruger park times
Learning from insects
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 in-
sects for diversity. Scientists now want to ex-
ploit 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-Leibig-
University Giessen and the Fraunhofer-
Gesellschaft will build and expand a col-
laborative “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 antici-
pate gaining a truly unique position within
Europe.”
The stated goal of the Bioresources proj-
ect group is to identify new enzymes and
metabolites in domestic insects that can be
used in medicine, pest control and indus-
trial biotechnology. For example, an array
of previously unknown substances has been
discovered by studying how insects success-
fully 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
develop-
ment is a
scientific
and eco-
nomic
boon to central Hesse”. The Jason Trollip
establishment
of a new Fraunhofer facility together with
the university is planned in the medium-
term,” adds Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee,
first vice president of JLU. “Now we can
work intensively from a multifaceted per-
spective on a totally new kind of field of
research, which will allow us to create the
foundations for the targeted long-term pres-
ence 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 sci-
ences departments at our university.”
The Fraunhofer project group will ini-
tially be housed at the Technology and In-
novation Center (TIC) Giessen, as a satel-
lite office of the Fraunhofer Institute for
Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology
IME which has facilities in both Aachen
(molecular biology) and Schmallenberg (ap-
plied 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 in-
sects with powerful immune systems, such
as rat tail maggots. These larvae from cer-
tain 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 re-
search because insects can be major pests in
fields and in storage warehouses, but may
also hold the secret to controlling other in-
sect populations. It is important to imple-
ment pest control without harming benefi-
cial 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 sub-
stances, such as wood, as food. With bun-
dled 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 facili-
ties to produce high-grade raw materials or
enzymes.
Working on how to feed the world in 2050

C
ould the world go through there was an urgent need to regulate the November.
another food crisis on a scale global production and sale of biofuel. Jikung Huang, agricultural advisor to
similar to the one in 2007/08? The world’s population is projected to in- the Chinese government, said the 2007/08
“Never say never again’”, was crease from the current 6.7 billion to 9.1 bil- crisis had been a “wake-up call” for many
the general consensus at a two-day High- lion in 2050, requiring a 70-percent growth countries to focus on agriculture, but now
Level Expert Forum on How to Feed the in farm production. “I think some countries need an even bigger
World in 2050, organized by the UN Food The 300 or so experts attending the gath- wake-up call.”
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in ering will try to design policies and pro- © IRIN. All rights reserved.
Rome, Italy. pose ways to meet the burgeoning demand, photo: Lynette Strauss
During a robust debate on the outlook for which will set the scene for a global meeting
food and agriculture, Kitty Smith, admin- of heads of state on the issue in Rome in
istrator of Economic Research
Services (ERS) at the US De-
partment of Agriculture, said the
2007/08 crisis was “symptomatic
of what we can expect in the fu-
ture”.
Global cereal prices more than
doubled between 2007 and 2008,
pushing 100 million more peo-
ple into chronic hunger, and the
global total of hungry people to
more than a billion.
Homi Kharas, an economist
and expert at the Brookings Insti-
tution, 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 fo-
rum, which began on 12 Octo-
ber, the links between food and
energy prices were mapped out.
The 2007/08 food price crisis
was partly driven by steeply ris-
ing fossil fuel prices, which led to
an increased demand for grain to
produce biofuel as a cheaper al-
ternative.
Jacques Diouf, director general
of FAO, said food production
would face increasing competi-
tion from the biofuel market,
“which has the potential to
change the fundamentals of ag-
ricultural 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 Am-
sterdam, The Netherlands, said

kruger park times - 15 - kruger park times

2010 must be used to
change Africa’s image
The United Nations Secretary Gen-
eral, 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 [tour-
nament]. It is a time to present a dif-
ferent story of the African continent,
a story of peace, democracy and in-
vestment,” Ban told Local Organis-
ing 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 ben-
efits 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 soli-
darity 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 Af-
rican 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 cre-
ate circumstances that create hope.
“The legacy of this World Cup em-
barks on changing the circumstances
of many people through its social lega-
cy projects, job creation and advance-
ments in telecommunications and in-
frastructure,” 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 Sec-
retary General to attend the tourna-
ment.
kruger park times - 16 - kruger park times
Carbon finance is key to better
protection of gorillas and elephants
T
he United Nations Ambassa-
dor for the Year of the Gorilla,
Ian Redmond, has called for
the inclusion of gorillas and
elephants, as important components in Af-
rican rainforests, in the upcoming climate
negotiations in Copenhagen.
Large mam-
mals, such as
elephants and
gorillas, are
keystone spe-
cies in their
relevant eco-
systems. Goril-
las act as ‘gar-
deners’ in the
rainforests of
the Congo Ba-
sin, and pro-
tecting them
helps prevent
loss of flora
that are ecolog-
ically dependent on them.  By building nests, gorillas break off
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 sys-
tem and are in this way prepared for ger-
mination.  trees. In the long term, deforestation is as
UN Ambassador, Ian Redmond, who
has just returned from a fact-finding mis-
sion 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 ex-
tent of the role they play in maintaining
the health of their forest habitat - a central
component of the Earth’s climate regula-
tion -is still poorly understood.”  their Habitat during the Year of the Gorilla
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 deforesta-
tion through charcoal production. Conse-
quently, gorillas and elephants have been
poached in large numbers.  tries, many of them in Africa, CMS is a
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 dis-
persed espe-
cially by large
mammals,
are being
killed by the
Sericostachys
scandens vines
and if this
continues
may become
increasingly
rare. 
branches and create gaps in the forest can-
opy that allow light through to the forest
floor enabling smaller plants to grow. 
The survival of forests requires the pro-
tection of the animals in them as well as the
much a consequence of over-hunting as of
cutting trees for charcoal or timber. 
Insights gained from encounters with se-
nior government officials, ex-militia, park
wardens, conservationists, poachers, log-
gers 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 Agree-
ment on the Conservation of Gorilla and
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 implemen-
tation of agreements and species action
plans. With currently 112 member coun-
fast-growing convention with special im-
portance due to its expertise in the field of
migratory species. Photo: Pieter Strauss
Trying to work from the same weather page
C
limate scientists describe Af-
rica as an information “black
hole”. The World Meteoro-
logical Organization (WMO)
notes that there are only 744 weather sta-
tions, but only a quarter of them are of in-
ternational 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 informa-
tion is clear - at the beginning of Septem-
ber 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 not-
ed: “Strengthening weather observation in
Africa will benefit Africa, but it is also go-
ing 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 ana-
lyzing 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 servic-
es 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 har-
monized.”
The proposed frame-
work has four components:
observation and monitor-
ing; research, climate mod-
elling and prediction; a cli-
mate services information
system; and a user interface
programme. The first two
components already ex-
ist but need strengthening.
kruger park times - 17 - kruger park times
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 al-
ready 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 precipi-
tation events in the northeastern states.
New opportunities
Growing recognition of the seriousness
of the problem is opening the door to in-
novative 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 Hu-
manitarian Forum, an annual gathering of
humanitarian community leadership in Ge-
neva, Switzerland.
The automatic weather stations draw
electric power from the cell phone towers
and use sensors to measure temperature, at-
mospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed,
precipitation and sunshine.
The information is transmitted to nation-
al meteorological and hydrological services,
analyzed, and fed back to national decision-
makers 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 roll-
out 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 ser-
vices 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 press-
ing short-term problems and worry about
the weather later, but it is becoming increas-
ingly 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 hid-
den threats of climate change.
Climate emergencies cannot be avoided,
but with good planning based on solid in-
formation, a country’s vulnerability to such
events and the often crippling costs of re-
covery 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 glob-
al warming.
“Regardless of what happens
in Copenhagen [where the UN
Framework Convention on Cli-
mate Change will meet in De-
cember to set new targets for
emission cuts] the need for infor-
mation will only increase.”
© IRIN. All rights reserved.
photo: Lynette Strauss
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 accompa-
nied 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 ad-
joining reserve.
Section 3
Patrol duties were carried out by the
kruger park times - 18 - kruger park times
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 success-
ful the first night. The beast was a big one
(12’6”). There is a lot of zebra and wilde-
beest 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 clear-
ance 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 sev-
en labourers so that the work will progress
only slowly.
More grass was burnt along the Saliji
road and Sololwe spruit, incidentally de-
stroying 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 ac-
counted for by the birds. Hawks, and even
continued on page 19
Digest of Rangers’ Diaries: February 1941
Kruger National Park
continued from page 18
eagles feed on them in swarms, a phenom-
enon 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 li-
ons, 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 oth-
ers 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 Ma-
fulene on the 9th. On the same date the
causeway was also under water. Total rain-
fall for month 1.18”. The warden arrived
at the rest camp on the 27th on his way to
Punda Maria.
kruger park times - 19 - kruger park times
Section 7 the names taken of the male Europeans.
Patrol duties were carried out by the The ranger went down with fever on the
ranger on the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 19th was taken to the hospital on the 21st
12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 20th, and returned on the 24th.
22nd and 25th.
Kruger National Park,
Sections 8 and 9 7th March, 1941
Patrol duties were carried out on the 1st,
3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 14th, The Secretary
17th, 25th and 28th. National Parks Board
Eland were seen by the field rangers on
the Mojolo side but very few calves. On his Ranger Kirkman
way to Pafuri Rest Camp the ranger saw
very few game and in every case a very I have already advised the above offi-
small percent of increase. On a patrol down cer of what took place at the recent board
the Shingwedsi river it was observed that meeting in connection with his application
the grass is dry due to excessive heat and no to join the Defence Force.
rain. Game few and scattered. Lions seem He has not, however, yet made any official
to have returned to this area. application in writing and I gathered from
A lorry of poachers have been active him verbally that there had been some hitch
again outside the Park about seven miles in connection with the appointment which
from the boundary. Judging by the tracks he had hoped to secure. I will advise you at
one lorry and one light car or vanette were once of any development in this matter.
used. (sgt) J Stevenson-Hamilton
Signs show that two tsessebe were killed. Photos: Sasha Strauss
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 sev-
eral 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 rang-
ers 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
Demining is not a never ending story
M
ozambique’s effort to
become the first of the
world’s major mine-con-
taminated countries to be
declared mine-free is faltering on the home
straight.
There are a variety of reasons: Mozam-
bique’s donor-dependent government no
longer sees demining operations as a prior-
ity; the withdrawal of humanitarian dem-
ining 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 never-
ending story,” Aderito Ismael, Mozam-
bique’s Mine Action coordinator for Handi-
cap 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 hu-
manitarian demining operations still work-
ing in the mine-infested territory, is only
continuing operations through the sup-
port of the UN Development Programme
(UNDP), while the HALO Trust - Mozam-
bique’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-person-
nel 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 De-
mining, said.
If donor funding had not subsided, Mo-
zambique may have already lost its sobri-
quet 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-person-
nel 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-
kruger park times - 20 - kruger park times
zambique and the international community,
Mozambique can indeed fulfill its obliga-
tions 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 iden-
tified 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 Ar-
ticle 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 con-
trol 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 daunt-
ing 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 in-
forming the authorities about where mines
had been planted.
Landmines were widely used. The Portu-
guese colonial administration and Mozam-
bique’s first post-colonial government, ruled
by the Frelimo party, used them for “defen-
sive purposes” to protect infrastructure.
In the civil war that followed indepen-
dence Frelimo often commandeered schools
to use as army barracks and surrounded
them with landmines to deter attacks by
Renamo, the anti-government rebel move-
ment.
Mine belts turned villages and towns into
fortresses, as much for government soldiers
to defend their positions “as to ensure con-
trol 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 to-
wards 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 Land-
mine Impact Survey (LIS) in 2001 - the first
comprehensive survey, later recognized as
flawed - said that about 1.5 million Mozam-
bicans, or nine percent of the population,
lived in 1,374 mine-affected areas covering
an area of about 561,689,063 square me-
tres.
Most information on the location of
minefields was provided by local commu-
nities, but flooding in 2000 displaced thou-
sands of people and the LIS was undertak-
en after the water subsided. HI’s Ismael told
IRIN that the “large number of suspected
sites [identified by the LIS] did not repre-
sent reality”, and the survey was undertaken
by people who often did not have the techni-
cal skills to gauge the extent of a minefield.
In 2007 the HALO Trust, which removes
war debris, produced the Baseline Assess-
ment after eradicating duplicate sites, con-
ducting thousands of site visits, and collat-
ing 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 be-
came 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, cre-
ating the perception that mines were no lon-
ger a major problem.
Per Nergaard, the NPA director of mine
continued on page 21
Demining is not a never
ending story
continued from page 20
action, told IRIN the organization was
comforted that HALO Trust and HI re-
mained in the country when the decision
was made “to take our limited resources
[elsewhere].”
UNDP’s Barlevi said the Baseline Assess-
ment 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 assess-
ment 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 iro-
ny. The human impact is going down, but
it is not going away,” Barlevi said. “There
is less money around, and even less in Mo-
zambique.”
 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 ord-
nance were destroyed.
The four northern provinces of Niassa,
Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Zambezia
are currently undergoing a verification
process following the end of demining op-
erations; the remaining provinces of Tete,
Manica, Sofala, Inhambane - seen as the
worst affected province - Gaza and Ma-
puto had yet to be cleared.
Landmines had also been found along
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
kruger park times - 21 - kruger park times
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 Mo-
zambican capital, Maputo. Further surveys
were required in areas bordering South Af-
rica, Zambia, Malawi and Swaziland.
Helen Gray, HALO Trust’s Mozam-
bique’s programme officer, like others in
the demining community, is optimistic that
the 2014 deadline can be met with “an in-
crease in funding ... soon”. They expect to
have 208 deminers in the field by Novem-
ber 2009, but ideally require 364 deminers,
excluding support staff and management,
to meet the revised deadline.
Gray said they needed about $4.2 mil-
lion annually for the Mozambique opera-
tion, but were getting by with about $2.5
million. “Achieving a milestone like [de-
mining the] Maputo [pylons] will help
things,” she said.
Peri-urban communities scratch a liv-
ing 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.
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 Glob-
al Environmental Change, urges govern-
ments 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 success-
ful 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 sci-
ence and technology, was in Kazakh-
stan 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 mile-
stone in our efforts to develop and en-
hance space science and technology in
our country.”
The satellite carries a high-reso-
lution camera that will produce im-
ages 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 Coun-
cil for Scientific and Industrial Re-
search’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 sat-
ellite carries a secondary communica-
tion payload from the Department of
Communications and experimental
payloads for the scientific community
in the areas of low-frequency radio
waves, radiation, software defined ra-
dio, forced vibrating string and radio
amateur transponder.
No place like home: Africa’s big cats
show postcode preference

T
he secret lives of some of Afri-
ca’s iconic carnivores, includ-
ing big cats, are revealed in a
new study in the journal, Ani-
mal Conservation.
The results shed light on how different
habitats are used by some of Tanzania’s
most elusive meat eaters, such as the leop-
ard.  and policy makers as well as international
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.  to document habitat preference of elusive
The research reveals that many species,
including the leopard, are particularly fussy
about where they live, actively avoiding cer-
tain areas.  Surprisingly, all the species sur-
veyed tended to avoid croplands, suggesting
that habitat conversion to agricultural land
could have serious implications for carni-
vore distribution.
“Camera traps provide a fantastic oppor-
tunity 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
agreements on conservation,” says Dr Sar-
ah Durant from ZSL.
Until now, many of the species had been
under reported because of their nocturnal
habits, or because they live in heavily for-
ested areas. The strength of the technique
species is highlighted by camera trap obser-
vations of bushy tailed mongooses – includ-
ing the first ever records of this species from
one of the most visited areas in the country.
These data can also be used to under-
stand 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 pro-
vides 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 sup-
port local conservationists and to generate
information that is used to inform conserva-
tion 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) cov-
ers 30 different municipalities.
A major feature of North American cit-
ies is urban sprawl, which has been attrib-
uted 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 bil-
lion 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, respec-
tively, live in such cities.
However, as city populations grow, so cit-
ies expand by consuming most of the pre-
viously 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 authori-
ties 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 in-
equalities, urban sprawl and unplanned
peri-urbanization are some of the key chal-
lenges 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 ur-
ban development,” says Anna Tibaijuka,
executive director of UN-HABITAT.
“One important message is that govern-
ments should increasingly take on a more
central role in cities and towns in order to
lead development initiatives and ensure that
kruger park times - 23 - kruger park times
basic needs are met. It is clear that urban
planning has an important role to play in
assisting governments to meet the challeng-
es 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, urban-
ization is taking ruralopolitan urban forms,
an entirely new phenomenon. This is oc-
curring in Bangladesh, China, India, Indo-
nesia 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 surround-
ing rural land and adjacent towns, leading
to continuous belts of settlements. This pro-
cess 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 ru-
ral land into urban uses and the engulfment
of adjacent municipalities by larger cities to
constitute new metro areas.
Developed countries present a contrast-
ing 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 Nether-
lands) 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 pros-
perity. 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 re-
gions; Ireland; and Portugal.
A major determinant of sprawl is govern-
ment policy, which has been more tolerant
in North America, but more stringent in
Western Europe. Development of core ar-
eas of many Western European and Japa-
nese cities before the era of the automobile
explains their relative compactness, com-
pared 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 re-
gion, sprawl has become a major planning
concern, as traffic congestion and pollu-
tion have worsened. In New Zealand, cit-
ies 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 syn-
drome”. There, Hursbridge, Bellowie, Ad-
inga Beach and Golden Bay-singleton dis-
appeared and became parts of Melbourne,
Brisbane, Adelaide and Mandurah, respec-
tively.
Transitional Countries: During the com-
munist era, centralized decision-making
structure permitted the state to establish
compact, highly dense cities with functional
public transport. However, since the po-
litical 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 neigh-
bourhoods on the urban fringes. Here also,
sprawl has been encouraged as private de-
velopers 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 Sus-
tainable Cities: Global Report on Hu-
man Settlements 2009
Solving Hydrogen
storage Limit to
Power Green Cars
Hydrogen fuel, because its only
byproduct is steam, should be the
ultimate in green alternatives to fos-
sil 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 Univer-
sity of Massachusetts Amherst has de-
veloped a computational model that
shows that carbon nanotubes may of-
fer 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 per-
haps no longer science fiction to hope
for a briefcase-sized hydrogen battery
to run a bus or car,” says UMass Am-
herst chemical engineering professor
Dimitrios Maroudas. The UMass Am-
herst computational model strongly
lends itself to verification in laboratory
experiments, say Maroudas and col-
leagues, and it provides ample testable
hypotheses for future experimental re-
search.
Specifically, Maroudas shows that
proper arrangement of carbon nano-
tubes can overcome hydrogen trans-
port 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 nano-
tube bundles as something like a tooth-
brush, 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 in-
dividual nanotube configurations to
limit their swelling upon hydrogena-
tion.
Following this approach should re-
sult in one hydrogen atom being able
to chemisorb onto — form a chemi-
cal 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.
kruger park times - 24 - kruger park times
Saving the planet, and money
A
s South Africans grapple with
huge hikes in their electricity
bills, the residents of an infor-
mal 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 De-
velopment 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 electric-
ity costs by 35 percent a year, but are also
doing their bit to reduce harmful green-
house 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 Frame-
work Convention on Climate Change (UN-
FCCC), allows industrialised countries to
meet part of their commitment to reduce
greenhouse gases by investing in projects
that reduce emissions in developing coun-
tries, while also contributing to the sustain-
able development needs of the host country.
Projects registered under the CDM can
earn saleable Certified Emission Reduc-
tions (CERs) credits, each equal to one met-
ric tonne of carbon dioxide.
The Kuyasa project was developed by
Tracking down human smell
Each of the 6.7 billion people on Earth
has a signature body odor — the chemi-
cal counterpart to fingerprints — and sci-
entists are tracking down those odiferous
arches, loops, and whorls in the “human
odorprint” for purposes ranging from dis-
ease 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 Am-
ato points out that police long have used
trained dogs to sniff out these uniquely
personal scents in pursuing criminals. Sci-
entists now are trying to decipher the chem-
istry of human odor to develop technology
SouthSouthNorth (SSN), an NGO work-
ing to counter climate change, for the City
of Cape Town’s Environmental Resource
Management Department and Urban Re-
newal 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 West-
ern Cape Province government.
The Cape Town City Council, owners of
the Kuyasa project, have already sold CERs
to the UK government and hope to gener-
ate and sell more credits so as to maintain
the water heaters and invest in other com-
munity development projects.
Funding has come from national and
provincial governments and the South Af-
rican Export Development Fund (SAEDF),
a non-profit organization has underwritten
the project.
Eskom, a parastatal utility, generates
most of South Africa’s electricity in coal-
fired 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 energy-
saving devices, like we did in Kuyasa.”
© IRIN. All rights reserved.
that can detect and classify smells. That’s
a difficult task, the article says, noting that
each person’s odorprint is a complex mix-
ture impacted by multiple environmental
factors, including diet and cosmetics.
The article describes progress in that di-
rection, 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, ter-
rorists planning to blow up an airplane and
criminals intending to rob a bank.
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 Conven-
tion 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 con-
cerning elephants.
WWF especially welcomes the proposal
by the Principality of Monaco to list At-
lantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I to the
convention, which would ban international
trade for commercial purposes and was sub-
mitted  as Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are
declining dramatically because of uncon-
trolled 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 sus-
tainable level.”
Proposals to list several shark species on
kruger park times - 25 - kruger park times
Appendix II, which allows for international
trade but imposes strict regulations and re-
quires 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.  ment-owned ivory stockpiles.
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 over-
harvesting.  that their management of ivory stockpiles is
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. Ke-
nya submitted a proposal – together with
a group of west African countries - that
would impose a 19 year ban on other coun-
tries 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.  now be as low as 3,200 and rhino poach-
One the other hand, Zambia and Tan-
zania 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 govern-
 
“WWF recognizes that some southern Af-
rican 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
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 propos-
als but that will be discussed at the meeting
are tigers and rhinos, which are both criti-
cally endangered and are being poached
in order to feed the illegal market for their
parts and derivatives. Tiger numbers could
ing has reached a 15 year
high according to new re-
search released this sum-
mer. 
WWF will now engage
with its partners TRAF-
FIC 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 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 based-
businesses and staff from the Klaserie Pri-
vate 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 ‘Do-
it’Day’ by planting, painting, putting in
windows, restoring and fixing desks, re-
placing 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
kruger park times - 27 - kruger park times
delighted to see their planning come into Reuben Motloutsi (CET), CET staff: Elvis
fruition. “The participation of teachers and Mathebula, Thabo Mhangane and Ronald
parents are much appreciated,” he said. Moropane, KPNR volunteers: Nikiwe Ndl-
Sponsors: Klaserie Private Nature Reserve ovu (KPNR) and Frank (Matamani camp).
(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, Wil-
lem van der Nest, Johan van
Zyl, Gert Rautenbach, Wouter
& Annamarie de Vos, Am-
mie Minnaar, Chris & Barbara
Huddle, Jaco & Ilonka Crau-
kamp, Theo Sauerman, Auto
Doctor, Maliflora, KPNR staff:
Erik Manyike, Lawrence Ma-
thonsi, Newman Mahatlane,
 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 cre-
ation of sustainable cities requires the mini-
mized 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. Mea-
sures taken to attain these objectives pro-
vide 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 sustain-
able 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 ecosys-
tems 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 live-
able environment; and for creating the hu-
man 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 de-
grade its green resources, unless city inter-
venes through processes such as urban plan-
ning 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 eco-
systems are shielded from degradation.
Key innovat ions are occurring globally
kruger park times - 28 - kruger park times
to synergise the green and brown agendas.
They are as follows:
Development of
Renewable Energy
This enables cities to create healthy envi-
ronments using minimum fossil fuels. Some
urban areas are now partly powered by re-
newable energy techniques and technolo-
gies, from the region to the building level.
Harnessing solar, wind, hydro and geo-
thermal power for urban use: Urban plan-
ning 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 ur-
ban energy grid.
Fossil fuels: The move away from fos-
sil fuels requires serious localizing and lo-
cal 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. Carbon-
neutral cities are able to replace fossil fuels,
thereby providing a basis for the regenera-
tion of the ecology.
Minimizing carbon footprints: This needs
to become a feature of whole neighbour-
hoods 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 de-
velopment.
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 in-
creasingly smaller scale: This will ensure a
reduction in the use of water. Distributive
systems are being tried in cities such as Mal-
mo (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 cit-
ies neighbourhoods and regions are being
planned, by offering walk-able transitori-
ented options and renewable energy pow-
ered vehicles. Such cities have been able to
reduce use of fossil fuels, as well as through
reduced urban sprawl and reduced depen-
dence on car-based infrastructure. The
agenda for large cities now is to have more
sustainable transport options to reduce traf-
fic 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 be-
come an important part of the sustainable
transport system. Streets can be designed to
favour pedestrian and cycle traffic. When-
ever this is done, cities become more attrac-
tive and business friendly. now contain gro-
cery stores, childcare centres and improved
public toilets.
Cities without Slums
“Cities without slums” is one of the most
important goals of urban planning in devel-
oping 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 im-
proving existing infrastructure and services
up to satisfactory levels, especially water
supply, sanitation and waste management.
This includes storm water drainage, elec-
tricity, access roads and footpaths.
UN Habitat: Global report on Hu-
man Settlement 2009
Battered and Bruised -
Abused Elephants to Be
Rescued in Zimbabwe
T
he rescue of nine abused el-
ephants from a commercial
training facility in Zimbabwe
will begin on Monday, No-
vember 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 Cru-
elty 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 ac-
tivity in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in south-
ern 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 malnutri-
tion and the abuse he was subjected to.
Given all of this, IFAW has
assembled a top team of cap-
ture experts to translocate the
remaining nine elephants to
safety with the least possible
stress.”
The elephants will be trans-
ported from a privately owned
ranch in the West Nicholson
area, south of Bulawayo where
the elephants were being
“trained,” to Hwange Nation-
al 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 in-
spected the training facility
they discovered some of the
following abuses taking place:
* Elephants chained on one
leg and being fed from a dis-
tance requiring them to stand
on three legs and strain at their
chains to reach their food.
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This practice was intended to enforce the
dominance of the handlers and caused se-
vere 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 Novem-
ber and has been mandated by the Govern-
ment 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 be-
ing released into the park.
For more information on the transloca-
tion and on making a donation to support
the move, please visit www.ifaw.org.
International Fund for Animal Wel-
fare
South Africa to host
G20 Tourism Meeting
in 2010
South Africa has been elected as
the Africa representative to the ex-
ecutive council of the United Na-
tions 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 agen-
da and the objectives of the New
Partnership for Africas Development
(NEPAD).We will also actively work
towards the realisation of the Millen-
nium Development Goals (MDGs),
because we, as an African country,
regardtourism as pivotal to unlocking
greater economic growth, infrastruc-
ture development, trade promotion
and job creation on our continent,”
says South Africa’s minister of tour-
ism, 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 coun-
tries also met to discuss tourisms
contribution to the economic stim-
uli required for the recovery of the
global economy. South Africas will
host a first meeting of the G20 tour-
ism 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 Ka-
zakhstan highlights, there is grow-
ing evidence that tourism and travel
could make a valuable contribution
to the process of global economic
recovery, which will include amongst
others rebuilding consumer confi-
dence, 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.
Our Planet Reviewed
On the eve of 2010, International Year change - there are numerous causes for the experience through photos, reports, inter-
of Biodiversity, the National Museum of disappearance of living things and the scale views and much more. www.laplaneterevisi-
Natural History and Pro-Natura Inter- of the biodiversity crisis is now proven. The tee.org and www.ourplanetreviewed.org
national are working in partnership with actual number of living species could be
IUCN to launch’ Our Planet Reviewed’, between eight and 30 million, yet only 1.8
an unprecedented programme of naturalist million are currently known. A quarter, or
expeditions. even half, of these species could disappear The Ploughshare Tortoise (Astro-
The expeditions will span ten years to from the planet by the middle or the end of chelys yniphora) was uplisted from
conduct a massive inventory of biodiversity this century; the issues at stake are therefore Endangered to Critically Endan-
in geographical areas which, up until now, substantial and, now more than ever, it is gered in 2008. This species has a
have been little explored. The objective is time to start a new pattern of exploring and very small range, occurring only
to accelerate the scientific discovery of new describing biodiversity. around Baly Bay in northwestern
species, by focusing our efforts on the re- Mozambique and Madagascar are home Madagascar. The total wild popula-
gions of the planet which are considered a to an exceptionally rich flora and fauna, tion is estimated at about 600 indi-
priority in terms of nature conservation. which is still largely unknown, despite viduals and is declining. Its current
Madagascar and Mozambique received the attention which has been accorded to restricted range and past declines
the first of a series of expeditions on sea Madagascar, in particular, by nature protec- are believed to be the result of ex-
and land in April 2009. The last is sched- tion organizations over a number of years. ploitation (poaching for the inter-
uled for June 2010. Under the leadership of Therefore, it is natural that these two large national pet trade) and habitat loss
Professor Philippe Bouchet, from the Na- countries should form a strategic target for caused by deliberate fires. It is near
tional Museum of Natural History, and Ol- scientists. certain that the species will become
ivier Pascal, from Pro-Natura International, The Museum has created a bilingual extinct within the next generation
these expeditions aim to develop existing website (French/English) entirely dedicated (42 years) if the current level of
knowledge of biodiversity in regions which to the project: This allows the public to fol- threats continue unabated. Photo ©
are considered to be the richest in species, low the expeditions, take a look behind the Anders Rhodin.
but which are also lesser known and the scenes and share the researchers day to day
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 Van-
uatu archipelago, in the heart of the South
Pacific, which revealed several hundred new
species.
Essentially dedicated to neglected bio-
diversity, such as marine and land inverte-
brates, plants and fungi, which represent
95 percent of biodiversity and play a fun-
damental role in the balance of ecosystems,
the Mozambique/ Madagascar project in-
tends 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

The Kruger Park e-Times is published regularly to keep you updated on conservation, science, sustainable
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