NACSA NEWS

This meeting was held in the captivating Vredefort Dome area, west of Parys, on the borders of the Orange Free State and the North West Province.

The geology is fascinating - a 10km asteroid hit this area 2 billion years ago and caused a crater 12km deep and which caused ripples in the landscape as far away as the Magaliesberg. The closest ripple created a ring of hills around Parys called the Vredefort Dome which can be seen on GoogleEarth at 27 00 S and 27 28 E. Here the landowners have formed the Dome Conservancy. The very beautiful Vaal River runs through the middle of all this making for some interesting sites and great birding.

On the Friday evening, after ample time to settle in to the comfortable lodges and rooms, delegates watched an informative video on the area, presented by Pierre Weinberg and Warrin Flores. The rest of the evening was spent sampling the delicious food prepared by the very talented kitchen staff and catching up with colleagues from the various regions of South Africa.

Next morning, after a more than generous breakfast, Piet Nel, from the North West Conservation Management Division of the North West Parks and Tourism Board, gave a talk on the state of conservation in the North West Province and the Department’s current initiatives regarding the integration of conservation into NWDACERD policies, ensuring compliance with EIA regulations and NEMBA.

The Department has done a lot of work identifying important environmental areas and is working on plans to utilize the areas in a way that will be beneficial to both the environment and the people living within the areas, in step with the department’s mission statement “To achieve the development and growth of a well coordinated, vibrant, diversified and sustainable economy that will create jobs and eradicate unemployment in the North West” He said that a valuable lesson has been learnt from the Molopo Nature Reserve project, which has in hindsight highlighted the need for a more in depth investigation into the basic infrastructure of an area before embarking on a project such as this.

John Wesson then presented an overview of the topic “Conservancies in the next 5 Years” which was the basis for the afternoon and Sunday working group. Which proved at times to be quite challenging for all present, as those participating were all individuals with their own ideas and views on NACSSA and the way forward?

John and Andrew Barker, who had agreed to play the role of facilitator, ran the session very well managing to maintain the balance between allowing individuals the chance to question areas they felt were not in keeping with their vision of NACSSA and express their ideas and keeping the process moving forward. The Saturday afternoon session was not helped by a huge storm and the loss of power. The resulting strategic plan framework is available from the office.

Noel Pope of Buffelspoort Valley Conservancy in the North West gave a very interesting talk on a project he is involved in, in conjunction with individuals from the School of Environmental Sciences and Development at the North-West University. They are carrying out a river monitoring study using diatoms, to determine that present ecological state of rivers and streams in the area. A report of the study has been published in the African Journal of Aquatic Science, a great achievement, well done to Noel and the community for their input into this ongoing study.

A great weekend of networking, idea swapping, fellowship, hiking and biking was had by all. Thanks to our hosts Warrin and Andy.

All presentations are available from the office on request

SANPARKS KUDU Awards 2009

The Awards Dinner was held on the 25th June at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, Gauteng.

NACSSA and Jean Lindsay, as an individual representative of NACSSA had both been selected as Finalists’ for the annual SANPARKS KUDU Awards.

Jean won a KUDU Award for Community Contribution by an individual.

NACSSA was awarded a merit award in the Category Community contribution

Jean NACSSA and all its members are proud of you

NACSA General Meeting and AGM June 2009

The NACSSA general meeting held in Howick KZN was well attended by both Government officials and private representatives To those of you that could not make the meeting—you missed a wonderful three days of information, sharing of ideas and great fellowship with like minded people in a beautiful part of the country.There were a host of informed speakers who kept our attention throughout the sessions.

All the active regions sent in reports on the activities in their areas if they were unable to attend the meeting, and those present, presented theirs. We had feedback from both the Free State and Mpumalanga, which have both been dormant for some time, progress is being made in resuscitating these associations, NACSSA’s aim is to have an active Association in all the provinces by this time next year.

The Regional report backs were given – these are available on disc for interested parties. All regions are very active in environmental educational projects, which are very important, without educating the ignorant we are fighting a losing battle.

It was decided that it is very important that conservancies get involved in developments within their areas and work with the developers as far as possible, as opposed to working against them. More can be achieved by educating developers on environmental issues and highlighting the long term benefits to all parties than opposing them totally.

NACSA General Meeting November 2008

Biodiversity Stewardship South Africa (BSSA) and National Association of Conservancies of South Africa (NACSA) AGM/workshop June 2007

Getting together with other provinces taught us much. We worked hard and brain stormed on many pertinent issues. It was an awesome week filled with many memories and late nights. We are happy to report back to our Members that things are happening and so is positive change.

The VIP awards evening on Wednesday 13 June was a highlight and was well attended by Midvaal Executive Mayor and Councilors. It is encouraging to have the Midvaal Council support us as we work hard at grass root level to take care of our ever decreasing biodiversity.

What is Stewardship?

Feedback from 2^nd National Stakeholder Workshop for the Biodiversity Stewardship South Africa (BSSA) program held recently at Malonjeni Guest Farm, Midvaal

(BSSA) Biodiversity Stewardship – South Africa is a national initiative, to develop a generic, simple, but effective stewardship model for the provincial authorities and conservation agencies (including NGO’s) to implement, which will significantly expand the effective protected area network across the landscape, in all biomes of South Africa.

Simply put, the aim is to identify threatened areas of high biodiversity value, then manage, maintain and protect these areas through a national land management plan.

As the first year of the BSSA program draws to a close huge progress has been made in the development and formulation of this national biodiversity management framework plan. What is becoming abundantly clear to both DEAT (Department Environmental Affairs & Tourism) as well as to NACSA and EWT is that “Conservancies” are fast becoming the crucial entry point or lower level of this program. As voluntary based community organizations they represent a staggering 30 million hectares of privately owned land within South Africa but outside of already protected natural areas. This project is ongoing and will continue with year two starting shortly. Helen Duigan and Ivan Parkes are NACSA’s advisors on the committee of the BSSA.

Existing progress and reports as regards this program can be found on the EWT’s (Endangered Wildlife Trust’s) website http://www.ewt.org.za An additional and exciting development supporting the goals of this program is the continuously updated interactive online Environmental Impact Assessment Toolkit which can be found at web address http://www.eiatoolkit.ewt.org.za

A common concern of the week shared both by BSSA and NACSA was that of “Climate Change” & the effects to “Biodiversity” that will be felt from now through 2050 onwards. Huge concern exists currently with regard to this subject and was echoed by Dr Nick King (EWT) Dr Peter Lukey (Chief Director Air Quality & Climate Change DEAT) Air pollution hotspots, Vaal Air-Shed priority area re Air Quality Management Plan on Pollution.

NACSA Wins theMail & Guardian Greening the Future Award 2007

Winner – Environmental best practice in not-for-profit organisations

Ivan Parkes ,Helen and Anthony Duigan Receiving the award on behalf of NACSA

Lie of the land by Michelle Nel

Four years ago the National Association of Conservancies of South Africa (Nacsa) did not exist. Now it operates in seven provinces, with 750 conservancies, protecting about 30-million hectares of land. “That is five times more than SANParks and the provinces control, and we do it on no budget at all,” says Nacsa chairperson Anthony Duigan.

Nacsa is powerful because of the passion and commitment of its members. “If we are to strive for healthy communities within a healthy environment we have to protect the spaces that sustain us,” says Duigan. “Citizens are empowered to oppose powerful and elitist developers. We manage the land at community level. That’s our strength.” The Greening the Future judges commended the organisation for its “impressive network … making a big impact, despite limited resources”. The judges also felt “the conservancies kept plugging away at the sticky land management and ownership issues”.

The conservancies association is represented on the Wildlife and Environment Society’s NGO forum and is applying for World Conservation Union membership. Although the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and Free state still have to formalise provincial conservancy associations, the movement is strong in these provinces.

“A conservancy is a community-based conservation initiative,” Duigan says. “It is a registered voluntary association of land owners and users who decide to ‘pool’ and manage their land in a sustainable manner without necessarily compromising their normal land use.”

Mpumalanga has a great deal of land under government protection, including Big Five reserves, the Blyde River Canyon area and the Barberton Nature Reserve. Negotiations are under way to form a provincial conservancy association.

Conservancies allow for frogging in the Chrissiesmeer area, birding in Wakkerstroom, black leopards in Lydenburg and fly fishing in the Kwena Basin. Although it has no formal provincial conservancy association, the Northern Cape is home to some of the most interesting conservancies in the country, including the Riverine Rabbit Brakrivier Conservancy in the Victoria West district. The conservancy covers 70 000ha of private farmland and is home to some of the estimated 250 riverine rabbits left in the wild today. The species is listed as critically endangered. The province also has a recycling project in the Vluytieskraal Conservancy in Orania and a Yellow fish Project in Warrenton.

The Free State does not have a provincial conservancy association, but it boasts some vital projects: the Clarens bio-region conservancy; the Kliprivier conservancy, which is part of the Seekoeivlei Ramsar Site; and the Vredefort Dome Conservancy in a vast crater formed by a meteorite, which was recently declared a World Heritage Site. The latter conservancy is threatened by the proposed development of three golf estates.

KwaZulu-Natal formed the country’s first provincial conservancy association in 1981. Besides being the custodian of Big Five reserves on savannah veld, the province boasts one of the most interesting conservancies: a rubbish dump. The Mariannhill landfill site has been “greened” under the guidance of rehabilitation specialist Richard Winn and now serves as one of the province’s foremost environmental education centres. School tours are taken to view biological control of invasive aliens, a constructed wetland, bird hide, grasslands, a leachate treatment plant and a gas-to-energy project. Nacsa biodiversity coordinator Jean Lindsay, who worked at Mariannhill for four years, explains that the conservancy is a working landfill. “The landfill rehabilitates as it goes along; each day at four rubbish is covered with soil to repel flies. The rubbish is being deposited now in ‘cell two’. Cell one has been fully covered and revegetated. “It looks like a mountain covered with trees and grass. A borrow pit near the top of the ‘mountain’, which collects rainwater, has been converted into a thriving wetland. Animals are returning to the site.”

Limpopo is setting a good example. The province’s new Environmental Management Act refers to “conservancies” as “protected resource use areas”, thereby giving them legal protection. The Waterberg Nature Conservancy has more than 150 000ha under protection. It employs more than 1 000 people and has become the platform from which the Waterberg Biosphere concept was launched. This biosphere reserve -- one of only 400 in the world to be recognised by Unesco -- is threatened by golf estates and hundreds of new housing developments. Golf courses use enormous amounts of water and destroy biodiversity. This threatens the very countryside that the developers are selling. “This is fraudulent marketing since it sells ‘countryside’ and then covers it up with kikuyu or concrete,” says Duigan.

Gauteng also features an interesting mix of conservancies, ranging from rural to urban, industrial, informal settlement and school conservancies. Many are threatened by development. “The wonderful thing about the conservancy concept is that it can apply to many different land uses from rural to industrial,” Duigan points out. “We are not anti-development, but we want appropriate development that is respectful of the countryside, the heritage and existing land use. For example, in the old suburbs of Jo’burg, such as Bertrams or Houghton, you should not destroy heritage buildings for development.” “Likewise, the Greater Kyalami Conservancy seeks to preserve the open spaces, giant bullfrog habitat and the horses. Linbro Park is a similar agricultural gem near the inner city. “We have estimated that there are 97 000ha within Gauteng’s urban edge that can be densified without affecting any green belts or conservancies. Developments must be correctly scaled to suit the quality of space and quality of life in any given area.

We believe in stewardship not consumerism. We aim to be stewards of our natural and cultural resources. Then our children will be able to enjoy them too.”

This category is sponsored by Nedbank

NACSA General Meeting November 2006

The NACSA general meeting held at Sandveld in the Free State was well attended by both Government officials and private representatives. NACSA would like to welcome our new members

NACSA Wins Prestigious WESSA Award 2005

On the evening of the 10th September, NACSA was awarded a WESSA Presidential Award at the WESSA AGM held at the Seaview Hotel. Sue and I attended and accepted the award on behalf of NACSA. I believe that the following wording on the certificate needs to be drawn to your attention as it shows us what we are part of:given "in recognition of their contribution to community driven conservation.NACSA has promoted stewardship of natural resources amongst private and community based landowners throughout South Africa .We celebrate the achievement of their volunteer members who work in partnership with landowners, provincial authorities and other organisations, to ensure that natural resources are managed in an environmentally sustainable manner. "

NACSA General Meeting November 2005

The NACSA general meeting held at Willem Pretorius in the Free State was well attended by both Government officials and private representatives. The NACSA Agricultural Policy Document was accepted, available on the Download page. The first time attendees were most impressed with the value and input from the various provinces

Trafford Petterson was also Congratulated on becoming the Vice chair of NACSA (First on the left Font row)

Delegates at the General meeting

Dr Vicky Ahlmann Conservationist of the Year 2005

Ivan Parkes Chairman Gauteng Conservancy

Association Congratulates Dr Vicky Ahlman

EWT Working Groups manned interactive displays outside the EWT offices which demonstrate their project goals and objectives and field activities. Posters designed and presented by the field workers gave insight into the personal experiences and lessons learned by each field worker in their unique environment.

Working Group staff manned these stands as members of the media, public and donors, together with other EWT staff, spent the morning visiting the stands to find out more about the wide variety of projects and conservation work being undertaken across the country.

We found this to be a most useful interaction as most their projects are being done in or around conservancies.

Various awards were handed out.The top award went to Dr Vicky Ahlmann,not only was she voted Conservationist of the Year her Riverine Rabbit Working Group display also received first prize.

Dr Vicky Ahlmann is the Manager of the Riverine Rabbit Working Group and also chairs the

Loxton Conservancy and the Northern Cape Conservancy Association.