Introducing the BES interns
The biodiversity and ecosystem services research group recently had the pleasure of welcoming three interns from the NRF internship program to our group. After a mild introduction to the inner workings of the group the interns accompanied some esteemed researchers to the Biodiversity Planning Forum held in the beautiful town of Wilderness in the Western Cape. In the first of many blog posts to come, the interns provide some feedback on the meeting where conservation planners, municipal officials and academic researchers gathered to discuss important issues related to broader environmental concerns in South Africa.
From Left: Bongiwe Simka, John April, Sinekhaya Maliwa
Looking towards the future: State of South Africa’s Biodiversity and ecosystem reporting.
As newly appointed interns to the biodiversity and ecosystem services research group we attended the 13th National Biodiversity Planning Forum. For most of us this was our first national conference. In this, our first blog post, we highlight some of the important aspects of the forum that stood out to us during this week in Wilderness.
The Forum focused mainly on the advances in the use of spatial data required for biodiversity planning. Of particular interest was the application of data to the upcoming National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA). The NBA reports on the state of South Africa’s biodiversity in light of several environmental, social and ecological drivers influencing the degradation of national biodiversity.
One of the important challenges raised was how to determine whether an ecosystem was degraded or has simply changed due natural succession patterns over time? Professor Tim Hoffman explored some approaches used to determine these changes in the landscape. One of these was use the use repeat photography. Repeat photography is the use of two photographs, an “old” and “new” from the landscape to determine how it has changed over time. He concluded that, for some ecosystems it was relatively easy to differentiate between the two states (degraded or natural), but that finding does not apply to all vegetation types in South Africa. Some vegetation types are known result in shifts in growth form cover as a consequence of time and natural environmental factors, which can complicate this classification process.
An example of a repeat photograph to illustrate landscape changes over time
(Source: http://rephotosa.adu.org.za/index.php)
A spatial solution, which is to form part of the current NBA, was to include some indication of habitat condition in the current land cover map. For example, there are no distinctions between an artificial or natural waterbody which would provide valuable information regarding the habitat condition. The reclassified land cover map is currently in progress and will be used in the upcoming NBA (2018).
One of the more interesting take home messages was the need to improve the capturing of data consistency, credibility and representation across ecosystem types. To this end, the publication of the Lexicon of Biodiversity Planning in South Africa and Mapping Biodiversity Priorities: A practical approach to national biodiversity assessment and prioritisation to inform strategy and action planning books published by SANBI are perfect examples. The lexicon is a biodiversity planning dictionary that aims to improve the quality of research communication and data collection by various practitioners to ensure consistency and credibility. Generally, terrestrial ecosystems are well represented with regards to data availability compared to freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems. This poses a problem for management in data deficient areas. The publication of Mapping Biodiversity Priorities therefore aims to help address the issue. However, with the standards for data capturing and the need to improve representation across all ecosystems, increased efforts are being directed towards freshwater, estuaries and marine ecosystems.
For us as interns, attending a forum of such calibre, meant exposure to expert research and current breakthroughs and trends within the field. The ability to network and partake in discussions helped open our minds to new and possible ventures in biodiversity research and planning. Working in the BES RG presents numerous opportunities to use these advanced planning and analysis tools. Our current involvement in the NBA further exposes us to the need to identify priorities for management and restoration of ecosystems aimed at maintaining biodiversity and healthy ecosystems in South Africa.
