At a talk on veld management, the late John Fair (pastures consultant and agricultural writer), made a point to an audience of cattlemen that their source of income was not from livestock but from veld. The cattle were there to convert that veld into cash. After that, he had their undivided attention! Grass plays an […]
Introduction The National LandCare Programme is a government supported initiative, implemented throughout the country. It is a community-based programme that seeks to: conserve our resources use them in a sustainable way create a conservation ethic through education and awareness create jobs and address poverty by launching various natural resource rehabilitation, improvement and conservation projects Serious concerns about […]
Introduction See https://invasives.org.za. Invasive alien species (IAS) are species that have been introduced into an area and are able to out-compete and displace indigenous or useful alien species. They may be plants, animals or microbes, including diseases, and are widely regarded as among the biggest threats to the productive use of land and water, the ecological […]
A fire management plan, burning your veld, legal notes on firebreaks, Fire Protection Associations (FPAs), role players and where to access information on fire management
Introduction Often, environmental issues are assumed to be “green issues”, only relating to natural resources like animals and plants. In reality, a “triple bottom line” concept must be considered when understanding the environment, i.e. ecological, economic and social aspects. It is only through the interaction of these three aspects that the real environment can be […]
Introduction Conservancies find common ground and create a meaningful partnership between nature conservation and agriculture. The agricultural sector uses some 80% of South Africa’s 120 million hectare land surface, incorporating some of our country’s most sensitive ecosystems. Many of our country’s farmers are indeed good land conservationists. Unfortunately, with ever increasing financial, resource and manpower […]
This article deals with the role of birds in farming. It includes a look at owls, the Red-billed Oxpecker and vultures. Avitourism and South African birds in trouble feature, as do details of role players and other sources of information.
Introduction The 13th of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addresses climate. Several gases in the atmosphere trap energy from the sun – and warm the earth. Without this “greenhouse effect” life would not be possible on this planet. Our activities over the past two centuries though, especially the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil, have […]
Energy-smart farming: how to save electricity in farming activities
Introduction The availability of food is the starting point of all life. The main issue around food is whether people can afford it, a nutritious adequate diet that makes for healthy human beings. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines food security as “A situation that exists when all people, at all times, have […]
