Baviaanskloof Conference Celebrates Biodiversity Day

The Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve, together with Living Lands and Eastern Cape Parks, hosted a Conference and Biodiversity Action Day on 21-22 May at Terra Pi in the Langkloof. The event was funded by the World Bank, UNDP, IUCN, WWF and the German government.

The conference was held on 22 May, the International Day of Biodiversity within the International Year of Biodiversity 2010, and was attended by about 60 participants including landowners, officials from national and provincial departments, NGO members, economists, scientists and students. Addressing the conference, CEO of Eastern Cape Parks, Nokulunga Maswana, said that the Baviaanskloof was “blessed to have such a large pristine wilderness area – one of few in the world.”

Launching the new Eastern Cape Parks Biodiversity Stewardship Programme, Maswana said that the farming community were key partners in conserving biodiversity and ensuring effective catchment management, which would have the downstream effect of making more clean water available for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Biodiversity stewardship was a major theme of the conference, with Tracey Potts of Eastern Cape Parks and Willeen Olivier of DEA addressing participants on the options available to landowners. The conference also heard about progress made on payment for ecosystem services – finding creative ways to generate financial returns for biodiversity management practices, such as replanting spekboom, that have water and carbon benefits.

In addition to the conference, 130 schoolchildren took part in educational activities at Terra Pi around the themes of Air, Water, Fire and Earth. Participants stayed in tipi tents, and family members attended parallel workshops on pottery, permaculture and plant propagation.

For more information, contact Tracey Potts on tracey.steyn@ecparks.co.za

Source: C.A.P.E Action