Introducing Rob Markham 

Rob Markham has been appointed the Langkloof Project Coordinator and started work in January of this year.    
Rob has a Honours Degree in Entomology and Zoology obtained from the University of Natal 1976 and is a former Head of Nature Conservation in Ciskei. Rob was an Ecologist and Executive Director for Msinsi Reserves and Game Reserves and project manager for the Local Ocean Trust "Watamu Turtle Watch" in Kenya. With his vast experience Rob is a valuable addition to the Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative.  
Eden to Addo welcomes Rob to the team!  

Leopard Management Workshop  

The purpose of the Leopard Management Workshop held in PE on the 9th February was to give roleplayers such as farmers, conservation authorities and government officials a platform to voice their opinions on managing the leopards in the Baviaanskloof. There are possibly only 35 Cape Leopards left in this area. Leopards are listed under Appendix 1 of CITES. At the workshop, Dr. Quinton Martins, who heads up The Cape Leopard Trust, suggested that shepherds were brought back to save the leopard, minimise livestock losses - and create jobs. This win-win-win solution has helped shape a solution in the Cedarberg range of the Western Cape in partnership with local sheep farmers and the conservation authorities. When the trust started its work in the Cedarberg area in 2004, an average of seven leopards were being killed by farmers because of their perceived predation on livestock. Only two have been lost since this work began. As a first step towards solving the situation, the trust set about trying to establish some basic scientific information about the big cat. Scat analysis showed that the species was taking stock, but that this formed on average just 3% of its diet compared with 44% klipspringer, 34% dassie and a mix of porcupine, baboon and duiker. Use of collars, GPS and a range of other technology showed that their range was huge, but there were not many of them. Because the species is strongly territorial there was no territory overlap. A time analysis of kills showed that leopards targeted the darkest nights closest to the new moon. "These findings alone showed us that the right strategy could be to focus on managing livestock, rather than managing leopards. We cannot and must not alienate farmers in this process. It benefits us all if they can get their meat onto our shelves. "But the livestock cannot simply be made available to the leopard. The farmer cannot leave his stock alone in the target zones for months and not expect problems." "This is a predator at the apex of the food chain. If it is wiped out, caracal, jackal and rodent numbers will explode. It will cause very serious problems." Besides using the trust's research findings and keeping livestock out of the kloofs and upping security at the darkest times of the month, Cedarberg farmers were achieving success with Anatolian mountain dogs, he said. "But these dogs need to be deployed together with herders, and this is the solution that really makes sense. We have huge unemployment. There should be a government subsidy to help farmers employ enough staff." Opening the workshop, Matie van Niekerk, a sheep farmer, said: "If we look after creation, creation will look after us." Rob Markham, the co-ordinator for the Langkloof, represented Eden to Addo at the workshop. Please email admin@edentoaddo.co.za for a copy of the minutes taken at the workshop.

A Robberg Corridor Champion

Andrew Hill is a dairy farmer in the Robberg Corridor ( refer to the article written about the corridor in this newsletter) who has bought into the Protected Environment concept. He has set a portion of his farm that is of conservation value aside to form part of the corridor linking the SANParks Protected Area to Robberg Nature Reserve managed by CapeNature. The portion is high in biodiversity and is a critical coastal corridor for the movement of species between the two officially protected areas. Without this essential corridor Robberg would become a sterile island. Movement along the corridor can be clearly seen from the scat on the coastal rocks and the immediate interior. Many species of fynbos make up the area with its associated bird and insect life. It is significant that this farmer is not only a champion of the corridor but is also an innovative farmer. He produces a  safe alternative to pasteurised milk, in the form of purified raw milk, under a new co-operative milk brand initiative called Milk Independent. This follows local municipal approval of the use of SurePure processing for liquid purification in dairy, making the Southern Cape region the first to legally adopt this technology for raw milk processing. "The new venture is great news for the dairy industry in South Africa and great news for consumers in the region, who will, for the first time, have access to safe, nutritious and delicious raw milk," says Milk Independent spokesperson, Stephen Robinson. "This breakthrough paves the way for other South African dairy farmers to independently operate and produce cold-purified milk under the banner of Milk Independent, which uses SurePure photopurification technology to purify milk," he adds. "And as it replaces the use of heat energy for pasteurization it has a positive impact on the environment too." Testimony to the fact that the milk is delicious and nutritous is  that Andrew's  milk is often sold out at local stores. An initiative is underway to brand the milk with an Eden to Addo "fyngoed" sticker,  local and lekker. Consumers will be able to recognise the product as being from a farmer that has contributed to ecosystem functioning similar to the successful Wine and Biodiversity project in the Western Cape.

For more information on this go to www.milkindependent.com  

FEATURING IMPORTANT SPECIES IN THE EDEN TO ADDO CORRIDOR


Honeybush (scientific name Cyclopia spp.; Family: Fabaceae), or 'Heuningbos' in Afrikaans, is commonly used to make an infusion in the same manner as tea. It grows only in small areas in the southwest and southeast of South Africa and has many similarities with rooibos.

Honeybush is so named because the flowers smell of honey. The taste of honeybush tea is similar to that of rooibos but a little sweeter.

There are 23 or 24 species of honeybush tea found in the wild, of which mainly 4 or 5 are in widespread home or commercial use. These are:
 

• Cyclopia intermedia, known as 'bergtee' (mountain tea), found between Port Elizabeth and the edge of the Langkloof
• Cyclopia subternata, known as 'vleitee' (marshland tea) or 'valleitee' (valley tea)
• Cyclopia genistoides, known as 'kustee' (coastal tea), found mostly in the Western Cape near Yserfontein and Darling and also thriving in the South Cape if cultivated
• Cyclopia sessiliflora, known as 'Heidelberg-tee', named after the town Heidelberg in South Africa, where it grows in the local mountain range
• Cyclopia maculata, grown in the Outeniqua area near George

Some species can be cultivated whereas others have resisted all attempts at cultivation and must be harvested in the wild. For example, Cyclopia intermedia (mountain tea) is harvested in the Kouga mountains where it grows naturally. Mountain tea regenerates within three years after harvesting or devastation by fire; consequently less than one third of the mountain yield is available for harvesting each year by rotation.

Mountain tea and valley tea flower in September/October whereas coastal tea flowers in May/June.

Sceletium tortuosum (Mesembryanthemaceae)is a succulent herb commonly found in South Africa, which is also known as Kanna, Channa, Kougoed (Kauwgoed,/ 'kougoed', prepared from 'fermenting' Sceletium tortuosum) - which literally means, 'chew(able) things/goodies' or 'something to chew'. The plant has been used by South African pastoralists and hunter-gatherers as a mood-altering substance from prehistoric times. The first known written account of the plant's use was in 1662 by Jan van Riebeeck. The traditionally prepared dried sceletium was often chewed and the saliva swallowed, but it has also been made into gel caps, teas and tinctures. It has also been used as a snuff and smoked.