Garden Route & Frontier Research Unit
Garden Route Scientific Services was established to develop internal scientific capacity to serve the Garden Route National Park (GRNP), which includes the previously proclaimed Tsitsikamma and Wilderness National Parks, State Forests and mountain catchment areas, as well as the Knysna National Lake Area. The primary objective of Garden Route Scientific Services is, through a collaborative approach, to conduct and facilitate monitoring and research of fynbos, forest, fresh water, estuarine and marine social-ecological systems in the region, with a view to provide scientific information in support of park planning and management.
Introduction
Garden Route Scientific Services is currently housed in two primary offices – one in the town of Knysna and the other on the eastern shores of Rondevlei, just outside the town of Sedgefield. The Research Unit currently consists of 19 permanent staff members, with ten located at Rondevlei, eight in Knysna, one at the NMU George Campus. In addition, one junior scientist and one intern are currently based at our Knysna office.
The Garden Route Research Unit has limited research accommodation available in Rondevlei and some basic possibilities at Tsitsikamma. In addition, our herbarium in Knysna and the basic wet and analytical labs in Rondevlei enhance research collaborations in the region, particularly supporting marine, estuarine, freshwater and vegetation ecological research and monitoring efforts.
History
The first SANParks scientist in the Garden Route, a marine biologist, was based in Tsitsikamma NP in 1980. An administrative office was later established in George in 1988, and relocated to Rondevlei in 1991. Through a process of consolidation of Scientific Services personnel into one node, by 1993 the Rondevlei office housed a manager, a marine biologist, an aquatic scientist, a terrestrial ecologist, a research assistant and an administrative clerk.
The staff complement expanded over the following years with the employment of biotechnicians and an earth systems scientist. The team provided scientific services to several southern parks including Tsitsikamma, Knysna, Wilderness, Bontebok, West Coast, Karoo, Tankwa Karoo, and Agulhas.
The incorporation of the then Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s (DWAF) State Forests and Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountain catchments into the GRNP in 2005 saw the amalgamation of DWAF’s scientific unit, which included personnel with skills in both fynbos and forestry sciences, as well as GIS, into SANParks. This unit remained based in Knysna.
The opening of the Cape Research Centre (CRC) in 2008 was preceded by the transfer of the earth systems scientist from Rondevlei to Cape Town as start-up personnel. The CRC took over responsibility for Bontebok, Agulhas, Table Mountain, West Coast, and Tankwa Karoo NPs, thus enabling the Garden Route Scientific Services to concentrate on areas in the Garden Route.