Dr Luthando Dziba, affectionately known as Dr D by some, was Managing Executive of Conservation Services for almost 6 years, joining us from the CSIR’s Ecosystem Services research group. During his time at SANParks (July 2017 to end March 2023) Luthando oversaw Scientific Services, the largest of five units under his guidance. With a strong…
In our ever more hurried working lives with its constant interruptions and ever accelerating busy-ness, the time for ‘deep work’ is squeezed constantly. For scientists, this often means that keeping up with the latest research, engaging intensely and philosophically with new published papers and contemplating what this means for and in practice, takes place in…
SANParks Veterinary Wildlife Services hosted a Wildlife Conservation Physiology and Disease Workshop, providing an opportunity for research groups to collaborate and for postgraduate students and early career researchers to learn from experts in their field SANParks’ Veterinary Wildlife Services hosted a Wildlife Conservation Physiology and Disease Workshop in partnership with the Brain Function Research Group…
On 1 March 2023, for the first time in South Africa, a central repository, Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa (BBSA), was launched to conserve and manage biodiversity samples. BBSA brings together biobank managers from a diversity of fields to form a network of institutions dedicated to improving the quality of, and access to, samples from plants,…
Article Written by Clement Arendse & Ian Russell In 2022/23 SANParks undertook a reassessment of the distribution and abundance of the endangered Knysna seahorse in the Knysna Estuary. The study entailed using SCUBA to undertake counts of seahorses along approximately 200 underwater transects, each typically 30 m long and 2m wide, positioned throughout the estuary,…
Article Written by Clement Arendse & Ian Russell Knysna seahorses, an Endangered estuarine fish, occur only in the Knysna, Keurbooms and Swartvlei estuaries, with the largest and most stable population thought to occur in the Knysna system. In 2022, the Featherbed company in Knysna made a generous donation to SANParks to support research on the…
South Africa’s Integrated Coastal Management Lekgotla convened experts and stakeholders from government, academia and diverse institutions to exchange experiences and insights on integrated coastal management challenges. This pioneering platform, the first of its kind, benefits both South Africa and the African continent. The second Lekgotla, held in February 2023, followed the successful 2019 event and…
The Southern African Marine Science Symposium, Africa’s premier marine science conference, took place in Durban in June 2022, with good representation from SANParks’ Cape Research Centre and Alison serving on the scientific committee. The symposium united passionate researchers interested in cutting-edge technology and environmental challenges. Focused on exploring the connections between past and present marine…
The Kimberley Biodiversity Research Symposium (KBRS) is an annual meeting that aims to share knowledge and research about biodiversity in the arid Northern Cape biome. The KBRS was established 19 years ago and has become a popular event on the symposium timetable regionally. The co-hosting organisations have responsibilities and interests in the Northern Cape, including…
The idea behind what was to become the International Savanna Science Networking Meeting was conceptualised in the early 2000s after a small group of scientists met at Shingwedzi camp in the Kruger National Park to discuss issues related to rivers. The meeting has gone from strength to strength and during March 2023, the 20th SSNM…
Following a two year Covid-related break, it was with much excitement that the 4th Garden Route Interface and Networking (GRIN) Meeting convened at Pine Lake Marina outside Sedgefield from 11 to 13 October 2022. GRIN provides a space for researchers, managers, policymakers and practitioners from around the world to share experiences, approaches and insights related…
108 peer reviewed papers were published on research conducted within national parks, with more than half of these including SANParks authorships Research represents a highly structured and rigorous form of learning. An additional level of robustness can be built into research findings when these are subjected to scientific peer-review, i.e. when scientific experts with specialised…