Savanna Science Network Meeting
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 to discuss issues related to rivers. At this meeting, the scientists thought that the meeting format could be broadened to include research in savannas more generally. The funder of the River Savanna Boundary Program liked the idea so much that a small fund was made available to trial the meeting. Things snowballed and today, this “trial” morphed into a highly-reputable annual international conference, which has now met 19 times since 2002. Sadly, it also fell victim to COVID restrictions in 2021.
Around 220 delegates attend the meeting annually, with a wide diversity of organisations having attended over the years, including universities, conservation organisations, NGOs and even the media.
Since the start of the meeting, international representation has steadily increased from ~20% in 2008 to about 50% in 2020 (pre-COVID). The number of countries represented also increased from nine in 2008 to 19 in 2020, with delegates from all savanna-containing continents in some years! Most of the international delegates originate from the USA and Europe (Fig.1), unfortunately other African countries remain poorly represented with seven or less delegates per year. Funding may be a barrier for the participation of delegates from other African countries, and initiatives should be explored for making the conference more affordable for scientists and conservationists from other African countries.
Figure 1. Most international delegates originate from the USA and Europe while attendance by delegates from other African countries has been low.
Although the meeting has grown from its humble beginnings in Shingwedzi to an international conference in a modern auditorium with up to date technology, the meeting has retained much of its characteristics and “local flavour” that made it popular and successful in the first place. For example, the local community of Skukuza serves up wonderful home-made dinners every evening at the Skukuza Golf Club! But probably most importantly, the meeting remains true to its name – a place to network. Students share the stage with the most eminent savanna scientists, and the meeting is as much about sharing results from studies, as it is about conceptualising new ideas and forging new collaborations.
Over time, the meeting has broadened its focus from pure ecological science, and many new interdisciplinary projects have been initiated, including collaboration with social scientists. We trust that the meeting will continue to play an important role as a catalyst for internationally collaborative research and sharing results in a co-learning space. We, as SANParks Scientific Services, are truly proud of hosting this meeting each year!
This article was originally published in the 2021/2022 Research Report.
