Conservation organizations and natural resource agencies will need to embrace new and more innovative approaches to protecting species and ecosystems in the face of the rapidly unfolding climate crisis. That finding is included in the newly released guide, “Innovation in Climate Adaptation: Harnessing the Power of Innovation for Effective Biodiversity and Ecosystem Adaptation.” To meet…
SANPARKS STAFF HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO A NEW BOOK ON HOW CLIMATE CHANGE WILL AFFECT BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS, ALSO OFFERING SOLUTIONS TO HELP NAVIGATE THIS UNCERTAIN FUTURE South Africa is home to an amazing diversity of indigenous species that live on land, in its rivers and oceans. Given our location, at the tip of Africa along major…
TWENTY YEARS OF CLIMATE DATA HAS INCREASED THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CHANGING CLIMATES IMPACT ON THE INDIGENOUS FORESTS OF THE SOUTHERN CAPE Poor availability of temperature data resulted in the deployment of temperature loggers in the Southern Afromontane Forests of the Garden Route National Park in the early 2000s. Loggers were placed at Groenkop…
WHILE CLIMATE WARMING AND RESULTING DROUGHTS ARE CAUSING DECLINES IN THE HEATSTRESSED NORTHERN POPULATIONS OF QUIVER TREES, THOSE IN THE HEAT-LIMITED SOUTH BENEFIT Sites like Kokerboomkloof in the Richtersveld attract visitors with the beautiful quiver tree, an icon of our arid parks. Quiver trees play a key ecosystem role, often providing the only bird perches…
SANPARKS HAS PRIORITISED PREPARING FOR AND RESPONDING TO THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE There is increasing recognition that as a society we need to act now to reduce the impacts of climate change. SANParks’ Climate Change Preparedness Strategy, which was approved by the Board in December 2022, outlines a vision in which SANParks is resilient…
Climate change will have an impact on SANParks’ ecosystems, infrastructure and tourists in significant and unique ways through both extreme events and long-term change. This necessitates planning for specific management interventions that allow for species and ecosystems to respond, protection of both cultural and infrastructure assets, and continued tourism, while responding appropriately to the changing…