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23 August 2007

Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) – 42nd Annual Congress in Grahamstown – 16-20 July 2007

by Michele Hofmeyr

The theme of this years GSSA congress, which also included the Thicket Forum, was “21st Century Challenges: range, forage and thicket”. The congress saw a wide range of ecologists, managers and interested people getting together to discuss grassland, savanna, thicket and ecological issues. Skukuza Scientific Services staff, Dr Rina Grant, Dr Harry Biggs, Dr Holger Eckhardt and junior scientist Leonard Masubelele attended the congress, which was held at Rhodes University.

Presentations focused mainly on Southern African grassland, savanna and thicket issues but also provided the opportunity for people doing research in a wide range of ecological areas to showcase their work. Invited international speakers were part of the plenary sessions of the congress while there were also delegates from Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Dr Eckhardt said that the presentations were interesting in general but some even more so due to sharing the same bottom –line message which is the increasing threat from bush-encroachment that is becoming a problem in large areas of our country, including private/commercial, conservation and communal farming areas.

The GSSA is well known as a congress where science and management meet as many of the 260 delegates are also farmers and veld managers, who deal with management issues on the ground. Congratulations are due to Dr Rina Grant who has been elected as President of the Grassland Society and also received the award for the best presentation at the congress. The congress delegates also got the chance for some fresh air with field trips to Amakhala Conservation area and the Shamwari Game Reserve.

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  • Dr Rina Grant with GSSA certificates
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