African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

GENERAL

Dr John Ledger EDITORIAL The Covid – 19 virus continues to wreak havoc on South Africans, our friends, families and associates, and our businesses and institutions. On top of the political turmoil that threatens the stability of our fragile society, the slow roll-out of vaccines is adding to the general aura of despair and gloom that affects many of us right now. Then we have the changing seasons, having just passed the winter solstice on 21 June. The high interior of the country is cold, dry, dusty and often windy, fanning the flames of runaway fires in the dry grass. In the Cape, rain, wind, floods and grey skies are the order of the day. But as the saying goes, this too will pass, and we have a new issue of your magazine to help you pass the time during these wintery days.

Sanctuary as a worthy destination should whet your appetite for a visit there, preferably in summer when the migrant species are present. Finally, please read the article by Bryan Havemann and Alan du Toit, and be very afraid for the future of biodiversity conservation when it is threatened by mining. Some time ago our government introduced legislation to make the minerals beneath the ground of this country the property of the government, regardless of those with rights on the surface. The Selati Game Reserve one day found that plans to do open-cast mining on its pristine wildlife areas were far advanced. It seems that any applicant can submit mining proposals on any privately owned land, and unless the owners can put up a very strong case, there is little they can do to stop things! In this case there was a happy outcome, and the miners withdrew their application. My sense is that mining comprises a dire threat to conservation in South Africa, and an opposing force to the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy (NPAES), a key strategy for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. When this Department clashes with the Department of Minerals and Energy, the DME usually wins. WESSA should put this particular matter high on its list of priorities, and come up with a strategic plan to prevent mining from trumping biodiversity issues in future.

In this edition we have some really interesting articles and some great images for your entertainment. In our gardening feature, Charles and Julia Botha introduce you to the Tree Fuchsia, a wonderful plant that will attract insects and birds to your garden. And remember, no pesticides, especially those whose packages tell you lies about being 'eco- friendly'! Professor Anthony Turton always gives us some very big issues to think about, and his article on the national security issues around water is no exception. The tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt around a new dam on the Nile River illustrate the kinds of problems that can and will arise increasingly in the future as the human population continues to grow and the demand for water increases exponentially. Humans remain largely ignorant about earth's regular natural cycles that drive periodic droughts and floods around the planet. One of the most powerful of these is 'ENSO', the 'El Niño Southern Oscillation' of the Atlantic Ocean, that dramatically affects rainfall on our continent. Strong El Niño generally signals more droughts while the contrasting La Niña condition generally brings us wetter conditions.We have just had a La Niña period, and when the rainy season ended in April this year, I had recorded 842 mm in my Johannesburg garden, more than double the rainfall in 2020. When I was a young birder one of my dreams was to spot a Narina Trogon. Now I am an old birder, and I still haven't seen one! But for those of you like me, John Wesson's article on this enigmatic species will give you a glimpse of what might have been! And if you are a birder in Gauteng, or passing through these parts, our feature on the Marievale Bird

Dr John Ledger Consulting Editor john.ledger@wol.co.za 083 650 1768

1 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 79 (2021)