Systematic conservation assessments are spatially-explicit techniques for prioritising areas for the implementation of conservation action. There has been considerable reference in the peer-reviewed literature as to the usefulness of these tools, which appear to be primarily used by academics for theoretical research. A literature review and author survey reveals the peer-reviewed literature is largely theoretical, although conservation action results more frequently than reported. The effectiveness of these interventions is generally described as only ‘fairly effective’. This general trend, coupled with previous personal failures in translating systematic conservation assessments into effective conservation action triggered an explicit process of social learning implemented as action research. It examined the workings of the Subtropical Thicket Ecosystem Planning (STEP) project, which included development of a systematic conservation assessment. Systematic conservations assessments simply provide information on where action should be implemented, and so are only useful if situated within broader operational models for conservation planning. Most operational models presented in the peer-reviewed literature are primarily focused upon the testing ecological data, not upon the delivery of conservation action. A new operational model for conservation planning is presented which more accurately reflects the ‘real-world’ process of conservation planning. An implementation strategy is an essential complement to a systematic conservation assessment. It describes how specific, explicitly-stated goals will be achieved, who is accountable for undertaking these activities, and the resources required. As the Implementation Specialist for the STEP Project, I co-lead the collaborative development of an implementation strategy with stakeholders that aimed to mobilise resources towards achieving common goals. Whilst the development and initial uptake of the strategy was good, subsequent implementation has flounder. The reasons for this are explored. The ultimate pragmatic goal of a conservation planning process is the establishment of effective social learning institutions. These develop common visions, mobilise collective action, and adaptively learn and refine their conservation activities. Thicket Forum is one xi such institution established through the STEP Project. My involvement with Thicket Forum since 2004 in implementing an adaptive learning approach facilitates collaboration between land managers, government and research organisations. Systematic conservation assessments evolved in response to the ad hoc way in which protected areas were implemented, leaving unrepresentative, biased protected area networks. Most research is theoretical and without an intimate understanding of the social-ecological system of a planning region, notably opportunities and constraints for implementing conservation action. Highlighting the importance of an approach which is flexible, not only in space, but in time, which can capitalise upon implementation opportunities, is important for stemming the myth that opportunism is the nemesis of systematic conservation assessments. To this end, conservation planners have been slow to include factors influencing effective implementation in systematic conservation assessments. Many studies which identify candidate protected area networks, first, fail to identify the specific instrument(s) to be applied, and second, assume all intact land is available. Having mapped the willingness of land managers in the Albany District, South Africa, to sell their land, it is demonstrated the majority of targets fail to be achieved because land managers will not sell. Knowing this, the current focus of gathering ever-more ecological data is misplaced. Human, social and economic factors influence target achievement, efficiency and spatial configuration of priority areas. Selecting important areas for conservation, particularly at the local-scale, requires the mapping of factors which define opportunities for conservation. Land manager willingness to collaborate and participate, entrepreneurial orientation, conservation knowledge, social capital, and local champions were applied using a method of hierarchical clustering to identify land managers who represent conservation opportunities for private land conservation initiatives.

This study formed part of a larger provincial marine systematic conservation plan for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, called SeaPLAN. Owing to budget and time constraints, not all ± 1640 fish species that occur in the region were considered. A method to prioritise species was therefore developed to identify those species which were most at most risk of being excluded by a conservation plan based primarily on habitat representation (i.e. SeaPLAN). The method was based on three underlying principles: (i) species with limited conservation options; (ii) threatened species; and (iii) inherently vulnerable species. From these three principles, seven criteria were defined (e.g. endemic or rare species). Sixtyseven species met the qualifying conditions for these criteria and were consequently included in this study (FishPLAN). In order to map the distributions of these 67 fish species, the spatial and temporal accuracy of existing marine fish data for KZN was investigated. Only 17 percent of the data evaluated met the spatial resolution requirements of 1 km2, while temporal resolution was high: >99 percent of the data were collected at daily resolution. A resulting recommendation is that future data collection employ handheld data recording devices (with GPS capability), in order to increase the spatial accuracy of data, minimise human error and improve the efficiency of data flow. Species life cycle envelopes (SLICES) were developed to capture spatial differences in areas occupied during three life-cycle phases (reproductive, juvenile and feeding). Two distribution modelling techniques were used: Maxent, which uses quantitative data, and CHARMS (cartographic habitat association range models), which uses qualitative range data. A combination of statistical and biological criteria was used to determine the most informative and appropriate model for each species. Species distribution models (SDMs) were constructed for three temporal partitions of the data: annual, summer and winter. Patterns of species richness developed from the seasonal models showed seasonal differences in patterns that conformed to known seasonal distributions of fish assemblages: richness was higher in southern KZN during winter, while it was higher in northern KZN during summer. The resulting SDMs were used to develop a conservation plan for fish: conservation targets were set using the minimum recommended baseline of 20 percent of a species’ range, to which biological retention targets (additional proportion of the range) were added, in an attempt to ensure species persistence. The conservation targets were then adjusted using catch per unit effort (CPUE) data to match seasonal abundance of a given species. Within the existing network of marine protected areas (MPAs), none of the species’ targets are met by MPA sanctuary zones (zone As) alone, and all species require greater areas of protection. Three areas, namely offshore of the Tugela River mouth, the reefs offshore of Durban, and Aliwal Shoal, were consistently identified as being important in addition to existing MPAs for conservation of the fish species investigated. The greater efficiency of a seasonal MPA network to protect seasonally varying distributions of biodiversity, suggests that this may be a useful tool to consider in conservation management. The outcome of a conservation plan from this study (FishPLAN) was finally compared with the broader, more inclusive conservation plan, SeaPLAN. This comparison demonstrated how conservation plans based on a single group of species run the risk of identifying areas that are appropriate only for the relevant species, and might fail to conserve biodiversity as a whole.

The South African marine environment is utilised for both consumptive and non-consumptive activities and for those activities to continue sustainably it is important that these activities be monitored and policed. South Africa's environmental legislation is structured to do just that; outlining specific regulations for all consumptive and non-consumptive activities that can be conducted in the marine environment. Some disparities have been observed regarding the policing of consumptive and non-consumptive marine activities, and these disparities were analysed by means of several case studies and semi-structured key informant interviews. Case studies covered both consumptive (abalone poaching and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing) and non-consumptive activities (the sardine run and tiger shark diving) currently being conduct in the marine environment. Key informant interviews collected opinions from legal practitioners who felt that the legislation was solid but poorly implemented; and non-consumptive operators who felt that the legislation was implemented in a way that made it difficult for non-consumptive and ecotourism activities to thrive. The poor implementation has resulted in a situation which seems to promote consumptive crimes instead of curbing them.

No description available.

Submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1999. / In essence The study revolved around the following: • The level of illiteracy of black Natal Parks Board employees. • . actors which contribute to the level of illiteracy of Natal Parks Board employees. • To determine in the light of the findings obtained, certain guidelines towards the route to be followed by illiterates and semi-illiterates, in attaining a state of literacy. The research was specifically directed at the problems confronting adult illiterates and semi-illiterates in their striving for literacy. Both the factors influencing educational progress and the best route to be taken to attain to literacy were studied. For the purpose of the empirical investigation a self-structured questionnaire was utilised. The respondents were selected at random from rural areas throughout KZN, from the learners from seven classes who have graduated from the basic Zulu, advanced Zulu and basic English classes and from people who are still awaiting incorporation into the adult literacy programme. A summary was presented and based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made: • Although there is already an ABET system and a bursary scheme currently operating in the NPB, it is nevertheless recommended that the NPB and other like-organisations should: reprioritise their goals from conservation of species to the development of staff, draw up clear education policies, identify current educational levels, all skills training courses should comply with the National Qualification Framework and that the individual's current knowledge, skills and experience should be recognised and certificated. • In order to fully update staff on educational and training possibilities in the NPB and other similar organisations it is recommended that employees should have a say in educational and skills training and courses should be regularly advertised throughout the organisation and education and training needs should be discussed with individual staff members. In a climate where the employer realises and accepts his obligations, the organisation's budget should reflect that education and skills training have a very high priority rating.

Thesis (MScConsEcol) -- Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis describes the findings of a survey to investigate the attitudes and behaviour of private landholders towards the conservation of Overberg Coastal Renosterveld, a highly endangered grassy-shrubland of the Cape Floral Region (CFR) lowlands, now 94% transformed. Personal interviews were conducted with 36 farmers in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, by administering a questionnaire. The following aspects were quantitatively described using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS): Renosterveld management and utilisation behaviour, perceived value of Overberg Coastal Renosterveld; landholder knowledge of its conservation importance and willingness to conserve it. Attitudes towards incentives for conservation; conservancies; and the provincial conservation authorities were also investigated. Willingness to conserve was explored further using SPSS cross-tabulation analyses. It was found that farmers who were more willing to conserve were younger, did not necessarily have a better education, and owned larger farms (> 500 ha) with a greater amount of remnant renosterveld (> 300 ha) than farmers less willing to conserve. Attitudes towards Overberg Coastal Renosterveld were largely negative, due to certain associated plants and animals which are problems for farmers, and because it is not economically advantageous to retain it. However, provision of incentives (of which assistance with fencing and land management was most attractive) and increased extension support will provide practical positive inducements for conservation. There is also a need for more landholder education regarding the scarcity of coastal renosterveld to prevent transformation of remaining fragments. The second component of the study aimed to construct a user-friendly index to measure the conservation attitudes of landholders towards conserving Overberg Coastal Renosterveld. An interative item analysis was executed on the data, using Spearman Rank Order correlations and Cronbach's Alpha. Results yielded an index with two dimensions and a Cronbach Alpha co-efficient of 0.67. The dimensions or components of conservation attitude towards renosterveld included: (i) a landholders' perception of the perceived benefit of Overberg Coastal Renosterveld; and (ii) their willingness to conserve it. The mean conservation attitude score was 0.6 (± 0.03), indicating that landholder attitudes were generally sympathetic towards renosterveld conservation. This suggests that while many landholders do not place a high value on Overberg Coastal Renosterveld due to its low agricultural value, their willingness to conserve it is in some cases higher than expected, which possibly explains the above-average mean conservation attitude score. An analysis of variance showed that the following variables were significantly, positively correlated with conservation attitude: (i) area of Overberg Coastal Renosterveld; (ii) landholder environmental group membership status; (iii) presence of ecotourism activities on the property; and (iv) how long the property had been in the owner's family. The intended application of the index is that index scores (amenable for use in a Geographical Information System database) can assist conservation practitioners in deciding where resources should be allocated, on the assumption that high-scoring individuals are more likely to want to take part in conservation initiatives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif beskryf die bevindings van 'n opname waarin die houdings en gedrag van private grondeienaars ten opsigte van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld ondersoek word. Altesaam 94% van die oorspronklike renosterveld, 'n hoogs bedreigde, grasagtige struikveld in die laaglande van die Kaapse Planteryk (KPR) , is reeds getransformeer en verander. Persoonlike onderhoude is met 36 boere in die Overbergstreek van die Wes-Kaap gevoer en 'n vraelys is aan hulle gestel. Die "Statistical Package for Social Scientists" (SPSS) is gebruik om die volgende aspekte kwantitatief te beskryf: die bestuur en benutting van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld; die waarde wat toegeskryf word aan hierdie renosterveld; asook grondeienaars se kennis oor die bewaringsbelang van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld en hul bereidwilligheid om dit te bewaar. Houdings jeens aansporingsmiddele om bewaring te bevorder, bewareas en die provinsiale bewaringsowerhede is ook ondersoek. Private grondeienaars se bereidwilligheid om betrokke te raak by bewaringswerk is verder ondersoek deur gebruik te maak van die SPSS-kruistabelleringsanalise. In vergelyking met boere wat nie bewaring ondersteun nie, is gevind dat die meer bewaringsgesinde boere jonger is, nie noodwendig 'n beter opvoeding het nie, en groter plase (>500 ha) besit waarop meer brokkies oorblywende Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld (>300 ha) gevind word. Grondeienaars se houding jeens Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld was grootliks negatief. Dit is as gevolg van sekere verwante plante en diere wat deur boere as probleme ervaar word, en omdat dit nie ekonomies lewensvatbaar is om renosterveld te behou nie. Die beskikbaarheidstelling van aansporingsmiddele (waarvan hulpverlening met omheinings en grondbestuur die aantreklikste was), en 'n toename in landbou-voorligting is egter praktiese en positiewe dryfvere wat bewaring kan bevorder. Daar is ook 'n behoefte vir meer opvoeding van grondeienaars oor aspekte soos die skaarsheid van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld, sodat die verdere transformasie van oorblywende fragmente voorkom kan word. Die tweede gedeelte van die studie was daarop gemik om 'n gebruikersvriendelike indeks te ontwikkel waarmee die bewaringsgesindheid van grondeienaars teenoor die bewaring van renosterveld gemeet kan word. Deur gebruik te maak van Spearman se rangorde-korrelasies en Cronbach se Alpha is die data aan 'n herhalende item-analise onderwerp. Die resultate het 'n indeks met twee dimensies en 'n Cronbach Alpha-koëffisiënt van 0.67 gelewer. Die dimensies of komponente van bewaringsgesindheid jeens renosterveld het onder meer ingesluit: i) 'n grondeienaar se opvatting oor die moontlike voordeel van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld en ii) sy/haar bereidwilligheid om dit bewaar. Die gemiddelde telling vir bewaringsgesindheid was 0.6 (± 0.03), wat in die algemeen 'n simpatieke houding jeens die bewaring van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld onder grondeienaars aandui. Hiervolgens blyk dit dat alhoewel heelwat grondeienaars weens die lae landbouwaarde van renosterveld nie 'n hoë waarde op hierdie plantegroeitipe plaas nie, hulle bereidwilligheid om dit te bewaar soms verwagtinge oortref. Dit is dalk 'n moontlike verklaring vir die bogemiddelde gemiddelde bewaringsgesindheidtelling. 'n Variansie-analise het 'n noemenswaardige, positiewe korrelasie met bewaringsgesindheid ten opsigte van die volgende veranderlikes getoon: i) area van Overberg Kustelike Renosterveld; ii) die grondeienaar se moontlike lidmaatskap van 'n bewaringsgroep; iii) die teenwoordigheid van ekotoerisme-bedrywighede op die eiendom; en iv) die tydperk wat die eiendom al in besit van die grondeienaar se familie is. Die voorgestelde gebruik van die indeks is toepaslik omdat die indeks-tellings (wat vir gebruik in 'n Geografiese Inligtingstelsel databasis aangepas kan word) bewaringslui kan help met besluite random die toekenning van hulpbronne. Die aanname is dat individuele grondeienaars wie hoë tellings aangeteken het, met alle waarskynlikheid meer geredelik aan bewaringsinisiatiewe sal wil deelneem.

The challenge facing South African foundries today are compliance with the environmental legislations while maintaining a high production rate. The focus of this study is to assist foundries to comply with National Environment Management Air Quality Act 39 of 2004. The aim of the study is to achieve a foundry with high production rate with low energy consumption and low emissions, while complying with air quality legislation. Data was collected from foundries within the Cities of Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg. Foundries were requested to provide information such as the raw materials feed rate, and production rate, emission units, type of energy used and consumption rates. Seventeen foundries participated in this study. Data collected from these foundries assisted in determining the emissions rate generated during production process. Emissions were quantified from the foundries using emission factors. In this study electricity and natural gas were found to be the most preferred source of energy in the foundries. An energy intensity relationship exists, for both electricity and natural gas and its production rate. The results indicated efficiency of energy intensity of 0.25 to 6.37 GJ/Tonne in the foundries. Selection of furnace used by the facilities plays an important role on the energy saving and emission reduction. Foundries that need to reduce particulate matters on the melting should consider electric arc furnace because it generate less particulate matters than open hearth. Foundries that would like to reduce sulphur dioxide should consider electric arc furnace rather than open hearth. Foundries that have challenges on the NOx should consider open hearth furnace than electric arc. An installation of suitable abatement systems should also be considered for the reduction of other pollutants. Results indicated that installation of abatement system at 95% efficiency will decrease emission rates by twenty times. Study reveals that 3.93 kg is polluted to the atmosphere per tonne of production in a month for the foundries that do not have abatement system and installation of abatement system will decrease air pollution from 3.93 to 0.20 kg per tonne to the atmosphere / Civil and Chemical Engineering / M. Tech. (Chemical Engineering)

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010. / In recent years, the South African hotel industry has experienced increasing demand for hotel's services. At the same time, mounting costs of energy affects energy performance and public image. Energy management is a new approach to address those widespread problems. This study aimed to suggest good management practices and develop a "self-help" approach, to reduce the demand and costs of energy for the South Africa hotel industry. This is expected to result in monetary savings and conservation of energy resources. This has been done by conducting survey within seven selected hotels in Cape Town, metropolitan of South Africa. In addition, through the "self-help" guide, approaches to energy management system are also described, showing the ways for hotels to achieve better energy performance. Potentials for savings from good housekeeping are estimated to 10 - 15%. The "self-help" guide is recommended to be improved through implementation in pilot hotels; and the proposal set of benchmarks need to be different for hotels in different provinces of South Africa considering the differences in climate conditions. The result of this study range from presenting the energy conservation awareness, barriers, method of conservation, financial and institution mechanisms, policy measures, status of energy use and propose strategy to develop a "Self-help" guide for energy management in South African Hotel industry. It has been found that energy monitoring has been done in the South African Cape Town hotels. From the total energy consumed by this industry, electricity accounts 80% of it of which air conditioning takes the biggest share (about 50%) and the remaining for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), diesel and others fuels. In addition, through the "self-help" guide, approaches to energy management system are also described, showing the ways for hotels to achieve better energy performance. Potentials for savings from good housekeeping are estimated to 10 - 15%. The "self-help" guide is recommended to be improved through implementation in pilot hotels; and the proposal set of benchmarks need to be different for hotels in different provinces of South Africa considering the differences in climate conditions.

Populations of small prey species (< 92 kg) can be regulated by competition, habitat-mediated responses, climate change, disease and predation. Populations of small prey species have declined in the Addo Elephant National Park Main Camp Section since the reintroduction of apex predators (lion and spotted hyaena). One possible explanation is predation by lion and spotted hyaena. However, small prey species are not generally considered preferred prey items of these predators, hence their contribution to predator diets needs to be explored. Global Positioning System (GPS) cluster analysis has emerged as a viable approach to locate lion kills for lion diet estimation in AENP, however this technique is known to bias diet estimates to large prey species. Understanding the impact of lion predation on populations of small prey in Main Camp therefore requires better estimates of lion diets. This study investigated the potential underestimation of small prey species in lion diet estimates by combining the data from scat analysis and carcasses located at GPS clusters. The adjusted lion diets were then used to investigate if the impact of lion predation could explain declines in small prey, by relating lion prey preferences to prey population trends in Nyathi. Using the results from Nyathi, it could then be inferred whether lions could have been responsible for the declines observed in Main Camp. Six GPS-collared lions provided location data used to construct individual movement paths, along which spatio-temporal clusters of GPS locations (n = 4896) were identified for ground investigation. Carcasses (n = 643) were recorded at the GPS clusters and scats (n = 256) were collected at GPS clusters with or without carcasses. Data from the located carcasses and scat collections were then used to create a history of feeding events for each collared lion in Main Camp-Colchester and Nyathi from a) carcasses alone or b) a combination of scats and carcasses, based on an estimated short and long lion throughout period. Relative prey availability was estimated based on camera trapping in Nyathi in high lion, low lion and no lion use areas, as lions may encounter some prey species more than other prey species. Jacobs’ index prey preference was used to investigate the importance of prey species to lion diets at three landscape scales: 1) Nyathi, 2) lion UD and 3) core lion UD. Lastly, prey population trends were investigated in Nyathi to provide an indication of possible changes in prey populations. Large prey species dominated the adjusted diets of lions in Main Camp-Colchester and Nyathi. However, when comparing the GPS carcass-derived lion diet estimate to the combined lion diet estimate, small prey were underestimated more often than large prey in the GPS carcass-derived lion diet estimate. Missed feeding events were therefore a function of prey body size. In addition, missed feeding events were also representative of the lion diets based on carcasses, with the tendency for species more often consumed to be missed more often in the diet record. However, even though small prey species were underestimated, they represented the minority of species consumed by lions and were predominantly avoided by lions in Nyathi. Lion prey preferences thus did not correlate to the declines in small prey species in Naythi, suggesting other potential drivers are important for small population trends in Nyathi. Lion predation cannot be ruled out as a driver of the decline in small prey species in Main Camp, due to different ecological conditions (e.g. vegetation density) in Main Camp compared to Nyathi, during the observed small prey population declines. Lion prey preferences in Nyathi revealed fine-scale variations in species specific preferences by lions, as well as site-specific differences in prey preferences when compared to published lion prey preference meta-analyses. These findings suggest that metaanalysis studies should be used as a guideline from which hypotheses about local predatorprey interactions can be developed rather than as an absolute measure of prey preference.

M.Sc. / KwaNibela Peninsula is situated directly adjacent to the World Heritage Site of Lake St. Lucia, and lies between the northern parts of False Bay and Lake St. Lucia. The community of KwaNibela is not unlike many other rural communities in Africa, found in pristine areas with very little development having taken place over the years. However the pristine environment of KwaNibela is under threat from the community themselves, through excessive hunting, slash and burn bush clearing, the encroachment of alien plant species, and various uncontrolled forms of harvesting from the bush. Around the world eco-tourism has been seen as a way to sustainably fund conservation and benefit the local communities. For the conservation of the sand forests and surrounding wetland areas of KwaNibela it is necessary for the local people to see the benefit of conserving the area in their everyday life. Ecotourism has been investigated as the solution to conservation problems at KwaNibela. However it should not be neglected that for hundreds of years the people of KwaNibela have been harvesting from the bush and it is a part of their everyday life, so sustainable ways of using the natural resources in the surrounding area are also being looked at. A plan to demarcate a conservancy area is put forward and to allow limited harvesting and promote and develop tourism in that area. The education of the local community is also of paramount importance to the progression of the project, right from primary school level to the adult community members. The tourism potential of the area is immense; but depends on the development of the right infrastructure and skills to make it a success.