A look back into the Earth's History!

I consider it a privilege to be a member of the South African National Parks Honorary Rangers, it allows us opportunities to first and foremost give back to conservation but secondly it provides a steady channel of educational opportunities.


I was lucky enough to attend one of the more infamous courses within the Kruger National Park this previous weekend. It was hosted by a humble gentleman and an expert in his field...Mr. Clive Webber. The course, titled "Earth Sciences" encompasses geology, geomorphology, climatology and astronomy to name but a few. With out going into to much detail I just wanted to make a couple of points. It is very clear and even more so now to me that everything is interconnected. The basis of the terrestrial life is a direct influence on what is happening below out feet, this is often if not always ignored on the holiday game drives. It's great to go to our National Parks and reserves throughout the country and world for that matter and admire the rich diversity they hold. Understanding what is happening below really completes the picture...if you can, do yourself a favor and educate yourself on the geology of your country and locally specific National Park. It really will round things off and make your experience that much richer.

For more information on Honorary Rangers go to www.sanparks.org and click on the HR link.

Free Access to Parks during SANparks week!

From Monday, 13 September until Friday, 17 September, the country’s body charged with the management of national parks, South African National Parks (SANParks) will allow locals with valid identity documents an opportunity to spend a day at a national park of their choice free of charge.

The week-long campaign giving free access to the national parks will be applicable to all the national parks managed by SANParks, with the exception of Boulders in Table Mountain National Park, Tankwa and Namaqua National Parks.

According to SANParks General Manager: Media Relations, Reynold Thakhuli, the objective of the week is to cultivate a culture of pride in all South Africans in their relationship with the country’s natural, cultural and historical heritage, under the established theme “Know Your National Parks”.


The idea of a national parks focus week was conceived in 2006, after a realisation that a vast majority of South Africans were not accessing the national parks. “SANParks then embarked upon this campaign to encourage all South Africans, especially those from the communities around the parks, to share in what SANParks envisions to be “the pride and joy of all South Africans and the world”.

The feature element of this campaign is the free access granted to all South African day visitors carrying their official Identity Documents. Young persons under the age of 16 will be allowed free access without the requirement of proof of identity. It must be noted that the free access to the parks will not include any commercial activities in the park such as guided safaris in vehicles or guided walks, etc.

“Environmental education and protection is the responsibility of everyone, not just a privileged few. If we are to create a sense of ownership of the natural heritage of South Africa in all South Africans, then all South Africans must be able to have access to such,” said Thakhuli.

“We especially want our young people to take advantage of this opportunity because this heritage will be under their protection in the near future,” added Thakhuli.

“The annual SA National Parks Week has been made possible with support from First National Bank since inception. “In recent years, awareness of environmental issues and the impact we have on our environment has increased greatly. At FNB we recognise the immediate and potential threats posed by global warming and other environmental issues, and have taken steps to minimise our impact on our surroundings, said FNB Public Sector Banking CEO National Government,” Yvonne Zwane.

“FNB has embarked on environmentally friendly initiatives such as: energy saving that reduces the load on the Eskom grid, water conservation processes, paper saving initiatives and encouraging the use of recycled paper. This precipitates environmental impact reduction for a sustainable future through energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste re-cycling and indigenous gardens. Furthermore FNB has completed initiatives such as the development of the environmentally friendly Fairlands Building moving South Africa a step closer towards an environmentally friendly society,” concluded Zwane.

SANParks encourages all South Africans and especially educators and school groups to diarise these dates and plan a visit to a national park nearby.

For more information and activity list visit: http://www.sanparks.org/events/parks_week/2006/

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First death from poisoned Rhino Horn!

THAILAND
Bangkok Star - 18th August

A woman mourns over the body of her deceased husband after he had purchased apparently purposely contaminated Rhino horn on the open market in Bangkok. The source of the contamination is still to be verified but it is thought to be from a private game farm somewhere in southern Africa.

Officials in Thailand are frantic to identify the source, as the powdered horn is sold in miniscule amounts and they have no idea how much has already been distributed thoughout Bankok. Local hospitals are on standby for an unprecendented influx of new cases.

Officials are unable get information as the rhino horn dealers in Bangkok are being unco-operative. They neither want to be fingered as being the provider of the poisoned horn, not do they want to reveal their illegal international sources. It is believed that private game farm owners in southern Africa are colluding between themselves to distribute an effective poison that is harmless to the animals but harmful, or even fatal as in this case, to those that ingest the contaminated horn.

A game farm owner from the North West Province who obviously wishes to remain anonymous, has admitted to using the poison on 4 of his animals. Three of them have shown no side-effects whatsoever 2 months after the poison was injected into the horns. However the 4th rhino was slaughtered and de-horned on a remote part of his farm in the last week of July. When asked to comment on the death in Thailand from suspect poisoned rhino horn, he refused to be drawn into the morals of the farmers joint action. He said that there would be many more cases in the near future as he was personally aware of at least another 5 slaughters of contaminated rhinos in the North West Province alone.

Authorities in South Africa are unable to comment on the "poison" collusion among the game farm owners nor are they able to verify the souce of the contaminated horn.

So what is your view on game farm owners or for that matter South African National parks and other conservation organizations poisoning the horns? People would not be harmed if the horns where not taken illegally in the first place? Is this not the correct type of deterrent? Personally I think it is, drastic times call for drastic measures... Your views would be most welcome? 

Nampak & Honorary Rangers donate bins.

Friday September 3^rd 2010 – Skukuza Kruger National Park

The Johannesburg Honorary Rangers with the valued financial support of Nampak officially handed over the first 182 Stainless steel baboon proof dustbins to Skukuza and the Kruger National Park. The new improved bins not only keep our intelligent friends at bay but also contribute to the recycling process. The bins have been cleverly designed with 2 separate compartments to start the process of packaging separation at source, which is considered best practice.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Abe Sibiya, managing executive for the Kruger National Park, said that the project is a major part of the waste system management service in the park which seeks to control paper, plastic, glass, metal and cardboard wastage for recycling purpose which is the park’s contribution towards sound environmental management. “I am confident that the stainless steel dustbins that we are going to officially receive today will go a long way in assisting us to manage our waste in the park which is also going to provide a learning opportunity for the rest of the national parks in the country under SANParks”, continued Sibiya.

Speaking on behalf of the Honorary Rangers, Janssen Davies, chairperson of NEC Honorary Rangers reinforced the notion that the system installed was only as good as the recovery process which followed. An educational piece is still required to be rolled out to all SANParks staff to ensure the system is effective. It was under these conditions that Executive Director of Nampak, Mr. Fezekile Tshiqi confirmed the continued financial and active support of Nampak going forward. Nampak has a vision for the recycling in SANParks and this is the first step in ensuring Kruger and SANParks operate best practice.

Nampak has this year alone donated R700 000 worth of funding towards these bins and committed a further R100 000 to still be spent this year. The first test bins posed a few problems and this further donation will ensure these are ironed out. An unbelievable commitment to the environment and dedication to ensure the project is a success.

Thanks must go to the Nampak CSI committee for their support of this project and the commitment shown to the ongoing success. A further acknowledgment must go to Andrew Marthinusen who has single handedly pulled the necessary groups together and driven the project. It is members and quality of people such as Andrew that we would like to continue to attract to HR’s.

The project is long form over and phase 2 will be planned shortly. Watch this space.

A final thanks to, Kruger National Park for hosting the event, Mr. Abe Sibiya, Ms. Sithembile Mhlophe, Mr. William Mbasa, Mr Derek Visagie, Nampaks CSI Committee, Mr.Fezekile Tshiqi, Mr Janssen Davies, Mr. Andrew Marthinusen, press representatives and finally the JHB region.