The World Cup has finally arrived in

South Africa. So it is hard to resist being predictable and using this event to fill this editorial article with plenty of metaphors, puns and clichés. So that is exactly what we are going to do.

Four years ago, I attended an interna-tional meeting for the Convention of Biological Diversity in Curitiba, Brazil. During that meeting some delegates received a shirt emblazoned with “Countdown 2010”. The count began. By 2010, the international community was going to celebrate reversing the loss of biodiversity worldwide. Sadly, in this year of the International Year of Biodiversity, this is a game we have not yet won. We are losing. Time is ticking. And there is no guarantee that we will be awarded any more “extra time.”

The World Cup has kicked off. Much of the first week was characterized by a lack of goals and unexciting matches. Commentators noted that the Cup was being characterized by defensive play and a mindset of not wanting to “lose” rather than finding ways to win. Despite what is at stake, it has been surprising how many teams have showed not only a lack of steely determination but simply a general lack of creativity and urgency in their play. We have also witnessed how internal bickering is simply undoing teams at their seams.

So what does this have to do with the conservation of biodiversity? Maybe not much except for a few metaphors.

One cannot help but wonder how we are playing this game of conservation. Given what is at stake for civilisation—(which is more than a stumpy gold trophy) — are we teaming together with required creativity and urgency? Or have we in conservation (science) become our own worst enemy? We are missing the targets and simply not scoring the goals we set ourselves. Team Biodiversity is facing elimination.

Not only that, but we have too few supporters. What will it take to get our fan-base fanatical? When will we proudly wear our real team colours? If there is one thing we can learn from football, it is that it stirs up strong global emotions like little else. How do we ignite passion in Team Biodiversity? What sort of experiences will invoke public emotions to cheer this team on?

And we need to consider our mindset. There was one match in this World Cup when the manager, in a move aimed at not losing after having a player sent off, substituted an attacker for a defender. We cannot say what message this sent the rest of his team but, as irony would have it, the defensive substitute ended up handballing in the box. This gifted the opposition a penalty and the win.

How many times in conservation have we made the same mistake? In trying not to lose, we actually create a fearful mindset which uncannily brings that unwanted result into being! The psyche lesson here is ‘play positively’ . Always.

And what happened to the football teams from previous World Cups that threw caution to the wind and dazzled with their style and bold risk-taking? No, they may not have come away with the grand-prize but they are remembered for the emotion and wonder generated while they were at play. And I am sure those teams had damn good fun too.

Similarly, in conservation, we are often too focused on the outcome: the result is what matters. We forget that the process is just as important, and many argue even more so. This process must consist of many of the same character-istics as a top-class exciting football team would have: teamwork, balance, focus, communication, respect, energy, intent, determination, presence-of-mind, passion, patience-the list goes on.

Team Biodiversity must band together. We must change our mindset, our tactics, our strategy. We must create chances. We must find that ‘flow’ that allows a team to perform in unison—to reach individual & collective potential. And we must remember that it is still a game: let’s play fair and have fun. ~ MZ

Langkloof (SA): The Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve, together with Living Lands and Eastern Cape Parks, hosted a Conference and Biodiversity Action Day on 21-22 May at TerraPi in the Langkloof. The event was funded by the World Bank, UNDP, IUCN, WWF and the German Government. The conference on 22nd May marked the International Day of Biodiversity in this International Year of Biodiversity and was attended by about 60 participants including landowners, officials from national and provincial departments, NGOs, economists, scientists and students. Addressing the conference, CEO of Eastern Cape Parks, Nokulunga Maswana, said that the Baviaanskloof was “blessed to have such a large pristine wilderness area – one of few in the world.”

Launching the new Eastern Cape Parks Biodiversity Stewardship Programme, Maswana said that the farming community were key partners in conserving biodiversity and ensuring effective catchment management, which would have the downstream effect of making more clean water available for the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (Port Elizabeth). Biodiversity stewardship was a major theme of the conference, with Tracey Potts of Eastern Cape Parks and Willeen Olivier of DEA addressing participants on the options available to landowners. The conference also heard about progress made on payment for ecosystem services – finding creative ways to generate financial returns for biodiversity management practices, that have water and carbon benefits.

In addition to the conference, 130 schoolchildren took part in educational activities at TerraPi around the themes of Air, Water, Fire and Earth. Participants stayed in tipi tents, and family members attended parallel workshops on pottery, permaculture and plant propagation. For more info:, contact Tracey Potts at tracey.steyn@ecparks.co.za Original Article Source: C.A.P.E Action This event also saw Living Lands roll-out its new website for “Elemental Equity”: a charitable fund for investing in nature. Elemental Equity allows individuals and businesses to invest in the restoration of Air (carbon), Water (water), Earth (biodiversity) & Fire (renewable energy)in the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve. More info: marijn@earthcollective.net

Hitting targets & scoring goals: Hitting targets & scoring goals: Hitting targets & scoring goals:

How can Team Biodiversity create more chances?How can Team Biodiversity create more chances?How can Team Biodiversity create more chances?

A few images from the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve Biodiversity Action Days (youth education and workshop) celebrated at TerraPi on 21-22 May 2010.

BMR: Celebrating the International Day of BiodiversityBMR: Celebrating the International Day of BiodiversityBMR: Celebrating the International Day of Biodiversity

The trendy Living & Lifestyle shop ‘MienDomus’

is the latest partner to support restoration in

the Baviaanskloof. As a socially & environmen-

tally aware business, MienDomus is compen-

sating CO2 production emissions by investing in

spekboom plants through Elemental Equity.

MienDomus plants a spekboom for every

customer which spends 50 euro or more in

their shop. One hectare with 3000 spekboom

cuttings is already being restored...!

REMOTE-SENSING RESULTS

Eastern Cape (SA): Anita Bayer recently provided valuable results and feed-back to the farmers she worked with during 2009. Anita, a PhD student from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), carried out soil sampling on various sites around Kirkwood and Somerset East in the Eastern Cape Province. Anita sent a letter to participating farmers and provided a spatial analysis of the soil samples from their property. Included in her summary was a detailed map of sites visited; results of the chemical analysis of the collected soil samples; and maps showing the distri-bution of each soil parameter on the land-owner’s property. Anita’s research was dealing with the soil parameters of clay, iron and organic carbon and their connection to aerial remote sensing data. The knowledge of these soil parameters will also be used to asses land changes in the thicket biome and restoration through spekboom planting

Former PRESENCE student Marian Vittek from Wageningen University (WUR) finalized results of his 2009 thesis field research. His work focused on how changes in thicket vegetation (i.e. phenology) during seasons may be detected by aerial satellite images. The aims were mainly to validate on-ground/field observations with what may be detected by satellite imagery. H i s results conf ir med that : 1) Vegetation growth is highly corre-lated with rainfall; 2) Degradation processes occurred many decades ago and recent changes (last 10 years) of vegetation status were influenced mainly by climatic factors; 3) There is potential to use remote-sensing for continuous monitoring of thicket condi-tion based this phenology assessment; and 4) Degradation monitoring using time series of remote sensing data may be a rapid and cost effective method for monitoring thicket vegetation across large-scales. One application is for assessing the carbon sequestration rates across various (degraded)landscapes at different times of year.

EXPOSING BAVIAANS’ BENEFITS

Wageningen (NL): Former PRESENCE thesis and intern student Lucie Chuchmakova presented artistic results of her thesis work in am an artistic exposition at Wageningen University. The two-week exposition was titled “What did nature do for you today?” & was timed to coincide with the Interna-tional Day of Biodiversity on 22nd May.

The exposition creatively showcased Lucie’s thesis results which asked the children of the Baviaanskloof about their relationship with nature.

The exposition displayed the colourful drawings made by school children. These drawings formed part of the responses obtained by her research which focused on the children’s percep-tions of – and interactions with – eco-system services and biodiversity. The results of Lucie’s thesis research are being used by Living Lands, PRESENCE partners and the eyes4earth initiative to help guide the design of future environmental education programmes as part of a broader strategy to help reconnect youth to nature and further support restoration efforts in the area.

Lucie’s initiative needs to be congratu-lated as an excellent outreach effort for communicating scientific understanding of ecosystem services into the public domain in a simple and attractive way. In July, Living Lands will present this exposition to the Baviaanskloof schools who participated in Lucie’s research.

Lucie’s PRESENCE thesis and internship was supervised through Wageningen University and co-funded by the Anne van den Ban Fund.

RAINFALL, EROSION & RESTORATION

Western Baviaanskloof (SA): One of the most vital PRESENCE activities in the Baviaanskloof is the reforestation of denuded hill slopes with the native spekboom vegetation. It is assumed that this action should enhance water infiltration in the soil and also reduce water run-off. In turn, this should lead help recover - and improve - the base flow of the Baviaans River. However, the actual and quantifiable effects of replanting spekboom on these varied hydrological aspects remains uncertain. Marjan Sommeijer (MSc, Wageningen University) helped provide insight in to these processes by carrying out ‘rainfall simulation’ experiments on spekboom The initial results are promising...and interesting. So far it appears that spek-boom replanting is far more critical (in terms of reduced erosion) on steeper slopes. Age of spekboom as a variable mainly comes into play when the shrub/bush/tree is large and old; at which time it becomes an excellent water catcher. In general, replanted hill slopes appear to have higher infiltration rates and reduced run-off, which is good for the base flow and erosion mitigation!

Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve (SA): Martijn Zijlemans (student, VHL/WUR) recently joined experts Mike Powell (spekboom, carbon) and Jan Vlok (botanist) for three days fieldwork for research on ecologically degraded thicket areas in in Cambria, Goede Hoop and Baviaanskloof. From a conservation perspective, almost all slopes in Baviaanskloof are considered unhealthy or even “sick”. The team mapped the various biomes occurring in the areas visited and rated the degradation levels respectively. In the Gamtoos Bontveld and Gamtoos Valley Thicket, spekboom was present: occurring at 15% and 40% respectively. This field and mapping exercise was done in order to support future prioritization and implementa-tion of spekboom restoration across these biomes. (Text: M. Zijlemans)

Contact: Bart van Eck bart@earthcollective.net

Free-time? YJ: “Go out with friends & have a beer.”

MZ: “Guitar, football & watching movies with friends, playing cards, drink beers & go to the bar. ”

HB: “Just relax - most of the time during the weekend.”

Fitness? YJ: “I do it every week. Everyday in The Netherlands I go to the train station by bike. Here (Kouga Dam) I walk this big hill.

MZ: “Not fit.”

HB: “Just running , jogging.”

Favourites? YJ:“Boyfriend, friends & family”

MZ: “ Guitar, football & cooking—that’s my normal day.”

HB:“Travelling & having friends around me”

Family? YJ: “I’ve a good bond with my parents, I’ve 3 sisters & I like them all. I’ve 1 grandmother & she’s important to me.

MZ: “Grandmother…well I can name them all but that’s the first thing that came to my head.”

HB: “My mother & father— small family”

Food? YJ: “I love food, I really enjoy it if I go to a good restaurant. I love it.

MZ: “Indian & Mediterranean—those are my favorites .”

HB: “Italian!”

Fears? YJ: “Snakes & being really alone.”

MZ: “Heights - and that I lose somebody.”

HB: “If somebody I really love dies…that’s what I fear the most.”

9 Questions in 99 seconds with: Yvon, Martijn & Heleen

Yvon Joosten (YJ):

Creating a marketing

plan for the proposed

botanical gardens at the

PRESENCE Learning

Village (Kouga Dam)

Martijn Zijlemans (MZ):

Guiding an operational

payments system for

Elemental Equity. Also

investigating how

farmers can become

practically involved in

carbon trading.

Heleen ter Brugge (HB):

Supporting the EC Parks

land-owner stewardship

programme in the

western Baviaanskloof.

Includes visiting land-

owners to carry out the

initial site assessment.

The PRESENCE Network PageThe PRESENCE Network PageThe PRESENCE Network Page Updates from recent research in the Baviaanskloof MegaUpdates from recent research in the Baviaanskloof Mega--Reserve & beyond...Reserve & beyond...

Top: Marjan & and EC Parks rangers

experiment with the rainfall simulator;

Middle: Lucie’s exposition in Wageningen;

Above: PRESENCE students take time out

with Baviaanskloof farmers.

* PRESENCE: Participatory Restoration of

Ecosystem SErvices & Natural Capital, Eastern

Cape (SA). PRESENCE is a collaborative & multi-

stakeholder network aimed at guiding the

restoration of ‘living landscapes’ in South Africa.

PRESENCE is an initiative of EarthCollective; the

SA Living Lands foundation acts as secretariat.

PRESENCE in the Baviaanskloof is supported by

the Dutch Ministry (LNV) and WUR’s Ecosystem

& Landscape Services Programme (SELS).

Facebook? YJ: “I have one. It is good to contact your friends & see photos from SA”

MZ: “ Pictures, conversation, keep in touch. If you travel around it is good to have one to keep in touch with everybody.”

HB: “I don’t have Facebook. I prefer Hyves”

Future? YJ: “Finish my school & after that…I don’t know…maybe more study or maybe find a job.”

MZ: “Happiness with my girlfriend and family. Not a career. I just want to be happy and do something good for the world.”

HB: “Oh Jesus! I don’t really know what I’ll do in the future— maybe travel but I don’t know yet.”

Fieldwork? See profiles to left-side of page.

eyes4earth website launcheyes4earth website launcheyes4earth website launch

Global: EarthCollective celebrated Earth Day with the launch of the new eyes4earth website. The website fea-tures a new interface, interactive map-ping, online survey, flickr images, we-blog, twitter as well as new updates and plenty of background information aimed at connecting the science of sustainability with society.

“eyes4earth as an initiative was first launched back in April 2006” explains coordinator Matthew Zylstra. “Back then it was primarily driven by the ‘What did nature do for you today initiative?’ which was focused on pro-viding communication and outreach for the concept of ‘ecosystem services’.”

eyes4earth 2010 has now evolved from purely focusing on how people perceive ecosystem services to including how people are experiencing biodiversity through meaningful encounters.

The eyes4earth website accompanies PhD research being carried out through Stellenbosch University on this topic and its link with environmental change.

“A primary focus of this new website – and eyes4earth in general – is to link ecosystem services, biodiversity and climate change through people’s per-sonal and meaningful experience.” explains Matt. “Stories are an ideal way of doing this and something we can all relate to. So there is an opportunity for visitors to share their own story or take the online survey.”

In this International Year of Biodiversity it is critical to encourage people to engage with nature and share their emotive and profound encounters they with wildlife of all shapes and sizes.

“People resonate with wild stories about animals. It seems to tap into something primeval,” Matt believes. “So we’re keen to learn about how people find themselves re-connecting through meaningful nature experience”

An online survey will be available on the site soon and all are invited to respond!

Visit the eyes4earth website

Matt presented some of the eyes4earth research at the HPHP Congress (see below) with the title: “Meaningful nature experiences: the ultimate cata-lyst for reconnecting to biodiversity?”

Matt outlined why such experiences may be critical in facilitating a ‘felt’ understanding of ‘interconnectedness’. Matt noted that for many of us this idea of interconnectedness is something which we might only grasp at an intel-lectual level and that meaningful (e.g. synchronistic) nature experience might be one avenue through which one can directly feel a sense of ‘oneness’.

Matt also discussed the threats our experiences face through environ-mental pressures such as exotic weeds and, finally, the implications of all this for parks management and planning.

eyes4earth is an education outreach initia-tive for ongoing PhD research currently being carried out by Matthew Zylstra at Stellenbosch University , TsamaHUB and funded by the Centre of Invasion Biology.

Global Oceans: Blue whale songs are

mysteriously changing frequencies. In a

puzzling development, blue whales

around the world are singing in deeper

tones. This finding came as researchers

analyzed historical recordings of seven

types of blue whale songs taken in the

Pacific, Atlantic, Southern, and Indian

Oceans. The most-extensively moni-

tored type of song, recorded in the

eastern North Pacific, dropped in tonal

frequency by 31 percent between 1963

and 2008. The other six song types also

steadily moved to lower frequencies.

A number of key points were raised. It was found that the HPHP Congress:

- Articulated the same concept from different perspectives and was there-fore able to reach common ground;

- Was not simply an event but the start of an important process which captures many themes including the powerful message “We are what we care about”;

- Moves beyond ‘compartmentalization’ of social and ecological issues & takes a more holistic view of the issues at hand;

- Made explicit and cross-sectoral links between ecoservices well-being with a focus on education and health;

Melbourne (AU): The recent Healthy Parks Healthy People (HPHP) Congress held during April will be remembered for many things. its transdisciplinary nature – bringing together public health and the environment sectors with the shared motivation for casting aside any remaining doubts of the vital impor-tance of the environment to human health and well-being. And, most impor-tantly, it was about finding creative solutions for society.

The congress had almost 1100 atten-dees from over 38 countries. There were over 15 quality keynote speakers which further added to the motivation and energy of conference attendees.

- Emphasized the need for developing countries not to repeat the same mis-takes as developed countries, e.g. just as African nations are now moving their classrooms from outside to inside, European and U.S schools are realizing that classrooms should be moved from indoors to outdoors to enhance the learning potential of children.

Maybe part of the reason for HPHP’s success is that the conference picks up on a simple but forgotten message which is relevant to each one of us: Linking ‘human’ and ‘nature’ is key to our existence. It is our human nature.

Click here for full story and more info.

Share your meaningful nature experiences & profound wildlife encountersShare your meaningful nature experiences & profound wildlife encounters

Revealing Research: Revealing Research: Revealing Research:

Blue whales change frequency Blue whales change frequency Blue whales change frequency

Amazing and bizarre footage surfaced from

New Zealand in late March when tourists on a

whale-watching boat witnessed orca’s (killer

whales) attacking a pod of dolphins…and

threw one unlucky dolphin metres into the

air ...and to its death. A highly unusual sight…

Click here for full story and pictures.

Why such a widespread shift? Changes

in ocean temperature and acidity, which

might modify sound propagation

through the water, are too slight to

explain the trend, the researchers say.

The team also considered the possibility

that blue whales are responding to an

increase in human-generated noise in

the ocean. But if whales wanted to

overcome the noise by singing more

loudly, they would be more likely to

shift their frequency up rather than

down, says co-author Mark McDonald

of WhaleAcoustics.

Another potential explanation is the

recovery of whale populations,

prompted by the decline of commercial

whaling. If whale numbers are rising, the

team speculates, males might face more

competition for mates. Since females

may favour deeper tones, males could be

lowering the frequency of their songs to

improve their chances of success.

Source: Roberta Kwok: Conservation Magazine

- Volume 11, Number 1. From: McDonald, M., J.

Hildebrand, & S. Mesnick. 2009. Worldwide

decline in tonal frequencies of blue whale

songs. Endangered Species Research 9:13-21.

Healthy Parks Healthy People: a movement beginsHealthy Parks Healthy People: a movement beginsHealthy Parks Healthy People: a movement begins

Top: Children active in an outdoor classroom

Above: Author Richard Louv presents at the

Congress on Children & Nature-Deficit Disorder

Image http://www.freewebs.com/cetaceanrc/BlueWhale1.jpg

.

South Africa:

Living Lands has built a ‘Learning Lapa’ at the PRESENCE Learning Village (see Fotos from the Field above). The structure will serve as a base for local training, hands-on workshops and educational activities.

Odirilwe Selomane (Living Lands) has been selected to participate in SANPAD’s 2010/2011 Learning Programme: Research & Capacity Building Initiative (RCI).

Germany

Dieter Van den Broeck presented at the Salzau workshop: Solutions for Sustaining Natural Capital & Ecosystem Services

Canada

CVNI attended the International Society of Ethnobiologists Conference in Tofino Canada to help coordinate a session on sacred sites and to present work that EarthCollective had previously carried out in collaboration with Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation in Australia. Bas Verschuuren (CVNI) also assisted in the Community Conservation and Indigenous Peoples workshop organised by the Global Diver-sity Foundation. Both events furthered the work on a global coalition for sacred sites.

Estonia:

EarthCollective member Kim Janssen presented on behalf of IUCN-CEM Chair Piet Wit at the Nature Conservation 2010 and beyond conference with a presenta-tion titled “Rapid Ecological Appraisal for Peace-Support Operations.”

EarthCollective’s vision statement is:

to act as a catalyst for creating, enabling

and facilitating initiatives that restore links

between nature and human wellbeing.

And simply to get positive ideas happening.

EarthCollective has formalised three inter-

linking programmes: eye4earth, PRESENCE

and the Cultural Values & Nature Initiative.

Cultural Values & Nature Initiative (CVNI):

CVNI is an action research project which

aims to elicit cultural and spiritual percep-

tions of nature and the environment and

integrate them into ecosystem manage-

ment, nature conservation and policy.

eyes4earth:

eyes4earth.org is an outreach & education

initiative for reconnecting with nature

throu gh meaningful expe rience.

eyes4earth combines social marketing

media to stimulate awareness and changes

in perceptions, attitudes and behaviour.

PRESENCE (Living Lands - secretariat):

Participatory Restoration of Ecosystem

SErvices & Natural Capital, Eastern Cape.

PRESENCE functions as a collaborative

South-North platform to support and

catalyse new and existing programs for

‘mainstreaming’ the restoration of living

landscapes to support rural livelihoods.

South Africa:

The Annual Fynbos Forum will be held at Citrusdaal between 3-6 August 2010. The theme of this year’s forum is in line with 2010’s International Year of Biodiversity. Matthew Zylstra will present a paper as well as a poster on behalf of Living Lands.

Living Lands has been appointed prime contractor for implementing projects eligible under the Table Mountain Fund in the Baviaanskloof Mega-Reserve. In the coming months, they will organize a local scoping workshop for interested parties.

Global:

Various EarthCollective members have been invited as guest university lectures in the coming months both in South Africa and Europe. Topics will include Payments for Ecosystem Services; Conservation in Practice— closing the knowledge-implementation gap; and ‘Southern’ Perspectives on the Carbon Market.

Finland:

Bas Verschuuren will attend Delos III in Inarii, Finland to present CVNI work related to his recent work on sacred natural sites in Mexico as well as to participate in the IUCN-CSVPA steering committee meeting.

French Polynesia:

The final report for Financing Options for

Marine Protected Areas in Moorea is

expected in the coming months.

About EarthCollective News in a Nutshell Events & Agenda

Subscribe to EarthCollective

RSS News Feeds

EarthCollective is on LinkedIn

The PRESENCE Learning Village

(Kouga Dam) is on Facebook

"The first man who, having enclosed a piece of land,

thought of saying, "This is mine", and found people

simple enough to believe him, was the true founder

of civil society." - Howard Thurman

“I am not generalising, I am just talking about the

majority” - The Slow Thesis Movement

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new

ideas as in escaping from the old ones”

- John Maynard Keynes

"We hope that, when the insects take

over the world, they will remember with gratitude

how we took them along on all our picnics.''

- Richard Vaughan

Quotes of the Quarter

Po

etr

y

Pie

ce

LISTEN TO THE WHISPERS

Our Mother earth surrounds Animals and plants all around

Just take a moment and be aware How much they beg and supplicate

Asking to take time and listen to them Wondering if you will trust— and when

Has one of them whispered to you before? For sure, you have heard them for many a day

Now it is time to listen to what they have to say ~ A.V.

All photos in the Seasonal Supplement are supplied by EarthCollective members unless otherwise stated.