Nature news from around South Africa

The South African National Biodiversity Institute is a favourite of mine.

What do they do?

SANBI describes what they do on their website www.sanbi.org

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) leads and coordinates research, and monitors and reports on the state of biodiversity in South Africa. The institute provides knowledge and information, gives planning and policy advice and pilots best-practice management models in partnership with stakeholders. SANBI engages in ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation, leads the human capital development strategy of the sector and manages the National Botanical Gardens as ‘windows’ to South Africa’s biodiversity for enjoyment and education.

And they are getting it right by the looks of things!

Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town has been especially creative when it comes to attracting visitors, again and again.

For years now Kirstenbosch has hosted national and international artists and musicians for popular events like the Summer Sunset concerts.

You can check up coming events on the SANBI events page

Please note that all events and Botanical gardens (country wide) are included in the event guide

In the SANBI news from around South Africa

A new, exciting project currently under construction at Kirstenbosch is the Treetop Canopy Walkway. You can read all about the progress and importance of this project here

The opening date is currently set for March 2014

Great news from Mpumalanga for our grasslands and wetlands. To quote the SANBI news story:

A major milestone for the conservation of South Africa’s grasslands and wetlands was reached on 22 January 2014 when the Mpumalanga MEC for Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Pinky Phosa, declared five new protected areas in the province.

You can read the full article here

Should you wish to participate in any of the SANBI projects, please check the Research & Programmes section of their website for a full list of current projects.

Should there be volunteer opportunities or assistance required, you will find the details within each individual project.

New to South Africa (and already popular in various countries around the world is iSpot.

What is iSpot?

iSpot is essentially a site which will assist you in identifying plants, insects, birds, mushrooms/fungi and just about anything else in nature you can think of ( and have a photograph of ) and then sharing this information with the public and interested experts (including SANBI of course).

These same experts carry out the identifications based on the picture you submit and the location is was taken (spotted).

All you have to do is create a free account and get sharing. That bug in your garden may be the link a long suffering scientists has been waiting to identify!

I hope that you enjoy the articles and appreciate the diversity of beauty South Africa has to offer even more.