Ecological Management Plan

Over the course of October & November I am busy with a Conservation Management Plan for Sondela Nature Reserve.

A Conservation Management Plan is a five year setup up for the overall improvement of the Ecology of a wildlife reserve. It incorporates all the major areas that influence biodiversity on a Game farm. Such factors include Water Management, Invasive Plant Management, Fire Management, Game Counts for Carrying Capacity, Soil Erosion, Infrastructure Maintenance, Maintenance of Paths & Tracks as well as Road Networks, Resources Management & the impact of tourists.

My areas of the plan that I am covering are the Invasive Plant Management, Fire Management, Maintenance of Paths & Tracks, & Resources Management.

Invasive Plant Management focuses on the Alien/Invader Plant species we have on Sondela. Plants such as Inkberry, Bankrotbos, Sekelbos, Melkbos, Vaalboom, Sweetbos & Queen of the Night. The idea of the management of Invasive plants is to identify the role the play on Sondela, what effect they have on the environment, the effect they have on animals, where they are located on the farm & how they can be controlled. The importance of the management plan is to work out an effective strategy over a five year period that will assist in controlling the plants so that they dont completely overrun the farm.

Fire Management focuses on the effect of fire on Sondela as well as the methods we are taking into consideration to ensure that fires don't cause damage on the farm. Things that need to be taken into account are where the major fire danger areas are, areas that have burnt in recent times, areas where high amounts of combustible material are & the location of infrastructure. This information is very helpful in the set up of fir breaks that need to be cut out & maintained.





Maintenance of Paths & Tracks focuses on the constant repair, development & maintenance of the bicycle & walking trails on Sondela. This is a major factor considering Sondela hosts three major events throughout the course of the year, the Uithourit, the bicycle race & the Sondela fun run. Maintenance of paths & tracks can ensure that injuries to personnel as well as animals such as horse don't get hurt. The walking trails also afford guests the opportunity to spot some of the game that we have on Sondela. Maintenance plans worked out over a period of five years can ensure that the trails are always in pristine condition & the chances of serious accidents can be radically reduced.

New Road

We have been really busy lately with the layout of a new road on the van Resnburg Avenue stretch. The reason being for this is that the old road is very worn away by the constant use as well as the elements. This is the perfect example of an Eroded road.

The new design of the road is to be made in such a way as to negate the possibility of erosion in the future. The road is being made with a little more curve in the road so that any natural run off areas from rain fall flows into the bush rather than cause a river down the road.

We added to the road by laying branches and fallen sickle bush along the sides of the road to assist in the regrowth of the bush around the roads, the dying materials feed valuable nutrients back into the soil so that pioneer grasses can start growing again. Once these pioneer grasses start feeding their nutrients into the soil, even better grasses and plants can start growing.

Bulrush

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Went in the afternoon to the dam at the boys house to remove the bulrush around the dam. The dam was almost empty so it made access to the bulrush a little bit easier, the soil in the dam is turf soil which is very thick and makes getting stuck very easy.
Bulrush is a plant that grows in dams and lakes. It can grow to 10 feet in length and grows very dense. Fish use these plants as hiding place from predators as well as for food. These plants put a lot of nitrogen into water, they have a huge impact in particular on small dams.
We went in with rakes, forks and slashers to cut, rake and collect the bulrush, there after we took the bulrush to the compost heap as new materials to be decomposed.
The unit standard we covered was control of problem plants and harvesting of flora.

Y-Standards

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Was asked today by Sieg to remove the old Y-Standards along the Beest Kraal fence. It looked really untidy and was not attractive if guests rode past there. It was also a danger for any animals that might walk past there. They were really deep in the ground so we decided the best option would be to break them at the base. We bent them to the point where they snapped, then loaded them and took them to the pale kamp where they could be stored.
This was part of our erecting and maintaining wildlife fences unit standard.

EM

Wednesday 27 July 2011

We went to spray EM today. EM stands for Essential Micro-Organisms. It is very useful for the eradication of flies and other pest insects, as well as it is very helpful in the growth of grass that has died.
The areas we had to spray with EM were the hedge by the caravan park, the bathrooms in the caravan park, the stables, the latties at Piccinini's, the bathrooms at Piccinini's, the grass patch behind reception, the hedge in front of reception, and the hedge at the guest house.
We dealt up into teams, each with a 20 litre bottle of EM and a backpack sprayer. It was easier this way to get everything done quicker and more effectively.
This is essential for the Control of non dangerous damage causing animals unit standard.

Game Capture

18 March 2011

This was probably the most exciting and fun week I have had to date in the second year of my Resource Guardianship. With my first group of first years, as well as the species care group, we helped in the set up of the boma where the animals were going to be chased into before being led into the truck. This was very important for the first years in particular to cover their harvesting of fauna unit standard. For the second year students it was important for our carry out a game capture operation unit standard.

Before any game capture operations can begin, we had to go through all the planning with the first years, as well as explain to them how the game capture was going to work, what was going to be caught, and the most vital safety aspects that had to be followed to prevent injury. The first years were all very excited to get started on the game capture, but they had to do the hard work before the fun began.

The set up of the boma was the first really crucial thing that had to take place. The boma had to be set up in a place where we could be well hidden, that was relatively stable ground, as well as where there would be no obstructions on the curtains. The poles and cables went up pretty much in tandem, thereafter the curtains were hung up on the cables, and finally the camouflage areas were built up to hide the curtains and the men pulling the curtains.

Having to be at Sondela at half past 5 in the morning was critical, because with it being March and still summer, it got really hot really quickly so it was a major risk to have the animals running in the heat for risk of dehydration and fatigue. So the early morning start ensured the animals wouldn't be too greatly affected by the chase.

The helicopter was an essential part of the actual capture proceedings. When doing mass capture, the method we were using, the helicopter is very effective in chasing animals into the boma area and thus led onto the trailer of the truck.

The curtains on the boma are also very critical in ensuring that once the animals have been chased into the boma, that they don't escape again. the boma was designed in such a way that there are a series of boma curtains so that while the animals are chased further into the boma the curtains close behind them preventing their escape, Unfortunately for us Eland are unbelievable jumpers and one managed to clear the boma curtain.

In conclusion we managed to catch six Gemsbok bulls, a lot of Wildebeest as well as Zebra and Blesbok. It was an amazing experience and something I would definitely do again.

Bicycle Race Weekend

The last two weeks with my new Resource Guardianship students has been hectic to say the least. All the preparation for the bicycle race had to be done so that the riders could be as safe as possible on the route.

Tuesday 12 July 2011 & Wednesday 13 July 2011
Was asked to go out with Mel on quad bikes to go on the bicycle routes so that we could see all the work that had to be done. We rode the entire stretch past the Olifant Kamp, up under the eskom lines, past the Tambuki koppies down to the Maroela dam.

Thursday 14 July 2011-Friday 22 July 2011
The hard work began, more than a week of hard graft on the bicycle trails so that we could have everything ready for the race. We started with splitting the students up into four groups with the hope of covering a lot of ground relatively quickly, but we ran into a major problem this way and were actually held back due to the students becoming easily fatigued. We went on like this for a couple of days until we came to realize it just wasn't working, so a change of plans was in order. We decided to move along as one large group through the whole trail, which was a lot more effective, the work got done a lot quicker and was a lot neater. The students I had working with me on the trails worked very hard and were hurting by the end of the trails. The first years learned a lot about maintaining in field infrastructure while they were busy on the trails. Maintaining in field infrastructure was one of the first year unit standards to be covered, meanwhile myself, Zenobia and San-Mari got to cover one of our second year unit standards as well, this being Maintaining paths and tracks.

Saturday 23 July 2011
Saturday was just an unbelievably crazy day. We had to be at work at 6:30 in the morning to start the preparation for the bicycle race. My day started with fetching the cruiser so that the marshals could be put out on the track for t6he race. Thereafter I went to fetch my quad bike for the day as I was going to be out on the track as both a marshal and a sweeper. I marshaled for the 5km race then was asked to wait for the 20 km and 40 km races to go out before showing the ambulance where to be stationed on the course. Once that was done, I was sent to sweep for the 40 km race, I drove the trail behind the riders to assist anyone who got hurt or got punctures. Once the race was done the clean up of the caravan park started, this took a good couple of hours where after I took the guests at the caravan park on a game drive.

Sunday 24 July 2011
A very quiet day for all of the students, and a good opportunity to just relax a little bit more. It was a day of mostly clean up work where we went out and collected all the danger tape and sign boards for the race.