2005/2006 - SANParks

2005South African National ParksARID CLUSTERCONSERVATIONDue to the good rainfall, spectacular fl owering has already beenobserved and the park’s overall vegetation and animal species are ingood condition. The heavy rainfall necessitated maintenance on mostroads in certain places where the water run-off was very high.Progress on the Aloe dichotoma research includes a database ofnearly 600 individual trees depicting an assessment on populationstatus and impacts. The relocation of game which was conductedduring the period under review from Vaalbos, 47 Red Hartebeest and14 Ostrich were released in the new section of the park. The gamerelocated last year from the northern section, Giraffe and Hartmann’sZebra, are doing well.CLIMATIC CONDITIONSRainfallVeldt Hut Boma Zeekoei steek Blouputs Rest Camp DaberasApril 10mm 23mm 14mm 17mm 18mm 35mmMay 68mm 58mm 77mm 69mm 51mm 59mmJune 0 0 0 0 0 0July 0 0 0 0 0 0August 0 0 0 0 0 0September 0 0 0 0 0 0October 9.5mm 15mm 25mm 24mm 10mm 26mmNovember 9mm 17mm 10.3mm 8.5mm 10mm 11.8mmDecember 8mm 5mm 4mm 0mm 5mm 4mmJanuary 47.5mm 30mm 24mm 47.5mm 64mm 59.5mmFebruary 51mm 35mm 4 4mm 62mm 35mm 37.5mmMarch 3mm 0mm 0.2mm 3.5mm 20.5mm 0.2mmLong-termAverage 17.2mm 15.3mm 16.5mm 19.3mm 17.8mm 19.4mmTotal 206mm 183mm 198.5mm 231.5mm 213.5mm 233mmThe rainfall for this period was sporadic (i.e. different sectionsreceived different amounts of rainfall) in the park. Accordingly theveld is not in a bad condition due to the good rainfall experiencedin the month of May.PEOPLE AND CONSERVATIONEnvironmental education activities are ongoing and holiday programmeswere implemented. A total of 338 adults and 239 children, 577 personsin total, went through the holiday programmes.PUBLIC RELATIONSEpisodes of the SABC TV show Isidingo were shot in the park withcommunity members fi lling in as ‘extras’ along with the popular cast.Octagon CSI was and continues to be involved with a show calledDestination South Africa which is produced for SABC Education.This innovative new magazine programme will be targeted at childrenbetween the ages of 9 – 15 years and is broadcast weekly onSABC 2. The main aim is to build in them a sense of pride in thetarget audience their country, community, family and self - in short:to show each and every child in our country how to be all-roundproud of South Africa, particularly as we celebrate our democracy.The scene that was shot in the park was broadcast on SABC 2 inNovember 2005. Positive response has been received from thecommunity in this regard.As part of SABC2’s Superstar Summer Tour a group of Park kids weretaken on a guided walk by the two Nature Conservation students.The walk was fi lmed for the SABC2’s Superstar Summer Tour. ThePeople and Conservation Offi cer, accompanied by one child, was partof the live TV-production shot in Upington on Monday 12 December2005. The one story involved a story on the park, with Werner Bock,a learner, plus one of our staff members, Field Ranger Mario Titus,while the other story was fi lmed at one of our community schoolsin Augrabies.72