March AWARD Newsflash
The RESILIM [Olifants] Resource Pack
is ready for launch!
After nearly seven years of work, the RESILIM O programme is set to leave a legacy of material that can be used by those interested in building catchment resilience in the region. The RES-O Resource Pack is a carefully thought-through set of materials that are categorised into four key thematic or content areas associated with resilience building, namely, Institutional Support, Water, Land and Climate Change. Within each of these areas resources will be available as Technical Reports, Full Reports, Project Summaries, Guidelines, Booklets, Policy and Practice Briefs, Games, Flyers and Brochures.
Project activities are arranged according to the four colour-coded thematic areas. A variety of materials in various formats that can be downloaded and used as either reference material or guidelines for specific practices. Resources are all linked to the overall resilience-building activities associated with the USAID: RESILIENCE IN THE LIMPOPO BASIN PROGRAMME.
Click here for an overview brochure listing all the resources according to thematic areas. Some materials are available on the website – the remainder and more will be uploaded soon.
Marvellous Mangroves restored in Mozambique
As a part of the closure of the grant awarded to AQUA (formally known as CDS) in Mozambique, the AWARD team visited the organisation and spent a day with community members planting a mammoth 3000 new mangroves in the Limpopo estuary near Xai Xai in Mozambique.
The team of nearly 100 community members, mostly women, gather in preparation
for the mammoth mangrove planning task
Planting mangroves is hard work, especially in estuarine mud! Rows of newly germinated mangroves
wait their turn to be returned to the Limpopo estuary
Mangroves are notoriously difficult to cultivate yet the team at AQUA under Snr Henriques Jacinto Balidy have built up a wealth of experience and have a good success rate at germination. They are currently maintaining an enormous mangrove nursery that enabled the community members to plant a massive 3000 mangroves on the day.
Snr Agostinho Nhamzimo has become a regional expert in mangrove cultivation and is dedicated to establishing the mangroves that were largely destroyed in the 2000 and 2012 floods.
Elsa Gloria de Jusus Monjane from AGUA keeps detailed track of the planting activities
The head of the Village is Salimina João Mahiele. She recalls a time before the erratic floods of recent years destroyed the mangroves.
"When the mangroves were in good condition, we had more resources to use, like fish and crabs. When I was young, the mangroves were very big and covered large areas. We used to harvest some for use, but now, there are not enough."
The exciting planting event took place at full moon when tides entering the Limpopo estuary are at their highest to ensure that the newly planted seedlings are well on their way to being established. A great example of how community action can be linked to catchment restoration. Well done all!
Support for Maruleng Local Municipality:
an initiative with many faces
AWARD has supported the Maruleng Local Municipality over the past four years through various projects under its Memorandum of Understanding.
a) A first for Biodiversity in South Africa - Collaborative development of an electronic version of the Critical Biodiversity Areas map
As part of the collaboration between AWARD and the Spatial Planning and Economic Development (SPED) directorate of Maruleng, the MSI team is in the process of developing a proof of concept for an electronic version (mobile phone App) of the Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBA) map. If the concept is taken to scale it will be a game-changer for how biodiversity is integrated into municipal land use planning. The SPED staff and the AWARD team have jointly developed the proof of concept so that the App will have maximum applicability for practitioners evaluating land-use change applications. The App will also be useful for prospective landowners, conservation planners, estate agents and many others. We are currently exploring funding mechanisms for the full development of the mobile phone app that will be downloadable from various software platforms.
LEFT: Derick du Toit from AWARD explains how the mobile App can be used to determine the status of biodiversity on any farm portion within the municipal boundary
RIGHT: Members of the Maruleng SPED directorate discuss what would be valuable for assisting them with the incorporation of biodiversity into land-use decisions
b) Supporting Local Government in developing food security through agroecology
Another municipal support project involves exploring ways of encouraging the development of Local Economic Development programmes by supporting local small scale agriculture. In this respect our partner, Mahlathini Development Foundation, who is implementing an agroecology project in conjunction with the Agriculture Support Initiative in Sekororo, met with Tsakane Thivane the LED manager at Maruleng.
The collaborative partnership will be providing financial training and support for training in organic food production for over 100 farmers. The ultimate aim is to provide organic produce for the local markets and government institutions.
The AWARD team and Mahlathini Development Foundation meet with Tsakane Thivane, the LED
manager at Maruleng to discuss future collaborations
What do farmers base farming decisions on – money, security, habit…?
A highly coordinated project involving researchers from a number of institutions in France, University of Pretoria, MDF and AWARD will look into the complexities of behavioural economics in the field of small-scale food production. The project team will run a number of “field laboratory” experiments in an attempt to shed some light on what drives small-scale farmer decisions. These results are important for assisting project teams to design collaborations towards adopting climate-smart, agroecological practices. This research process will be tracked on the AWARD website.
Collaborative partners are: CIRAD/UMR G-EAU/University of Pretoria; Centre of Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA); Centre for Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn); Centre for Environmental Economics, Montpellier; CIRAD G-Eau, Montpellier.
Dr Stefano Farolfi (CIRAD G-Eau) explains research design to the experimental and behavioural
economics team during their visit to AWARD in March 2020
Progress with the multi-stakeholder Greater Kruger Strategic Development Framework
A complex multi-stakeholder project involving a great number of institutions and organisations bordering the Kruger National Park is being implemented by SANParks, Urban Econ and a number of partners including AWARD. On 9 March a broad spectrum of stakeholders met to hear about the progress being made in the institutionalisation of the various plans and projects identified as fundamental to the integration of KNP into a broader regional economic landscape.
Presenters answer questions from the floor at the well-attended GKSDF meeting on 9 March
The map indicates the extent of the boundaries of the GKSDP Integration Zone. Neighbours located within this zone will be invited to participate in collaborative project development that engage tourism and conservation.
Updates...
USAID: RESILIM O Closure Event postponed
The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 have resulted in AWARD needing to postpone the RESILIM O close-out events scheduled for the 19 and 20 March 2020. The events have now been tentatively scheduled for some time in May. We will keep our partners updated regarding the new dates.
Farewell to Sli…
As RESILIM O closes we bid farewell to yet another staff member. Silindile Mtshali has worked as a junior research specialising in GIS on the Blyde Restoration project under RESILIM O. Sli will be furthering her studies … we wish you all the very best!
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Following a media release by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 23 March 2020, a nation-wide lockdown will be implemented in terms of the Disaster Management Act from midnight on Thursday 26 March 2020 until midnight on Thursday 16 April 2020.
The AWARD office will be closed during this period but feel free to
contact staff directly as they will be working from home.
TAKE CARE!
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