Fitz News: January 2010

Mazda Wildlife Fund: The driving force behind Ludwig’s Bustard conservation

In the 50th Anniversary year of the FitzPatrick Institute, some exciting new terrestrial bird projects are getting underway. One of these will investigate the conservation problems surrounding Ludwig’s Bustard, a species confined to southwestern Africa. Further great news is that the Mazda Wildlife Fund has loaned a 4x4 Mazda bakkie to the project, with full servicing, for the next three years.

Driven by the spirit of commitment since 1990, the Mazda Wildlife Fund reaches out far beyond its vehicles, showrooms and factories, by nurturing our nation’s wildlife through the loan of Mazda vehicles to high-priority conservation projects. “The Fund is dedicated to protecting and preserving our rich and irreplaceable natural heritage, having invested over R23 million, and is committed to a future investment of R1,5 million per year, contributing towards a multitude of conservation endeavours critical for the survival of our planet in areas such as education, conservation and research” says Humphrey LeGrice, the Manager of the Fund. The Fund currently supports 30 non-government and non-profit organization projects.

“Ludwig’s Bustards are confined to the semi-desert and desert regions of South Africa and Namibia, where they are nomadic, possibly following rain events” says Associate Professor Peter Ryan, the Bustard Research Project Leader. It is the largest endemic bustard of the region and, once airborne, is not very manoeuvrable. Recent studies have found that large numbers of Ludwig’s Bustards are killed when they collide with overhead power lines. In one area, collisions kill on average two birds per kilometre of power cables per year, and Ludwig’s Bustards make up 10% of all the birds killed in collisions with power lines in the arid areas of South Africa. There are already 8 000km of medium- and high-voltage power lines in the arid Karoo and, as South Africa continues to develop, the size of this power grid will only increase.

Also supporting the project are ESKOM, the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. As a direct spin-off from the Bustard Research Project, the FitzPatrick Institute will also be assessing the impacts of power lines on other birds, such as the smaller bustards, Blue Cranes (South Africa’s national bird) and White Storks, as well as the extent to which mitigation measures put in place to benefit Ludwig’s Bustards also benefit these species.

Image: Ludwig's Bustard. Photo: Chris van Rooyen.

Conservation Biology MSc Course: Visiting Lecturers

The details of  Conservation Biology MSc course components covered by visiting lecturers are listed on the Visitors page in the Staff, Students and Associates section of the website. A full list of Conservation Biology course components and lecturers can be found on the Conservation Biology Coursework Masters page.

Vice-Chancellor's Open Lecture: "Mass Extinction of Species: Why We Should Care and What We Can Do About It" by Sir Norman Myers

Dr Max Price, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at UCT, invite you to attend the

VICE-CHANCELLOR’S OPEN LECTURE:

"Mass Extinction of Species: Why We Should Care and What We Can Do About It"

Presented by Sir Norman Myers
Fellow of the 21st Century School, Green College & the Said Business School, Oxford University

Sir Norman Myers is a Professor and Fellow of the 21st Century School, Green College and the Said Business School, Oxford University. He is an Adjunct Professor at Duke University and a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Vermont and Cape Town. He has undertaken research projects and policy appraisals for the World Bank, United Nations agencies, the White House, numerous foundations, the European Commission and OECD. He has advised leaders of the Brundtland Commission, the Rio Earth Summit, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Food Summit, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. In the late 1980s he originated the biodiversity hotspots thesis, which has since mobilised over $850 million for conservation. In 1998 he received a Queen’s Honour for ‘services to the global environment.’ In 2007, he was identified by Time Magazine as a Global Hero of the Environment, alongside Al Gore and David Attenborough. He has received the Volvo Environment Prize, the UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize, and the prestigious Blue Planet Prize. These awards have recognized him as being the first to warn of mass extinction of species, the ecological fallout from tropical deforestation, environmental threats to security, ‘perverse’ subsidies, environmental refugees and the degradation of future evolution. He has published several hundred scientific papers and popular articles, plus 20 books including (2001) Perverse Subsidies: How Tax Dollars Undercut the Environment and the Economy; (2004) New Consumers: The Influence of Affluence on the Environment; (2005) The New Gaia Atlas of Planet Management; and (2008) The Citizen is Willing but Society Won’t Deliver: The Problem of Institutional Roadblocks.

Limited Seating: Kindly RSVP to Zukiswa Dlelembe via email: zukiswa.dlelembe@uct.ac.za, or tel:021 650 3759; by Wednesday, 3 February 2010.

Download a copy of the invitation