Science, even when it comes up with answers to important problems, is often viewed by the public as Quixotic, a whimsical business of tilting at windmills, says Professor Andre Ganswindt, the director of the Mammal Research Institute “MRI” at the University of Pretoria. “As scientists,” he says, “we say ‘here is the problem’. People say, ‘we hear you’, but nothing happens. Do they not understand, or do they not want to?”
South Africa is famous for wildlife conservation and is recognized as a global leader in the management of wildlife resources, considered number three in the world in terms of biodiversity conservation. This has been achieved through the hard work of active management and careful intervention.
Pressing environmental problems are coming home to roost. Smart rangeland management can help change this, but we must act now, while learning from the past.
Yves Vanderhaeghen interviews a team of UKZN researchers studying how biodiversity can curtail both extreme flooding and the potential perils of heat stress in cities.
In a first for the African continent, researchers at the University of Cape Town are using a cutting-edge technique to fast-track the diagnosis of disease, ensuring patients receive the correct treatment sooner.
Yves Vanderhaeghen reports on a social enterprise aiming to farm and harvest Honeybush tea and regenerate the Langkloof catchment area at the same time.
Every day the news includes stories about the massive loss of biodiversity occurring globally and of the destruction related to climate change. Most people view these as separate problems, but they are not.
Boosting biodiversity could benefit farmers back pocket, writes Laylaa Teixeira Sampaio.
Yves Vanderhaeghen speaks to Dr Riaan Rifkin about the pioneering gene-sequencing by a team of South African researchers which sheds light on a pathogen which infected a child 2000 years ago.
Yves Vanderhaeghen interviews Dr Haemish Melvile, whose research suggests that animal carcasses can invigorate the environment
