6 minute read
The Return of functioning Ecosystems through rehabilitating Land
A company’s vision for the future is the restoration of rangeland and ecosystems in central Namibia
“With the bush thinning we are trying to get this area back to a functional ecosystem. The main reason we want to make it functional is to ensure that wildlife has sufficient space and grazing. We inherited a system that wasn’t functional, so we are trying to clean it up and make sure it works with the visions the company has for the Otjikoto Nature Reserve”, says Miya Kabajani, a Research Coordinator for B2Gold, based at the Otjikoto Mine in central Namibia.
The mine is situated on what was previously cattle farmland, and as Miya points out there was “a lot of overgrazing and bush encroachment”. It affected the mobility of the animals, and what they ate. It also affected the type of plant species found there, as Miya and her research team soon found out.
Using Science and Research
After studying Nature Conservation at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Miya started her career in conservation. Plants are her passion and she wrote her Master’s thesis on “the recruitment of valuable woody species”. It wasn’t long before Miya joined B2Gold at the company’s Environmental Education centre adjacent to the gold mine on the Otjikoto Nature Reserve.
Through NUST, one of the partner institutions, the Education centre attracts students enrolled in environmental studies. “We have been fortunate in that students have come to do their internships with us each year. We give them a project to workon a certain topic, and that information will be used for our management plan”, Miya says.
“This year we looked at grass, and aspects of the grass in areas that have been thinned and areas that have not. It was interesting to see the differences in terms of grass species. There was diversity in grass biomass and in the overall density of woody species. It was different from the area that had not been thinned.”
Miya, herself an avid researcher, says, “that is the beauty of research, not only seeing but also being able to quantify. We could see the differences when we looked at the areas because they were just opposite each other, but we also looked at the details of how many grass species and how much biomass we had on either side. There were more on the side that was thinned. It goes to show that thinning makes space for the grass. When the areas are overgrown, it’s like putting an umbrella over the grass. Not much happens there because it can’t see the light.”
Miya shows some of the open spaces created around their Environmental Education Centre
“When you clear, you open up space for the grass to come through, and that ultimately translates into more grazing. In our case we used to have the animals concentrate on the pan,” says Miya, referring to the clay soil of an open plain found on the Otjikoto Reserve. “By this time of the year, it would be one big swirl of dust because almost all the vegetation would be gone. Last year we did a study and found that the animals have started moving through the areas we had cleared to the northern part of the property. They didn’t do that before, and this reduces their impact on the Pan, because now they have different grazing options. You think you do one thing, but it translates into something else, the ripple effect of activity.”
Another interesting finding of their research, according to Miya, was the change in grass species, especially after a veld fire moved through one of the camps. “We targeted Black Thorn (Acacia mellifera) and Sickle-bush (Dichrostachys cinerea) and had cleared an area in 2013. In 2018, just after the rains had started, we had a fire as a result of a power line that fell over. Over 18 hectares burnt down, just north of the pan. We used to have tall turpentine grass there, and animals don’t like that grass. But when we studied the area we found different types of grass and less turpentine. The combination of thinning and fire caused that change”, Miya says.
A watering hole in an area where bush control was used on the Otjikoto Nature Reserve.
“What we have done has worked, we have seen successes, we have learnt from it and we continue to learn. One of the things that we learnt was the importance of aftercare. It is something that a lot of people overlook and we were no exception.”
Explaining the process of bush thinning, Miya says, “we do it both manually and mechanically. We get contractors to do it for us. We adhere to the forestry regulations, and before we clear we have to adhere to our internal structures, according to which we have to apply for a permit from our Environmental Department. Also, we have different habitats on our property, for example the northern parts are different from the southern corner. It means that we can’t use the same process, because the south has a lot of rocky patches whereas the north has some sandy patches. Therefore we look at all the options and balance them in terms of conditions and habitats.
Seeing an Increase in Wildlife Numbers Miya says that concentrating on the company’s land use and looking into biomass control has not only been a successful endeavour, but also an important one. “We see our wildlife numbers increasing and with that we need to increase the available habitat space for them.”
B2Gold’s vision for the future of this area includes a rewilding project. As Miya explains, “One of our biggest projects is the creation of a Greater Waterberg Park. It is a rewilding project with the goal to merge the B2Gold farms with the neighbouring farms through a corridor that reaches all the way to Waterberg National Park. The result would be a huge park, a people’s park and an open system with wildlife roaming free. We are also looking at commercialising some of the human activities to sustain the reserve going forward, after the mine reaches the end of its lifecycle.”
Miya Kabajani, a Research Coordinator for B2Gold, based at their Otjikoto Mine in Central Namibia.
In the meantime, the centre has many exciting research plans and projects, including one that focuses on succulents and could hold possibilities for future biomass projects. According to Miya “together with NUST, and also Oxford University, we will be using succulent plants for animal fodder and fruit production. Possibly also for energy. That research is happening here on our property, with expertise from the two universities. It still is in the early stages, we’ve just done the planting”, Miya says. I think looking at the industry itself, there is still a lot to be explored. We have explored charcoal, Namibia is in the top five charcoal exporters in the world. It will be interesting to see what else we can do.”
Ever the avid botanist, Miya shares her delightful smile as she continues, “One of the other highlights that we are really proud of is our rehabilitation nursery. Within a year we have managed to plant over 5000 trees from seed. We even received a tree award from the Botanical Society.”
Kirsty Watermeyer
