The action just doesn’t stop lately. Just completed 2 days of mass game capture, wildebeest, zebras, impala. Everyone had a turn in the helicopter as it chased the animals into the capture funnel. Videos posted on you tube soon.
Reserve Work
Work on a reserve is diverse, and each day brings about new challenges, and developments.
Apart from the monitoring and research that you will be involved in there are also a number of other activities which may participate in:
Sleep outs / monitoring in remote areas. Not only is sleeping out in the wild an unforgettable experience but this also this provides more eyes and ears in an area which is beneficial as an anti – poaching tool.
Erosion control and habitat rehabilitation: volunteers will assist in ongoing habitat monitoring and rehabilitation initiatives in the reserve, including erosion control, the construction of gabions, brush-packing etc. Volunteers will also assist in the identification of other problem areas and formulate planning strategies for their rehabilitation
Assisting with maintenance of boundary fences and fence patrols. This is an integral part of any reserve as the fencing system is the boundary which not only keep our precious resources in but also keeps undesirables out.
Removal of internal fencing / pens / droppers / poles/ wire / rubbish from old mines etc. To get the reserve into pristine condition all old traces of human habituation need to be removed.
Building of any required bomas or other structures.
Participating in anti-poaching and snare patrols.
Game capture and transportation where applicable.
Erection and maintenance of roads, dams, boreholes etc.
Mechanical maintenance of equipment and vehicles.
Alien vegetation control: the volunteers will learn to identify and mechanically or chemically clear stands of alien and invasive vegetation on the reserve
Water provision and management.
Bush encroachment and its control
Management burning
Research & Monitoring Overview
As a volunteer you have the opportunity to work with the researcher and will assist with all of the research and monitoring which takes place on the reserve.
Both the vegetation and the animal components of the reserve need to be managed. One of the biggest challenges that we face today is the decrease of large tracts of land required by both the indigenous plants and wild animals of our country. This puts us in the unfortunate position where many systems must be managed and manipulated by humans. In order to do this we need intimate knowledge of how all the ecosystems function. This is where the importance of research and monitoring become apparent. At any given time there are a number of projects on the go and you will be the ones collecting the data that could one day be processed into a groundbreaking new approach or discovery. This is why it is so important that all data recorded is accurate as this could form the basis of a future management model.
At Pidwa our ideal is to mimic the natural system as much as possible. As the old saying goes “why reinvent the wheel?”. The natural processes have been hampered by human interference and this requires us to step in and “assist”. Assist is, however, the keyword and this is of course very different to total control. What we are trying to do is maintain the balance that would be present in a perfect situation where there was no interference or fences. The emphasis is on the system as a whole and the influence of the animals on the environment (and vise versa) must be established.
There are both short term projects and long term (or on-going) projects that take place on the reserve. Below are some examples of the type of projects that you could expect to be involved in:
Wild Cheetah Relocation Programme: be actively involved in the monitoring and mangement of these magnificent cats.
Sex / age ratio analysis: animal species will be monitored to establish optimal ratio to increase productivity. In conjunction with annual game counts, a more accurate idea of species population sizes, composition and sex/age ratios will be determined.
Large animal demography: volunteers collect data in the field and assist in the maintenance and upkeep of reserve records and the maintenance of identification kits.
Vegetation surveys – mapping of homogeneous units, monitoring the herbaceous and woody components etc. Many of these activities are seasonal such as veld condition assessments (VCA’s) and the volunteers on the reserve over this period would assist during these times
Ecological Base line surveys: students will contribute to the collection of data needed to compile a resource inventory
Predator / prey dynamics: prey selection, frequency of kills etc. will be monitored as predation influences the herbivore component directly which in turn affects the vegetation of the reserve. Being a stocked reserve there are also financial implications related to predation
Nyala Breeding project: assisting with the current Nyala project (feeding, maintenance and monitoring).
Nocturnal mammal focus: The monitoring of these species occurs during nocturnal drives, whereby volunteers participate to acquire data on the ranging, foraging and reproductive behaviour of nocturnal species
Assisting with game counts when needed
What is Wilderness?
Wilderness can be described as an area where the earth and its community of life are untramelled by man, where man himself is a visitor. Wilderness is allowed to retain its primeval character and influence, and is managed and protected so as to preserve its natural conditions. Wilderness offers outstanding opportunities for solitude, primitive and unconfined recreation and is of sufficient size to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition.
Important aspects of wilderness ethics are a sense of humility, obligation and gratitude towards nature. Humans must recognise that they are members of an environmental community with no more moral rights to existence of freedom than other forms of life. Humans are not conquerors but partners with nature – both within and outside of wilderness.
Wilderness is managed with the concept that there ought to be some places on earth where nature operates on her own. These areas are intended to remain untramelled, allowing natural processes to continue unhindered by people’s actions. At the same time, wilderness managers are directed to provide people with opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined encounters with wild nature. The balance between protection of natural processes and allowing people to use the wilderness is not easy to achieve…..
“We all look at nature too much and live with her too little.”
(Oscar Wilde)
Pidwa Burning…..
Every year we face the challenge of trying to find the perfect conditions for a mangement burn. As we are part of a fire evolved ecosystem this practise is vital to ensure that the reserve stays in the best possible shape….
This year we were all ready to go: Equipment – check. Fire team – check. Permits – check. Ideal conditions – AFRAID NOT!
On the day we had hoped to start burning the temperatures climbed, and climbed and climbed. This made it way too dangerous to start burning. It soon became clear that the only way we would make headway was to burn into the night. And burn we did.
As you can see by the pics a night burn is quite a spectacular sight!!!
Askari Wilderness Conservation Programme
Join us for an amazing work adventure that will take you straight into the heart of Africa.
Set in 22 500 hectares of untamed beauty, Askari is based on the Pidwa Wilderness Reserve. The work that takes place on the reserve is diverse and each day brings about new challenges and developments. This creates the ideal situation for you, as a working volunteer, to assist the warden with the management of the reserve. You will have the opportunity to actively participate in the maintenance, management, research and monitoring activities that take place on a daily basis.
“Askari” is the name given to the young male elephants that are found in the company of the old, wise bulls. The Askaris spend time out in the bush learning all the skills that the bull has spent his lifetime perfecting. In East Africa Askari also means protector and so the name Askari, for us, is twofold. During your time here you will not only become a student of the bush but you will also assist us as a protector of our precious environment.
Our long term goal is to create a benchmark reserve which is run according to strong wilderness and conservation ethics and principles. You can contribute to making this goal a reality. In the words of Edward Abbey, “ Wilderness needs no defence, only defenders”. Come join us in defending our endangered spaces, our heritage ………
