This year the Botanical Education Trust received requests totaling over R225 000 and was able to fund the following applications amounting to the value of R83 240.
Ms S Kremer-Köhne received R17 500 towards her study of the newly described and endangered Aloe lettyae. This very rare Aloe has only been found in a few localities that are less than 50km apart in remnants of the critically endangered Woodbush Granite Grassland vegetation at the northern limit of the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg in the Limpopo Province. Providing insight into the population biology and ecology of this species, with its very restricted distribution range, will be yet another contribution of the Trust towards advancing and protecting South Africa’s indigenous flora.
An amount of R25 000 was granted towards the publication of an Illustrated Dictionary of Southern African Plant Names by Hugh Clarke and Michael Charters, and edited by Prof Eugene Moll of the University of the Western Cape. With nearly 5 000 entries this interesting new book will take the mystery out of plant names and be of use to everyone interested in South African botany.
The Trustees had no hesitation in awarding R22 100 to taxonomist Hester Steyn as she was funded by the Trust in 2011 with excellent results. Further fieldwork and taxonomic research aims to resolve the Acanthopsis hoffmannseggiana complex. Not only will this bridge the gap in knowledge and expertise on the genus, but an updated conservation status of each species will also be produced. This will help facilitate preservation of species at risk, such as the Pofadder form which is currently under threat from mining in the Northern Cape. Study results will feed into SANBI plants’ database, the e-Flora of South Africa project as well as the Red List of Southern African Plants. In addition, a key to all the taxa will facilitate identification of specimens by both botanists and members of the public.
Invasive alien plants present a very serious threat to South Africa’s indigenous flora. Active and successful campaigns against this curse have been driven for many years by the Kloof Conservancy, a well-regarded Not-for-Profit Organisation, in the eThekwini area of KZN. The Trust will contribute R18 640 towards the Conservancy’s Education Outreach Project. School children in the Molweni River catchment and Upper Highway area of eThekwini will see, first-hand, the devastating impact of these plants and learn how to deal with them. Environmental awareness among our youth is of the utmost importance if we hope to protect and conserve what little remains of our national biodiversity.
Further news regarding the Trust is that Durban attorney, Ms Frederike Liasides, has been co-opted as a Trustee. The other Trustees are Charles Botha, Prof Julia Botha, Dr Neil Crouch, Chris Dalzell, Dr Hugh Glen, Zaitoon Rabaney, Prof Braam van Wyk and Tim Wood. Ms Rabaney and Prof Van Wyk are based in Cape Town and Pretoria respectively, while the other Trustees are from KwaZulu-Natal. All Trustees serve voluntary.
After long negotiations with the Executive Council of the Botanical Society of SA, the Trustees have decided to align the Trust more closely with the Society’s National Head Office. This will give the Trust a more country-wide profile, although the strong ties with the KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Branch will be retained.
It remains crucial that funds continue to be raised. The Trust has 18A status with SARS, which means that donations are tax deductible. A donation, no matter how small, will serve conservation in perpetuity as only the interest on it will be used. Payments can be made into the account of the Botanical Society of SA, Nedbank, Durban North branch code 135226, account number 1352029901, but please state clearly that it is for the Education Trust (if further details required, contact Sandra Dell @ 031 201 5111 or botsoc-kzn@mweb.co.za ).