WWF-SA, in conjunction with SANBI’s Grasslands Programme and UKZN’s School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, wants to explore the link between agricultural good management practices for animal production systems on natural grasslands and biodiversity conservation [Note: the focus is on grasslands and NOT on savannah systems].
Scientific Programme
The main theme is Meeting Rangeland, Pasture and Wildlife Challenges in a Changing Landscape although a wide range of themes will be covered during the Congress.
Organisers of special sessions, symposia, workshops, etc. are encouraged to publish contributions in a special issue of the African Journal of Range and Forage Science. Remember that page charges for all papers published in 2009 by members of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa will be ZERO!!
- Abstract Submission Guidelines - details abstracts of up to one page in length including figures and graphs are encouraged. Abstracts should be emailed to the Congress email.
- Guidelines for AJRFS Special Issues
- Platform Presentation Guidelines
- Poster Presentation Guidelines
Several special sessions, symposia and workshops are being organised in addition to the standard sessions.
The Preliminary Scientific Programme is now available for downloading. Please note that the programme will almost certainly change before the Congress but this can be used as a guideline.
Paper and poster presentations can be submitted for the special sessions, symposia and workshops listed below, as well as for the following more general topics which are included in the Congress programme:
- Pastures: Forage Introduction and Breeding
- Pastures: Forage Production
- Pastures: Forage Quality
- Animal Nutrition
- Animal Behaviour
- Animal Production
- Rangelands: Assessment and Monitoring
- Rangelands: Management
- Rangelands: Ecology
- Rangelands: Communal and Developing Areas
- Wildlife Ecology, Conservation and Management
- Biodiversity Conservation and Management
- Degradation and Rehabilitation Ecology
The format of the workshop will be a limited number of presentations followed by inter-active discussions to unpack the title of the workshop; the ultimate objective being to provide recommendations on ‘models for a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach on NRM.
A new generation of young scientists has entered the field of grassland science, but with little guidance on research priorities for the future, many current research projects are fragmented, poorly designed or unoriginal. Some issues identified decades ago have yet to be adequately resolved, while there is also a whole suite of new questions and challenges for the new generation to answer.
South Africa has traditionally addressed growing water security issues through the implementation of costly supply-side interventions, such as major inter-basin transfer and pumping schemes, and importing water from neighbouring countries. However, due to growing costs associated with these measures, and, critically, limited surplus water availability, the potential for supply-side interventions to address water security concerns is approaching capacity.
We kindly invite you to submit your titles within the framework provided below. This framework serves as a guideline for you as the author to align your topic of your paper accordingly.
The Department of Agriculture identified the need for a new National Long Term Grazing Capacity Map. The current 1993 map has various shortcomings and did not provide values for the previous homeland areas. A national steering committee has been appointed to take the lead in developing a new Long Term Grazing Capacity Map for South Africa.