Natural Resource Management

These pages look at what is happening in the sky, under your feet and the life around you. Natural Resource Management refers to processes for achieving best results in farming while balancing environmental and other concerns.

Agriculture is placed against the wider backdrop of “Biodiversity and ecosystems services“. Of interest to farmers will be the different stewardship models. In some cases these are written into a property’s title deeds ensuring that particular parts of a farm are secured for conservation in perpetuity. You may also enjoy a look at the “Conservancies and farming” page, for ideas on how to work with neighbours and creating a wider area where natural resources are looked after.

In “Birds and farming” we look at why leaving corridors of natural vegetation between lands and between buildings assists in having a bird-friendly farm. There are beneficial birds too which help look after the farm. There is other life on the farm too, usually discreet. See the “Wildlife on farms” page. This includes a look at damage causing animals.

The importance of conserving the soil and veld are covered. These are important, not just in earning a livelihood but in our using what we are borrowing from future generations, as some have phrased it.

With good reason, we have included “Water” in the “Issues here and beyond our borders” section. As that page shows, South Africa’s water management has reached crisis proportions. Here we do look at wetlands though, which store water, filter and clean it, and feed underground sources.

What to do in times of drought? We cover this our our “Weather and climate” page. Fire management, Invasive alien species (IAS), and waste management are looked at.

A popular page in this section is “Environmental legislation“. We also touch on the government’s LandCare programme.