Editor's note

For this edition I gave our regular species writers another challenging task; “explain why some of your species migrate and why some don’t!”. Again the task was taken up with alacrity and much research and all have produced very readable, informative and enjoyable articles! Thanks to Steve Woodhall. Pat McKrill, Marlies Craig and Nicolette Forbes for the amazing homework and fascinating insights!

Nick Evans this time was asked to focus on “the spitter”, the Mozambique Spitting Cobra one of the species that is very common in our area and maybe erroneously underrated when compared to the more “renowned” Black Mamba. Nick does a great job of putting that right in his inimitable hands-on style.

Also, on species I am pleased that Jeanne Tarrant agreed to once again contribute to our magazine and has written for us on a very special local frog, the Kloof Frog. As much as we would like to claim it as our “own” because of its name, it does belong to the entire Highway Area and even further afield as Jeanne explains in her very interesting article.

Arend Hoogervost in his focused and perceptive manner explores our relationship with nature and reminds us “that we are part of Nature, not controllers of it”. Arend’s column is one aimed at encouraging us to think through things carefully and consider our personal impacts on nature and as usual he hits the nail on the head in his Opinion Column.

Historian Robin Lamplough has returned to the history of our roads and specifically that very important and rather overused arterial the M33. Robin includes some personal notes and anecdotes from local residents and asks the question as to how this road will cope with the volume of traffic in future years!

In the last edition we introduced our readers to the concept of Ecological Restoration with an article authored by Bheka Nxele and Lungi Dlulane. It is obvious that Bheka has a strong passion for the environment, and he was asked to write on a process that he and number of his environmental colleagues have been working on for some time and that is the naming in isiZulu of invasive alien plants. Bheka and his co-authors present us with some fascinating reading on the process involved, the importance of indigenous knowledge and the positive role that it can play in ecological restoration.

We are fortunate to be able to include in this edition an article on Climate Change authored by Dr Marlies Craig in consultation with a team of scientists who are very closely involved with the work of the United Nations International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). The team included Nina Hunter, Michelle North, Andrew Okem and Debra Roberts and the article explores the very latest data from the IPCC and tries to answer the question “Climate change – is there hope?”. It is a “must read” article and I hope I can persuade Marlies to do a follow-up with feedback from the recent COP26 gathering of nations.

Our Eco-Impi interview in this edition is with Dr Leigh Richards, Curator of Mammals at the Durban Natural Science Museum. Leigh took over the Curator of Mammals role in October 2010 and has been instrumental in making the work of the museum more accessible to the public through her numerous interactions and projects including significant field work in the Upper Highway area.

I trust you will enjoy this edition and as always, your feedback will be much appreciated.

Paolo Candotti
January 2022