{"id":228749,"date":"2024-07-10T19:38:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T19:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/10\/in-the-fight-to-save-a-unique-desert-tradition-meets-innovation\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T19:38:49","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T19:38:49","slug":"in-the-fight-to-save-a-unique-desert-tradition-meets-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/10\/in-the-fight-to-save-a-unique-desert-tradition-meets-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"In the fight to save a unique desert, tradition meets innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

KAMIESKROON, South Africa \u2014 At first, Rosy Fortuin wasn\u2019t worried when the rains did not come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here in the semi-arid shrubland of Namaqualand, dry conditions are a cycle of life. Each summer along the west coast of South Africa, the dry season brings muted colors to the landscape, as dormant succulents and shrubs patiently await a turn of the season.
\n Winter rains bring fields of blooming wildflowers in shades of purple, cream and gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is the Succulent Karoo<\/a>, one of the world\u2019s
\n only arid regions<\/a> designated as a biodiversity hotspot. It
\n boasts well over 6,000 plant species<\/a>, with 40 percent found
\n nowhere else on the planet.<\/p>\n

For the people of Namaqualand, resilience is part of daily life. Surviving here means withstanding the extremes of a climate that fluctuates constantly. But Fortuin, a shepherd and conservationist from the village of Nourivier, began to worry when the
\n drought stretched from one year into two, and then a third. Eventually, seven years passed with almost no rainfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was not water enough. There was not food enough. The winters were long and very cold and dry, and the summers brutally hot,\u201d Fortuin said. \u201cAnd then when the drought finally broke, we were hit by a cyclone. That had never happened
\n before in my lifetime \u2014 ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk anyone in the village today and they will tell you: climate change is here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n
Thousands of species are uniquely adapted to thrive in this desert-like ecosystem. \u00a9 Piotr Naskrecki<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n

Shrublands and semi-arid deserts,<\/a> which cover 41 percent of the Earth’s surface and are home to more than 2 billion people<\/a>, are projected to be among the first places permanently altered<\/a> by climate
\n change. As temperatures surge, these once-thriving areas are quickly transforming into parched wastelands.<\/p>\n

For two decades, Conservation South Africa, the local affiliate of Conservation International, has partnered with Namaqualand communities to improve their resilience to climate change by conserving and restoring nature. Initiatives designed to prepare
\n for the future are being put to the test now as extreme weather disrupts life here.<\/p>\n

Collected here are snapshots of a community on the front lines of climate change. Confronted with a crisis not of their making, people here are drawing from their past to secure their future \u2014 preserving their home and their traditions by protecting
\n the nature they need to survive.<\/p>\n

These are their stories.<\/p>\n

Ancient shepherds<\/h3>\n

Shepherding is a way of life in Namaqualand. Over generations, farmers have perfected their skills raising sheep and goats in this region defined by extremes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNature tells you everything \u2014 my ancestors read the stars, the moon and the swarming termites to predict the weather,\u201d said Jacobus T. Brandt, an elderly shepherd and local historian. \u201cBut now, nature has changed. The rain no
\n longer comes on time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Jacobus T. Brandt describes the history of his ancestors, the Nama people. \u00a9 Emily Nyrop<\/h6>\n

In this new era of climate uncertainty, sudden frost can devastate flocks, rainless spells disrupt the lambing season and intensified droughts exacerbate erosion caused by overgrazing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conservation South Africa urged the community to look to its past.<\/p>\n

As early as 200 CE<\/a>, the
\n Nama people<\/a>, ancestors of today’s inhabitants, raised breeds of
\n sheep and goats uniquely adapted to survive in arid Namaqualand: the Namaqua Afrikaner<\/a> and the Cape speckled goat<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the centuries, these heritage breeds were gradually replaced by commercial varieties, as local farmers sought to meet the demands of growing markets. But commercial breeds, like the Dorper sheep, did not thrive: Their grazing instincts, adapted to
\n abundant plains, proved ill-suited for a semi-arid desert.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne winter, I lost almost all of my Dorper sheep,\u201d Fortuin recalled. “That\u2019s when Conservation South Africa came to me with an idea.”<\/p>\n

Fortuin became part of the first pilot program in 2017 to bring these heritage breeds back to the landscape. She received five ewes from a hybrid breed called the \u201cmeat master<\/a>,\u201d which combines the hardiness of the Afrikaner sheep with the superior meat potential of commercial sheep. Today, she proudly tends a herd of 50 meat master sheep.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy old sheep would never have climbed a mountain,\u201d she laughed. \u201cBut the meat master climbs like a mountain goat to reach plants that haven\u2019t been grazed in ages. This makes it healthier; it grows quickly and it gets fat faster.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, about 40 percent of farmers who have signed conservation agreements in the region have switched to the meat master and the Cape speckled goat.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The Cape speckled goat is uniquely adapted to survive in desert-like conditions. \u00a9 Emily Nyrop<\/h6>\n

\u201cThe meat master bites here and bites there,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cThis is how it saves the veld. It takes a mouthful of the bush, and then walks forward to another one. So, tomorrow, you can return to the same place to graze, because it didn\u2019t
\n eat up the field like the Dorper would have. It\u2019s the same with the speckled goat. If you let it climb the mountain, it won\u2019t erode the pasture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soil and rain<\/h3>\n

In 2023, the seven-year drought broke with a crash of thunder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to believe that in winter, you had seven days of rain, then you had sunshine for two or three weeks, and then it would rain again,\u201d said Haarith Arnolds, a young livestock farmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what came was not the usual soft rain that fell gradually throughout the season; this was a sudden, deadly deluge<\/a> that flooded fields and washed away roads. As floodwaters rushed against a crust of drought-hardened soil, dormant seeds weren’t revived; they were swept downstream. Instead of breathing life
\n into the fields, the floods left them even more desolate.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job now is to stop this land from going extinct,\u201d Fortuin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n
Rosy Fortuin oversees a team of local youth working to revive the natural ecosystem. \u00a9 Emily Nyrop<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n

After her experience working with Conservation South Africa to revive her sheep herd, Fortuin was keen to partner with its experts again, this time to ensure that the community would be better equipped to handle future floods.<\/p>\n

Today, Fortuin works as a team supervisor with Youth Employment Services<\/a>, a nonprofit partnering with Conservation South Africa to teach skills to young people in the country
\n to prepare them for a career, with a focus on the green economy. In total, 585 youth have passed through the program since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t need expensive machinery; we don’t need expensive stuff \u2014 here we do nature,\u201d Fortuin said. The steady employment, along with her successful farm, has allowed Fortuin to begin building a new house \u2014 a dream she once thought
\n was beyond her means.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fortuin stood in a field of hardpacked earth, tucked into the mountain near her hometown of Nourivier. Young workers were packing shallow trenches with brush and carefully layering stones in the ground to build gabions \u2014 a barrier designed to control
\n erosion and manage water flow to prevent flooding and stabilize the soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese stone gates and packed brush slow down the storm water to allow it to drain into the soil,\u201d Fortuin explained. \u201cNext time there is a flood, the water won\u2019t run away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Young workers carefully layer stones in the ground to build erosion control barriers. \u00a9 Emily Nyrop<\/h6>\n

This process gives plants a better chance of survival, even when faced with heavy rainfall. The first signs of success are the emergence of quick-growing annual plants, called pioneers. These are followed by shrubs that offer shade and aid in soil stabilization,
\n facilitating the regrowth of perennial species. This, in turn, attracts pollinators and other creatures, ensuring the cycle continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt works. It works 100 percent,\u201d Brandt remarked about the project. \u201cAfter we had two more storms, I saw that the trenches that were once deep were now actually flush with the gabion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The desert wetlands<\/h3>\n

Despite being a semi-arid desert, the Succulent Karoo is home to wetlands.<\/p>\n

Namaqualand sits on a unique solid substrate of calcrete, bedrock and clay<\/a> that allows rainfall to collect
\n in lush wetlands. These marshy areas can remain persistently wet for years, providing habitat for a range of birds and amphibians, and fresh water for the community and their livestock.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was wet, very wet, when I was a young child. There were many types of plants, yellow lilies and white lilies. But now they are gone,\u201d said Jennifer Cloete, a member of the village of Leliefontein, named for those lilies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is estimated that more than half<\/a> of the region\u2019s wetlands have disappeared, heightening concerns
\n about water scarcity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t look after our wetlands,\u201d said George Michael Smith, a livestock owner from Leliefontein. \u201cPeople used to be able to just dig a hole to get drinking water. Today it is not like that anymore. The wetland must serve as
\n a source of water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

George Michael Smith has seen native plants disappear during his lifetime. \u00a9 Matthew Robinson – Trevendy Films<\/h6>\n

In these communal lands without fences or borders, farmers graze their livestock wherever the grass appears most abundant, even in the wetlands. But if done repeatedly, this can lead to overgrazing, making these fragile ecosystems more vulnerable to climate
\n impacts.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

To solve this, Conservation South Africa helped farmers establish cooperatives \u2014 formal organizations that help them sell their sheep and goats, provide crucial livestock vaccinations and guarantee fair prices. But joining the group comes with requirements.
\n Farmers must sign an agreement committing to practices that prevent overgrazing \u2014 and assuring that they will not graze in the wetlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, through the agreements, farmers have protected more than 118,000 hectares (290,000 acres), including wetlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the reasons why we move our livestock \u2014 to keep the field healthy and to keep the water flowing,\u201d Cloete said. \u201cNow, when I drive out to look at the wetlands, it is a real joy to see that it worked. The plants came back,
\n and the water also came back.\u201d<\/p>\n