Habitat loss because of human expansion is happening so fast, that every piece of wild land is important to keep our biodiversity and ecology alive. As a farmer you can help by leaving strips of wild grass or bush on the edge of your land. These serve as corridors which connect wild areas and help the movement of wildlife. The more diverse your land, the more diverse your wildlife will be. Some birds prefer long grass, others short, and the majority prefer bushveld. Trees are such an important part of our bushveld that one can identify at least five bird niches in and around a tree.
Apart from human expansion, alien-plant invaders and fire are the biggest threats to our bushveld. Alien invaders like lantana are like a green cancer, smothering indigenous plants with their aggressive growth. Wild land, free of lantana and its allies are actually quite rare to find on the escarpment area. Lantana is a typical pioneer plant and invades more aggressively on disturbed land near human settlements. These heavy infestations are very difficult to control, so prevention is better than cure!
Fire is a powerful tool in the hands of landowners and anybody who can light a match. Hot fires which occur in the dry season are the damaging ones. They destroy the humus layer of the soil and probably all the microorganisms. When the rain comes, the top soil is unprotected, and if this happens every year the soil gets compacted, so that only the hardy plants can survive.
Larger animals need larger land, therefore larger wild areas are so important. At the moment scientists in the Kruger National Park are trying to find out why the numbers of the magnificent martial eagle are dropping. Can you believe that in our hills and valleys we have an even more awesome predator? The African crowned eagle is so powerful that it can pluck a monkey out of a tree, or kill a bushbuck weighing 20 kilograms. Unfortunately they are not often seen because they like to sit inside a big tree and not on top, like other eagles. The female is much larger than the male and can be an imposing sight when she sits in a large tree. We really need conservationists to guard their habitat while they are still around.
