Honorary Rangers Lowveld Region to celebrate 50 years

SKUKUZA – It is said that life starts at fifty – if that is the case, there is still much to come from Honorary Rangers (HR) Lowveld Region.

The Lowveld Region of this non-profit South African National Parks (SANParks) organisation was established in 1964 – one of the first HR regions in the country.

It has since come a long way from chairman Mr Martin Knoppe and the original 30 members.

The region’s longest-serving member, Mr Riel du Toit, joined Lowveld in 1973 and has served for a remarkable 44 years.

By September 1989, the region’s membership had increased to 42 and in nearly 50 years, the growth rate has been remarkable.

While there was a steady rise from 1964, the real growth in the region began in 2000, reaching the staggering number of 200 members by 2013. The Lowveld can proudly say that it is now the largest region in South Africa and will host its 50th anniversary Indaba at Skukuza Rest Camp in 2014.

“Lowveld is proud to reflect the rainbow nation by being fully integrated. The first black member joined in 1989, which paved the way for a non-racial organisation. Mr George Mabuza joined in 1996 followed a year later by Mr Esrom Makhubela. There are now 36 historically disadvantaged members and the numbers continue to grow. It has been particularly delightful to have whole family units joining, which boosts Junior Ranger numbers too,” says HR chairman, Mr Grant Coleman.

Mr André van der Merwe handed over the reins to Mr Patrick Reniers in 2005 – he remained in office until 2010, when Coleman became the chairman, who has led the region for the past four years.

HR Lowveld covers the southern part of Kruger National Park (KNP), from Orpen Gate to Crocodile Bridge. Members are drawn from surrounding areas, travelling from as far away as Sabie and Lydenburg to attend meetings and perform various duties in the park, thus Lowveld is also known as a duty region.

Lowveld has been involved in KNP since its inception in a variety of duties, including refuse removal, environmental education, alien plant control, Skukuza Nursery, camp duties, law enforcement and stocktaking.

Duties are performed in all the camps in the Marula Region of Park – Orpen, Satara, Skukuza, Lower Sabie, Pretoriuskop, Berg en Dal and Crocodile Bridge camps.

During weekends, peak periods and school holidays, Lowveld members assist the hospitality managers of these camps in their duties. In addition to the camp duty in Skukuza, the region also assists over weekends, public holidays, and during KNP staff leave by manning the Skukuza Museum and running the nursery.

With 200 members, Lowveld has the benefit of extensive talent and expertise. This diversity means that it is well able to accommodate requests for assistance from SANParks, at the same time giving members the opportunity to work in environments that best suit their experience and personalities.

Kruger National Parks support activities

The key factors to the success of the Lowveld Region are the leadership of the regional management committees (RMC) and the enthusiasm and dedication of the members. A challenge of such a large group is to ensure that members are inspired and motivated to remain active while providing for everyone to contribute time and energy to SANParks. With this in mind, the region became more involved in other activities in the KNP over and above the national projects.

Lowveld currently performs the following duties in KNP

• Gate duty
• Alcohol duty at gates
• Snare removal
• Alien plant removal
• Lebombo overland 4×4 trail maintenance
• Litter and road patrol
• Sand River Bush Camp
• Maintenance in rest camps and wilderness camps
• Public education and awareness projects – exhibits
• Junior rangers
• Lions’ demographic project assistance
• Annual Dasha outreach – bringing disabled kids into the environment
• Annual Skukuza Marathon – water points and guarding.

Specialist Projects

In addition to these activities, Lowveld has over the years been privileged to participate in a number of specialised projects

• Development of the Rhino Hall at Berg en Dal rest camp
• Pretoriuskop Information Centre
• HR Positive Lifestyle health awareness programme – an exciting project initiated by a Lowveld member. This LoveLife programme is an ongoing Aids and healthy lifestyle awareness programme which involves HR members travelling to the rest camps and staff villages of SANParks to provide education, awareness and support regarding HIV issues.

Invasive species eradication

The invasive species eradication group (ISEG), is an innovative and highly successful project that was established by Lowveld Region and later chaired on a national basis by Mr Grant Coleman. The first “hack” to remove alien vegetation took place in 2007.

The fiftieth was completed in KNP in 2012, an amazing achievement. Each event focuses on specific species of alien vegetation to ensure that the correct tools and pesticides are available. Teams of hardworking members spend their weekends walking through designated problem areas of KNP eradicating the alien plants.

Invasive species removed include prickly pear, queen of the night, lantana, triffid weed, Demoina weed, and guava. Follow-up hacks have proved the effectiveness of this project, witnessed by the significant reduction of these invasive species that threaten to overwhelm the indigenous vegetation.

Sand River Bush Camp

Probably the biggest fundraiser in the region is the Sand River Bush Camp (SRBC). It is a dedicated HR bush camp that allows private guests to experience KNP in an up-close and personal way. HR regions are allocated camps which they can sell to raise money for SANParks. There is a very high demand for these camps by corporates and other organisations. Lowveld has been involved in the SRBC for the past 15 years with great commitment and effort, particularly by Mr Francois van der Merwe. SRBC has proven to be a great fund-raiser for all HR regions.

Meetings

Lowveld Region meets on a regular basis, usually at either Skukuza or Berg en Dal, about every six to eight weeks, depending on the availability of the venue. Average attendance of regional meetings is 100 members. They are held on a Saturday morning to encourage the best possible attendance and rangers are encouraged to stay in the camp and spend time socialising with their fellow members and families or performing duties.