Stellenbosch University researcher leads five-year programme to protect biodiversity from climate change - IOL
A Stellenbosch University researcher has received the inaugural Oppenheimer Research Chair in Conservation in a Changing Climate Award to lead a five-year programme aimed at developing ways to protect vulnerable species and ecosystems as environmental conditions change.
Professor Wendy Foden, a Specialist Scientist in Climate Change at South African National Parks (SANParks), will lead the initiative, which recognises her international leadership in climate change conservation.
Foden is also a professor at Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Studies and chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Species Survival Commission Climate Change Specialist Group.
The research will focus on Southern Africa’s arid regions, particularly the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape.
Working with SANParks scientists and protected area managers, Foden’s team will investigate how desert succulents, including quiver trees and the halfmens, respond to heat and water stress.
The researchers will also evaluate assisted translocation, which involves moving vulnerable species to areas where conditions may be more favourable for their survival.
However, the intervention carries potential ecological, genetic and biosecurity risks, which the team will assess alongside its effectiveness and limitations.
Foden said stronger scientific evidence was needed to guide conservation decisions.
“We urgently need stronger evidence to guide conservation in a changing climate, alongside the space to develop and test new approaches,” she said.
The programme will also involve collaboration with the University of Cambridge’s Conservation Evidence group to assess existing research on conservation interventions in Africa and internationally.
The findings will help practitioners identify promising approaches and areas requiring further investigation.
The award was established by the Benjamin Raymond Oppenheimer Trust through Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation to support leading African researchers addressing pressing challenges facing the continent.
Dr Duncan MacFadyen, head of Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation, said Foden’s programme would bring scientific research directly to practical conservation challenges.
The chair will also support international collaboration, postgraduate supervision and the training of emerging researchers.
Foden’s links through the IUCN will provide opportunities to share findings internationally and connect local research with global conservation policy.
Distinguished Professor Guy Midgley, head of Stellenbosch University’s School for Climate Studies, said the initiative would strengthen connections between research, policy and practice.
Meanwhile, Dr Howard Hendricks, managing executive of SANParks’ Conservation Services Division, said the organisation’s national parks provided a platform for translating scientific research into practical conservation solutions.
The research will ultimately assess whether conservation interventions improve the resilience and survival prospects of vulnerable species.
