Staff

• Mark Botha
• Angus Burns
• Charl de Villiers
• Kirsten Fourie
• Joan Isham
• Inge Kotzé
• Wendy Paisley
• Mandy Schumann

Mark Botha

Co-Director and Programme Leader: Conservation Stewardship

After graduating from University of Cape Town in 1992, Mark worked on community conservation and development projects in Maputaland, Mozambique and Australia. He holds an MSc in floodplain ecology, studying the effects of floods, droughts and dams on tropical floodplain forests.

Since 1999 he has managed a programme for the Botanical Society at Kirstenbosch investigating incentives to conserve threatened ecosystems and developing tools for off-reserve conservation on private land. This work has included training conservation agency staff in the application of stewardship on private land and developing policy options and legislative mechanisms for stewardship. Other interests include the development of innovative land trusts, direct payment for environmental services and biodiversity offsets from large developments.

Mark sits on the Board of CapeNature, and is currently Director of the Botanical Society’s Conservation Unit.

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Project Leader: Biodiversity in Environmental Assessment

Charl joined the CU in June 2004 with the specific task of pursuing the alignment of impact assessment processes with biodiversity priorities. He collaborates closely with the Western Cape departments of environmental affairs, development planning and agriculture, CapeNature and the South African chapter of the International Assocation of Impact Assessment (IAIAsa). Charl exchanged journalism for the challenging world of biodiversity conservation via a rare outsider’s visit to Gough Island, a stint with Cape Nature Conservation’s communication section and an MPhil in environmental management from UCT, awarded with distinction. Further engagements followed with the United Nations Environment Programme, the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and Ninham Shand. Charl also fitted in media work for the CAPE and STEP programmes. He has presented numerous papers and presentations on conservation planning and environmental assessment to the IAIAsa and Fynbos Forum since 2000. He serves on the Western Cape branch committee of the IAIAsa and the Fynbos Forum’s Land-Use Task Group.

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Office Administrator

Wendy is the administrator of the Conservation Unit as well as Fynbos Forum coordinator.

She graduated from Rhodes University as a social worker and was active in this field before changing to the corporate environment. Five years later she joined the Institute for Plant Conservation, University of Cape Town, where she held the position of administrative assistant for Professor Richard Cowling.

In 2000, after 13 years at UCT, the opportunity for change arose and Wendy took on the challenge of being chief administrator of the Conservation Unit. This gave Wendy the opportunity to pursue her long-standing interest in conservation and to increase her knowledge of the indigenous flora - both valuable assets on Wendy's many outdoors excursions. Apart from being a very keen hiker, Wendy is also mad about proteas and has spent many happy and hectic weekends hunting down localities of Proteaceae as part of the Protea Atlas Project.

In recent times, Wendy has been seconded to CREW (Custodians of Rare and Wildflowers), a project run by SANBI to monitor and protect rare and threatened plants with the assistance of volunteers. She helps part time with the administrative work. This now enables her to get out into the field again – seeing as the protea atlas project field work has been wound down.

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Biodiversity and Wine Initiative Project Coordinator

Inge has ten years of experience in the fields of biodiversity research, conservation planning and environmental management. Key skills include project management and coordination, strategy formulation, and integrative writing for large biodiversity conservation projects. Research expertise includes the management of both terrestrial and aquatic invasive alien plant species, developing methodologies for assessing of cumulative effects within an environmental assessment process, freshwater conservation planning and wetland prioritisation.

Inge is currently employed by the Botanical Society of South Africa, in partnership with the WWF Ecoregions Programme, to coordinate the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative. This initiative is a partnership between the conservation sector and the South African Wine Industry, which aims to minimise the further loss of threatened habitat and contribute to sustainable wine production to benefit both biodiversity conservation and the wine industry.

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Biodiversity and Wine Initiative Extension Officer:

Joan is a qualified nature conservationist and very passionate about the conservation of our unique biodiversity, with special interest and knowledge of conservation of fresh water resources.

She is an experienced extension officer; previously ran the Beekeeper/Honey badger project, where she proved to be especially good at one on one interaction with landowners, and manage to change attitudes towards conservation.

At present Joan is being employed by the Botanical Society as the extension officer for the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative.

Growing up on a wine farm in Calitzdorp, she has a good knowledge of the effects of wine farming on the environment. Her area of work covers all the wine growing areas of the Western Cape. During fieldwork Joan assists/advises landowners on the practical implementation of the project’s biodiversity guidelines (i.e. advise them on alien clearing, fire management, conservation of rivers, wetlands, control of ‘problem animals, etc.) to ensure that wine is produced in a sustainable manner. She also assist landowners to obtain their BWI status (become members or champions of this project) and is also responsible for the auditing of existing members.

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Bokkeveld Stewardship Project Leader:

Kirsten leads the Bokkeveld Stewardship Project (BSP) in the Nieuwoudtville area, Northern Cape. Kirsten graduated with Honours in Botany specialising in Environmental Impact Management and Ecology from the University of Port Elizabeth. She spent time working as an EIA consultant in the private sector and then as an Environmental Officer for the government before joining the coordination unit of the Succulent Karoo Ecosystems Programme. As funding for the coordination unit came to an end, the key conservation activity that needed to take place in the region was identified. The Bokkeveld Plateau was identified as a priority area which was lacking in conservation protection status and thus the perfect place to pilot this type of off reserve conservation (stewardship) in the Northern Cape. Kirsten developed the project and commenced as project manager in October 2005. One of Kirsten’s key challenges during the projects initial 2 year pilot phase is ensuring a legal framework is in place in the Northern Cape to facilitate off reserve conservation in the form of stewardship.

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Bokkeveld Stewardship Facilitator

Mandy started her career in conservation working as a curator at the Cango Wildlife Ranch in Oudtshoorn. This experience moulded her next 7 years during which she was involved in carnivore conservation. Prior to joining the BSP, she worked in Namibia as a research assistant, extension officer and head of the Anatolian Shepherd livestock guarding dog programme for the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Mandy has an M.Tech in Nature Conservation (cum laude), from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, focusing on conservancies and predator conflict resolution on the Namibian farmlands. Mandy moved to Nieuwoudtville in April 2006 and is the Stewardship Facilitator for the Bokkeveld Stewardship Project (BSP). Mandy’s key role in the project is to work together with landowners on the Bokkeveld to explore options for stewardship.

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Angus Burns has been actively involved in conservation circles since high school days and formally for over a decade. He has a degree in Geographical and Environmental Science and Philosophy and has been nominated for conservationist of the year award twice by Ezemvelo KZNWildlife and once for the Green Trust awards (in the year 2000). This was for his work with private landowners, communities and forestry in the Mlazi catchment focusing on land and water management. His experience has led him to his present position as coordinator for the exciting and catalytic Enkangala Grassland Project. He is based in Northern KZN and resides in Newcastle. Angus is also a practicing musician and falconer.He also enjoys eradicating alien invasive fish with a fly rod.