NikonGear'23
Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: Peter Connan on January 01, 2017, 09:39:57
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We are lucky in South Africa, being spoilt with a variety of game reserves.
About 300km from my home is Marakele National Park. We seem to end up there every time we have some new camping equipment to try out before a bigger trip, and once again I recently took my newly-built camping trailer there for the last few days.
The park is divided into two sections. The first section contains the public camping ground and, as far as big 5 animals are concerned, contains only Rhino. The other section is larger, contains most of the higher-priced accomodation and has Buffalo, Elephant and Lion. This arrangement allows the public campsite to be un-fenced, which is both rare and, to my thinking, marvellous.
However, I am concerned about the ecological management of the first section of the park. Firstly, while it used to contain quite a number of Rhino, there are very few left now, in fact probably only one still survives in this section (although I did see Rhino in the other section a few times).
However, more concerning is that the first section has been over-grazed very badly. The first photo (with the Ostrich) was taken in May 2013, and shows quite a lot of grass. The second, taken yesterday in the same area, shows no grass at all, only forbs, which are incapable of retaining topsoil as effectively as grasses.
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Amazing what we have on our doorsteps. And yes - we have a really really beautiful country. Your images are both very nice too!
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Thank you Elsa.
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btw I like how you handled the sky in both images - !
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Thank you very much Elsa.
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Beautiful dawn images, Peter.
The concern of losing the topsoil should be serious. That would cause the desertization.
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Thanks Akira
That is exactly the concern.
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Hi Peter,
Very nice images and enjoying the idea of a freedom to roam in a, as and when manner.
Your camping trailer is a well thought out non intrusive design.
If you see the unacceptable management on sections of the reserve that have had a history of diverse plant life, supporting a healthy animal
population, inform the game reserve of your observations. As a sun baked, exposed Humus, will quickly vanish with a few good wind and wet
periods, soil erosion recovery, is a very long affair, only improved upon when supported by good land management.
Large tracts of healthy grass and herbs are critical to the long term welfare of the grazing animals you enjoy sharing a space with.
Diminishing grass leads to over grazing and life can not flourish in such competitive environments. It is a simple equation increase the quality and
quantity of feed and all species will increase in numbers, it is natures way.
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I really love the Oistrich shot, He seems to communicate with us over the distance.
To keep the grasslands fertile the right combination of animals is necessary: http://savory.global/
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Peter:
Thanks for sharing the images, and the unfortunate story of how 'we' once again are disturbing nature.
I like the ostrich image, but my thought is that the sun is so bright, it completely dominates the image, and pulls the eye away from the ostrich.
Could fiddle with toning down the sun a bit to rebalance the tonalities in the image.
Cheers
Randy
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Thank you John, Frank and Randy.
Randy, perhaps we have different interpretations of this image. For me, the sunrise is the "main character" in the story, the ostrich (like the photographer) just a lucky beneficiary? Anyway, unfortunately the RAW file of this image is lost, all that remains is a 257mb JPEG, not worth spending alot of effort on.
Frank and John, I have reported the issue. Unfortunately, I doubt anything will be done.
There is in South Africa two schools of thought about conservation. The one (which I subscribe to) is that, in a closed system (and all parks are closed systems, not even the mighty Kruger is large enough to function on it's own), numbers must ba managed to maintain diversity in both animal and plant life (but plant life first of all, as all other life ultimately depends on that).
The other is that nature regulated itself before Humans arrived to interfere, and therefore it must be left to regulate itself, since we don't necessarily know what we are doing, and that the desertification and extreme habitat changes that result from this approach are part of a natural cycle.
And as I am sure you know, nobody who held a specific point of view has ever been convinced by argument. It only works on those who are sitting on the fence. Those with pre-conceived positions just find new arguments to consolidate and strengthen their position.
Furthermore, I believe the only way to save this area is to remove all browsing animals, and for reasons of tourism, image and revenue, I suspect this will never be allowed to happen.
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Furthermore, I believe the only way to save this area is to remove all browsing animals, and for reasons of tourism, image and revenue, I suspect this will never be allowed to happen.
Follow the link above to Alan Savory, who has started as natural preserve manager long ago and had to learn a hard lesson that this idea is plain wrong. The truth is: You need browsing animals or grassland will turn to a desert; BUT you need the right amount of the right combination of species at the right time. Savory found out how to do that and already 15 Million Hectars are managed that way with great success.
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Very nice captures! Beautiful ;)
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Thank you Erik and Frank.
Frank, the views expressed in my previous post come from a base of very limited experience and no formal training. Thus they are my views and quite possibly drastically wrong. I have heard of Savory's methods, but have also heard conflicting views, but how accurately his methods were followed is not known to me.
Suffice to say that the degradation I have seen in a period of three and a half years is extreme. Of course, most of that period also co-insided with the worst drought in decades, but it has not yet been proven that this drought is over.
In my opinion, drastic action is necessary. The form it will take, if it happens, wil fortunately not be my decision in any way, and will surely be taken by trained and informed SANPARKs staff.
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Hello Peter,
If you get up in the morning and you see the spectacle depicted in your shots, your day is bound to go beautiful.
Very good photos.
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Randy, perhaps we have different interpretations of this image. For me, the sunrise is the "main character" in the story, the ostrich (like the photographer) just a lucky beneficiary? Anyway, unfortunately the RAW file of this image is lost, all that remains is a 257mb JPEG, not worth spending alot of effort on.
Sorry about that one Peter. I am primarily a bird photographer, so that is how I approach most images!
Randy
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Thank you Elsid
Randy, no problem, and no offence was taken.
I usually call myself a bird photographer too, but I sometimes think my landscapes are better. Anyway, I guess that is the beauty of photography: each observer can put his own interpretation on an image. If I still had the RAW file, I would probably have tried to do as you suggested. Now I will just have to try for another such situation...
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Frank and John, if you are interested, I received a reply on my queery about recovery plans for this section of the reserve.
It seems they are quite busy trying to rescue the situation. Among others they have recently increased the size of this area to double it's previous size, they have moved some of the bulk grazers, they are planning to remove more animals, and they have started with soil retention operations, including making terraces on contour lines, plowing, planting and packing brush over newly-planted areas.
All measures that sound good to me.