Sehlabathebe National Park (continued)
Herbarium
The 1970s was a decade of much activity in
Sehlabathebe National Park
(SNP), due largely to the efforts of Amy
Jacot Guillarmod and three US Peace Corps volunteers whose names are
intimately associated with the plants of SNP: Alan Beverly, Fred K. Hoener,
and M.K. Rutledge. Alan Beverly was the Associate Botanist in SNP from December
1975 to July 1977, whilst Fred Hoener was the Botanist from February 1976
to September 1979 (Gunn & Codd 1981). Fred Hoener was responsible for
compiling a checklist of the flora in SNP during 1979.
Whilst working in SNP, the US Peace Corps volunteers established the herbarium (Sehlabathebe National Park Herbarium), which is housed in the Research Centre, close to the park’s main gate (see also Smith & Willis 1999a,b). This is probably the only A-framed building housing a herbarium in southern Africa. During their time in SNP, Hoener, Beverly, and Rutledge managed to mount and deposit in the herbarium approximately 950 specimens, representing 238 genera and 469 species. The identification of most of the specimens were confirmed or determined by staff of the National Herbarium (PRE), then part of the Botanical Research Institute of South Africa. Duplicates were deposited in the National University of Lesotho Herbarium (ROML) in Roma and the Agricultural Research Division’s Herbarium (MASE) in Maseru.
After the US Peace Corps volunteers left SNP in 1979, the plant collecting stopped and the herbarium was left largely untouched until 1997. Five members (four from the National University of Lesotho in Roma) of the SABONET-Lesotho National Working Group visited SNP and the herbarium from 10–12 October 1997 to assess its status and make recommendations about its future (Mafa 1997). The team found that the herbarium contained a representative collection of specimens from the park and that the specimens were still in good condition. Despite the lack of attention for twenty years, the specimens did not show any signs of fungal or insect infestation.
The team also recommended that an inventory of the specimens within the herbarium be prepared and computerised, as this would serve as a useful guide when expanding the collection. On 31 March 1999 Gideon Smith and Christopher Willis surveyed the SNP Herbarium, in consultation with Lerato Kose, in order that it might be included in the updated and expanded version of Index herbariorum: southern African supplement (Smith & Willis 1997), expected to be published as a number in the SABONET Report Series during the second half of 1999.
The herbarium currently serves as a reference collection of the Maluti and Drakensberg floras. Considering the fact that about 1,750 vascular plant species have so far been recorded in the Natal Drakensberg (Killick 1994), it certainly needs to be expanded. Staff in the Ministry of Agriculture’s Conservation Division, with the assistance from SABONET-Lesotho and its National Working Group members, plan to develop and publicise the herbarium which was largely unknown within Lesotho and the rest of the southern African region for many years. SABONET-support for the herbarium might include the provision of basic herbarium materials, such as herbarium cabinets and mounting materials. Support might extend to the computerisation of approximately 1,000 herbarium specimens currently housed within the herbarium—probably using the National Botanical Institute’s PRECIS Specimen Database. This database has been adopted by botanical staff in the National University of Lesotho’s Biology Department to computerise the Roma Herbarium (ROML). 6,000 of the 15,000 specimens (40%) housed in ROML have so far been computerised.
Management
aims
A Management Plan for the SNP has been developed.
The management aims for the park include:
Conservation
of representative ecosystems, their natural communities and component species,
of the south-eastern portion of the Alpine Zone of Lesotho
Conservation
of present levels of genetic diversity
Provision
of opportunities for environmental and other research, and monitoring programmes
Contributions
to international, national, and regional programmes for nature and environmental
conservation, education and interpretation, leisure activities and opportunities
Management
programme
The management programme for the vegetation
within the park includes:
Vegetation
monitoring
Conducting
baseline and repeated surveys of the main plant communities in the park
Controlling
alien and indigenous problem species
Re-establishing
indigenous plants where they have been exterminated
Ensuring
the conservation of priority species (such as Aponogeton
ranunculiflorus)
Allowing
for the controlled consumptive utilisation of vegetation in designated areas
within the park
Developing
a fire management plan for the park:
Morris (1990) recommended a biennial burn during the winter period (after
the first frosts and before the onset of growth in spring), with blocks
being burnt in successive burning periods (May–June, July, August–September)
every second year. Morris also noted, however, that no data were available
concerning the growing season of the temperate and subtropical grass species
in SNP and elsewhere in Lesotho, and that “caution should be exercised when
burning these grasslands”. This programme would have to be monitored, evaluated,
and perhaps adapted, depending on the effects of the proposed fire regime
on the composition of the grasslands in SNP.
Current
and proposed developments
The following developments are planned
for SNP:
Establishing
a Research and Information Centre
Expanding
the herbarium to house more specimens
Developing
hiking trails to places of interest, for example, the waterfall and rock
pools where Aponogeton ranunculiflorus occurs
Extending
the lodge to accommodate more guests
Reintroducing
flora and fauna species
Upgrading
the access route to the Park
Erecting
a perimeter fence
Expanding
the National Parks Section to a Division for more effective management of
SNP
Staff
training (short term)
Developing
camping sites
Links
with KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service
Lesotho National Parks, the body managing
SNP, initiated links with the Natal Parks Board (now KwaZulu-Natal Nature
Conservation Service) when the park was established in 1970. The KwaZulu-Natal
Nature Conservation Service has provided technical advice on managing and
developing SNP, for example, assisting in the compilation of the Sehlabathebe
Management Plan. The Service also helped with training SNP staff in fire
management.
Maluti/Drakensberg
Transfrontier Conservation Area
The Maluti/Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation
Area covers the Drakenberg area, Qacha’s Nek, and Mokhotlong Districts,
including SNP. Under the Maluti/Drakensberg Transfrontier programme, the
area is meant to be developed and managed for the conservation of its biodiversity.
The programme is a joint venture between Lesotho and South Africa. Lesotho
National Parks is represented on the programme’s SABONET Steering Committee
by Ms Nkareng ‘Mota, Chief Conservation Officer of the Conservation Division.
The committee’s role is to ensure the planning and development of the programme,
which started in 1999.
We thank René Glen (PRE) for assistance in providing information on Aponogeton ranunculiflorus, and Shirley Smithies (PRE) for useful discussions concerning the taxonomy of Limosella.
—by Christopher Willis, Gideon Smith & Lerato Kose
SABONET
News 4.2: 147
