SPEKBOOM RESTORATION : MONITORING, EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT (M, E & D) PROJECT
This project focuses on the vegetation typical of the south-eastern Cape, namely subtropical thicket, which has been extensively transformed by overgrazing. Without intervention, degraded thicket is unable to recover, but successful restoration has been achieved by planting cuttings of the local spekboom plant (Portulacaria afra). Studies show that carbon stored in healthy thicket is remarkably high for a semi-arid system, but that stored carbon is lost with veld degradation. These insights have stimulated the evaluation of the feasibility of restoring thicket at the landscape-scale and the possibility of a large-scale job creation programme funded with credits from the carbon market.
R3G’s role in this project entails baseline assessments, monitoring and evaluating, cost-benefit analyses of different treatments, and the development of restoration protocols for best management practices.
In the period 2004 to June 2011, some 2, 662.73 hectares have been restored with planted spekboom cuttings. These large scale plantings have been established on state-owned conservation land viz., the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve, the Addo Elephant National Park, the Great Fish Nature Reserve and communal lands in Peddie.
In order to determine those regions where spekboom restoration is feasible and to determine best survivorship and good rates of carbon capture, as well as evaluate planting treatments, a massive experiment has been laid out over the extent of spekboom-rich vegetation. Three hundred plots have been set up across the 550 km east –west span with 13 treatments. This experiment, known as the “thicket-wide plots experiment”, is arguably the largest ecological restoration experiment in the world. While results will only be available in several years’ time, the results to date indicate remarkably high survivorship despite the region suffering the worst drought in living memory.
Related Documentation:-
Investing In Sustainability
Restoration Of Spekboom And The Carbon Market Info Sheet
Carbon Farming
History Of Spekboom Restoration
