Baviaanskloof (SA): Students from Rhodes University (Grahamstown) have recently emerged from the field after an intense but rewarding 10 days in the field. Led by Prof. Fred Ellery from the Dept. Environmental Sciences, the purpose of their research was to collect important data which could enable them to better understand the fluvial / catchment processes of the Baviaanskloof.

EarthCollective’s 4-page mid-year  Seasonal Supplement Newsletter is now online. This file can be opened/downloaded directly here: Seasonal Supplement Q209 (1MB)

Moorea (FP): EarthCollective has been awarded a contract to carry out a study on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. The successful proposal is being led by Mahe Charles and will focus on designing steps for the sustainable financing of the island’s coastal and marine management plan. Project fieldwork will be carried out between June  and August with first results expected in late September.

Wageningen (NL): This year’s Earth Day (22nd April 09) saw EarthCollective  chalk up three (3) years of activity with the eyes4earth programme. In particular, it was three years to the day since the launch of ‘The Question’ (“What did nature do for you today?”).  In 2006, members and volunteers came together on a sunny spring day in Arnhem and invited the public to answer ‘The Question’ as part of this dynamic action research and social marketing initiative.  The eyes4earth blog has posted an article and video clip of the first ever response received to ‘The Question’.

EarthCollective’s 4-page first quarter Seasonal Supplement Newsletter is now online. This file can be obtained by emailing info@earthcollective.net

Kouga Dam (SA): EarthCollective (through the Living Lands agency) has recently finalised the planning report: PRESENCE in the Baviaanskloof: A strategy for integrated catchment restoration. This document provides a comprehensive overview of all current and proposed activities related to socio-ecological restoration in the Baviaanskloof (Eastern Cape, South Africa).

Global: The EarthCollective network clocked up its third year of formal existence today. Whilst the first dinner table meeting in Wageningen, The Netherlands which got the ball rolling does not always seem so long ago, when founding members reflect on all that has happened since, it could also feel like a decade has passed.

Australia (AU): The Australian Government’s Department of Environment, Water, Hertiage & Arts has recently published the report “Integrated assessment of wetland services and values as a tool to analyse policy trade-offs and management options: A case study in the Daly and Mary River catchments, northern Australia”. 

The report was co-authored by EarthCollective members Bas Verschuuren and Matthew Zylstra and synthesises their own and colleagues extensive research carried out during 2004-2005.

The full report as well as online summary is available here on the Australian Government website.

General: EarthCollective’s quarterly newsletter ‘Seasonal Supplement’ [4th Quarter 2008] is now available online.

Topics covered in this issue:
- Finding In & Finding Out: PRESENCE as a Learning Network
- Remote Sensing for Transdisciplinary Projects: Some things to think about
- Flying high: CVNI reflections on a Precious Earth
- Shaping the future:  PRESENCE in the Eastern Cape plus new research results
- 9 questions in 99 seconds with Marian Vittek
- Discovering wetlands in drylands: Participatory processes in the Baviaanskloof
- Revealing Research: Spirituality & Conservation – old friends reunite
- Tis Christmas: So (work)shop til you drop!
- Quotes of the Quarter / Poetry Piece
- News in a Nutshell / Agenda & Activities

Simply email info@earthcollective.net with ‘subscribe newsletter’ if you wish to be included on the mailing list for future newsletters.

Baviaanskloof-Gamtoos Valley (SA): Shop until you drop. It is a saying synonymous with the Christmas consumer craziness. For PRESENCE’s Wageningen University students, they have been somewhat shielded this year from that mayhem in the rural Baviaanskloof-Gamtoos valleys. However, they and the EarthCollective enablers weren’t without their own share of continuous activity in the form of back-to-back stakeholder and community workshops.

Read more and see the pictures…