1 November 2023
By: Amelia Genis
The Karoo is teeming with places where landowners and farmers are throwing everything into restoring grasslands and ecosystems. They are using combinations of static and active restoration methods.
In the Eastern Cape part of the Karoo, farmers are increasingly working to halt the degradation of grasslands caused by unwise grazing methods and assist in the productivity of processes, plants and animals.
Farmers recently attended the revival agriculture farmers’ day for wool and fibre at Dwarsvlei outside Middelburg, organised by OVK and Landbouweekblad (African Farming’s sister magazine). There, they learned how two sheep and cattle farmers, James Brodie of Graaff-Reinet and Rowan Stretton of Molteno, opened their path to ecological accreditation.
After years of regenerative grazing guided by the Savory Institute in the US, both received accreditation for ecological outcomes. According to the protocol for ecological outcomes, a farm must meet benchmarks for ground cover, water infiltration, biodiversity, soil carbon and soil health.
This means large numbers of animals are used to convert unproductive grasslands and bare ground into a seedbed. After each grazing, the field must be given a chance to rest for at least a year. Throughout the year, the production cycles of the grasslands and plants must be synchronised with those of the animals.
To make this work, the right infrastructure is non-negotiable, including fences to create “hundreds” of smaller camps, enough watering holes with sufficient water, and adapted animals.
The result is more productive grasslands with higher carrying capacity and greater resilience and cleaner water.
Slowing down water
Landowners pursuing their “second profession” are also helping to improve Karoo grasslands.
In Fraserburg, Henk Louwrens has spent the past 25 years using stone check dams and contour furrows to slow down the speed at which rainwater moves across the earth, allowing it to soak in. With more water spreading across the fields, plants have started to establish themselves on bare patches on Louwrens’ farm, Rehoboth, resulting in increased plant cover and species richness.
After seeking advice from Dr Sue Milton, a leading ecologist and restoration practitioner at Renu-Karoo in Prince Albert, Mattie Oosthuizen from Barrydale has improved plant cover and diversity over the past seven years by allowing fields to rest and by sowing field plant seeds and planting small trees. The plants are supported with drip irrigation.
Oosthuizen also constructed contour banks on the farm to reduce erosion caused by runoff.
