Environmental studies on table

Amanda Watson

Nothing was off limits at the eighth annual Oppenheimer De Beers Group Research Conference in Johannesburg this week.

“The conference is an opportunity for students and researchers to present their findings ... and guides the future of research,” said Mpumi Zikalala, senior vice-president of De Beers sightholder sales.

The elephant in the room was the conflict between mining and conservation. “When you’re mining you are impacting on the environment,” said Dr Patti Wickens, senior environmental manager and acting head of sustainable development at De Beers. “You’re changing the landscape, impacting on biodiversity, there’s water use, energy, but also, all products we use come from mining. We try and work internally to make a difference and that’s where we see we have a responsibility.”

The acreage under conservation is five times more than that disturbed by mining, according to De Beers. Also, the 164 000 hectares in South Africa and Botswana under conservation by the miner may be some of the most-studied, with many of the papers presented focusing on the privately owned land.

Subject matter covered the small: Spiders and Holistic Management Practices: Response of spider fauna to holistic planned grazing at a landscape scale at Debshan Ranch, Shangani, Zimbabwe, presented by Sicelo Sebata; to the scientific: Predicting the phylogeny of Scarabaeini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) using cuticular hydrocarbon profiles and gland morphology, presented by Alex Nepomuceno; and the virtual: The theory and application of virtual fencing in wildlife management, presented by Phil Richardson.

Nearly 30 subjects were covered including ongoing research on roadkill, animal contraception, the Kyalami African grass owl, and a critically endangered SA orchid named after Albertina Sisulu.