The Forgotten African Islands GBIF-BID Project. Freshwater biodiversity remains relatively understudied in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially across the Indian Ocean Islands. These islands are characterised by unique biodiversity and high levels of endemism that are threatened by invasive alien species, and anthropogenic impacts such as climate change and land use change. GroundTruth worked with the Global…
WRC Research Project K5 2351 – Periphyton Project. GroundTruth engaged in a three year research project funded by the WRC of South Africa. The project was titled: “The development and application of Periphyton as Indicators of flow and nutrient alterations for the management of water resources in South Africa”. The objectives of the research were…
Kenya Road Upgrade Biodiversity Action Plan. GroundTruth was requested to develop a Biodiversity Action Plan for the prosed upgrade of the Illasit-Taveta road, in south-central Kenya. Biodiversity Action Plans are required for development projects in critical habitats and recommended for high-risk projects in natural areas. The primary purpose of developing this Biodiversity Action Plan for…
Willowton Oil Spill Summary. An unfortunate accident occurred on Tuesday 13th of August 2019 at the Willowton Group Facility in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Above ground storage tanks containing vegetable oil, sunflower oil, and diluted caustic soda collapsed or were damaged, spilling approximately 110 tonnes of contaminant into the Baynespruit River, a tributary of the…
Environmental flows for the Mujib River, Jordan. Environmental flows (e-flows) assessments are a powerful mechanism for enhancing and conserving the ecosystem goods and services rivers provide while allocating water to essential human use. There is a paucity of e-flows assessments and implementation in water scarce regions such as the Middle East, where limited freshwater resources…
The ORASECOM Joint Basin Surveys (JBS) Project Summary. Background The Orange-Senqu River Basin is a multinational river system that is both ecologically and economically critical to the southern Africa region. It spans four countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The Orange-Senqu Commission (ORASECOM), which was established under the Revised Southern African Development Community (SADC)…
Upper Orange River Reserve Study. The protection of water resources in South Africa is safeguarded in the National Water Act (No. 36 of 1998) via the implementation of Resource Directed Measures, in which it is mandated that the Reserve (i.e., the water allocated for human use and reserved for the environment) must be determined for…
Unmanned Aerial and Surface Vehicles for River Surveying within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation. GroundTruth, in partnership with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), led a research and development project concerning real-time natural resource monitoring and decision-support systems as per the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation. The CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation seeks to…
Mthinzima Wetland Community Restoration. The video summarising this project can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/jjMsNza1S-4 Summary Midmar Dam in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is a vital water source for millions of downstream users, making its water quality a critical concern for water resource management in the province. The water flowing into the dam from the upstream Mpophomeni township…
Present Ecological Status and Ecological Importance and Sensitivity for north-eastern South Africa. The National Water Act (NWA) (Act 36 of 1998) provides for the protection and sustainable management of South Africa’s water resources through Resource Directed Measures (RDM). These include the classification of water resources using the Water Resource Classification System (WRCS), determination of the…