Volume 8 • April 2012 CREW –National Overview he CREW programme, which and for providing baseline data REW, the Custodians of involves civil society volun- for conservation planning and T Rare and Endangered teers in monitoring South Af- land-use decision-making. Thus, C Wildflowers, is a programme rica’s threatened plants, is a key CREW volunteers are making a that involves volunteers from component of the South African significant contribution to South the public in the monitoring National Biodiversity Institute’s Africa’s biodiversity monitoring and and conservation of South (SANBI) Threatened Species conservation. Africa’s threatened plants. Programme. Keeping the CREW network of CREW aims to capacitate a This newsletter, produced volunteers going is a priority for network of volunteers from annually, is written by CREW SANBI’s Threatened Species a range of socio-economic volunteers and staff who Programme, however, it cannot backgrounds to monitor coordinate the programme and be done in isolation and working and conserve South Africa’s covers the highlights for the with partners is essential. We are threatened plant species. 2011–2012 field season, as very pleased to announce that The programme links vol- well as important developments the Botanical Society (BotSoc) is unteers with their local within the programme. As we becoming ever more committed conservation agencies and enter 2012, CREW is in its ninth to the implementation of CREW. particularly with local land stewardship initiatives to en- year of implementation. The BotSoc has a Memorandum sure the conservation of key programme has matured and of Understanding (MoU) with sites for threatened plant grown extensively to a point where SANBI and financially supports species. there is now a strong network of the operations of CREW in volunteers spread across South the summer rainfall region in Africa’s threatened ecosystems. addition to paying the salaries Populations of threatened plants of two CREW coordinators. The are being monitored on an ongoing Botanical Society administrator basis, with fascinating species works part time for CREW and being found regularly (see articles a Botanical Society member from CREW groups). Monitoring sponsors the entire implementation data on threatened plants collected of CREW in the Fynbos region. by volunteers is being fed to The Kirstenbosch Branch of the SANBI’s Threatened Species Botanical Society will, for the Programme for use in updating the next two years, work with CREW Red List of South Africa’s plants, in the Cape Town surrounds 1 on an exciting new project to This website, the first of its statuses of some of the species train previously disadvantaged kind for South Africa, includes you have found. We will however school graduates to both monitor conservation assessments get to them in the upcoming year. threatened plants and work as plant using the IUCN system for all of We are looking for volunteers to conservation champions within South Africa’s 20 689 recorded help us with updating this website. their communities. The Botanical indigenous vascular plant taxa. If you are interested in doing office Society is thus demonstrating Each species account includes work, preferably from the Pretoria commitment to conserving South distribution, habitat information and office, please contact me at Africa’s flora and promoting an explanation of why a specific [email protected]. transformation of the botanical species has been listed either conservation sector. under one of the categories of This newsletter includes, for the conservation concern or as not first time, a section that profiles During 2011, SANBI has developed threatened (Least Concerned). some of the staff members who two new online tools to support The Red List website represents have worked on the CREW the work of CREW volunteers and the official Red List of South programme during 2011 and 2012. members of South Africa’s public African plants and a new version As part of the CREW programme, interested in plant conservation. is released on a six monthly basis. we aim to train young scientists in The first is an online site for the Each update includes assessments plant conservation work. The staff public to identify South Africa’s for newly described species as section that can be found at the species called iSpot. iSpot allows well as species for which new end of the newsletter will profile citizen scientists and the public information about the status of what type of work our interns have to contribute information to populations is available. Volunteers been involved in and reflects their SANBI’s conservation and species working with CREW generate most experiences with us. We have been databases. Contributions are of the later data. The release of this fortunate to have three interns made by uploading images and national Red List website marks the with us over the past year, Anisha locality information of interesting end of the era of producing printed Dayaram, Martina Treurnicht and sightings of plants, animals and Red Data or Red List books. All Lerato Hoveka, each of whom fungi. Identification is done both by future Red Lists for plants will be have contributed significantly to experts and by other iSpot users. produced online. our work. Also included in our CREW volunteers typically have staff section is a special tribute to an excellent knowledge of their The maintenance of Red List Isabel Johnson who has worked as local floras and hence are valuable assessments for South Africa’s the CREW manager for KwaZulu- contributors to iSpot. iSpot provides flora is a massive job. Around 100 Natal (KZN) since 2007. Isabel a platform where volunteers from new plant species are described is transitioning from her role as across CREW groups can share per year and over 200 species CREW KZN manager to working their expertise and learn from are revised in new taxonomic on a related Botanical Society each other. It is an opportunity to treatments. New information project to secure the conservation learn and share observations on of important botanical sites via a wider range of biodiversity than indicating that populations have been lost to development or stewardship. Suvarna Parbhoo, just plants, for those who may be who has worked closely with Isabel new previously undocumented interested. We are very pleased over the past few years and who populations been found, is that many CREW volunteers have will be taking over the reins as the received from CREW volunteers already started posting images of CREW KZN manager, wrote the and consultants on a daily basis, plants and animals and have been tribute for Isabel. Although Isabel’s with over 400 species needing helping to identify plants posted main work focus is changing, she status updates per year. These by other iSpot users. iSpot will be will remain linked to CREW and will very high numbers indicate that developed over the next few years always remain part of the CREW CREW volunteers are doing an to include interactive keys for plant team. Fortunately for us, Isabel is excellent job of monitoring our identification. If you have not far too passionate about threatened flora. Unfortunately, however, yet started using plants to ever stop working on the team working at SANBI’s iSpot, visit http:// monitoring them. Isabel, thank Threatened Species Programme za.ispot.org.uk you for your pivotal role in getting has diminished in size over the past and get hooked! CREW established in KZN. From four years from six scientists to only the CREW team and the CREW one full time scientist. This is as a The second volunteer network, we wish you the result of ever shrinking budgets at online tool greatest of success with your next SANBI. Due to limited capacity, we is the Red project. have a significant backlog of data List for Plants that needs to be added to the Red (www.redlist. Domitilla Raimondo sanbi.org). List website. Many of you will note that we have not yet updated the Threatened Plant Programme Manager CREW Cape Floristic Region Report Ismail Ebrahim t is always a privilege and ex- protocol for propagating these Iceptionally rewarding to reflect species to relieve pressure on the on the activities of another year wild populations that are being that has passed. harvested. Thinking back to all the wonderful Lerato will be with us until August places we have visited, the 2012 and is working on a very amazing plants we monitored and exciting project. We are developing the friendly, heart-warming people interactive identification tools we met on our travels really gives for iSpot and Lerato is currently one the warm ‘fuzzy’ feeling that working on the methodology for so many people search for. Without developing the keys by using trying to sound too repetitive (every Babiana as the pilot genus for the year is a good year!), 2011 was project. remarkable. The major difference was down to the additional capacity The field season was exceptionally we had last year. The SANBI intern good in 2011. Our main target for programme has benefited CREW. the year was to try to rediscover as In April, Martina Treurnicht started many Critically Endangered Pos- sibly Extinct (CRPE) species as we her internship with us. Martina could. The year started really well Muraltia ferox, one of the Critically completed her MSc degree in 2010 when we rediscovered Oxalis levis Endangered Possibly Extinct species and worked on the Agulhas Plain at the Riverlands Nature Reserve. CREW discovered in 2011. assessing the impacts of flower Due to the success of Maramodes harvesting on Fynbos. Martina has Day (27 April, Freedom Day) we a revision of Muraltia. There was been a great addition to the team decided to promulgate a new bo- a very vague description of the and has really helped to implement tanical holiday.