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Africa – the continent of mountain archipelagos

25 May 2020 | Story Dr Ralph Clark | Photo Charl Devenish

Afromontane_read more — Afromontane research area in the Eastern Free State.

Africa could be called ‘the continent of mountain archipelagos’ for the unusual fact that most of Africa's mountains are isolated ‘islands’ rather than linear, continuous mountain systems such as those in Asia (e.g. the Himalayas), Europe (e.g. the Alps), and the Americas (e.g. Rockies and Andes). Even in Southern Africa, where we have the linear Great Escarpment (5 000 km long), this system is so old that it has been breached in innumerable places by erosion into a series of independent mountain blocks.

The result of this mountain disconnection is that Africa's mountains display biodiversity patterns more akin to islands than to mountains: rich, exciting, and unique, and full of very localised and interesting species. Likewise, mountain communities have established and evolved unique cultural ways of life and traditions in their particular mountains – isolated from other groups on other mountains. But in some mountains, internecine warfare and tribal conflict caused mountains to become boundaries rather than welcoming places. This was certainly the case during the Mfecane in Southern Africa, ultimately leading to the birth of Lesotho as the ‘Mountain Kingdom’. Colonialism took this to a new level, and – for most of Africa – mountains became international borders between empires, splitting ethnic groups into several nationalities and marginalising large segments of the population in these new countries. This same geopolitical situation continues today, with major implications for the sustainable management of mountain ecosystem services, natural capital, and socio-cultural sustainability in multinational contexts.

The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) – a continental leader in African mountain research – seeks to explore these socio-ecological complexities in terms of sustainable development, providing research that can help to secure a positive future for the people, biodiversity, and goods and services provided by Africa's mountains. As part of its mission, the ARU is leading the way in encouraging a multidisciplinary community of practice that will drive a science-policy-action interface for Southern African mountains in decades to come. As virtually all of Africa's water comes from its mountains, this is a critical service to a region increasingly at risk from drought and the socio-political implications of rivers and taps running dry.

Although the Qwaqwa Campus is the home of the ARU, the ARU is welcoming affiliations from across the UFS and beyond. Should you wish to become affiliated to the ARU, please contact the Director, Dr Ralph Clark at ClarkVR@ufs.ac.za. Visit the new ARU's website

News Archive

UFS scoops up MACE special award for consistent excellence

2016-12-02

From the left: Martie Nortjé, Lerato Sebe, Thabo Kessah,
Lacea Loader, Lelanie de Wet, Leonie Bolleurs,
Leslé-Ann George, and Mamosa Makaya from the
UFS Communication and Brand Management team
at the MACE Excellence Awards, where they received
two Merit Awards, two Excellence Awards, four Gold Awards,
one Platinum Award, and one Severus Cerff: Special Award.

The Department of Communication and Brand Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) won ten awards during the Excellence Awards of the national association of Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE), held on 24 November 2016 in Cape Town. Hundred and sixty two awards were presented at the event.

At the awards ceremony, the department further received the Severus Cerff Award for demonstrating consistent and outstanding excellence in the 2016 Excellence Awards Programme.

The awards ceremony is part of the MACE Annual National Congress, which took place from 23 to 25 November 2016. The MACE Congress is a platform where experts from the fields of marketing, advancement, and communication share experiences and best practices. This year’s programme included speakers such as Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman, Founder of Gift of the Givers, Ruda Landman, Non-Executive Director of Media24 Limited, and Jonathan Shapiro, well-known cartoonist.

Lacea Loader, Director of the Department of Communication and Brand Management, said, “I am extremely proud of our achievements and I’m privileged to work with such a high-performing team. The fact that we received the Severus Cerff Award for consistent excellence is an additional, exceptional accomplishment.”

Other awards include a Platinum Award, four Gold Awards, two Excellence Awards, and two Merit Awards. Martie Nortjé, Assistant Director: Branding and Merchandise, received a Platinum Award for KovsieGear, the university’s merchandise shop. The Platinum Award is given to all the entries receiving a Gold Award of Excellence in a category, and the best entry in a division receives the award.

Leonie Bolleurs, Assistant Director: Internal Communication, received the Gold Awards for the Sound [W]right UFS student tone and voice guide, the Spaces and Places Video, the Student Bursary Fund Campaign: Photographs as well as the Excellence Awards for the Student Bursary Fund Campaign: Video and the Expanded Footprints Publication. Loader was awarded with the Gold Award for the Facilitation of the review of the UFS Language Policy. This award is given to the highest-scoring entry in every category.

Thabo Kessah, Senior Officer: Internal Communication at the Qwaqwa Campus, and Loader each received a Merit Award for the Ke Eo Taba Qwaqwa Newsletter and Prof Jonathan Jansen’s Commemorative Book: For such a time as this.

Earlier this year, KovsieGear received Gold at the 2016 Prism Awards of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA). The B Safe Take Action campaign also recently received an award at the African Excellence Awards in Cape Town.

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