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11 March 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo Supplied
Dr Ralph Clarke
Dr Ralph Clark, Director of the Afromontane Research Unit.

The African Mountain Research Foundation (AMRF), in association with the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) of the University of the Free State (UFS), and the Global Mountain Safeguard Research Programme (GLOMOS), is hosting the first-ever Southern African Mountain Conference (SAMC2022). The theme of the conference is Southern African Mountains – their value and vulnerabilities.

The conference will bring relevant people together into one space for networking and information sharing, leading to more robust regional and international collaborations and comparative mountain studies with an increase in research activities, student capacity, researcher capacity and academic outputs that feed into policy and action. 

The conference will take place from 14 to 17 March 2022 in the majestic Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa and Lesotho. 

According to the SAMC2022 website, this is a truly Southern African regional mountain conference, targeting the African region south of the Congo rainforest (DRC) and Lake Rukwa (Tanzania), but including Madagascar, the Comoros and the Mascarenes (i.e., Angola, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo [southern mountains], Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, La Réunion, South Africa, southern Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).

Dr Ralph Clark, ARU Director, said the conference would be a high-level international event with UNESCO patronage and very valuable sponsors.

“The programme will have six parallel tracks (one being dedicated to postgraduate students), with about 200 papers being delivered. In addition, we have some very high-profile special sessions, such as an MRI special session on long-term monitoring activities and associated data availability for climate change-related applications across Africa’s mountains, as well as a UNESCO special session on regional collaboration. We also have Prof Julian Bayliss, described as the man who discovered an unseen world, as the guest speaker at the closing event.”

The conference will bring together relevant people in one space for networking and information sharing, leading to more robust regional and international collaborations and comparative mountain studies, with an increase in research activities, student capacity, researcher capacity, and academic outputs that feed into policy and action.

The GLOMOS team, one of the long-term partners of the ARU, spent the week of 8 to 11 March 2022 on the Qwaqwa Campus to strengthen collaboration and pave the way for new research opportunities in Phuthaditjhaba and the Maloti-Drakensberg.
GLOMOS represents an interface between the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Eurac Research. Postdoctoral fellow, Dr Stefano Terzi, said: “It’s very interesting for us to look at the Maloti-Drakensberg area because of its diversity. We are in the process of really exciting collaborations.”
Their projects include an understanding of the root causes of land degradation and improving decision-making processes for current water management within the context of water scarcity in the Maloti-Drakensberg.
• For more information on the speakers and the programme, click here 


News Archive

Shimlas dust off Pukke before Varsity Cup semifinal
2015-03-24

Even the persistent Pukke from North-West University (NWU) fell short by losing 29-26 on Monday 23 March against the UFS Shimlas in this year’s Varsity Cup rugby tournament.

This means Shimlas have their first ever home semifinal and, for the first time, they are also the only unbeaten side in the tournament. Come Monday 30 March, the men from Kovsies will host the University of Cape Town Ikeys for the first semifinal clash of the day at 16:45 at Shimla Park on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.

Despite the loss, Pukke did manage to secure a bonus point by scoring four tries. It was only the good kicking to the posts by Shimlas captain AJ Coertzen that made the three-point victory difference on the final score. Pukke ended fourth on the Varsity Cup log, earning them a position in the semifinal as well. The men from NWU will travel next to the University of Pretoria to face the top of the log Tuks side in the second semifinal clash.

In the Shimlas match against Pukke, UFS flank Gerhard Olivier managed to be dubbed the Player that Rocks for a second time now this season.

Shimlas point scorers against Pukke:
Tries: Elandre Huggett, Niell Jordaan, Gerhard Olivier (2)
Conversion kicks: AJ Coertzen (3)

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