From our editor
Dear reader ,
Happy spring , everything is warming up again as we head towards to last bit of the year . This issue is full of news from the past GSSA 58 th Congress : we have the presential address , feedback from the organising committee , and the award winners too . These articles , along with Plaas TV ’ s video series , are great for catching up on anything missed ( or reliving the conference if you were there ).
Recent headlines were made when Karpowership , a floating power vessel , reached a offered to donate a game farm to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife as a biodiversity offset . This follows right after Government published a National Biodiversity Offset Guideline in June .
Following this we have articles on carbon offsets as licence to pollute , and ‘ helicopter scientists ’. Carbon credits are both seen as an exciting new funding avenue for conservation and sustainable practices , but also a ‘ greengrabbing ’ mechanism where key decisions around land use and management are made by a far-off party to ‘ offset ’ their emissions . These decisions are very often based on what the global community decides is an ‘ offset ’ activity , which is sometimes in opposition to local science and knowledge . This is a topic I am quite interested in . If anyone has any articles or comments they would like to submit , on either the positive or negative side of carbon credits , I would be happy to publish them in the next issue .
Then we have some news on invasive species , penguins , grassland funding , and a report back from Guy Musto on the International Grassland Congress .
Lastly , we have a wonderful obituary commemorating the life of legendary grassland scientist and emeritus Professor , Neil Tainton .
As always , thank you to our readers !
I hope you enjoy this issue , our inbox is always open for any news , queries , contributions , and feedback ( info @ grassland . org . za ).
Till next time ,
Lisa
Editorial Committee
Editor Lisa Matthews
Sub-Editor Marnus Smit
Layout and Design J . C . Aucamp
Contact us If you have any feedback , comments , or suggestions , feel free to contact us at : info @ grassland . org . za
@ GrasslandSocietyofSouthernAfrica
@ GrasslandSocSA
Grassland Society of Southern Africa
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Despite the care and attention that we devote to the structure of this newsletter and the information it contains , the Grassroots Editorial Team cannot guarantee the completeness and accuracy of the data . The opinion expressed in each article is the opinion of its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial team .
Grassroots Vol 23 No 3 November 2023 02