Understanding Change

The world’s natural environment is changing rapidly, and in many ways. Although these changes are apparent, their causes and drivers are often more elusive. To understand how and why change happens, scientists collect so-called bioindicators. These are organisms and Read more

Natural Fire Breaks?

Fires could do great damage if they could get into the fairy forests shown in the previous blog, which leads us to the intriguing possibility that miombo trees manage to keep fires away by forming fire breaks on the Read more

Economic Blind Alleys

One of Ongava Research Centre’s major interests focuses on this question: How can rural poverty be eradicated, and land degradation be reversed in Africa? The greatest form of environmental degradation in Africa is shifting dryland agriculture. After several years Read more

Using automated recognition software to identify leopards from their spot patterns

After the few seconds spent in awe following spotting a leopard, we usually grab our camera to record that rare encounter. As scientists, we do the same, but with an additional goal in mind: we want to know who Read more

Weaver fever!

Different weaver species usually nest separately, but two species sometimes occupy a tree. Seldom are there three species, but that rare combination turned the fever tree at Andersson’s Lodge into a bustling colony of weaver nests in January 2020. Read more