by Telescopus » Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:08 pm
Hi all, here is my 5 cents regarding albanica.
Since 2002 till 7th May 2007 20 albanica have been found in the area in question. Seven were sent to The P.E. Snake park between 2002 and 2004 (when the mining began). these all died. In 2007 I approached Dr. Branch for the back-up to get Nat. Cons to do something about these snakes, Bill agreed. I wrote out a 10 page study programme with Bill and held numerous meetings with the Natu. Cons guys. to try do something. Nat. Cons were helpful but rather reluctant to get involved. I managed to get access to the property which is exclusively owned by 'the cement company'. One of the main conditions for them granting me the research permit to study these snakes was that I had to get written permission from the custodians of the land('the cement company') . iM STILL WAITING FOR THIS LETTER. I however went onto the land with the verbal permission of one of the custodians.
Most of the snakes were found in deep trenches which had been bull dozed open. They were approximately 100meters long, up to 5 meters deep and 5 meters wide. From spending much time in these trenches I realized that the albany adder is 100 % on its habitat. The rock that is been mined is the same rock which secures the snakes survival.This rock forms the foundation of the vegetation type (Bontveld) which is limited to the albanica area. This is how it works; The rock lies about 10-15 cms under the topsoil. The vegeatation is limited to plant species which have adapted and established themselves to survive in such shallow soils. My main concern is that the mining removes this rock, thus killing the vegetation.(other than killing the snakes in the vegetation). Im not too sure if an EIA was conducted as the mining activity is controlled by the Mineral Affairs and Energy Act. I know that one of the conditions generally regarding mining is that the mined areas must be rehabilitated before a certificate of completion is issued by government when mining in the area is finished. This seems fine to most people but in terms of the bontveld, the mining removes the rock, this will never be replaced for rehabilitation, thus the vegetation after the mining will not be bontveld- it will change to a common bushveld with Acacia trees and grasses. This is a complete habitat change for the albanica.
When studying the rock, one can see intricate tunnels through the rock which lead into chanbers within the rock. In these chambers I found geckoes, small lizards etc. The food for Albanica. By destroying the rock, the snakes habitat together with the food source is destroyed. These rock chambers explain why albanica are found after digging the trenches- they are simply desplaced and crawl out the destroyed chambers into the trench.On the ground surface, one can see entrance holes into the rock. In my opinion- these snakes spend much of their life semi under ground- in these tunnels and surface when conditions are favourable etc. (I could be wrong as Im no expert). But thats what I reckon.
Now the politics: 'the cement company' is the owner of the land, they have the rights to mine the enitre area. With regard to the S.A economy, more and more cement is needed for housing development etc and to sell overseas. The Depatrment of Economic Development is also the Department of Environmental Affairs-the people who have the power to stop the mining.(Quite ironic). Nature Conservation is governed by the same department. 'the cement company' was happy for me to go onto the land, but as soon as I launched the Albany adder Project, the results became clear that the main threat to the snakes was habitat destruction. By making this aware, it would be in direct conflict to the mining operation thus also the 'the cement company' contribution to the economy. Unfortunately in a third world country as SA, the rights of snakes are completely forgotten when the rights of humans are considered. Nature conservation stated that they will never issue a permit for someone to catch or keep albanica, no matter who they are or which institution they belong to , as it will open too many doors for smuggling etc. They also will not allow captive breeding setups etc as they are affraid of the spread of pathegens into the wild populations and the genetic pollution sargar. They say that noone can prove that released specimens will survive- they all think its a cover screen for keeping and trading with these snakes.
It seems that the only way to save the species is to save the habitat inwhich they live.
It is quite remarkable that the day I launched the Project was the day the last albanica was found. Since then everything has gone dead quiet.
Good news. I had a meeting with Nature Conservation this morning regarding the Project (Pressure from Rob, hee hee) and they are keen to tackle the situation again. will keep you guys informed.