Eco Minute 13:30

BULLETIN 20 June 1:30 pm

Good afternoon, here is your Eco Minute:

# South Africa’s iconic protea, including the King Protea, is relocating due to climate change. Nearly 200 varieties now thrive far from their native Cape habitats, where many species face extinction. Experts say rising temperatures, habitat loss, and altered fire cycles threaten these endemic flowers. Through innovation, some farmers grow proteas using minimal irrigation, aiming to preserve them. The King Protea is the country’s largest flower export, with more than ten-million stems sent abroad last year, worth close to 275-million-rand.

# Ten critically endangered black rhinos have been successfully translocated from South Africa to Mozambique’s Zinave National Park this week. The five bulls and five cows were donated by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in collaboration with Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas and the Peace Parks Foundation. The foundation’s Antony Alexander says the idea of the translocation was to secure the first founder population of black rhinos since the animals became locally extinct five decades ago:

# And finally: Arctic peatlands are expanding as the climate warms. New research shows this is a change that could slow global heating in the near term but have the opposite effect in future. These carbon-rich reservoirs, composed of partially decayed organic matter, only cover three percent of Earth’s surface, and generally fade out in the far north, where harsh weather limits plant growth. But higher temperatures caused by climate change have improved growing conditions for plants in the Arctic, and satellite data has shown a general greening of this frosty region.

Stay tuned for more news………….