Habitat Regeneration
This page outlines how about 75 percent of the Okonjima Nature Reserve was bush encroached at its creation due to past overgrazing. It explains the Reserve’s goal to restore a balance of thornveld thickets, mixed woodland and open savannah, and describes the 2023 collaboration with the University of Namibia to test bush-clearing methods. UNAM students have completed baseline assessments and will reassess vegetation, soil and small wildlife over time to measure the impact of each method.
As a result of over grazing during the cattle farming days, about 75% of the ONR was bush encroached (thornveld thickets) when the Reserve was first created. The objective of Reserve management is to thin most of the encroached bush in order to have about a third of the Reserve as thornveld thickets, a third mixed woodland and a third open savanah in order to create a mixed habitat suitable for a biodiverse and sustainable ecosystem.
Over the years, bit by bit, different areas of the ONR have been using a variety of means. In 2023, AfriCat and the ONR teamed up with the Department of Environmental Science of the University of Namibia to more systematically test the effectiveness and impact of different methods of bush clearing on soil properties including:
- Carbon sequestration and biodiversity of vegetation
- Bush re-growth and
- Wildlife invertebrates and small mammals.
