By Dr. Salomon Joubert.
Introduction
In Chapter 1 the broad conservation philosophy adopted for the MNR is given. According to these guidelines the approach towards management is dictated by the ultimate objective of rehabilitating and conserving the MNR ecosystems in their most pristine state possible. In pursuing this course it is accepted that the current situation pertaining to the MNR is largely dominated by:
- a collection of farms that have been physically and biologically impacted, to a more or lesser degree, by past land-use practises;
- the confinement of animals to fenced subdivisions which do not necessarily represent ecological units, and
- the suppression of natural processes due to the unplanned provision of water and the exclusion of veld fires.
ECOLOGICAL GUIDELINES FROM THE PAST
To gain a perspective of the position occupied by the MNR in a broader ecological context it is necessary to take the geomorphological features and their associated biota over a much wider geographical region into account.
Much of the eastern sector between the Soutpansberg Mountain Range and the Limpopo River is dominated by granite and sandstone formations. The soils derived from the granites are generally shallow, stony , nutrient poor and support a poor grass cover. Soils derived from sandstone often result in deep sands with a better grass cover than the granitic soils. However, the quality of the grazing is not particularly high. In both cases local patches of loam soils – derived either from intrusive rocks or the leaching of clay minerals – are found that produce better quality grazing.