Preliminary Programme

Monday 16 July 2012: The Council Meeting and Best Farmer SA Course (Rangeland Management using the Principles of the Controlled Fodder Flow Grazing Strategy and Animal Behaviour, presented by Riaan Dames) will begin at 09h30 (registration for the course will open at 09h00). Registration will open at 13h30 and the Congress will begin on at 18h00 on Monday evening with an Opening Address and Welcome, Presidential Address, Keynote Address and Meet & Greet Supper.

Tuesday 17 July 2012: Standard and Special Sessions, and Workshops followed by AGM at 15h30 and Supper at 18h30 at Boesmanland Plaaskombuis.

Wednesday 18 July 2012: Standard and Special Sessions, and Workshops followed by mid-Congress tours from 14h00 until 17h00, optional Langebaan Lagoon Sunset Boat Trip at 17h00, Greek Themed Supper and Evening starting at 18h30.

Thursday 19 July 2012: Standard and Special Sessions, and Workshops, including a full day of Planted Pastures Sessions and Workshop, and the Research Proposal Poster Session with Gala Dinner at 18h30.

Friday 20 July 2012: Post-Congress Tours. These tours are optional and there will be an extra charge. Delegates who are not on post-Congress tours can depart or can go on local self drive tours from tourism information pack.

Special Sessions, Workshops and Invited Speakers

Several special sessions and workshops with invited keynote addresses are being organised in addition to the standard sessions. Further details will become available over the coming weeks BUT if you would like to submit an idea, please do so as soon as possible. Organisers of special sessions, workshops, etc. are encouraged to publish contributions in a special issue of the African Journal of Range and Forage Science. Remember that page charges for all papers published by members of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa will be ZERO!!

Confirmed Special Sessions and Workshops include

• The Whole and the Sum of the Parts: Exploring Alternative Approaches to Rangeland Management
• Payment for Ecosystem Services: Putting Rangelands into the Mix
• Rangeland Fire Ecology
• Soil Quality for Sustainable Pasture Production
• Sustainable Planted Pasture Systems
• Aligning Policy with the Socio-Ecological Dynamics of Rangeland Commons

Confirmed Speakers include

• Dr Alan Anderson (Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, Australia) will be addressing the topic, Burning for biodiversity in tropical savannas: the Australian experience, in the Rangeland Fire Ecology session
• Dr Anthony Mills (CEO, AfriCarbon (Pty) Ltd and C4 EcoSolutions (Pty) Ltd, South Africa) will be addressing the topic of Carbon sequestration and plant-soil relationship, in the Soil Quality for Sustainable Pasture Production workshop
• Mr Jozua Lambrechts (Associate Consultant, Savory Institute, South Africa) will be addressing the topic, Holism: The future of range management to address global challenges, during the special session, The Whole and the Sum of the Parts: Exploring Alternative Approaches to Rangeland Management
• Dr Urs Kreuter (Professor, Texas A & M University, USA) will be addressing the topic, Rangeland sustainability, capital and investment in ecosystem services: A social-ecological systems approach, in the session, Payment for Ecosystem Services: Putting Rangelands into the Mix
• Mr Nelius van Greunen (Vice Chairman, Milk SA & Managing Director, Greunen Boerdery, South Africa) will be addressing the topic Future challenges for the dairy industry, during the special session, Sustainable Planted Pasture Systems

Other Current Ideas for Sessions include

• Indigenous and Alien Invasive Vegetation: Description, Evaluation and Control
• Climate Change: Consequences for Agriculture and Biodiversity
• Planted Pastures and Other Rehabilitation and Restoration Approaches
• Arid and Semi-Arid Rangelands: Dynamics and Desertification
• Applying Remote Sensing to Rangeland and Pasture Management
• Biodiversity Initiatives and Conservation Planning
• Past and Future Trends in Vegetation Change
• Fracking in South Africa: Update on Implications for Rangelands
• Rangelands and People, Policy and Practice
• Plant-Herbivore Interactions on Natural Rangelands and Cultivated Pastures
• Improving Pasture Production with Legumes and Minimum Till
• Strategies for Animal Nutrition on Natural Rangelands and Cultivated Pastures