Pilots Fly the Flag for South Africa's Environment

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The Bateleurs is a South African group of 124 pilots who volunteer their time and aircraft to provide a free aerial view of environmental problems for policymakers, conservationists and students among many others.

CLANWILLIAM, South Africa — Rock cliffs loom high above the wingtips of the two-seater plane as it banks sharply through the winding course of a narrow ravine in South Africa's rugged Cederberg mountains.


Pilot Johan Ferreira is in his element -- he has found a way to combine his love for flying with a passion for nature by helping to track the elusive leopards that roam the mountain wilderness some 150 miles north of Cape Town.


Ferreira is a member of the Bateleurs, a South African group of 124 pilots who volunteer their time and aircraft to provide a free aerial view of environmental problems for policymakers, conservationists and students among many others.


The group has flown a wide range of missions, from mapping the spread of invasive alien vegetation to transporting endangered species and photographing illegal dumping and development.


"Nature is the most important thing," Ferreira said. "It must be protected. If the rainfall fails and agriculture suffers as a result, this area must still have its natural beauty to attract the tourists."


The beauty of the Cederberg range, which includes attractions for hikers, climbers, botanists and archeologists, is apparent from the passenger seat of Ferreira's Balanca Scout light plane.


Dramatically folded layers of ochre sandstone and quartz fall away under the plane's wings as Ferreira cruises over spectacular rock formations and the last remaining examples of the cedar trees for which the mountains were named.


The cedar forests that once covered these slopes have been decimated by logging and fire.


BIRD'S EYE VIEW


The pilots' group, named after a species of eagle known for its aerial acrobatics, was formed in 1998 by Nora Kreher, a Johannesburg woman who was inspired by a similar organization in the United States called LightHawk.


"The educational aspect is the reason I started it," Kreher said in a telephone interview. "I wanted to give people the bigger picture from the air."


She said someone planning a dam, for example, might not realize its full impact without getting an aerial view.


"On the ground you will see a little river perhaps, but go and look from the air and you will see so much more."


Kreher said the Bateleurs made the most of the natural talents of pilots. "They are very savvy human beings -- you have to be, to have a flying license. They see what happens from the air and they want to help."


"We've taken tribal chiefs up so they can see the erosion that is being caused by over-grazing," Kreher said.


Bateleur pilots have also taken game rangers, the foot-sloggers of conservation, up in microlights and fixed-wing aircraft to give them a new perspective on their work.


"For me that's the heartwarming thing," Kreher said. "Our clients are delighted, our pilots love doing it, and everyone has fun."


Fuel used on Bateleur missions is paid for by corporate sponsors, but pilots donate their time and the use of their aircraft.


Kreher said demand for the service provided by the Bateleurs was growing -- the group has flown about 30 missions a year in the last few years but had already flown 26 missions by June this year.


LEOPARD WATCH


The missions include Ferreira's help for the Cape Leopard Trust, a non-profit organization that is researching the leopards of the Cederberg mountains and trying to reduce the conflict between the big cats and sheep farmers.


Ferreira, who owns an organic rooibos or red-bush herbal tea farm and processing plant near the town of Clanwilliam, spent 15 years flying crop dusters before turning to farming in 1995.


He describes his devotion to flying as "a kind of madness" and is happy to be able to indulge it by helping the trust with its conservation work.


In 30 minutes, his aircraft can cover as much territory as a fit hiker could manage in three days over the rugged terrain, where peaks rise about 2,000 yards above the surrounding plains.


The mobility offered by Ferreira's plane is invaluable for Quinton Martins, a project director at the Cape Leopard Trust, who has fitted global positioning system (GPS) collars to two adult male leopards that were trapped and released in the mountains.


Flying in the Scout, Martins can locate the leopards using radio signals emitted by their collars, then download stored data about their movements over the previous weeks.


"Johan has been incredible," Martins said in tribute to the pilot. "He is top class."


Source: Reuters


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