While the need for an additional two-way communications channel between Eskom and farmers in the Eastern Free State, regarding the Ingula pumped-storage project, could not be disputed, a partnership to address conservation issues already exists in the area, says Malcom Drummond, a member of the Middelpunt Wetland Trust (MWT).

This was in response to earlier concerns raised by vice-chairperson of the Scheurklip Conservancy, Dr John Bristow, that no stakeholder consultation was taking place between Eskom and other parties regarding a number of areas of concern.

Bristow, in April, called for more consultation between the State-owned power utility and the residents and farmers in the Free State, highlighting in particular, the conservancy’s concerns about the environmental impact of the project.

At the time, Eskom had said that it would establish a stakeholder forum in the area in the near future.

Drummond, meanwhile, said in a statement to Engineering News Online that Eskom, BirdLife South Africa and the MWT had formed the Ingula Partnership as a forum for discussion and decision making related to environmental matters, as well as social and construction matters.

The partnership had been meeting regularly for the past five and a half years, he noted.

“As a concerned, private individual with strong beliefs in conservation, I am happy and proud to be part of the Ingula Partnership, striving for responsible development,” he stated.

The partnership has been, and continues to be involved, in a number of projects to mitigate the environmental impacts of the construction of the project, Drummond said.

Major construction had the obvious potential of causing pollution and disturbances to rivers and streams on site, which could extend further downstream, he noted.

“Stringent and regular monitoring at two points on the lower site (above and below the dam construction) and four points on the upper site (one above the dam and three below) keep a watchful eye on water quality,” explained Drummond.

He added that no alarms about changes in water quality have, to date, been raised, with monitoring set to continue during the lifetime of the power station.

Further, he highlighted that the Bedford-Chatsworth Wetland at Ingula was only one of nine known sites in South Africa where the White-winged Flufftail, one of only five birds listed in the Eskom Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland as critically endangered, was found during the summer months.

Bristow had previously expressed concern for this bird species, saying that the wetland where this rare species once resided, had been “effectively drowned” as a result of the pumped-storage project.

However, MWT said that the dam at the head of this wetland would flood less than 5% of the wetland and was more than a kilometre from the area where the bird is usually found.

“The Flufftail, an extremely secretive bird, has been recorded in the wetland after the start of the project,” assured Drummond.

Workshops to create species action plans for the conservation of the Flufftail had also been arranged in South Africa and Ethiopia through funding arranged by the partnership.

“Direct conservation benefits from the Partnership have been funding to allow BirdLife to have a full-time, on-site programme manager and another programme manager who runs a national Bald Ibis project,” added Drummond.

Uncontrolled hunting with dogs had “completely eliminated gamebirds and small game on the site before Eskom owned the property. Site management has, happily, seen the beginnings of their return, with records of oribi, kudu, Crested Guineafowl and Coqui Francolins,” he commented.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

Meanwhile, the partnership said that the stripping of bark from trees in the indigenous escarpment forest, in the Ingula region, has long been a threat, with the survival of a number of plant species under threat of illicit medicinal plant harvesting across South Africa.

The employment of workers on the Ingula site seemed to have provided an easier and more lucrative form of income now, commented Drummond, noting that there were no recent signs of bark stripping in the area.

Drummond explained that the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), under the auspices of the Ingula Partnership, was also conducting a feasibility study to determine the economic viability of establishing an indigenous plant nursery in the area to cultivate and market medicinal and ornamental plants.

“A concurrent investigation is determining the feasibility of having the 8 000 ha of Ingula proclaimed as a nature reserve. Under recent stewardship legislation, this would bring a new level of protection (against mining, for instance) to the area,” he added.

The R16,6-billion Ingula pumped-storage project, which is situated on the border between the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, was on schedule to commission its first unit in September 2012.

Construction activities at the project started in February 2005, with all four 333-MW units to be commissioned by 2013.