WATERBERG
Welcome to the Waterberg
The content in this section was generously made available to the Kaingo Research Centre by Warwick and Michelle Tarboton and the Waterberg BioQuest website. Warwick and Michele are true conservationists and have made an invaluable contribution to Waterberg conservation. Their aim is to provide a resource that documents and illustrates the fauna and flora of the region, helps pinpoint critical biodiversity areas and, for added interest, provides visual, descriptive and reference information on the Waterberg’s geology, geomorphology, landscapes and history.
Their passion and dedication towards the Waterberg and its biodiversity have led to many other ‘Waterbergers’ joining them in exploring and photographing the rich biodiversity. Waterberg BioQuest is very much a work-in-progress and any participation, information or other contributions to the project are welcomed – if you have photos of any interesting aspect of the Waterberg and are prepared to have them included in the Waterberg Bioquest site, please let us know.
Waterberg area
For those who don’t know the northern part of South Africa, the Waterberg is a large, distinctive, upland area situated in Limpopo Province.
The town of Vaalwater (-24.2987, 28.1100) lies at its centre. Shaped like an inverted saucer, this plateau stands some four to five hundred metres above the surrounding plains of the Springbok Flats to the south and east and the Limpopo River valley to the north. It reaches its highest point, 2088 m above sea-level (at -23.4707, 27.5886), in Marakele National Park. The plateau extends for about 170 km from east to west, and from north to south, and it is rimmed on three sides by majestic cliffs. It covers an area of about 14 000 km², roughly two-thirds the size of the Kruger National Park. It is drained by several rivers – the Mokolo, Palala, Mothlabatsi, Sterk, Mogalakwena and Sand – all of which form part of the catchment of the Limpopo River.
The map below outlines the area of interest, the outer perimeter being demarcated in green. It shows, too, the parts that are hilly or mountainous (brown shaded areas), towns and villages (dark grey), the network of tarred and gravel roads (black lines) and the main rivers (blue lines).
Much of the Waterberg is relatively sparsely settled and extensive parts of it have been given over to conservation and wildlife ranching: within its boundaries are the Marakele National Park (64 632 ha), Welgevonden Game Reserve (34 850 ha), Lapalala Wilderness (42 000 ha), Kaingo Game Reserve (16 200 ha), four Provincial nature reserves – D’Nyala (7 976 ha), Doorndraai Dam (6 847 ha), Mogol Dam (5 124 ha), Masebe (4 400 ha) – that are administered by the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment & Tourism (LEDET) and innumerable other privately owned game farms.
In 2001 a third of the plateau (6 524 km²) was designated by UNESCO as the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve and more recently BirdLife South Africa has recognised the entire Waterberg as a globally recognised Important Bird & Biodiversity Area (IBA).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For use of Waterberg BioQuest content: Warwick and Michele Tarboton
For guidance, information, support, contacts: Ernst Retief; Rick & Linda Kleyn, Clive Walker, Ken Maud, Ben Ludick, Ben Greef, Stan Rodgers, Lyn Wadley, Richard Wadley, Marie Leesman, Sam van Coller, Ben Greef, Annaliza Collett
For translations, book reviews, support: Chris & Louise van Zyl, Braam Beneke, Johann Coetzee
For assistance with identifications: Ayokun-nun Abdulwakeel, Handre Basson, Marita Beneke, Fanie Breytenbach, Jacky Collier, Ansie Dippenaar, Niels Jacobsen, Quartus Grobler, Joseph Heymans, Joubert Heymans, Johan Heyns, Astri le Roy, Mervyn Mansell, Duncan Mc Kenzie, Kobus Pienaar, Karel Pretorius, Jon Richfield, Herman Staude, Ernst van Jaarsveld, Braam van Wyk, Steve Woodhall
For the use of photographs:
Wendy Adams, Vicente Alvarado, Mark Anderson, Tania Anderson, Margerie Aucamp, Francis Bacon, Kerry Baytopp, Marita Beneke, Elaine Bester, Jaco Beukman, Monika Blanz, David Brand, Greg Brown, Mervin Burger, Bill Cairns, Jill Cairns, Patrick CardwellLouis-Daniel Pienaar, Jon Pullen, Christa Rabie, John & Moira Randell, Lance Robinson, Hamish Rodgers, Wolf Roland, Christine Rossouw, Pieter Rossouw, Otto Schmidt, Susan Smith, Leon Snyders, Antoinette Snyman, Jonathan Swart, Sharon Stanton, Phillip Stapelberg, Jan van Biljon, Roelof van der Breggen, Derek van der Merwe, Ryan van Huyssteen, Thomas van Viegen, Braam van Wyk, Elsa van Wyk, Chris van Zyl, Louise van Zyl, Mich Veldman, Albie Venter, Hendrik Viljoen, Stephan Visser, Lyn Wadley, Richard Wadleyoos Kearney, Heinrich Klingenberg, Anton Kruger, Siegwalt Küsel, Lappies Labuschagne, Barry Lewis, Alta Liebenberg, Gerardt Lorist, Adriaan Louw, Jeandré Louw, Marco Mancini, Alan Manson, Ken Maud, Geoffory Mauvais, Dave McGaw, Cameron Meyer, Karel Minnie, Johannes Mosima, Jeremy Munton-Jackson, Willemien Murphy, Phillipa Myram, Riaan Naude, Pieter Nel, Pamela Oberem, Peter Oberem, Carla Oosthuizen, Rudolph Oosthuizen, Ralph Peckover, Niall Perrins, Richard Pettifor, Kobus Pienaar, Louis-Daniel Pienaar, Jon Pullen, Christa Rabie, John & Moira Randell, Lance Robinson, Hamish Rodgers, Wolf Roland, Christine Rossouw, Pieter Rossouw, Otto Schmidt, Susan Smith, Leon Snyders, Antoinette Snyman, Jonathan Swart, Sharon Stanton, Phillip Stapelberg, Jan van Biljon, Roelof van der Breggen, Derek van der Merwe, Ryan van Huyssteen, Thomas van Viegen, Braam van Wyk, Elsa van Wyk, Chris van Zyl, Louise van Zyl, Mich Veldman, Albie Venter, Hendrik Viljoen, Stephan Visser, Lyn Wadley, Richard Wadley, Peter Webb, Lorraine Wilken, John Wilkinson, Jurie Willemse, Linda Willemse, Mark Williams, Resi Wolff, Steve Woodall