Dirk Petrus Cilliers

• Senior Lecturer at North-West University

The amphibian‐infecting chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ), is widespread throughout Africa and is linked to declines of populations and species across the continent. While it is well established that the lineage of Bd encodes traits which determine disease severity, knowledge around how lineages are distributed according to envi...

This article synthesises principles towards achieving responsible waste management in South African protected areas. These principles are distilled from and based on existing legislation, guidelines and best practices applicable to environmental management, waste management and protected areas management. The principles are framed around the South...

Significance judgements lie at the heart of EIA and provide the basis and justification for overall decision-making. Although the subjective nature of significance judgements is widely recognized, there has been limited research aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of its implications. This paper builds on the growing tradition of exploring lear...

Due to high development demands, environmental impact assessment (EIA) systems internationally are under increasing pressure to simplify, streamline and demonstrate efficiency. South Africa, as a country, has decades of experience in finding solutions to this challenge. Here we aim to provide a critical reflection on the different streamlining inte...

The author’s name as “Terence Darlington Mushore“ in Chapter “Impact of Climate Variability on Maize Production in South Africa” was incorrect in the initially published version. It has been corrected. The correct name is Terence Darlington Mushore. The auhtor name has been changed from “Terrerence Darling Mushore“ to “Terence Darlington Mushore“.

Protected area systems are designed in law and policy towards achieving certain policy objectives. These systems rely on legal frameworks that determine how countries designate, declare and manage their protected areas. To date, little research has been conducted on the risks faced by protected area systems. To this end, this paper aims to identify...

The mismanagement of waste in protected areas may lead to significant and irreversible environmental, economic and social impacts, such as land degradation, resource depletion, surface and groundwater pollution, loss of biodiversity and impacts on the aesthetic value of these areas. This paper aims to identify the challenges and opportunities for s...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the environmental performance of luxury safari lodges along a performance pathway from legal compliance to best practice. The research results provide a conceptual framework and performance baseline against which lodges can then develop strategies to improve environmental performance. We achieve this aim by adap...

This study aimed to investigate waste separation at source behaviour among South African households in Abaqulusi Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Behaviour in this context refers to determining current waste separation practices, and the willingness of households to participate in waste separation in future. Awareness and attitudes towards sour...

The purpose of this study was to characterise indoor thermal environments in low-cost residential dwellings of South Africa in the context of climate change.

Van Staden N, Siebert SJ, Cilliers DP, Wilsenach D, Frisby AW. 2020. Floristic analysis of semi-arid mountain ecosystems of the Griqualand West centre of plant endemism, Northern Cape, South Africa. Biodiversitas 21: 1989-2002. The Griqualand West Centre (GWC) is one of 13 centres of plant endemism in South Africa. Despite its unique flora, it rema...

With increased political polarisation and the emergence of populist governments around the world – many of which erode regulatory requirements such as EIA – there is an urgent need to be able to identify and explain the potential benefits of EIA for government. The aim of this paper is to explore the benefits of EIA for government as perceived by E...

The costs of conducting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) are well known. Yet the benefits of EIA are much more intangible, leading to a situation where some question its value as the tool of choice for informing decision makers of the sustainability consequences of their actions. Exponents of EIA have thus called for more research on the benef...

EIA is increasingly being questioned as a decision-making instrument of choice for decision makers. In addressing these concerns, the paper aims to re-think the fundamentals of EIA through the identification of key assumptions underlying EIA evaluation. This aim was achieved through the application of the theory of change (ToC) method to the South...

The aim of this letter is to provide an administrative justice perspective on EIA effectiveness. EIA is described as essentially an administrative instrument, reflecting a number of principles that revolve around an assessment process which should reflect administrative justice. This includes lawfulness, procedural fairness and reasonableness. Cons...

Griqualand West, a region in the semi-arid Northern Cape and North-West provinces of South Africa, has been variously suggested to contain a number of range-restricted plant species, and was proposed to be a local centre of plant endemism. The Griqualand West Centre (GWC), hitherto demarcated by geological features and limited floristic data, is he...

Flooding is the predominant natural hazard observed in Africa, and it often leads to damage to property and losses in human lives. To ensure that the detrimental effects of flooding are kept to a minimum, flood-prone areas should best be left undeveloped. Spatial development planning is a tool that can assist disaster risk managers in ensuring the...

The South African Highveld is a portion on the inland plateau characterized by low winter ambient temperatures. Studies done in several climatic regions around the world have found a positive relationship between inadequate housing and low indoor temperatures during the winter season. Prolonged exposure to low indoor temperature is a threat to huma...

Pre-commercialization studies on environmental biosafety of genetically modified (GM) crops are necessary to evaluate the potential for sexual hybridization with related plant species that occur in the release area. The aim of the study was a preliminary assessment of factors that may contribute to gene flow from sugarcane (Saccharum hybrids) to in...

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) play an important role in the chemistry of the troposphere, especially in the formation of tropospheric ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA). Ecosystems produce and emit a large number of BVOCs. It is estimated on a global scale that approximately 90 % of annual BVOC emissions are from terrestr...

An environmental management framework (EMF) is a uniquely South African environmental management tool legislated since 2006. Although the tool has been widely applied there has been no empirical research on the overall extent and status of EMF practice. The aim of this paper is to describe the extent and status of EMF practice between 2006 and 2015...

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are important role players in the chemistry of the troposphere, especially in the formation of tropospheric ozone (O3) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA). Ecosystems produce and emit a large number of BVOCs. It is estimated on a global scale that approximately 90 % of annual VOC emissions are BVOCs. In...

Two surveys of Blue Swallows were conducted in the southern Tanzanian highland grasslands in order to determine the habitat preferences and estimate the size of this subpopulation. During the 2008/09 and 2012 surveys, a total distance of 3 635 km was travelled in search of Blue Swallows (at an altitude of above 1 400 m above sea level). Blue Swallo...

[ This publication is an abstract of the presentation presented at SAAB for my MSc dissertation – to be completed end 2015] The Brassicaceae, occurring throughout South Africa, is a family in which hybridization may occur between cultivated species and its wild and weedy relatives. Hybridization with genetically modified varieties could increase th...

Currently there is a global drive among political and educational institutions to implement geographic information system (GIS) practice in secondary schools. However, Geography teachers worldwide, including in South Africa, face significant practical challenges in this regard. Lack of curriculum aligned GIS resources, funds and teacher GIS pedagog...

Environmental management frameworks (EMFs) are environmental sensitivity mapping instruments developed in South Africa as tactical management aids which can inform planning and provide strategic input into the EIA process. Their intended benefits are to direct new development to preferred development regions and minimise undesired developments in s...

The Southern Ground-Hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri (SGH) is regarded as Vulnerable globally and Endangered in South Africa as a result of losing close to 70% of its range and 50% of its historic population in the country. One of the conservation tools being used to address this issue and restore the population to its historic range is reintroduction...

Chytridiomycosis has been identified as a major cause of global amphibian declines. Despite widespread evidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infection in South African frogs, sampling for this disease has not focused on threatened species, or whether this pathogen poses a disease risk to these species. This study assessed the occurrence of Bd-...

Since the early 1980s, geographic information systems (GIS) have increasingly been applied in research or used to support research in South Africa. The nature and extent of such research has not been investigated, and this paper seeks to address this hiatus. A number of academic databases were consulted to identify South African authored peer-revie...

In recent years, issues related to the state of the natural environment have begun to play an increasingly more important role in the global arena of politics and civil society. It is crucial that these issues be integrated into planning processes and development frameworks in such a way that the protection of the natural environment and the promot...