Projects

The Rhodes Restoration Research Group (RRRG) is actively involved in a number of projects which involve doing research, providing information, and supporting the restoration economy. Our efforts include assisting in planning, site selection, mapping services, evaluation of carbon and biodiversity baselines, and conducting assorted applied research (e.g., germination ecology, ecophysiology, growth rates, drought tolerance). Some of our recent projects involve:
We historically also played a foundational role in the Tsitsa Project, which in turn had a profound effect on our own way of working:

Hive Ecosystems

Hive logo
Hive Ecosystems is a South African subsidiary of a UK Energy company called Hive Energy, which has a wide array of sustainable energy projects across the globe. Hive Ecosystems was launched in 2021 with the explicit aim of restoring degraded thicket in the Eastern Cape.
A typical scene of degraded thicket on the farm “The Aloes”.
A typical scene of degraded thicket on the farm “The Aloes”.
The current mass production of spekboom (Portulacaria afra) for planting in the degraded areas (which will also be planted with other key species).
The current mass production of spekboom (Portulacaria afra) for planting in the degraded areas (which will also be planted with other key species).
The Rhodes Restoration Research Group (RRRG) has been assisting the Hive team with the planning, site selection, and protocols for the carbon and biodiversity baselines. Hive Ecosystems is a proud supporter of holistic thicket restoration as advocated by RRRG and appreciates that fine-scaled, nuanced, and site-specific restoration plans are needed for all thicket restoration projects.
A vegetation map of the Hive Ecosystem Project Farms (The Aloes, Kalkfontein and Kruisementsfontein) as produced by Jan Vlok in 2022.
A vegetation map of the Hive Ecosystem Project Farms (The Aloes, Kalkfontein and Kruisementsfontein) as produced by Jan Vlok in 2022.
A species of Faucaria found on The Aloes which would become locally extinct if the thicket restoration adopted a mono-specific approach of planting spekboom at high densities.
A species of Faucaria found on The Aloes which would become locally extinct if the thicket restoration adopted a mono-specific approach of planting spekboom at high densities.

Tanglewood Conservation Area

Tanglewood logo
Wilderness foundation logo
Wilderness Foundation Africa (WFA) approached the Rhodes Restoration Research Group (RRRG) in 2019 to assist with a feasibility assessment for a potential biosphere reserve: The Addo Fish Biosphere Reserve. The WFA appointed Phil Desmet to complete the Biodiversity Assessment Report. The aim of the initiative was to facilitate and develop a nature-based economy in the study area with the establishment of corridors between the protected areas and eventually the removal of fences to create vast areas of connectivity.
The study area for the feasibility assessment for the Addo Fish Biosphere Reserve (map from Desmet and Vromans report 2020).
The study area for the feasibility assessment for the Addo Fish Biosphere Reserve (map from Desmet and Vromans report 2020).
The high-resolution vegetation map completed by Jan Vlok that will guide the restoration of degraded thickets.
The high-resolution vegetation map completed by Jan Vlok that will guide the restoration of degraded thickets.

As a by-product of the Addo-Fish Biosphere initiative, the Conservation Landscapes Institute (CLI) was established and identified as the champion and coordinator for the project. RRRG provided support and GIS advice to CLI for the Addo-Fish Biosphere initiative. A spin-off from the CLI work (largely by Dr William Fowlds) was a philanthropic donation from a New Zealander (Peter Eastwood), that purchased a degraded farm on the banks of the Bushmans River (just south of the N2). The purpose of the property was to restore the degraded areas, conduct research on restoration and thicket related issues and provide an example of holistic and sustainable management of thicket. The property was called “Tanglewood” in honour of the Tanglewood Foundation that Peter Eastwood established to support conservation work, especially in South Africa.


RRRG was instrumental in assisting CLI and Tanglewood with the completing of the carbon and biodiversity baselines for a 1 hectare carbon offset area for the 2022 Kingsley Holgate expedition. The famous traveller donated funds to plant 6000 trees to completely mitigate the carbon emissions from two Land Rovers completed another transcontinental trip.

Kingsley Holgate proudly standing inside the pond where he planted the first circle of woody species for his carbon offsets.
Kingsley Holgate proudly standing inside the pond where he planted the first circle of woody species for his carbon offsets.
The Tanglewood Conservation Area Conference Centre
The Tanglewood Conservation Area Conference Centre

The Sisonke Research Tunnels at Waainek

DFFE logo
RU logo

The Rhodes Restoration Research Group (RRRG) has been funded by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) for the applied research that is needed in the Subtropical Thicket Biome. A key part of the process to acquire knowledge and provide information and support to the restoration economy has been the development of the nursery facilities at Waainek on Rhodes Campus. The facility is shared with the Centre for Biological Control (CBC) who focus on biocontrol for alien invasive plants (aquatic and cacti) as well as agricultural insect pests.


The controlled environments of the polytunnel and the outside area, allow for applied research into the germination ecology, ecophysiology, growth rates, drought tolerance and other key traits that could prove useful for successful thicket restoration.

Waainek or Sisonke Research Facility
The Waainek or Sisonke Research Facility (shared with the CBC) where RRRG undertakes applied research on thicket restoration as well as mass propagation of woody species needed for Thicket restoration.
Dr Kathleen Smart providing technical advice
Dr Kathleen Smart providing technical advice on how to measure drought stress.
Mass propagation of woody thicket species
Mass propagation of woody thicket species.
Grewia species
Grewia species are highly palatable and suffer from extensive browsing pressure, making them a key species for reintroduction into highly degraded habitats.

Kwandwe Restoration

Kwandwe logo
The Kwandwe Private Game Reserve and its associated properties cover over 30 000 hectares of land in the Great Fish River Valley that is embarking on an ambitious restoration project, in parallel with the running of a successful ecotourism business. Kwandwe is a proud ambassador for rhino conservation — especially the black rhino which needs intact thicket habitat.
Elephants providing the disturbance regime needed for intact thicket on Kwandwe
Elephants providing the disturbance regime needed for intact thicket on Kwandwe.
The Kwandwe Vegetation Map as defined by Jan Vlok
The Kwandwe Vegetation Map as defined by Jan Vlok.

The Rhodes Restoration Research Group (RRRG) have been assisting the ecologists at Kwandwe in following accepted best practice for a large-scale restoration plan with a view to obtaining carbon credits at a later stage. The first step was the facilitation of detailed vegetation boundary mapping and detailed thicket degradation mapping. In collaboration with Jan Vlok, the entire reserve was mapped at 1: 30 000 scale and the vegetation units were aligned with the SANBI National Vegetation Map classes. The map above indicates how complex the vegetation on Kwandwe is.


RRRG will also be collaborating with Kwandwe to develop restoration protocols and guidelines for restoring woody and other species in highly degraded and transformed areas. The collaboration will seek to collect seeds from key species (e.g. Rhigozum obovatum, Grewia robusta, Ehretia rigida, Azima tetracantha, etc).

A typical example of the degradation caused by high densities ostriches in a thicket habitat on Kwandwe
A typical example of the degradation caused by high densities ostriches in a thicket habitat on Kwandwe.

Tsitsa Project

Tsitsa Project logo

The Tsitsa Project started in 2014 and was set up, nurtured, and co-ordinated by RRRG until it developed to a stage, from around 2019 onwards, where it largely took on a life of its own. Initially the brainchild of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in conjunction with the Department of Science and Technology and the Water Research Commission, it was originally tightly linked to an opportunity to reduce sediment for two planned dams in Tsitsa Catchment; it intentionally utilised a very different and highly collaborative way of working from the conventional ``Working For'' programmes. The Tsitsa Project has grown considerably and now aims at developing and managing both land and water by using sustainable development principles which involves improving the environmental, economic, and the social conditions of the people who live in the Tsitsa catchment; read more about the current developments in the Tsitsa Project on their webpage .


Although RRRG played a pivotal role initially, the Tsitsa Project could not have succeeded without the wide collaboration of and inputs from:

  • communities and institutions in the catchment and province,
  • Rhodes University (notably the Geography and Environmental Science Depts, the Institute for Water Research, and the Environmental Learning Research Centre),
  • several other participating universities (most particularly in early stages the University of the Free State),
  • and research agencies such as CSIR and NGOs (in more recent stages particularly LIMA and several of the Umzimvubu Catchment Partnership’s allied NGO’s).

In many ways the historic involvement of RRRG with the Tsitsa Projects had a profound effect on their own way of working as they withdrew from the Tsitsa Project and concentrated again more on thicket and related biome sustainability issues. This influence could be described as changing RRRG’s approach strongly towards collaborative, adaptive, and reflexive modes of action in sustainable land management research and praxis (and in their own governance), as can be increasingly seen underlying more and more of the content in this (RRRG’s) own website.