Rupert Koopman, BSc - South Africa
Abstract of the presentation
Looking after Nature by using it wisely, lessons from Cape Town’s fynbos region
Co-authors: Dr Jimmy Symmonds BSc BVSc (Owner, Founder : HAPPY BY NATURE)
Branch: Other (Conservation of natural habitat and species)
Spending time in Nature is beneficial for your physical and mental wellbeing, which should support the protection of biodiversity. South Africa, as one of the 17 mega-diverse countries in the world which contain 70% of earth’s species, has long negotiated the tensions between development and protection of Nature. Our population is a complex mix of indigenous African and Asian, European and Creole diaspora, each with their own tradition of plant use. South Africans also wrestle with the legacy effects of colonialism and apartheid, where the majority of people are black and poor and have insufficient access to land and Nature. More than 70% of South Africans still use indigenous plants for food, medicinal, spiritual and cultural purposes. Some of the ways to reconnect with Nature are community first-aid gardens, restoring locally indigenous plants to urban open spaces, and the integration of traditional medicine and western medicine. I intend presenting two case studies which I have supported as a fynbos specializing botanist: bringing locally indigenous Nature back into the Northern suburbs of Cape Town and the Indigenous Herbal Medicine courses run by Cape Town enterprise Happy by Nature. These courses seek to heal the divides in medicine by bringing together traditional health practitioners and western trained medical professionals to learn about indigenous medicine plants and practice.
Curriculum vitae
Rupert is a botanist based in Cape Town, South Africa and wields a broad portfolio , utilising the flexibility of freelance to look at ways of (re)inserting fynbos into the lives of people around him. Previous roles include Conservation Manager at the Botanical Society of South Africa, tasked with strategically implementing plant conservation work in priority regions across South Africa and he spent 12 years working primarily with threatened species and habitats of the fynbos biome (https://www.capetownbotanist.com/what-is-fynbos/) in the Western Cape at the provincial conservation agency, CapeNature. Rupert's interests include seeing as many of SA's threatened plant species as possible, supporting citizen science, making plant conservation more relevant and accessible to a broader audience, participating in multidisciplinary projects appreciating indigenous plants and working with people from all over who love and appreciate the superb and diverse South African flora. As a recently qualified tour guide, he gets to share all of the above with a variety of people, constantly aiming to tell a more interesting story of South African plants and people; weaving history, science and current affairs into a narrative which aims to arm the listener with a view from Rupert’s unique perspective.
Please note that some of the texts also include machine-generated translations.
