Nawaal Deane
Soaring across the sky over the Magaliesberg mountains, the Bateleurs were on a mission to get a bird’s eye-view of the impact of granite mining on these hills.
Named after the majestic eagle, “The Bateleurs Flying for the Environment” is a non-earthbound NGO, providing pilots and aircraft to monitor the impact of a range of actions from flooding to mining and the introduction of particular game species on the African environment. Since its inception it has successfully completed 16 missions, most of them in Cessnas owned by volunteer pilots.
The idea came from an American organisation called LightHawk: “From the air, we can see the earth in its true fragility; we can assess the enormous power humans have to build, to alter, to destroy,” wrote LightHawk member Michael McBride.
This method proved effective on a recent Sunday morning when Bateleur volunteer pilot James Hersov flew his Cessna over granite mines in the Magaliesberg area with a Kareespooort resident, Andrie Loubser, who describes the mines as a “cancer spreading over the land”.
“I’ve flown over the koppies many times, but having done the mission I now look at the impact with a specific eye,” said Hersov.
Loubser has problems with the way the mining has taken place. “They mine on the koppies to the north of us but do not follow the proper process by involving the public and making sure that rehabilitation takes place.”
He blames the damage on the temporary permits issued for mining on the koppies. “[The North West Department of Minerals and Energy] issues these permits without consulting the public and then these miners abuse the permits knowing that we don’t have the money to take them to court.”
Multiple efforts to reach the provincial department for comment were unsuccessful.
Loubser says that some quarries were mined without permits and the local ecosystems were destroyed. “We have tried a court case but have no money to pursue it and now we have asked for arbitration to get the national Department of Environmental Affairs involved,” he says. “These pictures show that they are not rehabilitating and hopefully will stop the issuing of temporary licences.”
He says from the Cessna he saw more devastation than he expected.
“The missions are done for free but clients who approach us must have a valid reason that what they are asking us to do will benefit the environment through an aerial perspective,” says Nora Kreher, chairperson of the Bateleurs.
“We provide a service offered by dedicated flying people to help halt environmental malpractices by reporting them, by showing them to the right people who can do something about them, or simply by offering to fly missions for other NGOs and individuals deeply concerned with wildlife and wilderness.”
Kreher established the organisation in South Africa after she became involved in monitoring the St Lucia mining project in 1993. “We hired a plane to fly over the area because you could see the effect from the air that you could not see on the ground.” There was an extra benefit: “These aerial perspectives helped achieve World Heritage status for St Lucia,” she says.
The Bateleurs operate on the generosity of the pilots who register as members and fly missions at their own expense. Currently the Bateleurs have 24 member pilots with their own aircraft and have signed up eight new microlights.
They have also established a co- operative relationship with the South African Air Force to introduce a new environmental awareness-training programme for their cadets.
Kreher hopes to sign up corporate members to sponsor fuel and oil for the missions, but Hersov says even without sponsors there are sufficient pilots committed to the organisation because it is one of the few organisations where involvement takes place at all levels. “There is no catch.” He laughs. “I love flying and the combination of flying for conservation gave me the opportunity to give something back.”