You don’t have to own the land to love it

Prof. Bob Scholes

For the people of South Africa, the dynamics of their relationship to the land carries a heavy historic burden. As a young democracy, its citizens have committed themselves to equitable access to the land and its resources, while acknowledging that their relationship to the land goes beyond utilitarian concerns — it is central to their identity. At the time of the talk, the country is in the throes of a unique national generational mission to reorganize how land is managed, by whom, and under what terms. For Prof. Bob Scholes, systems ecologist, this is a moment of great opportunity, but also of great risk.

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Prof. Bob Scholes is a systems ecologist with a particular interest in the savannas of Africa. He is among the top 1% of environmental scientists worldwide based on citation. He has led several high-profile studies (eg the Assessment of Elephant Management, the Strategic Assessment of Shale Gas Development, the Global Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment) and large research campaigns. He was an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 3rd, 4th, and 5th assessments. He has been on the boards of the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, the South African National Parks, and the South African National Space Agency. He is a Member of the South African Academy, a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, an NRF A-rated scientist, and a winner of the National Science and Technology Forum Lifetime Contribution to Science Award.