Lita Beukes Cole Memorial Conservation Award for Ute Schmiedel

30 October 2024, by Website Team Biologie

Photo: Stephanie Borchardt

On 8 October 2024, Ute Schmiedel received the Lita Beukes Cole Memorial Conservation Award.

In order to honour Lita Beukes Cole’s memory, Wilderness Foundation Africa, a South African-based non-governmental organization, makes an annual award recognizing conservation-minded individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the conservation of the Succulent Karoo and who share the same values that Lita stood for. Lita Beukes Cole was a passionate botanist and conservationist from the Succulent Karoo. She made a lifelong contribution to the protection of the flora and fauna of the area as well as demonstrating the important links between conservation, wise use of natural resources and enhanced livelihoods.

Dr. habil. Ute Schmiedel, a member of staff at the IPM, has been studying the ecology and biodiversity of the Succulent Karoo, a highly diverse semi-desert in South Africa, for over 30 years. An important goal of her work is also the sustainable conservation of this special biome.

Photo: Presentation of the award to Ute Schmiedel by Matthew Norval, Wilderness Foundation Africa, during the annual conference of the Arid Zone Ecology Forum in Calvinia, South Africa.