Aspects of Life (13 episodes)

Subject: This series takes a close look at the main ecosystems in Southern Africa. It explores the past (and present) role and impact of humans on these fragile systems.
Date: 1996
Length: 13x26 minutes
Broadcaster/commissioned:
SABC 3 South Africa, Broadcast during prime time.
Subsequently sold and broadcasted worldwide.

Episodes:

1. The Great Karoo
   The Great Karoo is a treasure trove of history and natural adaptations. It covers more than a third of South Africa and has undergone incredible climatic changes. In the past it was a wetland where prehistoric reptiles roamed, now this land is dry and ruled by the arrival of the seasonal rains. The Karoo once was a productive hunting land for the Khoi-San people. The arrival of agriculture and sheep farming has increased desertification at a fast rate.
   
   
2. Tidal Lands (Estuaries)
   Southern Africa is blessed with spectacular wetlands and estuaries that are highly productive ecosystems. Here the mixture of sea water and fresh water supports a large diversity of plant and animal life specially adapted to fluctuating water levels and salinity. Wetlands have however attracted humans from eons back and modern urban developments are rapidly destroying these unique habitats.
   
   
3. Life in the Thirstland
   Washed by the cold Benguela Current, South Africa’s West Coast and its inland regions are also known as Namaqualand. This land hosts a multitude of succulent plants and every year after the winter rains a display of flowers fills the landscape with colour.
   
   
4. Land of the Ancestors
   This episode looks at Madagascar Rainforest. With the arrival of humans in Madagascar about 2000 years ago a new crop was introduced on the island. Madagascar has lost nearly 98% of the rainforest and with that many plants and animals have disappeared from the island forever
   
   
5. Land of Mist and Fire
   This episode deals with one of the largest floral kingdom in the world, the fynbos at the southern tip of Africa. This highly diverse plant region is ruled by fire and many plants need fire in order to germinate and disperse. However, at present this unique floral display is becoming increasingly threatened by the introduction of alien vegetation and the rapid expansion of wine farms.
   
   
6. West Coast
   This episode discovers the rich west coast surrounded by the icy and highly productive waters of the Benguela Current. Large colonies of marine birds and sea life contrast with the semi desert landscape. Diamonds once were plentiful along this coast but now they are rapidly disappearing and more destruction of land is required to obtain a few stones. The people of the west coast have a rich culture and heritage that is a far more valuable renewable resource for the future.
   
   
7. Land of Smoke
   This is the land of the Tonga people on the east coast of South Africa. Here, where the estuaries are filled with fish and rolling coastal plains with abundant wildlife, people once lived in harmony with a land that provided them with both food and shelter. The modern times have disrupted the balanced and the Tonga people need to find a new balance again.
   
   
8. Paradise Under Pressure
   Coral reef and lagoons are, along with rainforests, the most diverse ecosystems in the world, but also the most fragile. In Madagascar local fishers have devised a variety of methods to exploit marine resources. Unfortunately, many of these methods are highly destructive and in the face of fast growing coastal populations these ecological systems are increasingly under threat.
   
   
9. Islands and Ancestors
   This episode examines life on islands. There are a wide variety of islands from those that are surrounded by a sea of sand or by water. Islands are unique as they tend to isolate natural populations from ancestral gene pools. Due to isolation they usually do not have top predators, providing a safe haven for migrant and local birds. But islands are fragile ecosystems easily disrupted by introduction of alien species.
   
   
10. Ancient Namib
    This episode examines life in the desert. The Namib is one of the harshest desert regions in southern Africa. However the cold fog that rolls in from the cold Atlantic Ocean triggers a diverse plant and animal life on the dunes and gravel plains. Here the Nama people settled along the life giving rivers, plants animals and people all living in delicate balance, a balance easily upset by the non-sustainable modern life style.
    
    
11. Okavango- where Paradise waits
    The Okavango River flows from the northern Angolan highlands to form a spectacular delta in the plains of Northern Botswana. The vast wetland consists of deep channels, papyrus islands and flood plains. The Okavango system hosts a large and unique biodiversity of animals and plants but seems unable to keep pace with the needs of a rapidly growing human population.
    
    
12. Ankarana –The last Edens
    The Northeast of Madagascar is home to one of the strangest spectacles in the southern hemisphere. Ankarana is a massive limestone massif that stretches hundreds of square kilometres across flat woodland savannah. Here, large underground caves and razor sharp pinnacles make the terrain difficult to negotiate but not for agile lemurs to whom Ankarana is a last refuge. Protected from the human way of life, Ankarana is truly one of the last Edens on earth.
    
    
13. The Human Condition
    The final episode reflects the interplay between humans and their natural environment. Humans possess superior intelligence in comparison with most of their fellow creatures. Yet, in the long run humans may be the least organized social creatures: their cities are fringed with shanty towns or dangerous inner city areas, and the impact of their structures and non-sustainable activities on the environment are often detrimental and lasting.