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In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the joint modelling of compound extreme events such as high temperatures and low rainfall. The increase in the frequency of occurrence of these events in many regions has necessitated the development of models for estimating the concurrent probabilities of such compound extreme events. The current study discusses an application of copula models in predicting the concurrent probabilities of compound low rainfall and high-temperature events using data from the Lowveld region of the Limpopo province in South Africa. The second stage discussed two indicators for monitoring compound high temperature and low rainfall events. Empirical results from the study show that elevations ranging from 100–350 m, 350–700 m and 700–1200 m exhibit varying probabilities of experiencing drought, with mild droughts having approximately 64%, 66%, and 65% chances, moderate droughts around 36%, 39%, and 38%, and severe droughts at approximately 16%, 19%, and 18%, respectively. Furthermore, the logistic regression models incorporating the southern oscillation index as a covariate yielded comparable results of copula-based models. The methodology discussed in this paper is robust and can be applied to similar datasets in any regional setting globally. These findings could be useful to disaster management decision makers, helping them formulate effective mitigation strategies and emergency response plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biodiversity of our planet is under threat, with approximately one million species expected to become extinct within decades. The reason: negative human actions, which include hunting, overfishing, pollution, and the conversion of land for urbanisation and agricultural purposes. Despite significant investment from charities and governments for activities that benefit nature, global wildlife populations continue to decline. Local wildlife guardians have historically played a critical role in global conservation efforts and have shown their ability to achieve sustainability at various levels. In 2021, COP26 recognised their contributions and pledged USD 1.7 billion per year; however this is a fraction of the global biodiversity budget available (between USD 124 billion and USD 143 billion annually) given they protect 80% of the planets biodiversity. This paper proposes a radical new solution based on "Interspecies Money", where animals own their own money. Creating a digital twin for each species allows animals to dispense funds to their guardians for the services they provide. For example, a rhinoceros may release a payment to its guardian each time it is detected in a camera trap as long as it remains alive and well. To test the efficacy of this approach, 27 camera traps were deployed over a 400 km 2 area in Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo Province in South Africa. The motion-triggered camera traps were operational for ten months and, using deep learning, we managed to capture images of 12 distinct animal species. For each species, a makeshift bank account was set up and credited with GBP 100. Each time an animal was captured in a camera and successfully classified, 1 penny (an arbitrary amount—mechanisms still need to be developed to determine the real value of species) was transferred from the animal account to its associated guardian. The trial demonstrated that it is possible to achieve high animal detection accuracy across the 12 species with a sensitivity of 96.38%, specificity of 99.62%, precision of 87.14%, F1 score of 90.33%, and an accuracy of 99.31%. The successful detections facilitated the transfer of GBP 185.20 between animals and their associated guardians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of quantifying the problems of abandoned mines is the first step towards the rehabilitation of these mines. As the result, in all countries that have many abandoned mines, researchers and different organizations have been making efforts to develop decision-making tools, methods, and techniques for rehabilitation of abandoned mines. This paper describes the work conducted to incorporate the method for ranking the problems of abandoned mine entries into a rule-based expert system. This is done using the web-based expert system platform provided by expert system (ES)-Builder Shell. The ES is tested by applying it to the case study of the problems of abandoned mine entries in the areas of Giyani and Musina, Limpopo Province of South Africa. This paper gives details of the procedure followed in creating the production rules of the ES for ranking problems of abandoned mine entries (ES-RAME), its attributes, and the results of its application to the selected case study. The use of the ES-RAME is found to be important for setting the objectives and priorities of the rehabilitation of abandoned mine entries. In addition, the incorporation of the ranking method into the expert system ensured that the procedure of the tanking method is clearly communicated and preserved as the rules of the ES. The expert system also has the advantages of being consistent in its guidance, and it gives the user an opportunity to go through the ranking process of the system using any possible fictitious information; this gives the user a feel for the ranking process and the data required when using the ES-RAME. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa has about 2.5 million households without electricity access, most of which are located in rural areas and urban informal settlements. The nexus of energy poverty and gender is at play in the affected communities, as women and girls are culturally stereotyped with the task of collecting unclean fuels (e.g., firewood) and using these for their households' energy demands. Therefore, this study prioritized rural women and girls as respondents in the provinces most affected by gendered energy poverty (GEP) in the country. The study was carried out in selected rural unelectrified areas of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces using structured interviews. The study revealed that GEP in the rural areas has exposed women and girls living there to security concerns, health hazards, premature death, domestic fire accidents, time poverty, income poverty, illiteracy, drudgery in households and farm tasks, etc., at different levels of severity. It also showed the effects of perceptions, age, income, and culture on the choice of energy use among the respondents. Mitigation strategies against GEP in rural South African communities through clean energy adoption are also proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smallholder farmers in Limpopo Province generate income through growing vegetable crops such as cabbage, tomato, and okra. These crops are produced for local and national markets. Okra crops are highly constrained by aphids. Smallholder farmers rely only on synthetic insecticides to manage aphids. This paper evaluated the efficacy of five plant materials (bio pesticides): pawpaw (Carica papaya L.), Mexican marigold (Tagetes minuta L.), serrano pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), common lantana (Lantana camara L.) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) on Aphis gossypii population in okra production. The field experiment was laid in a randomized complete block design, with seven treatments (five plant materials, mercaptothion insecticide as a control and the absolute control) replicated three times. Aphid abundance, leaf damage and the correlation between leaf damage and aphid abundance were analyzed using analysis of variance. Carica papaya L. (0.87) and Tagetes minuta L. (0.87) were more effective in reducing aphid abundance. Leaf damage caused by aphids was lowest in the Carica papaya L. treatment (1.11) and the Tagetes minuta L. treatment (1.12). There was a strong positive correlation between aphid abundance and leaf damage (r = 0.86). Plant materials: Carica papaya L. and Tagetesminuta L. could be incorporated into an overall integrated pest management system to reduce aphid abundance and leaf damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the safety status and the quality of the landscape affected by surface mining, it is important that practical strategies for dealing with the excavations are identified. The aim of the work presented in this paper was to carry out an appraisal of the strategies for addressing the physical hazards of abandoned surface mine excavations in two mines in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The method used involved carrying out field characterization of the current state and uses of the excavations, as well as their physical hazards of the surface mine excavations in the study area. The characterization took into consideration. Possible strategies for addressing the physical hazards of the excavations are identified, and their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyzed. The Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) was performed on each of the identified strategies with the purpose of determining their attractiveness based on their SWOT factors. The results of the study showed that using a combination of strategies to deal with the physical hazards of the abandoned mine excavations was the most attractive approach followed by the grading of the slopes of the excavations to improve their stability, while promoting their safe alternative uses. The no-action option and backfilling of the excavations were the least attractive strategies for dealing with the abandoned surface mine excavations. The study demonstrated how semi-quantitative tools, such as the SWOT analysis and QSPM could assist in finding practical approaches for dealing with the problems of abandoned mine sites or features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]