• The Overberg Crane Group (OCG) is a partnership between the community and CapeNature and was established in October 1991 in order to conserve the Blue Crane in an agricultural dominated landscape.  The OCG currently has a fieldworker that reports to a day committee, whose task it is to supervise the fieldworker and guide the groups activities (Hudson, 2005).

OCG Aims to:

• Determine the present conservation status of Blue Cranes in the Overberg.

• Address the problems that Blue Cranes cause to farmers.

• Reduce Blue Crane mortalities.

• Promote the Blue Crane’s breeding success.

• Launch public awareness campaigns.

• Co-ordinate education activities regarding Blue Cranes.

• Promote the Blue Crane as an economic asset.
• Promote the long term survival of Blue Cranes outside nature reserves.

• Monitor the effectiveness of present conservation methods.

In order to achieve these objectives nine projects were initiated

Project 1:  Determine the conservation status of Blue Cranes in the Overberg.

• Aim: To collect information on the Blue Cranes conservation status, population dynamics, movement patterns and habitat preferences.

• Methodology :  Collate information using existing data on population  numbers and distribution, collect  further information from local farmers as well  as to source  information from literature regarding their historic distribution and abundance

Conduct research on crane ecology to assess seasonal distribution, where they concentrate to feed, roost, and breed, what habitat   they favour for  each above mentioned activity, to determine their age structure, whether or not they migrate and how they compare to other populations in South   Africa.

Project 2:  Address the problems caused by cranes regarding farmers

• Aim: Determine the extent of the problems caused as well as ways to overcome these problems.

•  Methodology: Address the problems by establishing communication channels to report problems, establish follow-up action for reported problems and assessing the scale of the problems.

Experiments need to be conducted to modify sheep troughs and feeding practices  as well as to investigate acceptable means of scaring cranes from crops.

Research needs to be done to ascertain what cranes feed on, how much do they eat daily, what losses they create, are there any patterns in locality, and what control methods can be used

Project 3:  Reduce crane mortalities

• Aim:  To gather information on crane mortalities, their cause and solutions.
  

• Methodology:  Mortality and legislation – Log all crane mortalities and then to investigate the causes of death, to enforce legislation protecting cranes and to prosecute offenders.
  

• Poison: Log all incidences, liaise with poisoning distributors, promote safer use of poison, seek less harmful ways of pest control and investigate the effect of agricultural spraying.

• Power lines:  Log all collisions, install flappers on problem areas, liaise with ESKOM regarding power line sites that need to be addressed.

Project 4:  Promote Blue Crane breeding success

•  Aim: Gather information on breeding locations, habitat preferences, territories, and survival rates of young birds as well as identify the threats facing these birds.

•  Methodology: Research – establish which localities and habitats they use for breeding, what size are their territories, breeding success and chick survival rate, the amount of nests disturbed by human activities, and what threats exist for breeding birds and their chicks.

• Protection:  Protect breeding habitats as well as breeding territories, the birds and their chicks from human disturbance, domestic predators like dogs and cats and any other threat that may face these birds.

Captive breeding programme – Forwarding of injured or disabled birds via  Cape Nature to use in captive breeding programmes.

Project 5:  Launch a public awareness campaign

• Aim: To assess attitudes towards Blue Cranes, to identify target groups and to produce information and decide on the beast means of disseminating this information.

• Methodology: Target groups – assess the attitudes towards the Blue Crane by communities, land owners, farm workers, distributors of agricultural chemicals and approach influential persons to help with this process through publicity.

Produce information – produce information through the use of blueprint conservation programmes, pamphlets, educational  booklets, slide and video material and posters

Utilize effective means of communication through personal contact with landowners, talks at agricultural meetings and get-togethers, through newspapers and magazines, through radio and television and to involve sponsors to promote the Blue Crane by means of  advertising campaigns

Project 6:  Education regarding Blue Cranes

• Aim:  To educate all who are willing, especially the younger generation.

•  Methodology:  Produce information (Discussed in project 5)

Schools, libraries, and museums – promote awareness, launch competitions, liaise with educational establishments about environmental   education programmes.

Encourage schools and environmental clubs to use the Blue Cranes as project material, involve eager individuals in crane research and identify the areas that can be targeted for environmental education activities.

Farm workers – Educate them and their families as well as occupants of informal settlements on Blue Crane conservation.

Project 7:  Promote cranes as an economic asset in the Overberg area.

• Aim: Find ways of promoting the Blue Crane as an economic asset.

• Methodology:  Conservation value – promote the Blue Crane’s aesthetic, national and international conservation value.

Economic value to farmers – by means of a comparison, the potential value of the cranes as benefactor to farming versus the cranes   as a liability to farming needs to be assessed.

tourism values – promote the Blue Cranes as tourism magnet and investigate crane highlights along certain tourism routes.

Project 8: Promote the long term survival of cranes outside nature reserves

• Aim: Ways to promote crane survival rates in the area need to be assessed.

• Methodology: Conservation areas-identify key areas of crane occupation such as roosting sites and localities where large numbers of crane damage and mortality occur. Here the landowners of these areas also need to be identified. Hold discussions with landowners and  interested parties, hold meetings to discuss the formation of conservancies, natural heritage programmes and private nature reserves, establish conservation areas and draw up management plans and programmes for any conservation area established.

Project 9: Monitor the effectiveness of conservation measures

•  Aim:   To determine whether conservation programmes are achieving their objectives and create new measures where necessary.
  

•  Methodology: Monitoring-identify problem areas, develop feedback systems on the effectiveness of the measures, develop monitoring methods for  the monitoring of bird numbers and keep interested parties updated on the findings of these monitoring measures.

Since the formation of the OCG, the group has aided in changing the attitudes of all sectors within the farming community regarding  cranes (Hudson, 2005). With the help of farmers and their staff, reports of any problems or observations that seem out of place are quickly reported to the OCG and this has helped the OCG to deal with threats facing the cranes like power line collisions, fence and  bailing twine entanglements, loss of nests during harvesting, drowning of chicks in water troughs, agrochemical misuse, illegal trade in  Blue Cranes and competition with livestock at feeding troughs effectively (Hudson, 2005).