Figure 2
The Cathedral Peak catchments fall within the Northern Drakensberg
Strategic Water Source Area which generates 4.94% of South Africa’s
mean annual runoff (Le Maitre et al., 2018). Being the only high
altitude monitored catchments on the eastern escarpment, the long term
data from these catchments is of paramount importance in determining the
impacts of environmental change on the ability of the area to supply
water resources. The historic and contemporary records from these
catchments provide data from Africa, which is often difficult to access
even locally, and is scarcely represented in global analyses and
international insights inferences that seek to influence policy and
practice that affect Africa. Improving access to and inclusion of the
African data and insights that are contextually relevant is critical for
the development of locally beneficial policy and practice, and avoids
negative outcomes of well-intended policies based on data from
elsewhere.