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.