
Integrated River Health and Vegetation Monitoring.
Maintaining a resilient and productive landscape at Sango relies on a long-term understanding of how vegetation and freshwater ecosystems are changing. To this end, Sango has implemented an integrated ecological monitoring programme that covers both land and water systems, helping guide key decisions about ecological capacities, land use, and conservation priorities.
Vegetation assessments are carried out at two levels. The herbaceous (grassy) layer is monitored twice a year—in the wet (March/April) and dry (September/October) seasons—using step point and disc pasture methods to measure indicators like plant biomass, species composition, ground cover, and grass height. These assessments, ongoing since 2000, also use an ecological index to rate ecosystem health. The woody vegetation (bushes and trees) is surveyed every five years to estimate available food for browsing animals.
By combining data from both layers into a single „veld condition report,“ Sango can track trends in vegetation and calculate how many animals the land can support. This information, along with aerial wildlife counts, supports adaptive wildlife management and helps prevent overgrazing or underutilisation of the land.