Professor Wendy Foden of Stellenbosch University has been awarded the inaugural Benjamin Roland Oppenheimer Research Chair in Conservation in a Changing Climate, committing to a five-year programme aimed at protecting vulnerable species and ecosystems in Southern Africa’s arid regions, with a particular focus on the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape.
Foden, a specialist scientist with SANParks, extraordinary professor at Stellenbosch University, and chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Climate Change Specialist Group, will lead the programme to develop and test strategies that address the impacts of climate change on biodiversity.
“We urgently need stronger evidence to guide conservation in a changing climate, alongside the space to develop and test new approaches,” Foden said in a statement reported by IOL on 12 November 2026.
The research will study how desert succulents such as quiver trees (Aloidendron dichotomum) and halfmens (Pachypodium namaquanum), key indicators of ecosystem health in desert environments, respond to heat and water stress under climate change pressures. This work is set in the Richtersveld, a biodiversity hotspot facing increasing aridity and temperature extremes.
According to a Business Day report from 11 November 2026, the award enables Foden’s team to trial innovative conservation techniques, including potential assisted translocation—the movement of species to more suitable habitats—to improve species’ survival prospects.
Foden’s leadership roles at SANParks and the IUCN underscore her expertise in climate adaptation science. The programme represents one of South Africa’s most systematic efforts to treat climate change as an immediate threat to biodiversity rather than a distant concern. It aligns with growing national and international recognition that conserving vulnerable ecosystems requires rapid, evidence-based intervention.
While the programme remains in its early stages, and practical conservation outcomes are yet to be realised, it promises to generate critical data to guide future interventions in fragile arid environments. The Richtersveld is especially important as a site where climate impacts on desert flora can be monitored and where results may inform broader regional biodiversity policy.
Independent verification of full award terms or broader partnerships, such as those with the University of Cambridge’s Conservation Evidence group mentioned in some reports, remain outstanding. Practical benefits of proposed measures like assisted translocation will require further assessment as the project advances.
Professor Foden’s research is a timely addition to South Africa’s climate response framework, offering a focused scientific approach to safeguard species facing growing risks in a warming world.
A Cape Flats.co.za reporter will follow this story as the programme unfolds and report on key developments and findings over the coming years.