Over the past few years Prof Kellner and his students have actively participated in several national and international projects

• Bush Expert
  Prof. Klaus Kellner is currently the project leader for the Bush Expert program funded by Department of Environmental Affairs Development. This project assess and evaluate bush control and rehabilitation practices to improve ecosystem services in parts of the North-West and Limpopo Provinces. It also forms a part in two national resource management (NRM) programmes of the DEA (i.e. Working for Water and Working for Ecosystems).
  
  
• Desert  Margins  Program (2003-2010)
  The Desert Margins Program (DMP) was created in response to a world commitment to combat land degradation and poverty, reflected in the United Nations Conventions to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Funded by the GEF, implemented by UNEP and executed by ICRISAT  the Desert Margins Program (DMP) aimed to arrest land degradation and conserve and restore biodiversity in the desert margins through sustainable utilization of biodiversity. 9 African countries including Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe participated. In 2004 the DMP project recieved the Millenium ICRISAT science award.
  Project brief
  http://www.dmpafrica.net/
• PRACTICE
  Prevention and Restoration Actions to Combat Desertification: An Integrated Approach16 Institutions from 12 different countries on 5 continents are participating in the PRACTICE program. This project aims to link science and technology advances with traditional local knowledge to combat desertification.  In South Africa the Molopo & Mier areas and southern Namibia was included.
  http://practice-netweb.eu/
  
  
• Kalahari Namib Project
  Collaboration between SA, Namibia and Botswana in Nossop-Molopo River basin
  
  Enhancing Decision-making through Interactive Environmental Learning and Action in the Molopo-Nossob river basin in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa
  
  The Kalahari Namib project is being implemented by UNEP and executed by IUCN ESARO (Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Office) in collaboration with Ministry of Environment, Wildlife & Tourism (Botswana), Ministry of Environment & Tourism (Namibia), and Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Affairs (South Africa).
  
  
• SPACES program of the BMBF
  Project between NWU, UKZN and University of Goettingen (Germany)
  
  An Integrative decision support system from sustainable rangeland management in southern Africa (IDESSA)
  
  Form part of the SASSCAL program in Southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Germany)
  
  SASSCAL: Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) –a Regional Science Service Centre (RSSC) in Southern Africa
  
  Three objectives:
  – Trans-disciplinary, applied oriented research for people
  – Services and advice for policy, decision makers and stakeholders
  – Capacity development
  
  
• NRF (SA and Namibia (DRFN)-  S&T programme)
  
  (NCapeP – Mier) & southern Namibia in dune areas)
  
  Impacts of different land use and land cover changes for climate change adaptation
  
  Research questions:
  – How do different land use practices and legislation in Namibia and South Africa impact the land use and cover changes in the project area?
  – What cover changes have taken place in recent time, and what are the main causes of these changes?
  – How does high natural climate variability affect the farming community in the project area, and what adaptive strategies are they applying to sustain their livelihoods?
  – How has the more recent invasion of woody shrubs/trees affected the livelihoods of the farming community, and what are they doing to sustain themselves?
  
  
• Taung Restoration Project (DEA)
  
  The Taung Restoration Project is an initiative of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Natural Resource Management (NRM) Programme’s objective of reversing all forms of land degradation, such as bush encroachment and loss of basal cover which are predominantly prevalent in Taung area. The end-result of mitigating these forms of land degradation is to maximize the agricultural productivity of land, protect topsoil erosion and to ensure that those ecosystems are functioning to their full potential. The Project will implement under the Working for Land programme of the DEA.
  
  Germination and establishment of grass seed for restoration and rehabilitation
  
  Funded by Advance Seed this project is run by both the North West University and the University of Pretoria to determine the effects of seed coating technology on germination and establishment of grass and pasture species on agricultural and rehabilitated soil. Different growth mediums from soil (3) and mine tailings (7)
  
  
• LandCare projects (DAFF)
  
  Mier of (NCapeP) and Molopo of NWP (Kalahari)