Reflecting on the year 2021, we found that Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve partnerships, collaboration, and passionate mentors invested in their communities are the cornerstone for long-term solutions in outreach and relevant meaningful impact.  

The Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve mobile education unit STEAM-Y (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics - for youth) has become a regular component to outings. The project, originally an educational Science Bus, has become a versatile space and catalyst for building partnerships and encouraging collaboration, with the aim to ignite curiosity in children and young adults who have experienced an unstable academic year because of the pandemic and its impact on social norms.  

Through sharing resources, whether educational material, pristine areas such as nature reserves, transport, or institutional knowledge, the CWBR team together with partners are co-creating innovative ways to foster the importance of curiosity, learning, and self-development for children and young adults to navigate through the 21st century.  

The long-term vision is to support teachers through aligning with the curriculum taking education off the blackboard, and co-facilitating a travelling Educational Circus, wherein partners come together for pop-up educational events. 

In 2021, we also welcomed our new Board member Dr Melissa Boonzaaier-Davids to team, whose knowledge and enthusiasm will be invaluable. Portfolio Education and Youth Development.  

Celebrating UNESCO’s 75th and the Man and Biosphere Reserves 50th Anniversaries will carry on into the new year. The CWBR team have some exciting events in store. 

We wish our readers and extended Biosphere Reserve family a happy festive season and a great start to the new year! 

A special thank you to Athénée Action Humanitaire, who make the educational projects possible.

STEAM-Y Partnerships 

Action Volunteer Africa and our joint project: the Mobile Career Café. AVA is a non-profit organisation that empowers youth to be ready for the world of work. The purpose is to assist youth in how to be resourceful and identify opportunities/resources in their immediate community. The CWBR STEAM-Y educational unit, as the Career Café serves as a space for exploring fields in conservation, research, technology, and more through hands-on activities and discussion with facilitators.

CapeNature, a longstanding partner whom we have done collaborative educational outreach with this year. We partnered for a Youth Outreach Week at Wolwekloof Day Camp in October and co-hosted Awareness Workshops, together with Action Volunteers Africa, to create access to educational tools and facilities available for local community workers and mentors in Stellenbosch and Wolseley area.

Educational outings involving 'Learning about the Cycle of Water’ have also been facilitated by CapeNature for our Early Childhood Development Legacy participants as part of the Rotary Global Grant Project and Care Career Connection, an organization assisting youth and young adults with intellectual and physical disabilities to navigate through everyday life by empowering them with tools to overcome challenges and create a vision of hope.

Our partnership with the ladies of Flourish who we in fact got to know in 2020, at the start of the pandemic. It is a privilege to work with such dedicated ladies who are involved in their own community’s health, dignity, and future.

The CWBR, initially supported the community run soup kitchens, which had grown from 3 to 10 locations to meet rapid increase in hunger due to loss of jobs. Feeding over 3000 individuals three times a week. Being asked for assistance by the Flourish ladies to start up community gardens, to promote health, nutrition, and food security within the community, the CWBR team has facilitated ongoing Food Security Workshops and helped implement food gardens. Since then, a mental health workshop has been facilitated with the participants of Flourish in honour of Mental Health Month, as well as the CWBR volunteers joining a celebratory graduation of the Flourish participants.

Usiko Stellenbosch and our joint 2021 project: Mobile Minds. Utilizing the STEAM-Y educational unit to share hands-on activities to excite and foster curiosity about science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics for youth. Together, we celebrated South African Heritage Day and Usiko's 20th Anniversary with the local community in Jamestown, at the Usiko Hub - The peoples Farm.

The Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve management team arrange monthly outings for 30 aspiring early childhood development (ECD) teacher trainees, who are participants in a joint initiative (Rotary Global Grant) in partnership with Rotary Club of Franschhoek and Drakenstein Valley. The activities aim to compliment and add onto the Level 4 ECD Teacher Training that will commence early next year.  

The participants have given feedback, stating that the impact of the outings thus far has not only had a positive impact at the ECD Centres but in their personal development and immediate families as well.  The programme offers a holistic experience to all involved.

Cape Leopard Trust Workshop

In August, Cape Leopard Trust facilitated an educational workshop at the CWBR Hub with the teacher trainees. The participants learned about the importance of nature and the leopard’s role in it, part-took in hands-on educational art activities, and were given educational material to take back to the classroom. The teachers were also given a set of three very special books, 'Footprints in the Fynbos,' (written in Afrikaans, isiXhosa, and English). The books teach children about conservation, leopards, and other animals, as well as have fun activities to do, creating an inclusive learning experience for the children.

Learning about resources available

Footprints in the Fynbos books recieved

CapeNature

In September, the participants visited Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve in Stellenbosch. A Workshop on the cycle of water was facilitated by CapeNature. Activities included sharing free online educational activities and resources for the pre-primary classroom, a puzzle competition, evaluating the health of rivers (mini-SASS), and crafts.

Water-cycle bracelet activity

Evaluating health of water. Mini-SASS

Giraffe House

In October, the participants ventured to Giraffe House where they saw a large variety of animals for the first time. Exploring the different sections, they came across zebras, antelope, many types of birds, and of course the famous giraffes. As part of the day’s activities, they were treated to a reptile Show and Tell. Though scared of the snakes at first, several of the teachers conquered their fear by posing with a python at the end.

In recognition and celebration of Teachers Appreciation Day, the CWBR team offered the teachers the opportunity to bring the children at their respective ECD’s to Giraffe House. The ECD’s are encouraged to raise the funds towards the entrance fees, and the CWBR will sponsor transport and the snacks for the day. Three ECD’s have reached out so far are due to go on their outing to Giraffe House in November and December. Supporting dignity and encouraging ownership toward extending the education beyond the classroom for the children.

Exposure to reptiles. Learnign about them to share later in their respective classrooms.

Documenting what they see

A bit of humour

Serene calm

Man and nature can live in harmony around wetlands. Wetlands are vitally important to conserve as they are the fastest disappearing ecosystem globally. Wetlands provide a habitat for both aquatic and terrestrial vegetation and diverse animal species, offering natural services to people such as filtering water, a grazing area for livestock, and recreational activities such as bird watching. Papenkuils Wetland is such a place.

In October 2020, the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) team joined representatives of the Western Cape Government’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) who set out to explore what value Papenkuils Wetland provides to the Breede Valley Catchment. DEA&DP undertook a case study of the Papenkuils Wetland to assure support for its future conservation. The findings are now available to delve into and learn from online (link below).  

Contributing to the evaluation of the area, the CWBR droned portions of the wetlands, that assisted in defining wetland zones, as well as provided high resolution footage in hard-to-reach areas.

A scientific study of the Wetland was undertaken by DEA&DP, in collaboration with partners, where water quality was sampled, soil monitored, and the flora viewed. 

The Papenkuils Wetlands is the home for plants that are believed to have once covered extensive areas of the Breede River Catchment including at least seven International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red-listed plant species, and the under-conserved and endangered Breede Alluvium Fynbos vegetation type. (Extract from Papenkuils Wetland Story Map)

Go on a virtual exploration!

Check out the Papenkuils Wetland Story Map for interactive videos, maps, beautiful photographs of the fauna and flora discovered, and the CWBR drone footage that contributed to the research.

The website includes an introduction to the project and area, examples of the flora and fauna documented, history of the area, the research done thus far, and recommendations going forward.

4 reasons to protect wetlands

1. Wetlands are considered one of the most threatened ecosystems both globally and in South Africa.

2. The vegetation and soil structure of wetlands allows water to circulate through them. This provides ecosystem services because the water quality is enhanced as it passes through the system, which also stores and slowly releases water.

3. Wetlands are resilient in many ways but vulnerable to developments that divert water away from them, such as urbanization and agriculture.

4. Wetlands are vital biodiversity assets, sustaining a variety of animals and plants specific to the wetland community.

Extract from Green Grow the Rushes, Veld and Flora, September 2021

Situated across the border of Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, Papenkuils Wetland (in Breede Valley), lies South of Worcester and North of the Brand Vlei Dam.

Links of Interest:

Papenkuils Wetland Story Map

Green Grow the Rushes (PDF file) Go on a walk with the research team as they discover the biodiversity of the wetland.

Authors: Annabel Marian Horn, Nick Helme, Liz Day, Phil Mclean and Wilna Kloppers.

Photo credit: Nicholas Helme

Photo credit: Nick Helme

The sedge is recognised by its three sided stem and is a characteristic plant  showing us that this is a wetland area. (Image: Sedge - Family Cyperaceae by Nick Helme, inaturalist, Oct 27 2020 copyright)

Papenkuils Wetland. Photo credit: Annabel Marian Horn

The Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve management team advocates linking nature, education, and life skills in order to inform and inspire people to live in Harmony with Nature. The CWBR supports eco-educational overnight outings through ongoing collaboration and partnerships.

The CWBR joined De Hoop again this year in assisting them with their Social Outreach Programme, to expose children who have never been to a pristine environment, in particular, the wild Rocky Shores and open plains with roaming wildlife at De Hoop Nature Reserve. 14 children and 2 teachers from the local community took part in the weekend filled with adventurous activities.

The mobile educational unit STEAM-Y came along and was the backdrop for a screening of the day’s events (as captured by the children with a camera) in the evening.

Check out the video to see the activities of the weekend!

Invasive plants represent one of the most pressing threats to the biodiversity and water security in the Western Cape. While gains have been made in addressing this in certain areas, conservation agencies and landowners remain on the back foot, with invasive species spreading their reach in many areas. In high altitude, hard to reach mountain areas, this challenge becomes increasingly acute. In the rugged mountains of the Limietberg Reserve, pine and hakae infestations are spreading into some of the last bastions of pristine Cape Mountain fynbos.

 In recognition that a massive, multi-stakeholder initiative is required to deal with this challenge, the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve has been active in supporting research into invasive management in the Cape Mountains. To date this support has been through its drone mapping support work. This year the CWBR sought to take a further step in supporting the collective effort, getting involved on the ground with clearing efforts. 

In collaboration with Cape Nature, the CWBR has developed a pilot initiative that seeks to address invasive encroachment in high altitude regions of the Limietberg Reserve. The key principle underpinning this work, is that there are huge wins to be made by acting early. When trees are young and population densities are low, the effort involved in clearing can easily be cut 10-fold. This means that acting swiftly to hold the line against encroachment can mean big long-term wins in the joint effort to save the Limietberg and other mountain catchments.

A target area of 700ha was identified which will be used to test a model of using volunteers supported by CWBR staff.

In the first trial, a team of five volunteers and CWBR staff started work on this section over the course of a weekend resulting in 40ha of pine and hakea being cleared.

In the lead up to this, a collaborative effort from the biosphere reserve team helped to source all the necessary equipment and supplies. This included light weight chainsaws and other mechanical clearing tools. This equipment is now available and will make future efforts of the CWBR much easier.

Having tested this volunteer-based model and established relationships with landowners, the next steps in this process will be to resume clearing efforts with an expanded team of volunteers in the spring. Using a base camp model, in which more experienced team leaders who were involved in this first effort will recruit and manage teams of their own friends and family. Using this model of training volunteers through practical working weekends, and then resourcing the most experienced of these to then lead their own teams in future, we hope to be able exponentially ramp up our impact.

The next clearing effort is earmarked for late October when we hope to triple our efforts with three teams setting off to take the next bite out of the 700ha pilot site identified.

Those interested in joining the CWBR’s volunteer efforts in future action should add their names to this list here.

A NASA Biodiversity field campaign in the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa

The Greater Cape Floristic Region will be mapped from space! Scientists from the US and South Africa, with the assistance of NASA, are embarking on a campaign to map the abundant biodiversity of the Greater Cape Floristic Region. It is the only biome to be contained within a single country in the world.

Technology will be used to collect remotely sensed data which will be combined with existing and new observations of the spatial distribution of species, ecosystems, “and their traits to enable high-resolution mapping of biodiversity, functional traits, and three-dimensional structure across environmental gradients and times-since-disturbance”. BioSCape

Find out more about the initiative, visit BioSCape

The campaign is organized around three major themes aimed at understanding:

1.        the distribution and abundance of biodiversity,

2.        the role of biodiversity in ecosystem function, and

3.        the impacts of biodiversity change on ecosystem services.

“By mapping this, the hope is to show the important link between ecosystems that people depend on with the flora in the region.” GetAway article

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King Protea

Photo credit: B Thomas