On the 17th of April 2024, Audrey Azoulay the UNESCO Director General, was hosted at the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) head office in Franschhoek for an afternoon showcase of the current CWBR activities and projects, as part of her official visit to South Africa.

The event included a presentation of the impact of various efforts undertaken by the CWBR team which was then followed by a hands-on exploration of the educational activities available through the CWBR Mobile Educational Unit STEAM-Y*, and meeting five members of the Jonkershoek and Khayamandi communities, Stellenbosch, who have trained as Citizen Scientists through Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve opportunities. The highlight of the event, the citizen scientists explained the various tests they do as part of data collection at selected monitoring sites along the Berg and Eerste rivers.

Audrey Azoulay with Citizen Scientist

Presenting Initatives

Mobile Educational Trailer

The CWBR team, two CWBR Board Directors, and the citizen scientists were honoured to share time with Ms Azoulay. In addition, representatives from UNESCO Paris, UNESCO Regional Office South Africa, South African Commission for UNESCO, Department of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment, Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, and various officials attended the event.

The visit emphasized the important role of biosphere reserves in fostering access to education and training, support for vulnerable communities, young women, and girls, and strengthening strategic partnerships in biodiversity conservation and strategic water source areas.

These form part of the three functions of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve programme including: Conservation of Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity, Economic Development that is socio-culturally and environmentally sustainable, and Logistic Support underpinning development through research, monitoring, education, and training.

Fascinating cutting-edge research is going on within the Cape Floral Region, in Western Cape Biosphere Reserves.

Click link to read press release: BioSCape Press Information

The Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) team has partnered with Action Volunteers Africa (AVA) to collaboratively create and implement monthly Mobile Career Cafés (MCC’s). The initiative is an opportunity for unemployed and non-studying youth (in particularly rural areas) to learn job-readiness skills and explore careers through hands-on activities and fun interactive engaging games.

“Bone-chilling statistics reveal that 65.50% of youth in South Africa are currently unemployed - and only 65% of our students are completing high school. In rural South Africa, young people are not able to access as many services as those in the cities. These young, unemployed rural youth are especially vulnerable to socio-economic exclusion - and the wider, long-term impacts to South Africa's economic and social future is deeply concerning.” Action Volunteers Africa

The CWBR mobile educational trailer STEAM-Y (Science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics - for youth) is transformed into a one-stop-career-shop, with pop up gazebos creating multiple shaded spaces for three different sessions that the youth rotate between during a four-hour workshop. This includes two sessions by AVA: Identifying possible immediate resources to generate income, and employability skills including CV building, interview skills and preparing for the job interview. Complimentary to AVA’s sessions, are hands-on activities at STEAM-Y where CWBR facilitators and volunteers share environmental awareness through hands-on activities and a careers discovery session. Introducing youth to possible careers relevant to their area and employment opportunities in conservation.

To prepare for the MCC visit, partner NGOs are identified in the area to reach the most marginalized youth and strengthen impact and sustainability of ongoing support after the MCC has taken place.

Since June last year, nine MCC’s have reached two-hundred-and-fifty-four youth in Wolwekloof (Wolseley), Caledon, Swellendam, Darling, Khayelitsha, Atlantis, and Haut Bay. Two awareness workshops, in partnership with CapeNature, have been held for thirty Community Development Workers at Wolwekloof Day Camp (Wolseley) and Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve (Stellenbosch), sharing the educational resources that AVA and the CWBR have available.

Youth learn while having fun and all have stayed until the end of the Workshops, rain or shine!

AVA Introductions

Igniting Curiosity

Learn through play

Binoculars

• 97% of youth felt confident that they now know how to prepare for a job interview; compared to 46% who knew what to say and do in a job interview at the start of the workshops.

• 86% could identify potential employers and learning opportunities in their communities; compared only 15% prior to attending the mobile career café.

• 64% was very confident that they could identify and list their skills and experience on their CV at the end of the workshops, compared to 30% at the start.

In response to the question, “I am interested in learning about the environment and nature”, 35% of the participants who attended the MCC in Atlantis (June 2022) strongly agreed at the start of the event and 12% were not interested in nature at all.  At the end of the workshops that day, 82% strongly agreed that they were interested in the environment and nature.  There was not one not interested in learning more about the environment at the end of the MCC.

Intro to Science

Whose career?

MiniSASS

Resourcefulness Session

Check out the below videos to see the first Mobile Career Café Workshop which took place in Worcester, for Youth Day, June 16th, 2021. This year, the CWBR team and AVA got together on the 16th and 17th of June, to celebrate the Mobile Career Café’s first birthday, and facilitated Workshops in Darling and Atlantis, reaching seventy-two youth.

Mobile Career Café Darling 2022. Action Volunteers Africa is a non-profit organisation that empowers youth to be ready for the world of work.

World Ocean Day, 8th June 2022

"The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids. They ask questions and have a sense of wonder. They have curiosity. Who, what, where, why, when, and how!" – Dr Sylvia Earle, American marine biologist, explorer, author and lecturer

Many people around me or who I meet, grew up wanting to be a marine biologist. On asking why, the most common answer is “to work with the whales and dolphins”. Confession: I am, in fact, one of those kids who wanted to work with the whales and dolphins. However, I continued to dream about studying marine biology and yes, I still got to work with and on whales and dolphins during my career, but I also got to work on other interesting animals, mainly on marine invertebrates (i.e. an animal without a backbone). After years of academic studies, I finally became a marine biologist specialising in tiny marine creatures called moss animals or bryozoans. The most familiar marine invertebrates include crabs, corals, sea anemones, jellyfish, sea stars, sea urchins and shrimp.

As a marine biologist, my journey to studying the ocean started from a young age. Like other marine biologists, we all share a fascination for marine life and study anything from the largest whale down to tiny plankton, microbes, and even the seawater itself. We may also assess the impacts of human activities on our marine life. We are obsessed with data collection and data analysis, because marine biology is not just about exploration, it is a science.

Now, let's take a closer look at what a day for a marine biologist is like.

Preparing for the Day

Most of my fellow marine biologists would agree, a good cup of coffee is how we start the day! Whether it be caffeinated or not, we believe in a good coffee ritual. Not surprisingly, in an annual survey done in 2011 on U.S. coffee consumption trends in the workplace, they found that scientist and lab technician professions are the heaviest coffee drinkers.[1]

There is no such thing as a ‘typical day’ for most marine biologists. How and what you prepare for your day is also dependent on what type of marine biologist you are. That’s right, there are different types of marine biologists like you have different types of medical doctors who specialises in a field, for example paediatricians, cardiologists and obstetrician-gynecologists.[2]

Many marine biologists work under job titles such as wildlife biologist, zoologist, fish and wildlife biologist, fisheries biologist, conservation biologist and so forth. As a curator of marine invertebrates working with biological museum collections, I spend my time caring for and managing the collections, dealing with queries from researchers interested in the collections, and assist in coordinating scientific exhibitions. Marine biologists may also spend a significant amount of time outdoors when conducting research.

In the Field

Fieldwork often involves working on sea vessels (i.e. boats and ships) to locate, tag, and monitor marine animals and their movements, to collect seawater samples and collect samples of plants and animals. Some people experience seasickness or motion sickness on sea vessels, while others do not. Seasickness can affect anyone and may cause nausea and vomiting, and fortunately there is anti-nausea medication available to reduce the risk of getting sick.

Fieldwork is planned ahead of time because we need fairly good weather conditions – it would be difficult to collect any samples in gale force winds or storms! Some days we have to SCUBA[3] dive and collect samples up to 30 meters deep. We also need research assistants, equipment, and tools for the field. The amount of time spent in the field varies greatly depending on the data being collected.

(Left) An early morning start to the day during low tide at the rocky shore with buckets to collect specimens. (Right) Dense mussel beds are a common sight in some parts of the coast. This is the invasive Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819. Photo credits: Dr Kevin Ma

(Left) An example of packing for fieldwork including air cylinders and weight belts for SCUBA diving, containers and small tools. (Right) Some people get seasick, while others (clearly) do not.

As much as we plan our fieldwork, sometimes there are animals that wash up onto the shore and we are contacted by the authorities to assist and collect the (dead) specimens for research. There are many reasons animals – sometimes hundreds at a time – wash up on beaches worldwide, and may include an illness, injury or disorientation. Common animals that wash ashore are whales, giant squid, jellyfish, and sharks – sometimes these animals are still alive, and authorities are able to assist them. The most recent story that made headlines is the giant squid that washed up at Kommetjie Beach in Cape Town.

In the Laboratory

The samples collected needs to be sorted, labelled and stored typically in glass jars or bottles with seals until further examination. We commonly use ethanol or isopropyl alcohol as a fluid preserve. This method of preservation causes a chemical alteration of the specimen and can lead to discolouration, shrinking, or swelling of the specimen, but ultimately these collections are able to last for hundreds of years! As for time spent in the field and laboratory, this may only be about 20-30% of our time.

(Left) Orange thread-gilled worm Cirriformia capensis (Schmarda, 1861) collected in Kleinzee, Northern Cape. Photo credit: Kevin Ma (Right) The same specimen after being fixed and stored in ethanol, note the discolouration and shrinkage.

At the Desk

In reality, we spend nearly 80% of our time at our desk! Analysing data, writing scientific papers for publication in scientific journals, budgeting, writing reports and funding proposals, as well as designing, supervising and implementing research projects are part of a marine biologist’s life. It sounds tedious, some tasks are, but overall I love being a marine biologist! According to a survey, marine biologists in the U.S. are one of the happiest careers.[4] Scientific careers can be challenging, but it is worth noting that “No matter what comes your way, let passion drive your profession, and never forget to have fun while doing it.” – Leila Nefdt, South African marine biologist and Director of Sea the Bigger Picture NPO

[1] Robbie Gonzalez. 10 February 2012. Here are the fifteen professions that drink the most coffee. Guess who's number one. Accessed on 6 June 2022, https://gizmodo.com/here-are-the-fifteen-professions-that-drink-the-most-co-5948206.

[2] Kathryn Whitbourne. 26 January 2020. What Are the Different Types of Doctors? Accessed on 6 June 2022. https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/insurance-doctor-types

[3] The acronym ‘SCUBA’ stands for “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus”.

[4] CareerExplorer. Are marine biologists happy? Accessed 9 June 2022, https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/marine-biologist/satisfaction/

It’s officially available to view! The Edu-bite clip produced by Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve in partnership with Iziko Museums of South Africa on the use of scanning electron microscope (SEM) technology by researchers at the Iziko South African Museum.

The 10-minute Edu-bite will take you on a journey behind the scenes in the Iziko South African museum and give insight into their research, why it is important, and the fascinating world of microscopes. 

This Edubite is a Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve Youth Board Project spearheaded by D Jørgensen.

To find out more about what he does, visit zadea.co.za

Instagram handle: Sarahanddean

Other links of interest

Iziko museums new website

Iziko Museums Twitter

Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) is the source of seven major rivers, and of course many, many more, that flow through nature reserves, along or below highways, though cities, agricultural land, communities - from a source out to sea.

Rivers are the lifeblood of countries, play an irreplaceable role for biodiversity, and provide keystone ecosystem services for towns, agriculture, and industry. Rivers are also a place of heritage, a place for adventure, and a retreat for the avid bird or dragonfly watcher, among other things.

In celebrating World Water month and creating awareness of the importance of water – fresh in a river or salty as the ocean, we would like to share some of our projects and a network that Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve is part of and learning from.

A Global Network

In 2021, Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve became a member of the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves, in recognition of our development projects and involvement in research. Though the CWBR is an inland biosphere reserve, the area is known for being a source of seven rivers. An integral part of the CWBR development programme is to share knowledge about the importance of biodiversity and river health from source to sea.

Through building meaningful relationships and collaboration, the CWBR team has also facilitated excursions for youth to pristine rocky shores and sandy beaches such as De Hoop Nature Reserve, our neighbouring biosphere Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, and assisted a Community Upliftment Project in Stormsriver, Tsitsikamma.   

Outing in Berg Catchment

McGregor youth visit De Hoop

Napier youth visit De Hoop

Collaboration with Kogelberg BR

The CWBR team has contributed to two newsletters, introducing our biosphere reserve to the network, sharing our 2018 Guinness World Record painting La Source, and our new mobile educational space STEAM-Y.

Available to read here: 19th WNICBR Newsletter, 20th WNICBR Newsletter

La Source: Depicting the Berg River from source to sea - Recognized by Guinness World Book of Records in 2018 as the World’s largest painting done by a single artist, measuring 35.148 Sq meters ( 1.8 meters tall by 19.5 meters long). First unveiled in September 2018, at Haut Espoir in South Africa.

UNESCO Be Resilient Project

Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve is part of a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme initiative: the Be Resilient Project (link). Biosphere Reserves are used as Observatories for Climate Change mitigation and adaption in South Africa. The CWBR team are bringing the Citizen Science component to the project in 2022, so watch this space!

Wetlands

Most rivers meander from source to sea, and are filtered by wetlands on the way, before flowing into the sea.  

In October 2020, the 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. The findings have now been published online. Check out the Papenkuils Story Map for interactive videos, maps, beautiful photographs of the fauna and flora discovered, and the CWBR drone footage that contributed to the research.

Catchment Area Restoration

In 2019, the CWBR was nominated by the African Climate and Development Initiative, to be a site of research. The CWBR team worked closely with the SEBEI (Socio-Economic Benefits of Ecological Infrastructure) post-doctorate team and assisted with the use of drone technology to contribute to the research undertaken in the Berg Catchment Area – the core of Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve. 

Article. The Conversation: Clearing alien trees can help reduce climate change impact on Cape Town’s water supply. Published: March 14, 2022

Delving more into the research done - ScienceDirect: Mapping invasive alien trees in water towers: A combined approach using satellite data fusion, drone technology and expert engagement By Petra B. Holden , Alanna J. Rebelo, Mark G. New.

Moses Africa Kids Empowerment Youth Programme (MAKE)

In the early days of the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, the CWBR team assisted the implementation of an afterschool Canoe Club for the Paarl community. Travelling from source to sea, the youth part-take regularly in local and regional competitions. The initiative still going strong in Paarl, now run by one of the first youth participants.

When near a river or by the sea, why not dip your toes in the water and reflect on the importance water has for our biodiversity, livelihood, and life. 2012 article in archives: CWBR supports the Paarl Canoe Development Team

The Berg River - Berg Catchment Area