In April, students, teachers, and the director of Athénéé de Luxembourg visited Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve for two weeks.

In Luxembourg, the students attend an Edu-Link course run by the school, in conjunction with their NGO Athénéé Action Humanitaire who fund many of the diverse educational projects of Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve. The group visited the projects supported by their NGO and had several hands-on experiences of the educational outings and activities that they fund.

The program, packed with cultural immersion, projects, and volunteering, kept them very busy.     

Among some of the activities, to have a first-hand experience of the impact of their projects, the group covered 4 out of 12 km, a partial TPA* Bronze hike, along the fauna and flora rich Vista Trail in Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve in Franschhoek. They were led by one of our guides who take youth on environmental educational hikes, outings, and involved in many of the Biosphere’s projects. The hike allowed them to see the vast contrast in environment that the youth who go on the TPA hikes experience and live in. Two of the students and a teacher, familiar with the European run Award Program in Luxembourg, knew the hard work and dedication that goes into completing The President’s Award Program and the positive impact that it has on its participants.

Other activities involved, a visit to the Bonnie People’s Project, the Breede Centre, and a very special tour of Mandela’s House at Drakenstein Correctional Facility – an outing the youth of Care Career Connections have experienced yearly. 

The group saw the rich biodiversity - the change in landscape throughout the Western Cape. From the vast open space of the Klein Karoo around Oudtshoorn to the West Coast National Park. Also De Hoop Nature Reserve on the Indian Ocean where they met and spent the day with guides who have completed the Field Guide Association of South Africa program, another project funded by Athénéé Action Humanitaire. The program reaches out to passionate youth who never have had the opportunity to travel beyond their immediate environment. The course gives them the tools and opportunity to start an independent life.

As part of the historical and cultural interactions they travelled to and discovered The Point of Human Origin at Mossel Bay, learned about stalagmites and stalactites at Cango Caves, toured !Khwa Ttu Khoi San Village, Fossil Park, and spent two days in Cape Town visiting District Six and Table Mountain among other things. 

There were several up close and personal moments witnessed, not just through the binoculars, of the big five! 

To end the trip, a ceremony was held to celebrate the two-year partnership in building an ECD school for pre pre-school children. During the Luxies stay, the group painted bookshelves to go into the classroom upon the opening of the school. The event also marked the ten-year anniversary of the NGO Athénéé Action Humanitaire.

Please follow link to view the Athénéé de Luxembourg article -

https://www.wort.lu/de/mywort/merl/news/das-athenee-unterstuetzt-weiteres-schulprojekt-in-township-in-suedafrika-5ad47990c1097cee25b877d0

Capturing the beautiful details of the Western Cape

At Garden Route Game Reserve

Bungy jumping at Bloukrans bridge!

District Six Museum

Visiting Bonnie Vale Peoples Project

Luxies adding their touch to the Western Cape Biosphere map

For National Water Week in March, Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, in collaboration with Stellenbosch Municipality Urban Greening, held a Water Wise Festival at Jan Marais Nature Reserve from the 22nd - 24thMarch 2018.

There were children’s activities, talks, demonstrations, and stalls. Lanzerac Wine Estate provided volunteers to do face painting.  

The invitation went out to the public, universities, and schools.

To open the festival the deputy minister of Stellenbosch Municipality shared his own practices, in his household and his family, how to save water. A wise highlight being 2-minute showers and reusing the water in the garden. He thanked his team in their effort to create water-use awareness.  

Deputy Mayor of Stellenbosch opening the Water Wise Festival

The drummies from Ebenezer Primary School in Paarl put on a spectacular show to get the festivities started. 

Throughout the festival the activities for the youth included

A demonstration by the High-Altitude Team from Working for Water on how they use their skills to rescue a cat out of a tree. USIKO brought a water tank for everyone to leave their hand-print on, later to be installed at creche - who they have donated it to, and CTEET did interactive games. They enjoyed a lesson on propagation methods of plants: how a small sustainable business can be created out of these horticultural practices from home. There were also two educational show and tell events by Giraffe House Road Show.

For the adults – there were talks by

Rob Armstrong ‘Role of Conservancies on Preserving the Catchment Area’

Louis Willemse ‘Water and Culture’

Dyllon Randall from UCT ‘Waterless Toilet Project – Creating fertiliser out of urin’

Good conversation and discussions evolved. Urine, culture, and blushing pride proteas became the 'aha moments' of the day. 

Stalls educating about sustainability, energy and water saving

Solar Installation guys

Aquatron

EcoGator

 Aqua Savers

Green Logic

Water Explorer

Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve

EcoLatrine

Saw Dust Toilet

Cape Winelands District Municipality

Working for Water High Altitude Team

Working on Fire 

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who part-took in the festival!

It was a great success! 

High Altitude Team at Jan Marais Park Water Wise Festival

Giraffe House made a special visit to the Water Wise Festival to teach children about reptiles and more!

A volunteer showing youth how aquaponics works

The Biosphere Reserve, invited by Frandevco, got involved with the educational component of the river clean-up program in Franschhoek today. Three-hundred youth listened to a lively interactive talk aimed to create awareness of where water comes from and what they can do to keep the river in their neighborhood clean. Why it gets dirty.

First to further spread the seed…

To grow the seed - it needs sun and water to grow, and birds to further spread new seed. Equals Love.  

Where does water come from?

How does it become dirty?

How do we keep it clean?

Lets get more kids excited about water and where it comes from!

Theewaterskloof Dam

Driving past Theewaterskloof Dam, sand and dust swirl in the air at huge heights. The dam is continually adapted to keep water flowing and there is now visible evidence that areas of the dam are unable to recover from the ongoing drought. The swirling dust indicates a significant change in the ecosystem that, while on a smaller scale, mirrors a natural phenomenon elsewhere: sand storms.

Sand storms date back 70 million years, however it is only in the last few decades that they have sparked curiosity and triggered deeper study.

The Sahara Desert, stretching across the northern third of Africa, is the world’s most important origin of sand storms. Every year, between November and March, the Harmattan wind carries around 182 million tons of sand and dust on a transcontinental journey over the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans to Europe and South America. Throughout its journey, the dust fertilizes both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and it is a vital supply of nutrients to the Amazon Rain Forest.

The sand comes from two main regions in the Sahara Desert: the Tibesti Mountain Region and the Bodele Depression in Chad, once a majestic lake named Mega Chad but now a barren lake bed. The sand from the Sahara and dust particles from rock erosion contain rich minerals composed of dead microorganisms filled with phosphorus. This nutrient is essential for plant proteins and the growth in forests, such as The Amazon, where it replaces nutrients flushed away by rainfall.

The sand also settles in the ocean, contributing to the health of marine life and the ocean floor.

Does the importance of the Saharan sand storms also apply to the dust clouds kicked up from Theewaterskloof Dam? What impact do the sand storms have on the surrounding area? What implication does it have for nearby residents, agriculture, and animal and plant life?

The sand storms of the Theewaterskloof Dam are obviously far smaller than those of The Sahara Desert, but the same principles apply. How is the ecosystem in Theewaterskloof adapting to the changes and what will the long-term effects be?

With the continued lack of rainfall in the middle of a drought season, the dams in the Western Cape are critically low and water restrictions are becoming severe.

To ease the pressure on the water supply, a repeat of last year, Day Zero has been introduced and has steadily been moved forward as the situation is being regulated through water restrictions by the municipality.

The estimated date of Day Zero is based on the consumption of the six big dams that feed Cape Town and the Western Cape Area. It is calculated by the daily estimated water consumption from the previous week. Currently Day Zero falls on the 9th of July 2018.  

An overall of 44 main dams feed to whole Western Province.

Cape Town, which is continually expanding and the population steadily increasing, has been the most severely hit and talked about concerning the implementation of Water Restrictions and long-term solutions to prevent future scarcity of water.

In the Franschhoek Area, the Berg River Dam has a reported storage level of 52.3 %, dropping 0.01% since last week. However, just on the other side of Franschhoek Pass, Theewaterskloof Dam, has a current storage level of 11%, having dropped from 11.7% last week.

The following information on Water Level Restrictions comes from the Western Cape Government Website. These are the current levels of water restrictions reported:

Current water restrictions for Western Cape Municipalities  

·       Beaufort West Municipality - level 4B

·       Bergrivier Municipality - level 2

·       Bitou Municipality - level 1

·       Breede Valley Municipality - level 3B

·       Cederberg Municipality - level 2

·       Cape Agulhas Municipality -  level 1

·       City of Cape Town -  level 6B 

·       Drakenstein Municipality - level 6 

·       George Municipality - level 2B

·       Hessequa Municipality - level 1

·       Kannaland Municipality - level 3

·       Knysna Municipality - level 3

·       Laingsburg Municipality - level 1

·       Langeberg Municipality - level 2

·       Matzikama Municipality - level 2

·       Mossel Bay Municipality - no restrictions

·       Overstrand Municipality - level 1

·       Oudtshoorn Municipality - no restrictions

·       Prince Albert Municipality - level 1

·       Saldanha Municipality - level 5 

·       Stellenbosch Municipality - level 5 

·       Swartland Municipality - level 5 

·       Swellendam Municipality - no restrictions

·       Theeswaterskloof Municipality - level 3

·       Witzenberg Municipality - level 4

https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/latest-western-cape-dam-levels

Go to the above website for more information and to check out the update on dam levels in the Western Cape by selecting a dam on the displayed map on their website supplied by the national Department of Water and Sanitation.

This drought has been an amazing awareness campaign for the future on how ecosystems services play such an important role not just in our domestic homes but in industry as well. Ecosystem services look after us, we must learn to look after them.

On Saturday, 27th of January 2018, Field Guides Association of South Africa had its biannual meeting at Tygerberg Nature Reserve, one of the few surviving pockets that host Swartland Shale Renosterveld.

This event is a great opportunity to network and is a platform for lectures and discussions.  The theme for this year’s meeting – Innovation and Courage!

The first guest speakers of the day, were from The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment. They shared how they, as an innovative self-development program, are changing the lives of many youth in South Africa. The Award Programme, works with youth between the ages 14 – 24 year old and is open to working with youth from any of the diverse number of communities within South Africa. The Award Programme offers a progressive programme which includes 3 levels; Bronze, Silver, and Gold. In order to complete each level, participants are required to complete a activities within four main sections; Physical Recreation, Community Service, Skills and Adventurous Journey. With the funding from Athénée Action Humanitaire, in partnership with Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, 385 youth in the 2 Year Edu-Link Project have completed their Adventurous Journeys! Being led by FGASA trained guides. The Adventurous journeys have had the youth hike through fynbos rich mountains of Hottentots, Omeitbeerg, Dassenberg Hill, and Mont Rochelle Reserve in Franschhoek, as well as the vast terrain surrounding Springbok in the Northern Cape! Taking part in Adventurous Journey’s, facilitated by FGASA trained guides, has given the youth the opportunity to develop deeper awareness and appreciation of fauna, flora, and animals in their surrounding natural environment. President’s Award Programme in South Africa is an extension of the Scottish The Duke of Edinburgh International Award Programme, founded in the UK in 1953. The Award is currently active in 144 countries, empowering youth of all background, worldwide.

Dynamite comes in small packages and the next guest speaker Matilda Burton, is one! Her extensive knowledge in Culture and History gave way to a deeply inventive presentation about guiding and todays culture. She pinpointed the importance of research in the nature of guiding. A guide is not just a nature guide, but can be a guide of culture, traditions, and heritage to name just a few! Matilda Burton is a professor of the Department of Cultural History at the University of Stellenbosch.

The Guide of the Year Award was presented by Tony Rogers to four exceptional guides who each won in different categories this year. Pieter van Wyk, Pinkey Ngewu, Bevan Thomas, and Jannie Groenwald who have all contributed greatly to their field of work in conservation, sustainability, and youth education. 

Pieter Van Wyk, a young wonderfully eccentric man of many talents. Now working at Richtersveld National Park, manages the Nursery, initiated a Desert Botanical Garden, works with youth and elderly, and many more, while continuing to study long distance. And by chance found a new species of spider! His two passions, Taxonomy of Plants and the Nama culture, developed from years exploring the Veld as a child and surrounding himself with family and professionals who share the same interests. He has also written a book, Wild Flower Guide covering 2000 species of plants in Richtersveld and South-Western Namibia, which will be published this year. 

Bevan Thomas, a free-range guide, self-employed farmer, and horticulturist has contributed greatly to getting youth out for adventurous environmental education in the best classroom available: the great outdoors! With his contagious enthusiasm teaching youth how we are all connected to nature. He has been involved with Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve as a guide for TPA hikes and outings and teaches sustainable food production practices with youth.

Pinkey Ngewu, a Level 3 FGASA Guide, currently working at De Hoop Collections as a guide and guide's manager, also a trust manager Dyer Island Conservation since 2015 is heavily involved in environmental education for young children. With her passion for youth education, she aims to create young ambassadors for the environment who will safeguard it with zealousness and produce a generation that will make a difference in the community they are living in.

Jannie Groenwald has selflessly given of himself and his time to help educate FGASA guides over Christmas 2017.

After the colourful presentations by the guides of the year, the guides who have recently completed their Level 1 FGASA Course received their certificates with fervour. All going onto careers within guiding, teaching, and research. In 2017 Athénée Action Humanitaire in partnership with Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve made it possible for guides to graduate the FGASA program.

Doctor Daniel Cunnama, an outreach astronomer at Cape Town Observatory, founded in 1820, took the stage and figuratively lead the audience on a journey through space explaining gravitational waves - ripples in the fabric of space-time, how this discovery has given birth to a new era in astrophysics. Innovative and courageous! 

The meeting closed with the latest news and what will be developing within FGASA in the Western Cape in 2018. Many exciting things!

Don’t miss the next meeting, the first Saturday in June 2018! Keep an eye out for dates and venue. All enthusiastic ambassadors of nature and conservation are welcome!

Guides of the Year FGASA Level 1, and Graduates with Alumni and Professors