Hands-on learning

Mobile Education

Exploring

Biodiversity

In January 2022, the CWBR management team partnered with the new and growing Youth Programme at Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, based in Kleinmond, to introduce the mobile classroom STEAM-Y (Science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) and its different hands-on activities. The outing was hosted by SANBI at Harold Porter Botanical Garden. The event was facilitated by all three parties sharing knowledge and engaging the group in meaningful discussion about their immediate surroundings and biodiversity.

What does one need when going on a hike in a Nature Reserve? This was a question posed to the group before embarking on the morning of exploration through the various biomes represented in the garden. A hat and sunglasses to protect the eyes and face, insect repellent to keep the pesky bugs away, a bottle of water to quench thirst, a sandwich and fruit for lunch, and sunscreen lotion of course!

With this in mind, the group ventured out into the garden and were led by the SANBI Senior Environmental Officer, along with CWBR and Kogelberg facilitators. The group explored the space with the binoculars and magnifying glasses given to them after an introductory session at the Mobile Classroom STEAM-Y. The necessities for a comfortable hike became the symbolic activity of sharing hands-on and explaining how trees, succulents, and other plants have different features that perform the same purpose.  

The CWBR volunteers from Luxembourg (Athénée Action Humanitaire) spent the day with the group and shared the fascination of the plant, insect, and birdlife at the garden.

Learn togetehr

Magnification

Igniting curiosity

Taking it all in

The CWBR is also assisting a Community Upliftment Project in Stormsriver Village, Tsitsikamma, which started in early 2019. The Project is run by a local lady, born and raised in Tsitsikamma, who has seen the changes in her Village as time has gone by and especially since Covid-19. 

Noticing the lack of curiosity in the children, she had an urge to make a difference that effects their every-day activities. With no resources she looked around and thought about what she could do, then realized what she had to offer – her passion for the environment. She started by inviting children from the village for a nature walk every Saturday morning. The walks, taking place on a regular basis, encouraged dedicated attendance of the children who started asking more and more questions. Curiosity and excitement for their immediate surroundings was ignited, while finding more opportunities to explore in and around the surrounding areas of the village.

In December 2021, the CWBR team travelled up to the Garden Route to meet with members of the new Garden Route Biosphere Reserve board to connect and share the fantastic educational initiative happening in Storms River. The board members expressed full support for the initiative and of the existing collaboration between her and the CWBR team. As part of the December trip, an outing for the children to Tsitsikamma National Park was arranged, in collaboration with SANParks.

An educational trailer was sponsored for the project through CWBR partners Athénée Action Humanitaire, to expand on the existing nature walks and create a pop-up learning environment for the children to read, do hands-on activities, and art. A celebratory event to launch the trailer is planned for 2022 in collaboration with Garden Route Biosphere Reserve, SANParks, and partners.

Her long-term vision is to acquire a Resource Centre, where children and youth can take part in educational activities and expand their minds through reading and hands-on activities, complimented by the regular weekly nature walks.

Her Community Upliftment Project has been established one day a week with a volunteer facilitation team of five. Twenty-five children attend regularly on weekends.

She has 15 years of tourism industry experience, local and abroad, and has sat on the board of the Tsitsikamma Tourism Association. The CWBR team are honored to know her for ten years and reconnected through the CWBR facilitated FGASA Culture Guide & Life Skills course which she completed in May 2021.  

The CWBR team are excited for the collaborations in youth initiatives between Biosphere Reserves and the new developments which are taking place in 2022! 

This month, the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) facilitators teamed up with the Mbeko Eco-Club, whose focus is outdoor environmental education with particular emphasis on evaluation of river health, the water cycle, and wastewater management. The NPO, founded in 2019, align their activities with the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, with particular focus on goals 4, 6, 12, 13, and 17.

Twelve participants from the club and their facilitator, joined CWBR facilitators and overseas volunteers to venture into the back of the Berg Catchment area where they explored and saw first-hand the source of the Berg River.  A river which is a focal point of their environmental learning in Mbekweni and Paarl.

Before setting off for the hike, through a group activity led by the volunteers, the participants learned about maps, coordinates, and how to use a compass to navigate oneself in an area. After a competition to identify their whereabouts on the map using coordinates, the first winning team led the way into the catchment area. With binoculars and phones in hand to become Citizen Scientists. The group explored near and far while also taking photos of reptiles, insects, and plants that they found interesting. They even managed to capture a dragonfly on image!

Map activity

Edu Material

Using Coorinates

Stopping by the dam, the group discussed the vegetation in the area. The invasive species, the role of alien clearing, and the importance of sustaining Biodiversity. How a balanced and clean eco-system at the source, effects the river health downstream, and later the health of the ocean.

Further along the trail, the group identified varieties of Ericas, Aloes, and Restios and had a brief introduction to botany – touching on how plants are told apart and learned about fynbos. Thoughout the hike, there was a buzz of cross-cultural conversation sharing languages, taste in music, and experiences visiting and living in South Africa.  

Conversation

Sharing of knowledge

Using learned skills

Upon arrival at the CWBR Hub, the group found some shade, had lunch, and went onto learning about the Sustainable Development Goals when playing an interactive game that fostered discussion of what they understood about each goal and how it affected them as individuals.

Keep an eye on the CWBR iNaturalist page to see what the group discovered!

Do you know all the weird and wonderful creatures and plants that surround us every day but go unnoticed?

You’re about to find out! Become a Citizen Scientist in the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) with no more than your curiosity and a cell phone. Contribute to important research and build your own online collection of what you find by identifying the plants and animals living in the rich landscape that surrounds you.

It can all done though the iNaturalist or Seek mobile app. Seek is an app useful for beginners and appropriate for youth [optional to be connected to the online iNaturalist community], which identifies species without photography or a registered account. The iNaturalist app is for citizens or the avid researcher who wants to take the more scientific approach. *

The CWBR has joined the iNaturalist community to launch an active Collective Project page that collates the fauna and flora data captured by individuals registered with the iNaturalist website within the CWBR. The Collective Project page will also function as a platform for CWBR facilitated Bio-Blitzes (identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time with the help of youth, research students, or volunteers), contributing to local biodiversity data collections or research through insight of the biodiversity found in a specific area.  

Visit our iNaturalist page here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/cape-winelands-biosphere-reserve

Explore the app and register: https://www.inaturalist.org/

*Good quality photographs, correctly identified, and dated, will be used for scientific research, contributing to the ongoing global study of biodiversity which the app is utilized for.

Purple Kalkoentjie

Waxbill

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