‘Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water’

Launch of Citizen Science programme and Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA) stakeholder engagements

Meet our Be Resilient Citizen Scientists! The team, from different communities along the Eerste River, are currently being trained in water monitoring methods as part of an exciting research project. UNESCO Be Resilient South Africa in partnership with Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) is implementing Citizen Science and Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA) engagements involving communities in the Eerste River catchment.

The launch coincided with World Water Week 2022 - the  theme of which was “Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water” – building on the need to see, understand and, more importantly, value water. These new ways of encouraging communities’ involvement in the management of water to tackle challenges such as food security, health, agriculture, biodiversity, and climate, lead to an inclusive 21st century approach to sustainable water management.

There are two methodologies explored in this project: community engagement in discussion and learning of their local resources through development of community scientists, and participatory development of climate change adaptation plans for water security.

Led by Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve, together with three UNESCO Be Resilient South Africa project representatives, the launch of both the implementations of the Citizen Science program and CRIDA engagements took place from the 29th of August to the 1st of September 2022, as part of celebrating World Water Week 2022 (Originally began as the Stockholm Water Symposium in 1991).

On the first day of the launch, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) presented, and together with the CWBR lead, led a discussion on why water quality is important. The participants were trained on a wide range of indicators of river health, including images to convey pollution stories. The 17 Sustainable Goals were presented as a way to show the connection between local and global challenges, highlighting the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach from the ground up, alongside top-down implementation of solutions.

Following the theoretical portion of the day, the participants part-took in practical MiniSASS activities by the river. They gained insight into one of the ways in which they, as Citizen Scientists, will collect data.

On the second day, scholars from Stellenbosch University and University of Western cape introduced the citizen scientists to the importance of building community scientists and on the concept of a catchment scale water management. The importance of how invested communities and ongoing participation in Citizen Science is crucial in ground-up data collection that contributes to developing new approaches in research was highlighted. 

The photo features the first day of training with our citizen scientists, Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation, UNESCO and CWBR staff.

As the two days were brought to a close, the participants stopped at points of interest along the river. The history of their community and challenges that they face linked to the river was shared.

The CRIDA stakeholder engagement was held over the two following days, with the community in Idas Valley. CRIDA consists of five stakeholder engagement stages. On ground CRIDA phase I involves stakeholder engagements to develop the shared problem understanding of water security issues in the catchment area. To solicit their understanding of their felt experiences with water challenges in their catchment. This is a crucial first engagement step to ensure communities are aware of the CRIDA methodology and a need to develop climate change adaptation plans that speak to sustainability of their water resources. 

Through ongoing engagements, the Citizen Scientists will be further trained on performing river monitoring field surveys (instrumentation, data recording and reporting) for key pollution indicators.  The focus on the watershed scale understanding of pollution in the Eerste River – from source to sea – is a novel approach towards building important context on the differentiated levels of pollution along the stream, and thus interrogation of what land uses could be contributing to pollution.

The photo features Idas Valley CRIDA group

As part of Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve’s (CWBR) environmental education outreach events, the CWBR team regularly shares the river health monitoring method, miniSASS, with children and youth, as part of the mobile education unit STEAM-Y* activities.

(*Science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics - for youth)

Participants can learn about the natural life in their immediate environment, how to determine the health of a river, as well as be introduced to what a healthy river looks like in pristine environments such as nature reserves. 

Using the MiniSASS Net

Digital microscope

micro invertebrates

Discovering organisims

During the outing, the groups are asked to consider where water comes from, what the water cycle is, why it is vital for the survival of all organisms, why some people do not have access to water, and what signs indicate polluted waters.  Exploring what water needs to be healthy and why rivers are so important. Then how water is transported from the mountains to the people. That rivers are homes of many little creatures: micro invertebrates.

How it works

The micro invertebrates present in the river depends on the quality of the water and participants identify the life collected with special nets. Using quality assessment sheets, the group learns about the dichotomous key for determining the species of micro invertebrates. When the micro invertebrates are identified the group then marks the presence of this genus in their assessment sheet. Once the group feel confident that they have found everything in their tray, they make the calculation giving the resulting water quality grade, learning that the grade indicates the water quality, not the quality of their work because of what they found!

Taking the evaluation further

To be able to expand on the activities offered through STEAM-Y, the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) team hosted a training session at the CWBR Hub in Franschhoek, facilitated by three staff from the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation (DWS), earlier this year. The two-day workshop was attended by CWBR facilitators, DEA&DP, and interested stakeholders to be trained more in-depth in MiniSASS as well as the understanding of monitoring river health and why it is important.

As part of this training, sessions with two groups of grade 8 learners at Franschhoek High also took place in the afternoon over two days. DWS did a short presentation about river health to the students, explained MiniSASS, and proceeded to do a hand-on exercise with the students in the river flowing alongside the school.

Watch this space for an exciting new project wherein the CWBR team, together with partners, will be training Citizen Scientists in monitoring river health!

Theme

Food gardens, fruit trees and indigenous trees: creating awareness of the connection between food security and climate change

The Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve (CWBR) team partnered with CapeNature to bring a new experience of hands-on educational activities to the Cape Winelands community on Mandela Day. The activity day was hosted in partnership with Stellenbosch Municipality. One-hundred-and-thirteen children and youth from Ida’s Valley participated in the day's event, which was held at the Ida’s Valley Community Sports Field.

The CWBR STEAM-Y (Science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics - for youth) educational trailer was set up in the centre of the sports field. On either side a session was held with participants which included My Body and Biodiversity and its Importance. Surrounding the trailer further out in the field, an Indigenous Medicinal Plants session took place and a Growing Your Own Food session. CapeNature facilitated a session on the Water Cycle highlighting the importance water has in our lives.

Snacks and beverages were supplied by the municipality and sandwiches were donated by Bridge House school, made by students, as part of their Mandela Day 2022 commemoration.

My Body - How we breath

Digital microscope

Indigenous medicinal plants

Handing out donated food

STEAM-Y Educational Trailer

CapeNature

Trying out photography

CapeNature puzzle

Local support

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/

The CWBR team and volunteers, together with four students from a Belgian University, travelled to another area of the Cape Floristic Region this weekend: De Hoop Nature Reserve. An area known for its lowland fynbos. The whole team assisted De Hoop Collection with their Social Outreach Programme. Children from Napier, an inland town, part-took in a weekend of camping, exploring, and experiencing the pristine rocky shores and ocean.

The CWBR educational trailer STEAM-Y was brought along for fun-filled hands-on activities and learning about human and animal anatomy. Big thank you to all involved! Check out the clip from the weekend, filmed and produced by our volunteers.