Redford Conservancy Newsletter
Alien Clearing
REDFORD ROAD verges continue to be cleared of alien vegetation on a regular basis. Now we find that once in six months is enough to keep it under control
OPERATION SIDE ROADS was started in 2007, to clear the side roads of the Redford area, i.e. roads DA- DH. This project was started with the help of Cape Nature and they supported us with donations of poison.
Our project has come to an end and the responsibility for keeping the road verges clear of wattles and other undesirables has now reverted to the property owners. This should not be very onerous if done regularly while the aliens are small. Many thanks to all those who supported our committee in this venture.
In the beginning of May, Carlo van Tonder who is the Cape Nature representative for our Conservancy came from George with Barend le Roux, also of Cape Nature, to evaluate and give advice on the project. They have also supplied us with another donation of poison for future use.
Written by Colleen Noble
The 2010 Conservancy Outings!!
The Redford Road and Southern Crags Conservancies combined this year to host three fun and informative outings and have many more outings in the pipe line, so watch this space!
Tenikwa Outing
Picture this scene: a world-weary city dweller longing for a new, fresh, clean, idyllic life in the country falls in love with a wild and beautiful piece of fynbos/forest in the Crags. She delights in all aspects of this natural paradise, the distant barking of baboons, the delicate bushbuck and scary wild-pigs are all an exciting part of this new imagined life. The property is purchased, a house built and…. whoa! the bloody baboons raid the rubbish bins and vege patch; the gordam bushbuck nibble all the newly planted trees and the beastly bush-pigs have a party digging and gobbling up all the spring bulbs! A caracal attacks her cat! And worst of all a slender and elegant boom slang slides from the forest in through the bedroom window! Eeeck! What to do? What to do!!
Hopefully this is where her friendly conservancy can give a hand with some suggestions so that she doesn’t yell: “Panic stations! Shoot the baboons! Trap that caracal! Chop up the snakes! Cut down the fynbos and forest! Security fence the entire property! Buy large and fierce dogs!” Something, I think, not completely unfamiliar?!!
A big concern of the Conservancies is the above scenario; the increasing pressure placed on wildlife in the Crags due to trapping/snares and habitat loss due to the increase in human population in the area. New houses are being built with fences and dogs that affect the movement of wild animals; and grape farming is replacing the indigenous fynbos creating a ‘green desert’ as far as wildlife is concerned.
To shed some light on the problem we asked Tenikwa to share their knowledge of the threats facing wildlife in the Crags and for their suggested solutions. Mandy and Len generously invited us all to a walk around Tenikwa’s wildlife rehabilitation sanctuary, followed by an in depth discussion on the nature of the threats facing wildlife in the Crags and ‘what to do?!”
They demonstrated the problem with a rescued wild bush piglet (sooooo cute!), and their point went straight to our hearts.
The Conservancies are aiming to draw up a map demarcating areas of wildlife movement in the Crags with the view to establishing corridor areas of wildlife safety that would allow our precious and endangered wild animals to grace our area for a little longer, before (inevitably) the bush-buck, bush-pig, monkeys, baboons and caracal are pushed out by human pressure as were the duiker, elephants, buffalo, rhino and hippo before them by previous generations. Anyone who feels they would like to help with this project would be warmly welcomed!!
Sexy Seaweed Outing
On a lighter note, the popular local biologist and naturalist Connie Smits persuaded some of us conservancy members that the seaweed found in our coastal rock pools is a most misunderstood and neglected part of our floral heritage that is worth investigating and noticing! This resulted in a fantastic spring low tide outing to Natures Valley.
The outing started with an idyllic walk from the top of Nature’s valley pass down to the Salt River Mouth and then across to the beach where we met the non-walkers of the Conservancy. Under the guiding eye of Connie we collected (very small) samples of all the different seaweeds exposed by the spring low tide. The varieties of colours, shapes and forms were amazing!! Unfortunately a wonderful series of octopus encounters stole the show and distracted us from more earnest seaweed endeavours! A particularly hungry and vividly coloured octopus amorously attached itself to Clive Noble’s foot! But finding it rather tasteless and er,..um… odiferous? (shall we say?)… it hastily transferred its attentions to a crab which it fiercely attacked and devoured. After it had fed, it suddenly seemed to feel a little shamefaced at its boldness and crept away, out of water, across the rocks, and disappeared into the seaweed! Marvellous, better than the Discovery Channel?! But back to the sex life of seaweed….!
After our octopus misadventures we walked down to Phil Martin Park where we had ‘show and tell’ with Connie. She gave us an intriguing talk on the marvels of sea weed which is far more fascinating and important to life as we know it than any of us had imagined!! And have a sex life… well, I blush to mention! So if you missed out, you will have to ask Connie if you really, really still want to know!!
The Fossilized Elephant Tooth
Our third outing was in pursuit of the origins of an elephant tooth found in the Duiwel’s Gat river.
recently and the thought of elephants roaming around the Crags put some stars in our eyes! Pru, Rich, Drew and myself headed up an expedition from Duiwels Gat down to the Keurbooms river in hopes of finding an old elephant trail we felt sure we would pick up. After several hours of bundu bashing/crashing, wading and swimming through (at times) grey, green and grimy water we started to have a few doubts about the suitability of the terrain for Ellies to be waltzing around in!! However our imaginations were fired up by the time we got back. Janet had the great idea of inviting an Elephant expert to have a look at the tooth and the place it originated, and to give us his (hopefully) august opinion.
We (rightly) assumed that other conservancy members may also be fascinated by the tooth and invited everyone to join us taking palaeontologist Chris Gow down to the Duiwel’s Gat to see the terrain where the, by now famous, tooth had been found. After a fun hike to this most beautiful of rivers, we all went back at Pru’s house where we sat in the gorgeous winter sunshine, drank a little vino and listened to Chris’s talk followed by an increasingly enthusiastic debate with some local experts with fantastic knowledge emerging from our very midst! This was followed by a lazy and fabulous lunch that lasted all afternoon! It’s tough to be a conservancy member!!
See you all at the next outing!
Written by Jane Luck
Trapping Animals Should Not be Tolerated
Trapping animals is one of the most cruel ways of acquiring food. It is also AGAINST the LAW and if you see someone trapping, report them to the POLICE. People need to eat and many like to eat meat, but trapping wild animals to acquire that nourishment causes a slow and agonising death. Animals, both domestic and wild need to be PROTECTED.
The Redford Conservancy asks all people to
keep a vigilant eye open for any trapping practice in the area. This can be done by doing trapping sweeps on your property or in the wilderness areas that you enjoy walking. Look out for wire nooses on game paths and particularly in the game corridors and along the verges of the roads, where people who do trap, have easy access. Be careful not to leave wire of any sort, marine, barbed or single strand,
lying around, especially if new fences have recently been strung, as these are the types of wire traps that have been found.
It is the responsibility of the landowners to protect the wild life and their own domestic animals on their properties. It is also the
responsibility of people who do not own land, who enjoy the wonderful diversity of natural life that still exists here in The Crags, to make sure that we can experience, with future generations, the complexity, beauty and mystery offered by the biodiversity of the Garden Route.
To report any information relating to trapping or the selling of wild game meat, please contact the Police in Plettenberg Bay, The environmental department in George, or the Redford Conservancy Committee, Colleen Noble 044 534 8877 or Pru Bolus on 044 534 8827 or the Southern Crags Conservancy, Janet Holding 044 534 8000
Written by Pru Bolus
Redford Conservancy invites new members:
We are a small agricultural community at The Crags. Surrounded by stunning mountains, forests and nature reserves, we have Soetkraal to the north which will form part of the Eden to Addo National Park. In the west we border on Keurbooms Nature Reserve and to the east the de Vasselot Reserve, part of the Tsitsikamma National Park. To the south lies Whiskey Creek and the ocean. The Conservancy is acutely aware of the responsibility placed on us to preserve this beauty and create the possibility of safe passage for wild animals from one reserve to another.
Our mission is to protect this environment, its flora, fauna, architectural and cultural heritage. This is a difficult juggling act as we must work within the confines of our zoning. Many of us make a living from our land and so can never become a nature reserve as such. However, we can do a great deal to improve and protect what we have.
We would like to encourage all residents in the area to the join the conservancy and help us achieve our goals. We currently have 42 members and require more assistance to expand our projects and enhance the conservation in our area.
The Redford Conservancy is a wonderful group of like minded residents who enjoy and honour their environment. As you can see from our numerous outings and activities, we have a lot of fun, learn new and interesting things about the world we live in and are active in doing our part to keep it safe for generations to come. We warmly welcome new members who share our enthusiasm. Please contact Denise Palframan 044 534 8411 or Colleen Noble 044 534 8877 (cell) 076 907 1019 to obtain information on how to can join this community of environment lovers.
Report From The Crags Security Forum
- Vigilance is the simplest and most important form of security management. Please contact us should you witness any suspicious behaviour.
- Get to know your neighbours, ensure you swop contact details. Cell groups have been set up. Contact us to find out which cell group would be most appropriate for you to join.
Excerpt from email of 7th June by Shaun Brokenshaw – Crags Security Forum cragssecurity@gmail.com
See “The History of the Crags”