Local para-ecologists get going
The Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wild Flowers (CREW), is an exciting programme that involves volunteers from the public in the monitoring and conservation of South Africa’s threatened plants.
Local para-ecologists get going
The Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wild Flowers (CREW), is an exciting programme that involves volunteers from the public in the monitoring and conservation of South Africa’s threatened plants.
The launch last year of the green jobs fund opportunity, widely known as Groen Sebenza (GS), by South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), has enabled the piloting of a CREW programme in the Albany region.
The R300 million GS project, sponsored by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, is one of the largest conservation capacity building projects undertaken in SA. Partnering with 38 organisations from all tiers of government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector, GS is employing 800 unemployed graduates and matriculants from around the country as interns for two and a half years, with the aim of developing skills in the biodiversity sector and creating sustainable ‘green job’ opportunities for unemployed youth.
Rhodes University’s Inkcubeko Nendalo project, led by Tony Dold and Dr Michelle Cocks, and SANBI’s CREW project, led by Vathiswa Zikishe, are partnering in this local pioneering initiative. Vathiswa Zikishe, project co-ordinator, recently gave a talk on the RU campus describing the progress to date. Six matriculants, called para-ecologists, are being mentored by the project leaders; four have been selected from two villages rich in natural resources, Pirie Mission and Ngqinisa in the Amathole District Municipality, and two are based in Grahamstown at the Selmar Schonland Herbarium.
The para-ecologists in the field are being trained primarily in plant specimen collection. They are visited monthly by their mentors, and are enjoying developing a new way of seeing plants and biodiversity. This year they will be trained in social science methodology and will also share their knowledge and experiences with GS projects in other parts of the country.
Once the GS project is over, it is hoped that the CREW project will become firmly established in this hotspot of plant diversity.
For more info, contact Vathiswa Zikishe at v.zikishe@sanbi.org.za.
GRAHAMSTOWN ECO-SCHOOLS IN THEIR 12TH YEAR
The Eco-Schools programme drives environmental education for sustainability, with twinned action and curriculum components. The programme started in South Africa in 2003, and the Makana Cluster of Eco-Schools has been going ever since, under the guidance of Dr Ingrid Schudel and Gladys Tyatya, of the Environmental Learning Research Centre at RU.
Eco-Schools has its roots in Denmark (http://www.ecoschools.org/), and aims to create awareness and action around environmental sustainability in schools and their surrounding communities. In SA, it is managed by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA)http://www.wessa.org.za.
What is unique about SA’s Eco-Schools programme is that the environmental learning is integrated into the school curriculum. Lesson plans are developed round relevant themes and progress is recorded in a portfolio assessed at the end of the year. The South African award system encourages the continuity of the environmental learning: a Green Flag can be earned after three continuous years, an International Flag after five years, and a Platinum award after six to nine years.
This year, 2014, sees 15 Makana schools registered as Eco-Schools. To date, three schools have achieved Green Flag status, one school has an International Flag and three schools have achieved Platinum awards.
Eight of the schools are funded by the Makana Municipality.
For more info contact Ingrid Schudel at I.Schudel@ru.ac.za.
HACK ATTACK
The Interact Clubs of Mary Waters and Nombulelo High Schools are actively removing alien invader trees on the Southern Commonage.
This past Saturday, 10 Interactors, two Rotarians and three local environmentalists had an active time in the ‘Mayor Seat’ area removing more than 5000 Port Jackson Willows.
JC Shuttle sponsored the transport; the local WESSA and Botanical Society branches provided the tree-poppers, and the Rotary Club of Grahamstown Sunset, the refreshments.
Further hacks are planned for 17 and 24 May.
For more info, contact Este Coetzee at estecoet@hotmail.com.
Find us Online: www.grocotts.co.za/environews. Contacts for Makana Enviro-News: Nikki Köhly: n.kohly@ru.ac.za, 046 603 7205 | Jenny Gon: j-gon@intekom.co.za, 046 622 5822 | Trisha Nathoo: nathootrisha83@gmail.com, 078 584 9496 | Nick James:nickjames@intekom.co.za, 082 575 9781 | Philip Machanick: p.machanick@ru.ac.za, 046 603 8635 | Strato Copteros: strato@iafrica.com, 082 785 6403
