Archivos de diario de octubre 2019

13 de octubre de 2019

New Functionality: taxon counts on taxon page.

There is new functionailty on the taxon pages: so now we can easily see:

In the genus Protea we dont have any observations of
In South Africa;
Protea curvata
In Tropical Africa:
(10 spp: Protea argyrea , P dekindtiana, P flavopilosa, P kibarensis, P linearifolia, P matonchiana, P micans, P minima, P ongotium, P praticola)

Publicado el octubre 13, 2019 04:36 TARDE por tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

15 de octubre de 2019

Want to participate?

Are you keen to participate?

  1. Download the app and practice! Please ask below if you have any queries.
  2. Contact us below, suggesting how you may help.
    We need people to help with:

  3. leading bioblitzes (events at which laypeople and experts meet to discover the fauna and or flora and or fungi of a place and record it) during the event
  4. organizing hikes and expeditions
  5. linking up other activities with the challenge: for instance, walking groups, running groups, hiking groups, safety patrols, fairs, beach cleanups, hacks, etc. to combine to regular activities with observing for the challenge.
  6. helping reserve managers and friends groups to prepare, organize, run and make fun events in our reserves during the four days. This can be bringing in schools, recruiting new members, general lay events, bioblitzes and other events.
  7. arranging sponsorship for disadvantaged schools and groups to visit our nature reserves in conjunction with CTEET.
  8. monitoring plants in our city streets and parks to record what is where and the status (including absence!) of various plagues such as Polyphagous Shothole Borer Beetle, and Gum Clamshell Lerp.
  9. anything else you can think of.

We will put you in touch with the relevant person to realize your dream ...

Publicado el octubre 15, 2019 08:19 TARDE por tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 5 comentarios | Deja un comentario

17 de octubre de 2019

The urgent need for local action to control invasive alien trees in the Mountain Catchment Areas supplying water to the Ladismith area

The urgent need for local action to control invasive alien trees in the Mountain Catchment Areas supplying water to the Ladismith area

Donovan Kotze, 15 October 2019

One of the greatest threats to key water resource areas in the Mountain Catchment Areas of the Western Cape are invasive alien trees1. Dense infestations of hakea and pine trees generally result in more than a 10% increase in water loss to the atmosphere2, and thus if these trees are not controlled then this will result in a reduction in yield of many millions of liters of water, with potentially severe impacts on the businesses and farms which depend on this water, especially during droughts. This has particular relevance to Ladismith and the surrounding farms, with almost all of our water supplied by the Klein Swartberg Mountains.

A few years back, Cape Nature were actively clearing in the mountains above Ladismith, but they are now faced with shrinking resources to carry this out, and have done almost no clearing here in the last few years. Therefore, local action is desperately required. Over the last 15 months, three volunteers (myself, Hugh Sussen and Samantha Adey) have been clearing of invasive alien tress once or twice a month. Over these 15 months, we have systematically covered over 1 500 ha of mainly sparsely infested areas and have cut down more than 4000 trees. However, if we are going to win the battle then several more local volunteers are needed, particularly to help with some of the more densely infested areas which remain.
One of the areas (about 15 ha in size) densely infested with hakea in the catchment of Waterkloof which supplies Ladismith town

If we fail to act now then the problem will soon become much more expensive to deal with in the future and droughts which are already impacting upon local families and businesses will become a greater risk. Thus, it makes good business sense for local farmers and businesses such as Ladismith Cheese and Parmalat to contribute now to controlling invasive alien trees in our precious water source areas and so contribute positively to a more water-secure future for all of Ladismith and its businesses.

Cutting down hakeas and pine trees is hard work, but it is great exercise and very rewarding! And so, by participating in clearing, one is also contributing to one’s own health and personal fulfilment.

1 Cousins S, Singels E, and Kraaij T, 2018. Invasive alien plants in South Africa pose huge risks, but they can be stopped [online]. http://theconversation.com/invasive-alien-plants-in-south-africa-pose-huge-risks-but-they-can-be-stopped-94186
Richardson D M and vanWilgen B W, 2004. Invasive alien plants in South Africa: how well do we understand the ecological impacts? S. Afr. J. Sci. 100, 45–52.
2 Görgens A and Howard G, 2016. The impacts of different degrees of alien plant invasion on yields from the Western Cape water supply system: Final Report Document produced for CSIR. Aurecon, Cape Town.

Publicado el octubre 17, 2019 06:29 MAÑANA por tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

The Elandsberg one-hectare Hakea Challenge

The Elandsberg one-hectare Hakea Challenge

Where: Assemble and start at the Oom Stan se Liggie car park.
When: Saturday 09 Nov 2019. 06h00: signing of indemnity forms & briefing. 06h30: starting time.
Cost: free
R.s.v.p. by 1 November: Donovan Kotze (kotzed@ukzn.ac.za or 0823022228)

What is required? long-sleeved shirt and long pants to protect against prickly hakea, gloves, hiking shoes, sunhat and at least 2.5 litres of water and a hand saw. Pruning saws work well, and if you do not have a saw then Klein Karoo Agri supply an excellent Agricut pull saw for about R200. The benefits for participants:
• An excellent team building exercise for the individual teams
• Build individual fitness and health
• Contribute positively to the environment and to Ladismith’s water supply – hakeas increase water use and therefore are reducing water supplied to Ladismith and surrounding farms

How the event will be run: The teams of three will walk at their own pace the approximately 4 km up the mountain on the Oom Stan se Liggie path, but with the last 400 m being off the path on fairly rough terrain but not very steep. The overall infested area would already have been divided up into several designated areas, with each being estimated to take a team of 3 people 2 hours to clear. As the teams arrive at the overall site, they would select which designated area they wished to clear, with the first team arriving obviously having the greatest choice. The first team to complete the clearing of their area would be the winners. But the designated areas would be inspected and the team would be penalized 3 minutes for every tree found which had been cut with leafy branches remaining (which would likely re-sprout in the future) or any tree which had been missed. We anticipate that the first 1 or 2 teams will complete cutting down all the trees in their selected area by 10h30 and they could then assist the slowest team/s finishing off their selected area, so that the overall area would be completed by about 11h30. We would all then walk down to be back in Ladismith by lunch time.

The concept! teams of 3 people walk for four kilometres up a hiking trail on the beautiful Elandsberg mountain to an area which is fairly densely infested with invasive alien hakea trees and the teams collectively clear at least 1 hectare of hakea. Those teams wishing to be competitive can aim to walk and clear their selected area as quickly as possible without missing any trees or branches which could re-sprout. However, if some teams chose to clear their selected area at a slow pace then that would be absolutely fine.

Publicado el octubre 17, 2019 06:33 MAÑANA por tonyrebelo tonyrebelo | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario