FoBCA AGM – 17 Oct 2020

The FoBCA AGM of the financial year 2019/2020 was held this past Saturday. Thanks to all the members who attended. 

Two committee members resigned from the FoBCA Committee – Nelis Visagie and Fred Metcalf. We want to thank them on behalf of all FoBCA members for their valuable input in the past years. Nelis is chairman of Friends of Rietvlei, so even though he is temporarily working on a project away from Cape Town, we will still be in contact with him. One of Fred’s valuable achievements was to organise the correct naming convention of the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve on Google – no mean feat when dealing with global IT enterprises! In their place two new committee members were elected, namely Rob Webster and Douglas Ulrich. Both these gentlemen are very involved with conservation and heritage issues in the area. 

We trust you are all still safe and healthy. We are living in uncertain times and we can only hope the current situation that the world finds itself in, will in time be resolved so we can go on with our ‘new normal’ lives. However, even in these negative, confusing times, we can start with some good news -

Good news!

The City of Cape Town’s reserves have recently opened to the public again with some restrictions still in place. No group activities are allowed, so the picnic and braai facilities at Eerste Steen are not yet open.
Important: Please wash your hands before visiting the reserves, and keep your masks on at all times.

We are living in uncertain and sad times indeed. Hibernating within the confines of our homes, and being overrun with news, information, statistics and graphs, I am sure many of you also take time to reflect about the world we live in, how it is being exploited, and how we can change it for the better. 
 
We asked Roy Fuller-Gee our previous Chairman of the FoBCA, and well known to most of our members, to give his thoughts during this time. Please read his thought-provoking message by clicking HERE

Here is an important message from Patrick Dowling, including take away thoughts for Wessa Members, Friends and Affiliates in his article entitled ENVIRONMENTAL LESSONS FROM A VIRUS

Sue Bellinger, a member of the FoBCA who was previously on the committee and now has the portfolio of Climate Change at the U3A, has some suggestions for positive action, TV programmes to watch, etc in her regular email on the topic.

A not-so-new year anymore, and many natural events which have had substantial impact are occurring everywhere: the bush fires in Australia; the floods in other parts of our country; the extensive drought in areas like the Northern Cape and the Karoo - all to make us continually aware of the important role that nature and climate change plays in our economy and the well-being of our country. 

Albeit slightly late for New Year's wishes, we do wish you a prosperous and successful 2020.

Here at the FoBCA, the year started with a bang!