Our second newsletter of the year is full of the news. Life is slowly returning to normal, and we hold thumbs that the 3rd Covid wave does not hit us too hard, and that all the events below can happen as planned.

Beach Clean-up – March 2021 As you probably know by now, the coastal stretch between Melkbosstrand and Bloubergstrand has retained its WESSA Green Coast status, and the focus project of the Status is Coastal Clean-up. We, together with the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve organize coastal clean-ups at the end of each month.

The clean-ups restarted in February after the holiday and Covid breaks, and the area tackled at the time was the beaches between Melkbosstrand and Bloubergstrand. The turnout of volunteers was not as good as we hoped, but we trust that the support will grow. There is definitely an increasing trend of walkers who, in personal capacity, pick up litter while they are walking/jogging, which is great to see. So please help us make these clean-up a success, and come and spend the morning with us picking up litter. Those who come regularly say it is a very therapeutic exercise, to listen to the waves, and to smell the salty air in your nostrils. Here are the details..

Get ready for the City Nature Challenge 2021!

You will recall that Cape Town won the 2019 Nature Challenge challenge in 2 of the 3 categories, and indeed in the categories that count: the most number of species recorded (an amazing tally of 4571), and the most observations (an astounding 54 165).

Last year’s event did not take place formally due to Covid, but it is definitely happening again this year, and the competition will be fierce – in 2019 there were 130 cities participating, and this year there are 250! Cape Town boasts of being one of the most biodiverse cities on Earth. Let us prove it and put Cape Town on both the Biodiversity and Citizen Science maps AGAIN. We need observations, we need species and we need observers - YOU!

The FoBCA will be organizing opportunities with the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve which we will communicate to you closer to the time. In the meantime, please diarise 30 April – 3 May 2021. You can read more about the Challenge here.

The Botanical Society has focused one of their webinars on the Challenge. In the 3rd of the series of webinars, they delve into the history of local botanical citizen science and how those roots are directly connected to #BotSocSA and CREW (Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers). We also find out from active iNaturalist members why they find recording nature so rewarding. This and previous webinars are extremely interesting - available on You Tube here. PS - If you're interested in discussing the Illegal Succulent Trade, diarise their following webinar due to happen on 29 April 2021, 5pm and follow the Society on Facebook. 

Blaauwberg Reserve news:

- The Montispectus accommodation on Blaauwberg Hill is open for bookings again! You can get more details here. Please read the note, though, about high clearance vehicles being recommended.

- The FoBCA donated a plaque, expertly crafted by FoBCA Battle expert Dave Honour, to Damhuis restaurant in Melkbosstrand on 26 Feb 2021. Please visit the restaurant to view the map on display showing the British landings at the then-called Losperd’s Bay right in front of Damhuis.

Stephanie Muller (FoBCA), Stefan Meintjies (Damhuis), Dave Honour (FoBCA) handing over the plaque

- The Hacking team is still hard at work every Tuesday morning, and have recently acquired some new team members from the Blaauwberg area (up to now all the members came all the way from Durbanville). Please consider joining this group – only 2-3 hours of your time is required to make an invaluable contribution to conservation. All you need is a sun hat, water and a spade. Please contact Eddie Heimann at 082 924 4778 to join this outdoor gym.

- The veld, even though dry, still produces the most stunning surprises this time of the year. A splash of red reveals the striking Brunsvigia Orientalis (‘candelabra flower’), and just a few steps later you suddenly see the Haemanthus flowers popping their shy heads up out of the sand.

Haemanthus

Brunsvigia Orientalis

Upcoming FoBCA events

Regards
FoBCA Membership Communication Team