OUTREACH - 'A Walk on the Wildside' Trail
Last year we applied to the Table Mountain Fund (in conjunction with The World Wildlife Fund for Nature) for funds to implement the 'A Walk on the Wild Side' trail, a coastal education trail in the Seal Point Nature Reserve, managed by FOSTER.
The principle objectives of this project are:
- to rehabilitate, upgrade and provide interpretative facilities for the trail, which features wetlands, flora and fauna, the penguin rehabilitation centre, the historical Cape St. Francis lighthouse and Later Stone Age and Khoe-khoe shell middens
- to conduct guided excursions for learners from the schools in the Kouga area
- to create environmental awareness and provide biodiversity and conservation-related information for local residents and holidaymakers of the Greater St. Francis area
Our application was successful and our treasurer, Lilian Baker, has enthusiastically taken on the project.
She has already conducted several excursions with learners from Sea Vista Primary School, Humansdorp Secondary School, the Fourcade Botanical Group, St Francis Collegeand holidaymakers from the Cape St. Francis Resort. Schools in the area are currently being canvassed to make use of the facility.
Four educational signboards donated by WESSA have been erected on the trail, with additional signage in the pipeline. Educational material for learners has been compiled and provided to learners utilizing the trail.
Boardwalks have been erected by FOSTER at the Rocky Coast Farm entrance to the trail and across the wetland within the Reserve.
The carparks have been upgraded.
FOSTER would like to thank the sponsors as well as Mrs. Caryl Logie, Mr. Godfried Potgieter and Mr. Ron Thomassen for the valued and unwavering support given to get this project off the ground and make it a success.
For further information or to book an educational excursion, contact Lilian on 042 298 0073 / 082 763 4113 or csfgs@telkomsa.net
SNARE REMOVAL
There has been a worrying increase in snares being set in our reserves and on Rocky Coast Farm.
This is a major problem because of the logistics involved in patrolling all the forested areas. We have been using volunteers for snare patrols as well as paid searches to limit the impact of snaring on our fragile wildlife stocks.
The discovery of a dead bushbuck ram that had been caught in a snare and left to die and rot was tragic for all of us.
Again, lack of funds is a severe handicap.
INVASIVE ALIEN PLANT ERADICATION
FOSTER successfully applied for and received special funds dedicated to alien plant removal.
Today there is not a single seed-bearing alien plant in any of the nature areas that FOSTER manages!
The ongoing control of regrowth is funded by membership subs and donations from residents and visitors.
Donations also fund the clearing, maintenance and stabilisation of trails so that people can walk and cycle through groves of thicket trees, amongst aromatic fynbos and along the edge of the sea.
To all of those who continue to support us we are hugely grateful!
SIGNAGE
Funding for 15 signs was awarded by the Rowland and Leta Hill Trust.
We also received special funding for interpretation and signage in the different areas of the network of St Francis nature areas.
These funds have been used for reserve signs, nameplates on trees and shrubs, interpretive pamphlets and trail maps.
