NEWSLETTER
June 2010 -Number 20
New Bank Account
Members should please note that your Committee has decided to close our bank account at FNB and open a new one at Nedbank, at their in the Pick and Pay Centre at Howick.
The new account's details are as follows :
A/c name : Balgowan Conservancy
A/c Number : 1657033007
Bank Name : Nedbank Howick
Bank Code : 165705
Members are asked to note please not to make any further payments to the FNB account
Conservancy Kiosk / Information Officer/Nursery Attendant
Members will no doubt have noted with disappointment the rather “neglected” look of the kiosk in recent months. This has been principally due to the fact that Ivy Sibiya, the lady who has been employed to run the Information Centre and the Nursery, has been plagued by ill health this year. However, she does seem to be recovering now.
Members are encouraged to visit the centre and meet Ivy. She should be present between 9am and 4pm from Wednesday to Sunday every week.
Landrover Gear
One good reason to visit the kiosk is to view the range of Landrover Gear that is on sale there at substantially marked down prices . Items currently available include : mens and ladies T-shirts, mens shorts and trousers, ladies slacks and some very smart velour body warmers and jackets.
There is also a stock of Conservancy T-shirts and caps available.
Indigenous Trees Project
Now that the Conservancy has a Nursery Attendant the project can proceed in earnest. We have collected and planted in bags yellow-wood, white stinkwood and cape chestnut seedlings from Celia Isaacs who has also kindly donated seeds collected by herself. Members are encouraged to collect seeds for propagation and hand them in to Ivy at the Information Centre.
We are obliged to supply Wildlands Trust with 3,000 small trees per annum in return for their financial support enabling the Conservancy to employ an Information Officer/Nursery Attendant. Accordingly we request that members assist with seed collection – the following trees and shrubs are listed for propagation; yellow-wood (podocarpus henkelii, latifolius & falcatus) , white stinkwood (celtis africana), cape chestnut (calodendrum capense), sagewood (buddleja salvifolia), dogwood (rhamnus prinoides), common wild currant (rhus pyroides), cape rattle-pod (crotalaria capensis), cross-berry (grewia occidentalis), tree fuchsia (halleria lucida).
If you have seeds available on your property and would like assistance with collection, or will allow Conservancy members or the Nursery Attendant to collect seed, please contact Peter McKenzie on 033 2344462.
Control of Alien Plant Infestation
Your committee strongly believes that controlling the spread of the various alien plants, which seem to be spreading like wildfire through our area at the moment, should be one of this Conservancy's primary objectives. Simply because, as members are aware, the main problem with alien invaders is that they steal water and nutrients from indigenous plants and vegetation and this inevitably leads to soil erosion and land degradation. This is particularly damaging in water catchment areas like ours, which in a way act as “sponges” for the whole country's water supply.
Although many of the most visible signs of this infestation are not on private land, we feel that individual landowners in our area must all take responsibility for reducing the infestation on our own properties because if we do not do so the consequences for our area could be disastrous - and not just in the long term.
The Committee has asked Nick Simpson to act as a co-ordinator / facilitator for all our members in this area and he sees his role as trying to develope as many contacts as possible with people who may be able to assist us, either by way of providing access to reasonably priced and environmentally responsible insecticides or by providing trained labour to assist with particularly dense areas of infestation, again hopefully at a reasonable price.
Nick has been attending meetings and holding discussions recently with Mike Farley, who lives locally, in the Dargle, and is determined to do his best to help control the spread of alien plants in this area. He has very good contacts with EcoGuard, suppliers of Garlon and other products, and is very keen to identify areas/projects that are suitable for “before and after” photographs which demonstrate as clearly as possible exactly what can be achieved with certain products so that we can see what can be done at what cost in terms of both labour time and herbicide.
Members with any areas that they feel may be suitable sites for such “demonstrations” are encouraged to contact Nick who may, through Mike, be able to obtain supplies of herbicide at reasonable prices.
At the same time we are trying to put together a database of contractors in the area who are prepared to assist. The more names we can get the more competitive the pricing is likely to be, so members are requested to contact Nick (Tel 033-234-4413, e-mail simpsonnic@mweb.co.za ) if they are prepared to recommend any contractors they are aware of in the area, and should also please feel free to contact him if they are interested in using any outside help.
It is maybe a bit too optimistic to think in terms of eradicating all alien vegetation from our area but keeping the spread of infestation under some sort of control is still a very praiseworthy objective and any contribution that members can make is very worthwhile and does mean that we can feel able to absolve ourselves of any personal responsibility for the degradation of our environment.
Members may also feel that it is a little futile to keep all our own properties in order when there is so much Bonga Bonga growing by the roadside (and railway side) which will continue to spread like wildfire and will in time spread back to the land which we have just spent so much time and money clearing. There are really only two potential solutions to this; either to approach the municipality to try and remind them of their responsibilities or to try and put together some sort of “community volunteer task force” which Nick would try to supply with herbicide and lead in an assault on the roadside areas. If members are prepared to consider releasing any of their garden staff for one or two days' work please let Nick know and once we have gauged the level of interest / commitment we can decide what may be practicable. It is after all not just a real “nuisance”, not to mention eyesore but also something of an embarrassment that we have such a large amount of visible infestation within our conservancy area.
Fire break time soon
We ask anyone involved in the burning of fire breaks this season not to use our indigenous forests as fire breaks, as too many others have been doing in previous years. We are so very fortunate to have these lovely forests in the area, they must be conserved at all costs.
It estimated that the natural bush recedes at an alarming rate every time that they are used as a fire break (about 3 meters for every burn) whereas if fires are kept away the forests will grow by some 2 metres each year.
Lets all make an effort to save our forests
P.S In case you haven't received the Lions River Fire Protection circular, their subscriptions for 2010/11 are ; Property < / = 800ha (collective properties)= R400-00 p.a. Property > 800ha (collective properties)= R0-50c per ha. You can contact Bobby Hoole on 082 901 8795 or Linda Brown (Secretary) on 033-330 2128/9 – or lionsriverfpa@netfocus.co.za for further information.