This article was presented in the Tatler on 3 November – download the original pdf here (2MB). TATLER.pg4_3_nov_2011 – Southern Suburbs Tatler, Cape Community Newspapers, Independent Newspapers (Cape)
A group of individuals 20 years ago changed the course of the Liesbeeck River after the formation of the Friends of the Liesbeeck, under the auspices of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA).
“Our founder members met with the intention of raising awareness of the value of the Liesbeeck River, with a long-term vision of a restored river and its surrounding environment,” says secretary of the Friends group, Francine Becker. Read the rest of this entry »
A warm invitation to attend our
FRIENDS GROUP WORKSHOP:
Saturday 12 November, 10h00 – 13h00
The Friends of the Liesbeek will be leading our November Friends Group Workshop in celebration of their 20th anniversary! This ‘workshop with a difference’ will begin with a slow and gentle walk-and-talk along the beautiful upper reaches of the Liesbeek River down to Paradise Park in Hiddingh/Newlands, visiting the riverine park managed by Joan Parker from the Bishopscourt Village Residents Association en route. Read the rest of this entry »
The Cape Times ran the following article on October 20 2011 at 11:35am
Project to clean up city rivers gets afloat
Babalo Ndenze
Metro Writer
THE city council has employed 400 people to clean 14 of its most polluted rivers as part of a programme named after the late ANC stalwart Kader Asmal.
Yesterday mayor Patricia de Lille announced the river cleaning programme in honour of Asmal, who first identified the need for such an initiative to ensure a clean water supply.
The announcement was attended by Asmal’s widow, Louise.
The river cleaning is to be part of the Mayor’s Special Job Creation Project, announced by De Lille last month. Read the full article City River Project
After a dry winter we wonder what spring and summer have in store for us! Perhaps all of us should look again at being waterwise in our homes and gardens. However, we still can enjoy the display nature puts on - see the lovely photos of flowering plants to be found in our area in the latest newsletter September 2011 Newsletter.
IMPORTANT!!! This year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Friends of the Liesbeek and we are very proud to belong to such an active environmental organization. To celebrate the occasion we would like to ask all members and interested persons to contribute photographs, poems, newspaper articles or anecdotes – be creative! Please let us have your contributions before the end of October so that we can set up a display on the anniversary of the founding meeting of FOL,
Monday 28th November 2011.
PLEASE HELP: We would also like to honour past committee members and ask that if you were a committee member or know of someone who was active in FOL in the past, to send us an email, post a message on the website or call Francine at 021 6715385 . Our email address is secretary@fol.org.za and our postal address is still P.O.Box 333, Rondebosch.
Birding Big Day, BirdLife South Africa’s major annual fund raising event, takes place on Saturday 26 November this year.
In addition to the traditional categories (open, handicap and community) and the SABAP2 category for the avid committed birders/atlasers, there is also the Garden Bird category. All you need to do is spend a minimum of one uninterrupted hour of observation making a list of the birds that visit your garden.
You can do your BBD survey on 26 Nov. and/or any day during the week leading up to BBD (i.e. 19-25 Nov.). This year, all BBD Garden Bird lists will be curated through the MyBirdPatch website which will generate some valuable data to the MyBirdPatch database plus hopefully add some more active participants to the project. You can also record birds from a registered MyBirdPatch site or a new site which you may consider doing for BBD.
BirdLife South Africa have published a media release about the event – you can view it on the BLSA website (www.birdlife.org.za). Follow the link “Media Release” on the left hand menu or the link lower down on the first page.
Friends of the Liesbeek joined staff from the Plastics Federation in cleaning a stretch of beach outside the Lagoon Beach Hotel in Milnerton. Chester and Clemecia from Nature Conservation joined me as we did our little bit to help clean the oceans. I did not see or meet any other Friends at the beach so if you were there post a comment!
International Coastal Cleanup is on Saturday 17th September. FOL have participated for several years as a result of an article in the newspaper stating that the litter on the beaches of Robben Island came from the Liesbeek. We have usually done a cleanup on Lagoon Beach down towards the mouth of the Salt River Canal. You get there by traveling along Marine Drive towards Milnerton and turning toward the sea at the Otto du Plessis / Boundary Roads intersection. Follow the road around and turn first right. We will be there from early till it’s clean – so come and give us a hand!
Another Clean-up will take place at Observatory from 9h00.
Heritage Day 24th September
Birdwatching at the Observatory Hide
The Friends of the Liesbeek will be meeting on Saturday 24th September at the gate at the South African Astronomical Observatory at 17h00 for an outing to the bird hide on the Raapenberg Wetland. We will also launch our participation in the MyBirdPatch Facebook page. This is a virtual atlas where everyone can log on, ask questions and note the birds found in their backyards, and is coordinated by Les Underhill from the ADU at UCT. For more information see http://mybirdpatch.adu.org.za/.
The Friends of the Black and Vygekraal Rivers are having a public meeting on Tuesday 13 September 2011, at the Rondebosch Golf Club House, Golf Course Road, Sybrand Park, at 19h00. For more information contact Jonathan Hobday 0828965529 or Sonja Pithey 0844932654.
Recently I filmed, rather poorly I am afraid, a trio of pelicans on the Liesbeek. While not exactly an uncommon occurrence it is neither that common either. I drive down Liesbeek Avenue at least twice a day and I have only seen a pelican on a handful of occasions. This is the first time I have seen more than 2.
