AIMS
OF THE SOCIETY
The aims of the Society are to promote the
conservation, the protection and restoration
of all natural systems and resources of the
Pearly Beach area with particular attention
to the indigenous plant and animal life.
'n
Geseënde Kersfees en voorspoed vir 2008!!
A blessed Christmas and a prosperous 2008!!
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING / ALGEMENE JAARVERGADERING
Date/Datum: Woensdag 19 Desember
2007 Wednesday 19 December 2007
Time/Tyd: 10:00
Where/Waar: Dutch Reformed Church
Hall/NG Kerksaal
Guest Speaker/Gasspreker: Wilfred
Chivell Naturalist/Natuurkenner, Dyer Island
Conservation Trust
PEARLY
BEACH CONSERVANCY / BEWAREA
I am indeed honoured to inform you that Cape
Nature has approved the application by this
Society to have Pearly Beach declared and
registered as a conservation village, or better
known as a Conservancy. Rooi-Els and Pringle
Bay are already registered as Conservancies,
while Betty's Bay is also busy with the process
of becoming registered as a Conservancy. Once
all these towns are registered, it will lend
more credibility to the attempts made to get
the Overstrand Municipality and Council to
recognize the area as requiring different
treatment and to have this formalized in a
management plan.
A Conservancy is established by a voluntary agreement between landowners to co-operatively manage their properties in a responsible, environmentally friendly way in order to keep the environment in as pristine a condition as possible. Conservation objectives are achieved by co-operation and commitment to the conservation of the environment on private property.
Advantages
of a Conservancy include:
·• Community awareness and knowledge
of its environment is increased;
• The community shares in the management
of the environment;
• Natural vegetation and wildlife is
sustained;
• Aesthetics and economic values increase;
• Community based activities increase;
• Security improves.
Membership
is voluntary and each member or property owner
can decide to what extent he/she would like
to be involved, eg:
• Keep parts of his/her property natural;
• Avoid planting invasive alien plants
(especially kikuyu grass and manatokas);
• Adopt a street to keep it clean and
report problem builders, etc;
• Join the hack group;
• Responsible disposal of refuse and
to recycle.
We trust that by having Pearly Beach declared as a Conservancy, each property owner and visitor will again realize that the unspoilt beauty of our area is in our hands to conserve for future generations.
GOOD
NEWS ON THE AFRICAN BLACK OYSTERCATCHER
According to Prof Phil Hockey of the Percy
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology,
the global African Black Oystercatcher population
is in a lot healthier state today than it
was 10 years ago. Since the 1980's it is estimated
that the population has increased by about
47% and now stands at something in the order
of 6700 birds (up from ca 4800). Indeed very
good news!
HERBARIUM
Aan al die dames wat so getrou deur die jaar
gehelp het om die Herbarium netjies te hou
en gereeld vars plantmonsters te versamel,
baie, baie dankie! Almal wat belangstel om
by die Herbarium betrokke te raak, kan gerus
vir HEILIE MOSTERT by tel 028 - 381 9888 of
082 392 1178 kontak - hulp is altyd welkom
en baie nodig!
HACKING
PARTY: SATURDAY 15 DECEMBER 2007
We want to call on all members of
the Society, as well as friends, family and
residents to come and join the planned hacking
party on Saturday 15 December 2007.
The idea is to get a group of volunteers together
and to make an active and aggressive effort
to clear the public open spaces and frontal
dune area of aliens. Come and join us for
a day of hard labour and fun, all to the benefit
of the environment! We will meet at 09:00
at the Parking Area at Castle Beach,
please bring equipment like pruning shears
and saws with, as well as a hat and sun screen
lotion - hope to see you all there!
PERSBERIGTE
OOR BEWARINGS-AANGELEENTHEDE
Ten einde die werksaamhede van die Bewaringsvereniging
aan die breë publiek bekend te stel,
word daar een maal per maand 'n persberig
in die Gansbaai Courant gepubliseer. Onderwerpe
waaroor daar gedurende die afgelope jaar geskryf
is, is onder meer die sterre, die omgewing
en ystervarke, die strandskoon-maakaksie,
indringerplante, die beoogde kernkragstasie,
die voorgestelde ontwikkeling van die plaas
Lang Gelegen en die sandreënpadda. Indien
lede belangstel, kan hierdie artikels per
e-pos aan hulle gestuur word. Indien jy dit
wil ontvang, stuur jou versoek per e-pos aan
die Voorsitter, Elrina Versfeld by elrina.versfeld@capetown.gov.za.
FACTS
ABOUT WHALES
Cape whale biologist Dr Ken Findlay said recently
that the Cape waters boasted a staggering
38 - 40 different types of whales and dolphins,
out of the 80 species worldwide. There are
two types of wales. The baleen whales, mysticetes,
meaning moustached for their baleen plates,
made of fingernail-like material, which hang
like moustaches from the roofs of their mouths.
They serve as sieves to filter plankton out
of the water. The second type is toothed whales,
or odontocetes. The Cape sees around 30 toothed
whale species, including the killer whale,
and around 8 baleen whale species. Of these,
Cape residents are likely to see just 3 species
of baleen whales in their immediate coastal
waters: the Bryde's, the humpback and the
star of the show, the southern right. Of the
southern right whales, Dr Findlay said that
they are coming up from the Southern Ocean,
having swum 800 - 2 500 nautical miles (1
600 - 5 000 km). The total population is around
5 000. They come to seek sheltered bays to
mate, calve and nurse their young. They will
try to put on as much weight on the calf before
taking it back to the cold waters. Southern
right calves can grow an inch a day and survive
only from their mother's milk.
- Murray Williams, Bolander
BEëNDIG
GEBRUIK VAN PLASTIEK
Sowat 500 miljard tot een triljoen plastieksakkies
word elke jaar wêreldwyd gebruik. Tot
drie persent hiervan beland in riviere en
strome buite stortingsterreine. Plastieksakkies
veroorsaak die dood van sowat 100 000 voëls,
walvisse, robbe en seeskilpaaie elke jaar
deur verstrengeling of voedseliname, dit blok
dreine en verstrengel voëls, vee kan
dit ook per ongeluk insluk; dit vorm 47% van
die rommel wat van stortingsterreine af weggewaai
word. Plastiek of papier: wat is die beste?
Nie een is beter as die ander nie, want albei
veroorsaak besoedeling. Waar 'n plastieksak
'n oplossingstydperk van 1 000 jaar en 'n
herwinbaarheidskoers van 1% het, is dit 1
maand en 20% in die geval van 'n papiersak.
- Kampvegter, Die Burger
CHANGE
YOUR LIFESTYLE
Reduce your CO² footprint by being energy
efficient and by using efficient and renewable
technology. Some ideas:
- Install a solar water heater and solar panels;
- Install a geyser timer and blanket;
- Cook with a hot-box;
- Turn off lights and other appliances when
not in use;
- Minimise car and plane travel;
- Reduce electricity use in peak times
(6 - 8 am and pm);
- Compost and recycle;
- Conserve water;
- Have fewer children (we need to reduce our
population).
-
Earthlife Africa
FACES
OF NEED: AFRICAN PENGUIN, DYER ISLAND
The African Penguin is endemic to Southern
Africa. They breed on 24 islands and on 3
mainland sites along the coast of South Africa
and Namibia, with 90% of the population occurring
in South Africa. The African penguin is threatened
by extinction. The population declined during
the 20th century - from 1.5 million adults
in 1930 to only 153 000 in the 1990's. There
were about 4 000 pairs of penguins breeding
on Dyer Island in 1959. This number increased
to 23 000 pairs in 1979. Since then it has
been declining steadily and in 2005 there
were only 2 000 breeding pairs. During the
1990's, the breeding population decreased
by a staggering 9% per year. We believe we
can arrest this by providing nest boxes.
PENGUIN THREATS: Before artificial fertilizer was invented, seabird guano was the best fertilizer known. From 1841 - 1983 1.8 million tons was removed from South African and Namibian islands. The islands were scraped down to bedrock. Guano scraping on Dyer Island has been stopped.
PROBLEMS: Penguins used to burrow into the guano to make nests; adult penguins overheat in surface nests; eggs and chicks can easily be predated from surface nests resulting in an increase in Kelp Gull numbers. Seals also compete with penguins for the nest space and kill adults and chicks.
SOLUTION: NEST BOXES: Nest boxes mimic burrows; they provide shelter from the sun and prevent access to gulls. The placement of nest boxes will improve breeding success and contribute to an increase in the penguin population.
WHAT
CAN YOU DO: SPONSOR A PENGUIN NEST BOX!!
Cost = R350,00.
Dyer Island Conservation Trust
Tel 028 384 0406
sone@hermanus.com
www.facesofneed.com
THE
CLEANMARINE PROJECT: MARINE LITTER MOSTLY
HAS A LOCAL CREATOR
Marine litter is found in many shapes and
forms, from bottles and food wrappers to fishing
lines and nappies. It poses a problem on coastal
ecosystems as seabirds and marine mammals
either ingest the inedible materials, leaving
them deceptively satisfied and constantly
suffering from malnutrition, or the litter
wraps around their defenceless bodies causing
them to function insufficiently. The main
sources of the litter must be identified for
the problem to be prevented. The CleanMarine
project, an initiative of BirdLife Overberg,
and the litter analysis score cards, designed
by The Ocean Conservancy, formed the backbone
of the study.
After two months of scoring litter on selected beaches, it was determined that plastic packaging products and fragments of plastic were found in the highest amounts. These items were assumed to originate from two possible sources, collectively referred to as land and marine based sources. Marine based sources result from the indiscriminate dumping of harmful waste and litter into the ocean by ships and boats. An action that is prohibited by legislation, but the shards and fragments of plastic deposited onto the shoreline tell a different story. In this study, land based sources contributed to 59,7% of the marine litter collected. The endless amount of straws, bottles and their caps, all of which symbolize common consumer items, show the carelessness and lack of education amongst beach users and visitors.
The only
positive aspects of this ecosystem destroying
problem, is that small changes within households
could result in large changes along our coastlines.
Recycling your plastic packaging would result
in the production of more packaging, starting
a productive cycle that remains a circle and
does not end up in an arrow pointing to destruction
and the potential disfigurement of marine
ecosystems. Along with recycling, education
and awareness form the key to any problem.
- Heather Ingarfield
PLAASLIKE
STRAND SKOON-MAAKAKSIE
Warren Rutherford (tel 028 381 9596) is die
plaaslike koordineerder van die strand skoonmaakaksie.
Die hele kuslyn van Pearly Beach is in 5 seksies
verdeel en vrywilligers word benodig om die
vullis langs die strand in 'n spesifieke seksie
op te tel. Aan elke vrywilliger word vorms
voorsien wat voltooi moet word wanneer die
strand skoongemaak word, ten einde die vullis
wetenskaplik te kan ontleed en die bron van
die vullis vas te stel. Vullissakke word ook
voorsien. Indien jy belangstel om by hierdie
aksie betrokke te raak, kontak asseblief vir
Warren Rutherford.
Only
two things are infinite, the universe and
human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the
former.
Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955
ONTHOU
ASB!!!
Om jou lidmaatskap te hernu - dis baie belangrik.
Please remember to renew your subscription!
BAIE
DANKIE!!!
Aan al die Komiteelede, baie dankie vir 'n
uiters suksesvolle jaar se harde werk en baie
dankie vir julle bereidwilligheid om vergaderings
op Saterdae by te woon - dit word opreg waardeer.
<<Top
PEARLY BEACH CONSERVANCY
3 October 2007
PEARLY BEACH CONSERVANCY
Dear Sir / Madam
On behalf of the Pearly Beach Conservation Society I am indeed honoured to inform you that Cape Nature has approved the application to have Pearly Beach declared and registered as a conservation village, or better known as a Conservancy. Rooi-Els and Pringle Bay are already registered as Conservancies, while Betty's Bay is also busy with the process of becoming registered as a Conservancy. Once all these towns are registered, it will lend more credibility to the attempts made to get the Overstrand Municipality and Council to recognize the area as requiring different treatment and to have this formalized in a management plan.
A Conservancy is established by a voluntary agreement between landowners to co-operatively manage their properties in a responsible, environmentally friendly way in order to keep the environment in as pristine a condition as possible. Conservation objectives are achieved by co-operation and commitment to the conservation of the environment on private property.
Advantages
of a Conservancy include:
• The communities awareness and knowledge
of its environment is increased;
• The community shares in the management
of the environment;
• Natural vegetation and wildlife is
sustained;
• Aesthetics and economic values increase;
• Community based activities increase;
• Security improves.
Membership
is voluntary and each member or property owner
can decide to what extent he/she would like
to be involved, eg:
• Keep parts of his/her property natural;
• Avoid planting invasive alien plants
(especially kikuyu grass and manatokas);
• Adopt a street to keep it clean and
report problem builders, etc;
• Join the hack group;
• Responsible disposal of refuse and
to recycle.
We trust that by having Pearly Beach declared as a Conservancy, each property owner and visitor will again realize that the unspoilt beauty of our area is in our hands to conserve for future generations.
Yours faithfully
ELRINA
VERSFELD
CHAIRPERSON (TEL 021 850 4107)