Contents of April 2005

EDITORIAL
Gauteng clamps down on developers

UPFRONT
News

BOOK REVIEWS

TREES OF THE ISSUE
The Yellowwoods

WORDS ON WASTE
An important site for conservation

FEATURES

Community champions for the environment in Mamelodi

The Mtunzini eco-house – best practice?

Waste, rats and owls: an Eco-School’s approach

Providing a fair way for wildlife

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EDITORIAL

Gauteng clamps down on developers
Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE) has taken a tough stance against what it has termed “uncaring industrialists and property developers”, in its determination to protect the well-being of communities and the sustainability of ecosystems, and in accordance with the National Environmental Management Amendment Act (Act No 8 of 2004). In a statement to the media made in early March, Gauteng’s MEC for Agriculture, Conservation and Environment Khabisi Mosunkutu spoke out very strongly against developers who have been guilty of destroying wetlands and other ecologically sensitive areas to create exclusive residential developments, and industrial operators who discharge noxious gases into the air and emissions that impact negatively on water resources.

He pointed out that under the newly amended Act, which came into effect on 7 January this year, unauthorised commencement or continuation of activities identified in terms of Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations now face penalties of up to R5 million and/or ten year jail terms. There is a window period, however, in which application can be made to rectify to the MEC – but this is for a six month period only and because the starting date is the date the Act came into force, this period, which allows voluntary disclosure, will accordingly lapse on 6 July 2005.

The stringent mechanisms for enforcing environmental legislation and penalising non-compliance required by the Act are good news indeed and it must be hoped that GDACE and other provincial authorities countrywide will have the capacity to ensure the follow through. A special unit named S24G (after the relevant section of the Act) has been set up to assist applicants and booklets explaining procedure are available. The department is encouraging members of the public to come forward and lodge complaints against unauthorised development and it ensures that the anonymity of these so called whistle-blowers will be protected. Further information is available from Franz Scheepers, S24G Unit Manager, GDACE. Email: S24G@gauteng.gov.za

In the Nov/Dec 2004 issue, UGF reviewed that fascinating and frightening book The End of the Line and I was gratified to see, in the review on the same book by Dr Deon Nel of WWF’s Marine Programme in the Spring 2004 issue of African Wildlife, that South African trawl-caught Hake has recently been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as meeting its criteria for ecological sustainability. Nel also reported that WWF South Africa has recently embarked on a national Sustainable Seafood Initiative, sponsored by its Green Trust, which seeks to provide information to local consumers, as well as training for the staff of seafood retailers, which will allow for informed choices about seafood alternatives.  

I need to make a comment concerning Gerhard Verdoorn’s article entitled ‘Providing a fair way for wildlife’, in reference to his implication that there is a certain amount of irresponsibility amongst managers of estates and golf courses in their application of pesticides. I need to say that the members of the Golf Course Managers and Greenkeepers Association (GCMGA) that I know, are all very aware of the dangers of certain pesticides to wildlife, practice Integrated Pest Management and are invariably certified Pest Control Officers themselves or have a staff member who is – but, then again, perhaps the Association members are a cut above other landscape managers.    

This is the last editorial that I will be writing for Urban Green File and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people I have worked with over the years for their continued support, particularly the many that I have interviewed and those who are always ready at the other end of a phone to give of their time when a question needs to be answered.

I have worked particularly well with UGF’s editorial contributor Leigh Darroll, who is also leaving the journal, and would like to thank her for the carefully researched and meaningful articles that she has contributed to the journal. I know that she would also like to thank those people she has dealt with and interviewed over the years.

All kinds of people, both within the company and outside of it, have gone the extra half mile for us. UGF often gets unsolicited articles from people who work in the various fields covered by the journal and it is those professionals I would particularly like to thank, along with those who have chosen ‘Trees of the Issue’ for us and motivated their choices with care. I have an apology to make to Bruce Bayer (father of Warwick Bayer) for not acknowledging his photographs in the last issue. He went out specifically to photograph the Woodland Waterberry for UGF to back up his son’s choice of a good tree for urban areas.

It is with sadness that we leave the magazine that has brought both of us a great deal of pleasure. - Carol Knoll

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UPFRONT

Environment secured by guards-turned-guides
Security guards that were hired to patrol the natural resources of Century City’s Intaka Island have been trained to double-up as conservation officers and tour guides.

The environmental officer for the Century City Property Owners Association (CCPOA), Deon Weyers explained: “Securicor provided us with on-site security and risk management services but it soon became evident that we had to expand the skills of our team to take care of more than just the security aspects.”

Weyers asked Securicor to sponsor their guards in an environmental protection training course undertaken by CCPOA. John Hitchcock, divisional managing director of Securicor’s Coastal Division said: “We immediately saw value in the partnership. It gave the guards an opportunity to increase their skills levels and it gave us the opportunity to offer the client specialised protection services.”

The guards were taught about their environment which enabled them to provide visitors with the necessary environmental information, in their new dual role as tour guides and law enforcement officers. They were supplied with uniforms and binoculars.

Hitchcock and Weyers both make specific mention of Bennett Freeman, a security guard who proactively sought out opportunities at Intaka and became a senior tour guide within two months. Now he does weekly bird counts, plant and water monitoring, educates children and also trains other guards. He has become a firm favourite with the public.

The wetland area adjacent to Century City had been degraded and overrun by invasive Port Jackson (Acacia saligna) but was home to a large number of water birds and it was essential that their environment be protected. Indigenous plant species that were rescued from the area being cleared for the development of Century City were replanted on Intaka Island and are flourishing in this wetland area. Intaka Island has been open to the public since 2000 and was originally designated a multi-purpose nature area on the recommendations of the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Contact Securicor marketing manager, Jeremy Horner. Tel: (021) 527 3600.

Grownup Green
A new approach to communicating sustainability, Grownupgreen is a website aimed at involving, encouraging and supporting households to think and act more sustainably in a lively interactive and interesting way. If you want to make more informed choices on issues such as renewable energy, managing your household waste, purchasing of consumer goods and much more, visit: www.grownupgreen.org.uk

Greenkeeper of the Year Award
Derek Muggeridge of River Club took the title of Greenkeeper of the Year at the Compleat Golfer’s Annual Awards Dinner on 14 February 2005. This was the inaugural award, in recognition of the exceptional work being done on golf courses by the greenkeeping profession, and it was sponsored by Afgri Golf and John Deere. Aside from the floating trophy, the first prize included a trip to a Turf Show in the USA, sponsored by John Deere to the value of R 30 000.

Entry forms were sent out to all the golf courses in the country asking club management to nominate and to score their own greenkeeper, according to a list of criteria. One of the categories required the club’s input on the greenkeeper’s knowledge of and planning for the environmental complexities of his course. Sixty-two entries were received and each entry was evaluated in conjunction with a number of knowledgeable people in the golf course industry, including golf promoters, designers, contractors and equipment suppliers. After the first elimination process, the balance of the courses was visited by selected professional and league players and golf course managers.

The responses of these individuals were scored by Dale Hayes of Golf Inner Circle and Rowan Garmany of Afgri Golf. The final 10 greenkeepers were selected and the courses visited by either Hayes or Garmany who met with the greenkeepers themselves and either the director of golf or the professional golfer. The following five finalists were chosen: Pieter Cooper of Rustenburg Golf Club, Matthew Johnson of Country Club Johannesburg; Derek Muggeridge of River Club; Robbie Stewartson of Glendower Golf Club and Murray Veicht of Centurion Golf Estate.

A final judging panel comprising golf ambassador Dale Hayes, turf specialist Hantie Cloete and environmental journalist Carol Knoll were given the task of selecting a winner. The finalists were required to give powerpoint presentations providing a brief CV, a brief history of their respective courses and were asked to talk on one of the following topics:
- a detailed plan to introduce your previously disadvantaged staff into the greenkeeping fraternity;
- (based on the recent aggressive lobbying by environmentalists for golf courses to reduce their consumption of water) a detailed plan to reduce current consumption of water at your course by 30%; or
- (a large percentage of your budget is spent on procuring a vast array of products and spares for maintenance), a proposal illustrating how you believe your suppliers could improve their service to and provide cost savings for your course.

Muggeridge chose to talk on the staff development programme he has successfully implemented at River Club to introduce greenkeeping staff from previously disadvantaged backgrounds to the profession, so that fully-fledged golf course managers could be sourced from their ranks in the near future.

The judges’ appraisal of the presentation provides their motivation for selecting Muggeridge as the first Greenkeeper of the Year:

“Derek’s presentation manifested a vision for the greenkeeping industry as a whole, in his full realisation of the critical importance of staff development. He has not only put in place a plan to allow his staff to improve their lot at River Club, but his intention is to pass on his successful implementation of this innovative staff development programme to the greenkeeping industry as a whole, through the Golf Course Managers and Greenkeepers Association. The judges were of the unanimous opinion that Derek has seen the bigger picture and that the research he has put into his plan for the betterment of his workforce can be utilised by the rest of the industry. It is Derek’s firm opinion that training is an integral part of the greenkeeper’s job.

“Furthermore, he is clearly a highly motivated individual who takes great pride in his own career, in his club and in the greenkeeping industry as a whole. He is someone who will not only enhance the Association, of which he is the current President, but will give additional weight to the profession of greenkeeping in South Africa.”

Entry forms for next year’s ‘Greenkeeper of the Year’ will be sent out with The Compleat Golfer magazine to golf courses within the next few months. Afgri Golf was pleased with the large number of entries (over 60) received last year but it is hoped that more golf courses from the Cape will enter this prestigious competition this year, so that recognition can be made, countrywide.
Contact organiser Rowan Garmany of Afgri Golf for further details. Tel: (011) 397 7447. Email: rowan@golfmatrix.co.za

The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol
The South African Climate Action Network (SACAN) marked the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on 16 February, with a conference at which a range of speakers, including Joanne Yawitch, Deputy Director General of Environmental Quality and Protection at DEAT, discussed the relevance of this event for South Africa. The event was part of a global day of celebration, involving many governments and all regions of the Climate Action Network.

Entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, consequent to Russia’s ratification in November 2004, allows this legally binding instrument to be put into operation for the first commitment period, spanning 2008 - 2012.This agreement recognises that industrialised nations carry most responsibility for climate change and mandates measurable action. For South Africa, this will mean that projects can be implemented under the Clean Dev¬elop¬ment Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These projects have the potential of contributing to sustainable development in South Africa and will assist with the shift away from SA’s current heavy reliance on fossil fuel energy sources.

SANCAN makes the statement that there is no longer any reasonable doubt that human activity is causing global warming and escalating climate change, including increasingly severe floods, droughts, extreme weather events and loss of prime agricultural lands. There is increasing evidence that changes are taking place even faster than the estimates of the Third Assessment Report (2001) of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The poor are the most vulnerable to climate change and the impacts are expected to be the most severe in Africa.

The Kyoto Protocol is the multilateral and legally binding instrument of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which mandates measurable action from industrialised nations. SANCAN believes that the voluntary approach promoted by the Bush administration and many polluting industries, which avoids quantified caps on greenhouse gas emissions and relies heavily on ‘self-regulation’ by corporations, will not deliver the necessary action to avoid global catastrophe.

While Russia delayed ratification, an army of corporate and US lobbyists insisted that the Kyoto Protocol was dead and should be replaced by voluntary industry initiatives and un-coordinated bi-lateral agreements. Even now, there is a strong lobby in the European Union (the most progressive grouping of industrialised nations in relation to climate change) arguing that too much is being required of industry and that implementation will undermine economic competitiveness – a very short-term view, in the opinion of SANCAN.

The Climate Action Network (CAN) recognises that the existing provisions of the Kyoto Protocol are inadequate and could be used to legitimise a number of unsustainable and/or unjust practices. CAN is therefore dedicated to achieving more equitable measures and deeper emissions cuts in the provisions for the period after 2012, for which official UN negotiations will be initiated this year. The Kyoto Protocol is only a small first step, with significant loop-holes, but it does provide a legally binding framework with a requirement that commitments are reviewed every five years.
Contact South African Climate Action Network.  Tel: 9011) 339 3662. Email: sa-can@earthlife.org.sa

Silvermine's controversial pines give way to the fabulous marsh pagoda
In UGF’s  Sep/Oct issue of 2003, we wrote about the construction of a boardwalk accessible to wheelchair users in the Cape Peninsula’s Silvermine Nature Reserve. In that news item, we mentioned that Mimetes hirtus (Marsh Pagoda) was believed to be very rare if not extinct at Silvermine. UGF was therefore delighted, on reading the March issue of Veld & Flora, to see an article making excited mention of the “startling reappearance of Mimetes hirtus in the Silvermine area of Table Mountain”.

Dorothy Malan reports (and Tony Rebelo confirms) that it is due to the back-breaking work done by a hacking group, some of which are Botanical Society members, operational in the Silvermine area that this Red Data species has returned to the marshy area beyond the boardwalk. The removal of the pines, blackwoods and other invaders done by the hacking group, and the fire of January 2000 that followed the clearing, have resulted in the reappearance of this magnificent plant. The stand of this Vulnerable species is reported to be about twenty-five in number with one specimen as tall as 1,5m in height.

Pezula declared most environmentally aware development
Pezula, near Knysna, has achieved international recognition as the Most Environmentally Aware Development in the world, as well as the Best Development in South Africa. The two gold awards were presented to Pezula at a gala banquet for the prestigious Homes Overseas Magazine Awards held at London’s Dorchester Hotel in February 2005.

Peter Rimbault, managing director: development and planning for the Pezula Group, accepted the awards on behalf of the South African-based company and received a standing ovation from the 600 guests, representing the who’s who of the international property scene, in recognition of Pezula’s achievements.

The Homes Overseas Magazine Awards, judged by an independent panel of 52 experts including members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and UK-based international property journalists, are widely acknowledged as the Oscars of the overseas property industry and have become the benchmark for the finest in international real estate and new properties around the world. Judges visited each of the properties that were shortlisted to choose Gold, Silver and Bronze winners from over 100 of the world’s top resort developments on three continents.

The Pezula development includes a 612 ha private estate with 255 homes; a world-class championship golf course and club; a luxury resort hotel and spa and the Field of Dreams sporting facility. 

In acknowledging the development as the Most Environmentally Aware in the world the judges commented: “This development’s environmental credentials do not come packaged up in the tangible form of a building, but rather in the overall concept and management of the development…The ecology of the estate has been further enhanced with a designated botanical garden at the centre of the scheme, covering a three-hectare site, where indigenous plants, shrubs and trees will be grown for the estate… With the increase in natural vegetation and a decrease in commercial logging traffic, a flourishing wildlife has emerged… The Pezula Group’s dedication to this project can be quantified by the full-time team of wildlife and ecology experts who are currently on site.”

Judges described Pezula as “a magnificent development…. when buying at Pezula, you are also buying into a lifestyle offered to few people in even fewer places. The sheer scale of the development and beauty of the surrounding land greatly impressed the judges.” 

The Pezula Private Estate prides itself on being one of the lowest density residential projects in South Africa. Only 15% of the estate will be developed, with the remaining 85% comprising indigenous forest and coastal fynbos – much of which is being rehabilitated on land recently occupied by exotic plantations (see UGF Jan/Feb 2004, page 18). The homes are well spaced to ensure privacy, with plots varying in size from 4,000m2 to 33,000m2.  Every plot has spectacular views of the Indian Ocean, the Knysna Lagoon or the Noetzie River valley and surrounding indigenous forests.

While each home at Pezula will be unique and reflect the owner’s taste, detailed plans must be submitted to and passed by the Pezula board prior to any work commencing. This is to ensure that all buildings are in sympathy with the stringent environmental and design standards set out in the development’s extensive Environmental Management Plans.
Contact Jeannine Orzechowski, Pezula Group. Tel: (044) 302 5357. Cell: 082 881 9468. Email: jeannine@pezula.

Listing and protection of SA heritage sites
In the North West Province, the platform has been set for the creation of a database of heritage resources. The Finnish Environmental Institute has sponsored work done by SRK Consulting to establish the North West Heritage Resources Information System (NW-HRIS).

Maryna Strydom, the project manager and a senior scientist at SRK in Johannesburg, said: “The primary purpose of the project was to design and develop the North West component of the national database of heritage resources (the National Inventory) as is required in terms of Section 39 of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999. Another purpose was to ensure that a structure for sufficient, reliable and geo-referenced data on heritage resources was available for conservation management of these heritage sites and objects. SRK was responsible for the development of the database and GIS design.”

According to the Act, heritage resources encompass places, buildings, structures and equipment – including: places to which oral traditions are attached or are associated with living heritage; historical settlements and townscapes; landscapes and natural features; geological sites of scientific or cultural significance; archaeological and palaeontological sites; graves and burial grounds; and sites of significance relating to SA slavery history.

Strydom explained: “The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA)’s North West office commissioned SRK Consulting and the project was a pilot study for the implementation of the Act, which requires that as part of heritage resources management, a detailed national heritage register be established. The system brings South Africa in line with similar records being kept in other parts of the world.”

The user-friendly database is available on the website, requiring a user name and password allocated by SAHRA. It not only contains information of heritage resource sites in the North West Province but includes data related to site management, protection and site vulnerability. A second part of the system is the geo-referenced spatial data of listed sites.

According to Strydom, the NW-HRIS is a major step forward in the protection of SA’s heritage resources as it makes the information accessible to municipal planners, land use managers and developers in order to promote the protection of heritage resources. The idea is for the database to be used for spatial and development planning and for the evaluation of development plans. It can also be used to provide researchers and tourists with information about the province’s rich heritage.
Contact Sally Braham. Tel: (011) 326 1455. Cell: 083 461 2825. 

Reflecting on wetland management 
The Mondi Wetlands Project reiterates the positive news that South Africa leads the continent in protecting and managing its wetlands (World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2005).  

“South Africa has succeeded in rehabilitating thousands of hectares of wetlands: the forestry industry has cut out plantation trees from over 2 000 ha of rehabilitated wetlands, in an effort to manage their wetlands more sustainably; and the commitment of the Noodsberg Canegrowers in the sugar industry to managing their land sustainably, adds another 31 500 ha of wetland-rich land to the mix,” says national manager of the Mondi Wetlands Project (MWP), David Lindley.

Add to this the conservation of 15 000 ha of communal wetlands and their immediate catchments and there is cause to celebrate the work being done by the Mondi Wetlands Project, Working for Wetlands (a project of the Departments of Water Affairs, Agriculture and Environmental Affairs), Mondi Business Paper, the Noodsberg Canegrowers and communities in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and other rural areas of the country.

“In fact if coastal wetlands, namely mangroves and coral reefs, in Asia, had been better conserved, the recent tsunami may well have done far less damage,” asserts Lindley. One of the major ‘free ecosystem services’ provided by wetlands is flood attenuation. Other services include the healthy functioning of our rivers, stream-flow regulation, water purification, biodiversity protection and food production.

Myanmar and Maldives suffered very much less at the hands of the tsunami because the relatively entact mangroves and coral reefs along their coastlines absorbed much of the tidal fury and restricted the loss of human lives to a little over 100. The growth of tourism has decimated the mangroves and destroyed the coral reefs in many of the badly affected areas of the indian Ocean.

MWP has been working with forestry company, Mondi Business Paper, for nine years to make sure that wetlands on its forestry estates are soundly managed. Two years ago it began to tackle another industry which has major impacts on wetlands – sugar cane.

As Damian Walters, MWP Wise Use Programme co-ordinator, explains: “Sugar cane is amongst a group of crops noted for its heavy water consumption, something a water-scarce country like South Africa can ill afford.

“South Africa has lost about 50% of its wetlands to impacts such as agriculture and urban sprawl. Cane is often planted too close to, or in wetlands, rivers and estuaries. Poor management of cane fields, especially on steep slopes, leads to excessive soil erosion and sedimentation of our wetlands.”

In order to manage the situation, the MWP has initiated a partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Global Freshwater Programme and the Noods¬berg Canegrowers (NCGA) to promote the growing of sugar cane in South Africa in a sustainable manner. Known as the Sustainable Sugar Initiative (SSI), this project aims to pilot Africa’s first environmental management system for sugar cane. The 200 innovative NGCA farmers in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands will shape a tailor-made Environmental Management System (EMS) designed specifically for sugar cane agriculture – a first for Africa and possibly in the world.

Great successes have also been achieved in South Africa’s ‘forgotten’ communal wetlands with the launch of a project to rehabilitate Lake Fundudzi (near Thohoyandou in Limpopo Province), the inland lake which is sacred to the VhaVenda. The MWP community wetlands management programme has cat¬alysed the involvement of the Departments of Agriculture, Water Affairs, and Environmental Affairs, in rehabilitating Lake Fundudzi and its catchment wetlands (see pg 34 Jul/Aug 2003 UGF).

MWP and it’s partners have recently produced a number of resources, mostly available from the project’s website on www.wetland.org.za . They include:
‘Walk your Wetlands’ video: This training video shows plantation foresters, farmers and managers of communally owned wetlands how to use a wetland without significantly impacting on its natural functions (such as flood attenuation). It is available from the MWP for a modest cost of R60 including postage.

Guidelines for managing wetlands in forestry areas: MWP and MWP associate, Donovan Kotze of the Centre for Environment and Development, University of KwaZulu-Natal, have produced guidelines to help forest managers reduce or mitigate the impact of forestry on wetlands by applying best management practices.

Guidelines for including wetlands in catchment management: These have been produced by the MWP together with Umgeni Water, the Water Research Commission and Worldwide Fund for Nature South Africa. To obtain free copies contact the WRC on (012) 330 0340.

Wetland access: This rapid assessment procedure for describing wetland benefits was guided by MWP associate Dr Donovan Kotze and is a collaboration between the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Wetland Consulting Services, MWP, and the Department of Tourism, Environmental and Economic Affairs, Free State. Wetlands provide a host of goods and services to society and this procedure enables managers to determine which goods and services an individual wetland supplies.
Contact David Lindley of MWP. Cell: 083 – 222 9155. Email: lindley@wetland.org.za Website: www.wetland.org.za

Hiking trail in Afromontane grassland
In the northern-most part of the Drakensberg escarpment in Limpopo Province, in the Haenertsburg area, a small community has opened a hiking trail which seeks to raise awareness and appreciation of a 240ha stretch of afromontane grassland. The trail is called the Louis Changuion Hiking Trail and a group of 10 local residents have divided up maintenance responsibilities for the trail, such as clearing the trail of growth and removing alien invaders.

The trail traverses both natural grassland and indigenous forest and both threatened and endemic plants occur along the route. Wildflower posters and medicinal plant and insect booklets provide information to the hiker. Threatened fauna include the Blue Swallow, Methuen’s Dwarf Gecko and the Wolkberg Zulu Butterfly.

The trail, which normally takes about three and a half hours, is about 10km in length and is suitable for those with children. Other trails in the area include the Lesodi Trail through indigenous forests with strangler figs, the rare Samango Monkey and the Narina Trogon, and the Magoebaskloof Hiking Trail into the Woodbush Forest.
Contact Liz Blandy. Tel: (015) 276 4972. Website: www.magoebaskloof.com

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BOOK REVIEWS

Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa
Authors: Phil and Elaine Heemstra
Paintings: Elaine Heemstra
Joint Publishers: The National Inquiry Service Centre, South Africa, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Sponsors: SAPPI, Marine and Coastal Management

Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa is an identification guide to over 400 species of coastal fish found in the tide pools, estuaries, along sandy beaches, rocky shores and on inshore reefs. It includes deep water species of interest to sportsmen and commercial fishermen – providing both illustrations, in the form of original detailed paintings, and descriptions of these species, and additional information about 300 similar species.

The guide is written for anyone interested in fish and is a must for divers, fisherman and fish watchers, while the work will also be of interest to naturalists, students, fishery biologists and ichthyologists. The book aims to assist those wishing to learn more about the biology and ecology of southern African marine fishes.

There are some 1 800 species of coastal fishes which occur along the continental shelf of the southern African coastline, and an indication of the great diversity of our shallow water fish is that these species represent more than 200 fish families – or about 80% of the shallow water marine fish families in the world. The richness of species is due, in part, to the variety of habitat in our area: coral reefs, estuaries, sandy beaches, rocky shores, mud flats, mangroves, kelp beds and ocean depths of more than 5km. About 16% of our coastal fish are endemic species – they occur nowhere else in the world but along the southern African coastline.

A map of the southern African localities is provided on the inside front cover. Simple outline drawings illustrating the fish families in the book provide an easy starting point for the learner. The introduction includes information, often in pictorial form, about the zoogeographic zones and currents, fish anatomy, colouration, shape and size, fish biology and the relationship between people and the sea.

In a short introductory section called ‘The effects of fishing’, it is noted that catches of many sport and commercial fish have declined in recent years – and the foremost reason for this decline is sited as the increase in the number of anglers and commercial fishermen harvesting our limited fish resources (See The End of the Line reviewed in UGF Nov/Dec pg14). The Marine and Coastal Management division of DEAT formulates regulations and policies to ensure the sustainable use of our fish resources but despite steps that have been taken, populations of many of our fish species continue to decline.

The preface of the book includes a message from the previous Minister of the Environment, Mohammed Valli Moosa and he says the remarkable illustrations in the book not only allow us to marvel at the sheer beauty and diversity of South Africa’s marine fishes, but “remind us of the profound responsibility that we have to safeguard this heritage for generations to come…..One of the biggest challenges that we face in South Africa today is to strike a balance between meeting the food security needs of our coastal people, while at the same time ensuring that the resources upon which they depend are managed sustainably.

“Moreover, as a signatory to the Convention on Biodiversity, South Africa has a global responsibility to conserve endemic marine species, many of which are so beautifully presented here.”
Contact National Enquiry Service Centre. Tel: (046) 622 9698. Email: sales@nisc.co.za  Website: www.nisc.co.za  

Gaffney’s Local Government in South Africa 2004-2006
Researchers and publishers: The Gaffney Group
Publisher: Pat Gaffney
Editor: Joy Leon
In association with: South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
Published: December 2004
Hardcover and CD-Rom

This Yearbook, which has been the official local government yearbook (under different names) since 1909, is an extensive 1 400 page publication which contains 9 000 government contacts and unravels the new municipal restructuring, giving easy access to SA’s 284 municipalities.

To find out ‘which town is which’ and ‘who does what’ is a seemingly daunting task which is facilitated by this user-friendly, information-packed compendium. The information covers the entire spectrum of cities, towns and villages, countrywide. Names, positions and contact details of municipal managers, senior officials and key politicians are provided. The demographics and gross domestic product for each municipality are listed, along with local facilities – hospitals, police stations, law courts and places of historical interest. Key development objectives and strategies are also listed.

Maps of all nine provinces show the demarcation and designation of all municipal entities – the names of the towns will be more familiar than the little, as yet, known Metropolitan and District Municipality names. For instance, the Bojanala Platinum District of the North West province includes the Rustenburg and Moretele Local Municipalities, while the familiar Bushbucridge Municipality is in the Bohlabela District Municipality of Limpopo and the Richmond Municipality is in the uMgungundlovu District Municipality of KZN.

A separate section giving information on 11 620 infrastructure and general projects within the various municipalities has been provided. Capital investment projects countrywide, in the spheres of housing, electricity and water and sanitation provision, waste removal, stormwater drainage, health and other community services, are tabulated, with project names, locations and the estimated cost and duration of each venture.
Contact The Gaffney Group. Tel: (011) 268 5804. Email: editor@gaffney.co.za

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TREES OF THE ISSUE

The Podocarpus trees of South Africa
Erika van den Berg is a landscape architect specialising in indigenous planting design and she has chosen to comment on the use of Yellowwoods in the urban environment. Four Yellowwood species occur in South Africa’s evergreen coastal and montane forests: Podocarpus falcatus (Outeniqua Yellowwood), Podocarpus latifolius (Real Yellowwood) and Podocarpus henkelii (Henkel’s Yellowwood or Natal Yellowwood) are straight-stemmed, tall trees; while Podocarpus elongatus (Brede River Yellowwood) is a small tree and often shrubby. The latter has a very limited natural distribution in the south western Cape, along streambanks and on rocky slopes.

As Erika points out, these are our indigenous conifer species and they make excellent replacements for the exotic ornamental conifers in the landscaped environment: “They are evergreen, their shape is neat and compact and the Henkel’s, Real and Breede River Yellowwoods grow naturally into perfect shapes without pruning – in fact, they don’t really like pruning. It is only the Outeniqua Yellowwood that needs pruning, as it is inclined to have a slightly untidy growth habit. It should be pruned in November and then the branches can be used for Christmas decorations.”

She believes that if the same horticultural interest were applied to our Yellowwoods as is applied to the exotic conifers, beautiful cultivars could be created. She mentions the low, sprawling growth habit that she has seen in P. elongatus in rocky areas and suggests, as an example, that if this habit were selected it would make an interesting ground hugging plant to replace the low growing exotic conifers favoured by gardeners.

Male and female cones are borne on separate trees and the name Podocarpus is derived from the fleshy receptacle or base which holds the fruit or female cone – very much in evidence in both P. latifolius and P. elongatus – in Latin podo means foot and carpus, fruit. In these two species the receptacle is used to attract the dispersal agent to the fruit, with its bright red, pinkish red or purplish colour. It is well known that birds are attracted to the colour red.

The fruit is favoured by parrots and louries, and Rameron Pigeons, particularly, utilise the ripe yellow fruit (which is without a pedestal) of Podocarpus falcatus. A story of concern is that the Rameron is being distracted from its task of dispersing the fruit of this important indigenous tree by its newly acquired taste for the yellow fruit of the notoriously invasive Bugweed (Solanum mauritianum). If there are Bugweed ‘forests’ in the vicinity, it ignores the Outeniqua Yellowwood – another destructive aspect of exotic invaders!

The shape and growth habit of the leaves of the Yellowwoods are a way of telling the species apart. P. falcatus has slightly sickle-shaped leaves which are smaller and narrower than those of the other species; while P. latifolius, as the species name implies, has the widest leaves and these are dark green and spread horizontally; and P. elongatus which is a similar species to P. latifolius, has slightly smaller leaves than the latter and these are greyish or bluish green in colour. Lastly, P. henkelii, the Yellow¬wood of the KZN coastal and inland forests, has very distinctive dark green, glossy, long, narrow, drooping leaves.

The Yellowwoods have interesting new growth which is usually pale coloured and contrasts with the mature foliage, giving the tree an added ornamental dimension. The new flush of leaves on P. falcatus is bluish-grey. New growth on P. latifolius is light mauve in colour, while on P. elongatus it is a pale sea green and on P. henkelii it is a soft yellow green. Erika warns that the new growth, which the tree is inclined to put on at any time, including winter, can be susceptible to frost.   

Erika has grown all four species in her Randpark garden and she says well-drained soil is essential for three of the species, with the exception being P. latifolius which can stand with its feet in the water. She emphasises that it is important to water all four Yellowwoods very well to achieve a good growth rate, as they are inclined to be slow growing – except P. falcatus which has a moderate growth rate. In her garden, P. falcatus which was planted 10 years ago is about 7m tall, while P. henkelii which was planted 15 years ago is between 5-6m tall. Both are superb specimen trees.

She comments that since they are forest trees, they don’t like their roots to be exposed and they need a good layer of mulch as protection. She also prefers to keep the branches growing low down on the trunk, as is their natural inclination when the trees are younger, as this simulates forest conditions and keeps the soil cool. She says the branches can be pruned up but that she, personally, feels this detracts from their natural formal appearance. 

She makes the point that P. henkelii can be used very effectively as a screening plant because of its dense growth habit. It can be pruned into a hedge or, because it has a tidy growth habit, left unpruned to form a natural screen with the plants at about 2m apart. She says the Outeniqua Yellowwood makes a beautiful street tree and has been used to line various streets in Newlands, Cape Town, and in some of the main streets of George.

Henkel’s Yellowwood has done extremely well in a row along a street island behind Hyde Park shopping centre in Johannesburg but is obviously better suited to the wider pavement areas of streets rather than narrow road islands, as the branches of these magnificent mature trees, that are in full sun, have to be cut back periodically (giving them a very strange shape) to stop them from encroaching into the street and knocking against taller vehicles.

Erika says her first siting of P. henkelii used in the public domain, that convinced her of the value of the tree in the urban environment, was on the old Middleburg central square, between the church and the City Hall, and also in a beautiful avenue along the main road against the contrasting yellow brick of the Land Bank building. This planting also proved to her that the species was well able to tolerate extremes of hot and cold. She makes the point that, being conifers with adventitious roots, none of the Yellowwood species have aggressive root systems and they are therefore suited to areas adjacent to paving and can be used close to buildings, taking the canopy width into account.

A story relating to one of the Afrikaans names of Podocarpus falcatus – Kalander – is dear to Erika and will be to all those who have read the definitive novel about the Knysna forest by recently deceased Dalene Mathee – Kringe in die Bos. ‘Kalander’ derives from ‘Outeniekwalander-geelhout’ and is the name used for the tree, which plays a central role, in the book. It was this tall, stalwart tree the foresters climbed to get out of the way of oncoming elephants – ‘Groot Voete’.

In the book Remarkable Trees of South Africa, it is the Outeniqua Yellowwood that counts amongst the most remarkable of our Yellowwoods and contributes to the uniqueness of the Garden Route. The Woodville Tree near George reaches 33m into the sky, while its width is 34m. The well known ‘Big Tree of the Tsitsikamma’ reaches some 36,5m high, towering above the forest canopy – while challenging even this height, the King Edward VII tree at Diepvalle has reached 39m with a spreading crown of 29,6m.

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WORDS ON WASTE

A valley of the Silver Sugarbush
There is a wonderful grassland valley above and on the border of the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in Rangeview, part of the Mogale City Municipality, which contains a large and viable population of Protea roupelliae, the Silver Sugarbush. The extensive population on this site is the only record from Krugersdorp and is probably the largest population of this species in Gauteng – and possibly the largest outside of the Drakensburg. The Botanical Garden has put in a proposal to conserve this important relictual element of the floral composition of the Witwatersrand and Mogale City is, at present, considering the incorporation of the important erven into the Garden.

This Rangeview site has for a number of years been scheduled for development and, as far back as 1998, the National Botanical Garden forwarded a proposal to the Krugersdorp Municipality, as it was known at the time, suggesting that the valley containing the large population of Silver Sugarbush proteas be incorporated into the Garden under the same long-term lease arrangement as the existing Krugersdorp portion of the Garden. The proposal was that the land should remain the property of the municipality but be managed by the Garden, according to a sensitive veld management programme.

The conservation of the P. roupelliae habitat and its associated ecology, located in well- developed Rocky Highveld Grassland (Bankenveld), would then be assured for the long term appreciation and use of the people of Mogale City – in the form of hiking trails, guided walks and scientific research.

Living ‘footprints’
The Linksfield-Northcliff-Krugersdorp quartzite ridge has an exceptionally rich flora, including many Afromontane and bushveld relicts (survivors from an earlier age). In his motivation for the conservation of this Protea roupelliae valley, Prof Braam van Wyk of the Department of Botany at the University of Pretoria, says that this species is “the most noticeable, in size and general appearance, Afromontane relict on the Witwatersrand.” He goes on to say that “to destroy this large population of P. roupelliae would be to destroy an historical monument…. with an irreplaceable loss of historical and biological information contained in the genes of these ancient remnants”.

He explains that relicts of this nature reflect past climatic events, providing conclusive evidence that the present Witwatersrand vegetation has evolved through a process of periodic invasions by either moist Drakensberg (Afromontane) grassland/forest, bushveld or arid grassland floristic elements. The present predominantly grassland vegetation is the end result of thousands of years of superimposed plant migration events, which partly explains the very high plant species diversity in these high altitude grasslands.

Van Wyk comments that these isolated relictual populations are the living ‘footprints’ of a now largely extinct local flora left behind, following a gradual change from the wetter and cooler climatic conditions that once existed on the Witwatersrand. During subsequent gradual climatic change to warmer and drier conditions, the Silver Sugarbush was forced into isolated pockets of suitable habitat, which are referred to as refugia.

Because of the size of the population, Van Wyk says it is likely to survive much longer under natural conditions than the smaller relictual populations, some of which are on the brink of extinction. He makes reference to the small population in the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, which is demarcated as one of the highlights of the circular drive around this exceptional grassland reserve.

Robbie Robinson of the Department of Botany at the University of the Witwatersrand also provided a written motivation for the conservation of the P. roupelliae valley, saying that genetic studies carried out by his students on the small relict population in Suikerbosrand suggest that when populations become small and widely spaced from other populations, the genetic diversity declines considerably. He continues: “It also appears that these genetically impoverished population fragments are particularly prone to fungal and insect outbreaks. The population at Rangeview is particularly valuable for conservation because it is of a large size and consists of distinct colonies of plants.

“The latter fact is important as it ensures that disturbances such as fires or disease outbreak are unlikely to affect all the colonies at the same time or with the same intensity. In addition, it makes it possible for seedlings to establish in different colonies at different times and it can support adequate populations of pollinators, ensuring the successful reproduction of the plants. This site is therefore exceptionally suitable for the successful conservation, in as natural a state as possible, of a viable population of Protea roupelliae.”

Red Data List status
The Silver Sugarbush, which is a southern African endemic (found nowhere else in the world), was downlisted on the Red Data List of Southern African Plants (1996) to the category Not Threatened. This category has been used for species which are no longer threatened – either due to an increase in population size or the subsequent discovery of more individuals or populations.

In an official letter, Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture Conservation and Environment (GDACE) gives its full support to the proposed incorporation of the P. roupelliae valley into the Botanical Garden, saying that the Directorate of Nature Conservation is extremely concerned to learn that a species now declared to be “safe” from extinction is again under threat. “If populations of this species continue to be destroyed, the species will again become threatened with extinction and will have to be uplisted on the Red Data List,” says the letter. 

Black Eagles and other reasons for conservation of the site

In the report on the conservation status of this Rangeview site, by Andrew Hankey and Sharon Turner of the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, submitted to the municipality in 1998, mention is also made, in conjunction with the value of the stand of Silver Sugarbush, of the unique vegetation type of the quartzite ridge, as a whole, and the urgent need to conserve viable portions of this  – only 2,7% of Rocky Highveld Grassland is under conservation. A wide diversity of both forbs (non-grassy species) and grasses characterise this vegetation type making it one of the most diverse in South Africa. In Gauteng this vegetation type is highly threatened by urbanisation, industrialisation and mining.

Part of the site recommended for conservation is on the summit of the ridge and should be precluded from development, as recommended by both municipal and provincial policy.

Hankey and Turner relate that the grasslands at the base of the Protea roupelliae valley form a seepage line where water accumulates after summer rain and this creates a habitat niche for two orchids that favour wetter to marshy grassland – Habenaria falcicornis and Habenaria chlorotica. Orchid species are becoming very threatened in Gauteng because of their medicinal properties favoured by traditional healers. GDACE reports, in its motivation to conserve this site, that of the 28 species that are threatened in Gauteng, eight are orchids and three of these belong to the Habenaria genus.

Another important reason for saving this site from development and including it into the Botanical Garden’s Nature Reserve is that it would further increase the size of the natural area in the vicinity and therefore the carrying capacity for small animals – particularly those that serve as prey for the renowned pair of Black Eagles that live and breed in the wild area of the Botanical Garden. Ever-increasing development along the ridge system, regardless of policies discouraging such development, is substantially reducing the prey base of these much loved eagles, making their long term survival in the area uncertain.    

The site has been damaged by off-road vehicles, resulting in erosion and veld degradation. Associated with these activities have been braaiing, littering, cutting of proteas for firewood and timber, dumping and unseasonal burning. Hankey comments that although the veld is still in good condition, it will soon deteriorate if such activities are not halted. He is concerned about the low recruitment of the Silver Sugarbush population, saying that the continual uncontrolled burning of the stand is likely to keep destroying the small saplings and to put the whole population in jeopardy. There are areas where the fuel load is low that are not affected by the burns and saplings are in evidence in such patches.

Management proposal
In 1998, Hankey in his letter to Stefan Du Toit, environmental manager of Krugersdorp TLC, as it was known at the time, expresses his full awareness of the need for development and conservation to go hand in hand and points out that the erven that have been requested for inclusion into the Botanical Garden are but a small portion (about 6ha in all) of the greater area scheduled for development.

The site not only forms the intermediate zone or ecotone between the Protea caffra and Protea roupelliae populations in the area, but represents the dense protea woodland vegetation which characterises the area – most of which is being destroyed.

The veld management programme proposed for the valley includes burning of fire breaks, controlled burning and eradication of alien invasive plants. The area would be managed as an integrated whole with the Botanical Garden Nature Reserve, rather than an isolated area which, if it was retained as open space, would have only limited conservation value because of its size. The long term usage would take the form of hiking trails and guided educational walks, scientific research and representative conservation of this unique and poorly conserved vegetation type.    

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Community champions for the environment in Mamelodi
The JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre
The JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre, which opened in Mamelodi near Pretoria in September last year, has been established as a venue for environmental education, for teachers and learners, in the schools in Mamelodi and the wider Southern Tshwane education district.

The Environmental Centre is a partnership project involving the Jewish National Fund (JNF), Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA), the International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC), the Gauteng Department of Education (GDoE) and the Mamelodi Greening Committee.

The JNF and FTFA have been working with the Mamelodi Greening Committee in the township over a number of years. They were involved together in 1996 in the creation of the President Nelson Mandela Park, a green open space near the Mamelodi Teachers Centre. A subsequent project saw the development of community food gardens. It was from this collaborative work that the idea of the new environmental centre arose. The partnership was then created to incorporate the Gauteng education authorities and the necessary professional expertise for the development of the environmental centre.

The initiative grew into a R2,8 million project, with initial funding (R1,6 million) for the construction of the centre provided by the JNF, and subsequent funding (R1,2 million) secured from the National Lottery Development Trust Fund (NLDTF) for the second phase of development – construction of the four theme classrooms and the educational tools and resources required to make the centre operational.

The project has also been supported by the Community Forestry Directorate of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Gauteng’s Department of Agriculture Conservation and Environment, the Tshwane Metropolitan Council and, alongside the GDoE, the National Environmental Education Programme.

The driving vision is to develop the JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre into a leading environmental education and discovery facility that creates community champions for the conservation of the environment.

The centre offers environmental education training programmes for teachers, providing them with the knowledge, resources and applications to integrate the environment into the outcomes based education (OBE) curriculum. It also plans to host environmental outings for learners, not only at the centre itself but further afield. The aim is to reach all educators and learners in the 72 schools in Mamelodi and in the 186 schools in the wider Southern Tshwane education district – at all levels of the education system – from early childhood development pre-schools to further training and education colleges. Through its work the centre seeks to raise awareness and understanding of the environment and its value, and, in particular, to inspire the youth to use the wealth of our natural heritage with care and so preserve it for future generations.

Nick Heinamann from the Afristar Foundation, who is managing the project on behalf of the JNF, says, “There’s no reason that we shouldn’t see, over the next few years, an Eco-Schools Green Flag and a greening project at every school in Mamelodi.”

Heinamann took over the role of project manager when the first phase of the building was already under construction. Now that the centre is complete, he is focusing on the development and delivery of appropriate resources, materials and training programmes, drawing in existing programmes and directing new materials production where required.

An environmentally friendly building
The environmental centre is constructed adjacent to the Mamelodi Teachers Centre on land owned by the GDoE. From the start it was intended to be an environmentally friendly building – demonstrating sustainable building principles in its construction and operation. A somewhat disrupted design and construction programme, and the fact that the project continued to evolve and grow even once construction was under way, saw this intention compromised to some extent. Nonetheless, the finished building does convey certain ‘green’ building principles and demonstrates the use of alternative technologies in operational applications.

The centre comprises an administration office, a teachers’ resource centre, four theme classrooms – focused on biodiversity, water, energy and waste, a central hall for larger gatherings and workshops, and ablution facilities. Constructed in conventional concrete brick, plastered and painted, with polished concrete floors, a timber roof structure and insulated ceilings beneath corrugated steel roofs, the building provides for passive thermal control of the interior environment and excludes the need for mechanical heating or cooling. All the rooms function with natural ventilation and natural lighting during the day.

Water-saving sanitary fittings are used in the ablution facilities and a dry composting toilet has been installed to demonstrate this alternative to conventional, municipal sewage disposal. Solar water heaters provide hot water in the ablution facilities and grey water is recycled to the gardens. In addition, rainwater is harvested for garden irrigation.

Theme classrooms
Each of the theme rooms has been sponsored by individual donors within the JNF and each is equipped to address specific subjects.

The water room, for example, has been painted (by artist Vanessa Jones) to illustrate an underwater river scene – so the room itself conveys a lot of information visually and can be used directly as a training aid. Posters, exhibits and interactive displays provide additional training tools.

In the energy room, television, video and other educational and display equipment, as well as lighting, are powered by a solar photovoltaic panel mounted outside, providing a practical demonstration of this alternative energy source and how it functions. The energy room also contains demonstration models of a solar cooker and a low-smoke brazier, among other items.

The waste room, which will be used to address issues of waste management, pollution and environmental degradation, includes examples of how waste can be recycled and put to innovative new uses.

The biodiversity room also houses novel teaching tools, games and interactive models which relate to the subject and the concept of the integrated environment.

Organisations such as Rand Water, Eskom, Murray & Roberts and others have contributed to setting up the theme rooms and equipping them appropriately. These organisations are involved too in training facilitators who, in turn, will train the teachers in various aspects of environmental education as well as facilitating school visits to the centre. At the same time, the GDoE has provided guidance to ensure that the training modules and materials developed at the Mamelodi Environmental Centre link into the department’s environmental education programme and are relevant to the broader curriculum.

The outdoor ‘classroom’
The garden functions as an outdoor classroom. It can be used for demonstrations relating to biology and the natural sciences and also supports a number of complementary environmental learning and teaching themes – biodiversity, water management and waste recycling amongst them.

The garden incorporates a medicinal plant trail and a small food garden – demonstrating appropriate companion planting to keep pests at bay. It also provides an example of the principles of permaculture and water-wise gardening with a wide range of indigenous plants.

Swales have been cut through the garden (along the contours) to manage harvested rainwater and the distribution of grey water. A household-scale drip irrigation system is also installed to ensure the garden is watered efficiently without necessitating full-time maintenance. In this system the irrigation tanks, mounted on two-metre high towers, are filled from the on-site borehole, with provision for municipal water to be used if necessary, and the network of irrigation pipes and distribution lines is gravity fed.

The garden provides an excellent reference for educators who want to set up water-wise food gardens at their schools or simple gardens to use as a teaching resource for various subjects.

A nursery has also been established on the site to propagate seedlings, trees, flowers and shrubs for use in the gardens or for sale to the community.

Management
While the JNF is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the centre, day-to-day operations and activities are managed and administered by the GDoE which also takes care of the operational costs. Irvin Malope is the centre manager appointed by the department.

The Afristar Foundation is responsible for co-ordinating and resourcing the various educator development programmes. Nick Heinamann says that a number of one-day workshops – such as FTFA’s EduPlant Programme – have already been run at the centre and teachers from 25 schools are booked in for the first five-day Schools Environmental Education and Development workshop which is to run soon.

“It’s still early days,” he says, “but we’ve made a lot of progress in getting together the environmental education programmes, relevant materials and teaching aids for educators from a network of business organisations and NGOs involved in different fields.”  He credits the NLDTF for its support in funding the second phase of the development and various corporate organisations who have funded resources and materials that have been and continue to be developed for the centre.

Heinamann is confident that the JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre will play a constructive role in developing a sound environmental conservation ethic within the community of Mamelodi and in creating amongst the youth and teachers, community champions for environmental conservation.

He suggests too that the centre provides a community-level model that could be used by the Gauteng government to extend environmental education development and support to other areas in the province.

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The Mtunzini eco-house – best practice?
Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre
Staff housing at the Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre in Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal won the Sustainable Buildings Best Practice Award (Africa region) in the category for residential projects. The awards were presented at the SB ’04 Conference in September last year (see Urban Green File Nov/Dec 2004).

Leigh Darroll spoke to architect Andy Horn of Eco Design Architects & Consultants about the project and visited the site.

A need for staff housing at the Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre led to the brief from WESSA (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa), which manages the centre, for two semi-detached residential units to provide comfortable bachelor apartments with bathrooms and kitchenettes. The units were to house two to four people, and were also to function as an education tool to demonstrate sustainable living. The project was funded by Mondi, which owns Twinstreams, and was to be developed in partnership with the Macambini Tribal Community which lives on Mondi forest land to the south.

Design approach
Taking account of these requirements and the location of the site in coastal dune forest in northern KwaZulu-Natal, the design team developed a series of project objectives that formed the framework for the design response.

In the hot humid climate of the KZN north coast, the building is designed to be naturally thermally efficient and to ensure good cross ventilation. The concept is simple, using relatively low technology, easily replicable within the community.

The building methodology was chosen to be appropriate to the area and adaptable to suit different site conditions. One of the objectives was to maximise the use of natural, locally sourced materials – so reducing the environmental impact of long distance transport and high levels of embodied energy in ‘imported’ materials and, at the same time, supporting the local economy. A further aim was to provide for employment of local unskilled labour and for monies going into the development to be spent within the local community as much as possible.

The emphasis was on labour-based rather than machine-based building practices, the creation of business development opportunities for local micro-enterprises, and skills transfer to local builders – offering them an opportunity to learn alternative building practices to provide safer, more durable housing.

Thus the building system would be educational, both in the process of building and in the finished product, to demonstrate – not only to the builders and labourers on-site or visitors to Twinstreams but also to the wider community – alternative methods of construction that produce housing of good quality and support a healthier community.

Sandbag building
A sandbag building system was chosen for the staff housing project as it answered to the design objectives. Sand is locally abundant and eucalyptus poles and battens could be sourced from the nearby Mondi plantation. The system also presented opportunities for local employment, skills transfer and micro-enterprise development.

Horn says that the construction system developed for the housing at Twinstreams is an adaptation of an existing sandbag building system – the Eco-Beam system developed by engineer Mike Tremeer. The modified system used does away with the prefabricated metal and timber ‘ladders’ and beams of the Eco-Beam system, replacing them with timber-only ladders and timber poles for the roof structure. The structural ladders form the framework for the sandbag walls. The system makes use of saplings – that could be harvested locally from the eucalyptus plantations – for the uprights and some bracing battens, with salvaged timber off-cuts also used as battens.

Working with structural engineers GR Bold & Associates, the Eco Design team built a test wall structure in their Cape Town studio. “We built a corner wall about 2,4m high,” says Horn. “This enabled us to get to grips with the building system at a practical level – the cutting and nailing of timbers, for example, and sizing the bags correctly for the width of the walls. We could then prepare a template defining the size to which the geofabric used for the bags should be cut.   Building the test wall also gave us insights into how best to pack the sandbags. We actually tried packing them the wrong way and learned that even if this were done it wouldn’t compromise the system’s structural stability.

“The engineers were careful in detailing the specifications for how the timbers should be nailed together, at what centres, to what depth, and so on.”

From drawing board to building site
As Eco Design is based in Cape Town and the client’s budget did not allow for regular site visits by the architect, all the design work and instructions on building processes had to be comprehensively finalised before building could start.

Horn explains the approach adopted. “Once the drawings were complete we went to the site. The client had invited interested local builders in the Mtunzini area to attend a presentation on the design and the sandbag building system.

“We had also prepared a 1 to 50 construction model, with removable roofs, to demonstrate how the building should be built, and a construction manual to assist in on-site training. The manual illustrates step-by-step procedures – from timber harvesting and timber treatment (to be done on-site using non-toxic preservatives), to how the ladders should be assembled, how the bags should be sewn, filled and packed, how the roof poles should be fixed to the ladders – covering the whole building process.

“After the presentation and once the builder had been selected, we handed over the drawings, the model and the construction manual. From there on it was over to the client and the builder to see the project through to completion.”

Visiting the finished building, it becomes clear that some gaps crept in between the design vision and its execution. It seems this was due partly to budget constraints but also to building shortcuts.

The roof timbers, for example, appear not to have been treated thoroughly according to the architects’ specifications. Ceilings, which form an important element in terms of the building’s thermal efficiency, have been left out. The clerestory windows at the apex of the roof are not effectively waterproofed and leaks have caused some interior damage. The steel windows installed are of an inferior quality (already some hinges are broken) and the stable doors are of meranti – an imported hardwood – quite contrary to the design specification which indicated steel-framed glass-panelled doors.

The giant bamboo that grows locally was specified for guttering. (This is a system that was used on early farm buildings in the region.) However, in application the bamboo used is not wide enough to contain the rainwater runoff and the lengths are not joined effectively, nor levelled, to carry water away from the building. There are no down-pipes installed. Consequently, rainwater simply gushes off the roof. Bamboo of a suitable size is available locally and is to be sought out to correct this defect.

Steve Untiedt who took over the management of the Twinstreams Centre after the new staff housing had been built also reports that there are problems with the waterless toilets. Apparently, the suppliers suggest that because the toilets are placed on the south side of the building they don’t receive enough sun to dry out the sewage efficiently. They propose that a small fan can be installed to each unit – powered by a small solar panel – to sort out the problem.

Untiedt says that all of these problems can be resolved, with due attention and additional funding. However, it’s important to highlight that these are the kinds of issues that can arise when there is no on-site supervision of construction or effective project management. The practicalities of translating design into built form often require some adjustments on site and certainly the use of inferior or inappropriate materials can be avoided.

Community involvement
In spite of the building problems, the project proved successful in terms of community involvement. It has generated much interest locally and has been dubbed the ‘Mtunzini eco-house’.

During construction, on-site training was provided to unskilled workers. The sandbags were sewn and filled by people in the community and local schools also helped in packing and carrying some of the sandbags used for the walls.

The felling of saplings, salvaging of suitable small-dimensioned timbers from scrap-yards, and the pre-assembly of timber ladders, all supported local micro-enterprise and have stimulated a potential new market for this system of building.

Horn mentions that the rainwater tanks – although not yet built – are also designed to make use of the local bamboo and could support another micro-enterprise opportunity.

“The bamboo-crete tanks,” he explains, “are constructed with a wicker basket type of frame, made with the bamboo, which is then plastered with a conventional sand-cement plaster, quite thickly so that the plaster bonds through the basket and forms an impermeable container.” He adds that the raffia palm, which also grows around Mtunzini and along the north coast, can be used in the same way. The raffia palm is in fact used quite widely by the community as a building material – in fencing, shuttering, and wall panels or wall cladding, for example.

By using local resources in simple ways and strengthening skills and training, the Mtunzini eco-house has promoted self-reliance and economic empowerment in the local community.

Environmental performance
The plan of the building and placement of openings provides for high levels of natural light and effective cross ventilation. The curved roof allows hot air to rise and escape through louvred clerestory windows which can be opened manually.

The sandbag walls provide good thermal and acoustic properties. Horn explains that once the sandbags are in place, a clay plaster is used to fill any gaps along the edges and to ‘prime’ the timber ladders – as timber doesn’t receive conventional plaster well. A chicken-wire mesh is laid against the clay plaster before the final plaster mix of sand, lime and cement is applied to the walls.

The roof is of corrugated iron, which is generally available in most areas of the country, and it suited the required span and curve for this building. As indicated above, ceilings – with insulation – were specified to support effective control of the interior temperature. Without the ceilings, the interiors do get hotter than they should.

All materials and finishes for the building were specified to avoid toxic pollutants and ensure good indoor air quality.

The use of energy-efficient lighting and solar water heating systems reduces electricity use and saves on electrical running costs. According to Horn research has documented that solar water heaters typically save between 40% and 60% of a household’s electrical bills. The use of energy-efficient lamps can achieve savings of up to 80% on electricity costs for lighting.

Solar photovoltaic panels were also planned to provide an alternative energy source for lighting and electrical appliances. However, the budget did not allow for this extra cost.

The installation of water-efficient fittings, waterless composting toilets, and provision for grey-water recycling, all support water conservation and assist in minimising water costs. The water-efficient showerheads installed use 11 to 12 litres a minute, compared to the 20 to 22 litres a minute used with conventional showerheads. Tap aerators installed cut water flow by 50%.

All these factors, together with the low embodied energy of the building achieved by using locally available natural materials as far as possible, contribute to its performance in environmental terms. Horn says that it way exceeds the performance of the standard concrete-block house with concrete roof tiles and flat ceilings which is typical to Mtunzini – and many other towns and cities across the country.

Twinstreams
Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre is owned by Mondi and managed by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA). It is one of four environmental education centres run by WESSA in KwaZulu-Natal.

The rehabilitation of the dune forest at Twinstreams was begun by Dr Ian Garland in 1952, to re-establish the natural coastal habitat that had been destroyed by cultivated forest plantations extending right down to the coast. When the land was later bought by Mondi, it was with the condition from Dr Garland that the rehabilitated area should remain protected. The Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre was established in 1996 as a joint project between Mondi and WESSA and was developed under the mentorship of Dr Garland.

The centre has two dormitory buildings, with kitchen, dining and ablution facilities, separate teachers’ cottages and a teaching centre. Every year about 6 000 learners visit Twinstreams to learn about the rich biodiversity of coastal dune forests, estuarine mud flats, tropical beaches and mangroves, as well as other environmental issues.

Twinstreams is situated in the larger Siyayi Coastal Reserve run by KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife. The Siyayi Reserve stretches from the Umlalazi River in the north – which enters the Indian Ocean near the town of Mtunzini – in a narrow band along the coast almost as far south as the Thukela River.

Mtunzini itself is a declared conservancy (since 1995) and maintains a firm policy and practice of promoting environmental conservation in the area. In 1999 the town received a Conservation Award from KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife in recognition of its outstanding commitment to preserving the natural environment in KwaZulu-Natal.

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Waste, rats and owls: an Eco-School's approach
Monde Primary School in Katlehong wins a Green Flag

Monde Primary School in Katlehong, Gauteng, has been working towards better environmental planning for the whole school through the guidance of the Eco-Schools programme and, according to facilitator Sue Bellinger, the enthusiasm and commitment of the principal, Nozuko Mathanyela, and the ‘Green Team’ at the school has been impressive. The school was awarded its Green Flag in early February this year and is working with the community to reduce waste volumes that are causing serious rodent problems in the area.

The Eco-Schools Programme
Eco-Schools and the Green Flag are about transformation. It is a sister programme to the international Blue Flag acknowledgement for beaches that has been worked for and attained by a number of South Africa beaches, over the past few years.

Eco-Schools is an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education, which operates in more than 27 countries around the world.  It encourages ‘whole-school’ improvement through better environmental learning and management of the school environment. In South Africa, schools that register for the Eco-Schools Programme and submit a portfolio showing how they have improved the quality of both environmental learning and management at their school may qualify for the Green Flag.

In South Africa, the Eco-Schools Programme is managed by the Wildlife & Environment Society (WESSA), in partnership with WWF-SA and with support from Nampak. The national co-ordinator is Kim Ward.

The programme has been restructured in conjunction with the Department of Education to address Curriculum 2005. Environmental learning with a sustainability focus is incorporated into lesson plans and into the operation of the school – with objectives such as decreasing water consumption and energy usage on the school premises, along with addressing waste management and other health issues. The programme structure is designed to take information – lessons learnt in school – and activities into the wider community to contribute to both community health and to reduce pressures on the environment.

The programme is based on ongoing improvement. The Green Flag has to be re-applied for each year and schools are encouraged to submit portfolios at the end of each year, which are based on the priorities and objectives they have set for themselves for that year. Schools are not compared with each other, but are rewarded for ‘internal progress’, as defined by the particular school.

The Eco-Schools Programme encourages learners to take an active role in running their school and community to the benefit of the environment. Three hundred and forty-one schools registered for the Eco-Schools Programme during 2004 and 125 of these were awarded Green Flags, 25 of them winning the flag for the second consecutive year.

Monde Primary School’s activities
Sue Bellinger of Enviro Fringe Services came in as a facilitator with funding attained through WWF-SA to co-ordinate a node of schools in Gauteng. Having seen Delta Environmental Centre achieve success through intensive involvement with a few schools over a longer period, she requested to work with one school only, so that she could give them her full attention and help them to put their programme into full effect. The school was Monde Primary School in Katlehong and the funding was provided by Trident Steel.

The school went through the required seven step process and the following activities and plans, which qualified them to win a Green Flag, came out of the process.

They raised funding for and installed two rainwater tanks. They improved the school’s vegetable garden. They investigated sewage that was leaking into the road, talked to the relevant home owner and conferred with the municipality about the problem of leaking sewage in the community as a whole.

They monitored the school’s water and electricity consumption and followed steps to reduce both. A workshop conducted by Trident Steel was held to teach learners and the community about fixing water leaks and this was put into practice at the school. They learnt to turn off equipment and lights that were not in use and took out one of the fluorescent tubes from overhead lighting, where there was already adequate natural lighting. The principal has applied for and been granted permission for the school to receive and pay its own electricity bills, directly – to help the school to monitor its energy consumption.

Principal Mathanyela has already applied to and received funding from the Gauteng Department of Education to collaborate with five other schools in the area on the Eco-Schools Programme, in the spirit of partnership and sharing. The long-term goal is for schools around the globe to develop relationships with one another.

Dealing with the waste related rodent problem
The school was alarmed that rats were eating their vegetables and they came to recognise that the presence of accumulated waste in the area was the cause of the problem. It is another of Monde’s ambitious plans, strongly encouraged by the principal, to work towards educating the surrounding community about the uncontrolled waste volumes that are causing their rodent problems and to encourage reduction of waste. Ultimately, their innovative goal is to practice natural rodent control through attracting owls into the area.

The school has already set about working with the community to break down the taboos about owls and to explain their positive role in rodent control. Joe Pue of BirdLife SA was invited to talk to the working group and the positive impact he had, as a member of the same cultural group as the community members, knew no bounds. The working group was fascinated by his knowledge of owls and the process of putting their fears to rest was initiated. At the same meeting, an enterprising parent came to talk about a rodent control programme utilising cages that he had already put into practice in the area.
Contact Kim Ward, Eco-Schools Co-ordinator. Tel: (033) 330 3931. Email: kim@futurenet.co.za

Eco-School Activities
1) Establish a working group – comprising educators, members of the governing body and the school management team, parents, learners and members of the community.
2) Audit seven specific aspects of the school environment and identify learning opportunities.
3) Choose at least three focus areas from these.
4) Draft an environmental policy.
5) Develop and implement lesson plans with learning activities that link with school policy and sustainable management in those areas of learning. These plans might incorporate the measuring of water runoff from the school’s roofs or calculating daily water usage at the school, into mathematics classes.
6) Take action involving the whole school and wider community – planting trees on Arbor Day – fixing leaks.
7) Develop a portfolio which reviews progress (record keeping) and sets future goals.

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Providing a fair way for wildlife
Every living organism is reliant on an ecological system as well as ecological processes for its sustainable existence. Under the flag of ‘system’, ecologists list the biotic and abiotic elements of nature including earth (soil and rocks), water, air and all living organisms. Ecological processes include the movement and migration of living organisms, the creation and demise of living organisms, the shift in meteorological conditions known as seasons, cataclysmic events such as fires, floods, droughts and earthquakes, and the interaction between living organisms. The mere existence of an organism is no cause for jubilation, as the individual may not be in balance with its ecosystem or ecological process. The organism may be ecologically non-functional as a species, if it does not contribute to the bigger picture of ecosystems or ecological processes.

A recent advert featuring a prominent golfer portrays a beautiful savannah scene behind the celebrity who is pointing to the lush bush. His words are something like: “… all that is needed now is some greens and golf balls..”   Tongue in the cheek it may be…. but it may also represent the death blow to the lives of many organisms that generally go unnoticed. 

People, including birdwatchers, are inclined to focus on the ‘glamorous’ wildlife species such as birds and large mammals. The perception that birds are good bio-indicators is unscientific, as birds are so far up the food chain that impacts at grass roots level of the ecology take a long time to affect them. Millions of other unseen creatures perish in mankind’s quest for development and ecologists are concerned that we often lose species that have never been described or even observed in their natural state.

Pointing my accusing finger at golf courses is perhaps unfair, as my own footprint is as deeply embedded in the demise of wildlife as is everyone else’s: I own a house, drive a vehicle, generate garbage and greenhouse gases, use electricity, eat plants and animals, and also hunt now and then. Yet, the growth in the number of golfing estates and golf courses around South Africa is reason for concern – especially in view of the broad environmental impacts in the short, medium and long term. The initial damage caused by the transformation of natural habitat into golf course is one thing, but the ongoing effects may be more damaging than the development itself.

Pesticides and fertilisers form part of golf course management. It is senseless to say that a golf course can be kept up to standard without these chemicals, yet we know that there is a negative spin-off to their application. The problem with pesticides is that some estate managers apply products that are not registered for application to greens or lawns. Certain pesticides are specialised and are developed and manufactured specifically for application to lawns or greens. Given the potential impacts of any pesticide, the accepted reasoning is that one can apply such pesticides responsibly and therefore minimise the potential impacts. Responsible pesticide application starts with the label of the product. Following the label instructions guarantees effective management of the pest (weeds, insects, nematodes, arachnids, fungi and bacteria), while posing a very limited risk of affecting non-target organisms. 

There are a few general principles to be adhered to in terms of responsible pesticide application and the first is to use only products that are registered for golf course applications. I have been very concerned to hear that some estate managers use aldicarb or carbofuran to exterminate earthworms on their landscaped estates or golf courses. Earthworms are essential for both soil structure and total functionality, and to exterminate such highly beneficial organisms is not only against the principles of sensible management but also a terrible blow to other organisms, such as the birds that prey on earthworms. The two products mentioned are specifically designed to control nematodes in crop production situations and, under normal application procedures, they pose only a limited risk to wildlife. However, the way in which I have heard they are being applied on golf courses, by spreading the chemical over the greens, poses a massive threat to all wildlife and especially to birds. Both products are extremely toxic, especially aldicarb, and should a wagtail, for example, ingest one granule, it would be dead within half an hour.

A second important aspect of responsible pesticide application is to use the products only when the symptoms of pests or diseases become apparent. There is a tendency to apply pesticides prophylactically. This is a waste of product and of money and a source of environmental contamination. Very few pesticides are designed to act prophylactically and therefore they should not be considered for such purposes. 

Thirdly, it is important to apply the correct dosage and the information is available on the label. Overdosing is not going to solve the problem faster or more effectively. It will only contaminate the environment and kill non-target organisms. Underdosing is often the result of the applicator’s reasoning that the pesticide is expensive and therefore a little less in the spray can will save money. This is not the correct way of doing things, as it results in organism resistance to pesticides and long term management problems.

Getting back to birds – one can manage habitat for the sake of birds. It would be better, however, to manage the habitat to accommodate all the biota, including the invertebrates. Undisturbed natural vegetation is the basis of a balanced ecology. Restoring habitat to what it used to be before the development took place is an option, but there may be a few problems here. South Africans are beginning to favour indigenous gardening and that in itself is a real plus point for the conservation of biodiversity. But, when you ‘restore’ habitat by planting indigenous, it is essential to plant species that are indigenous to that particular area. Don’t plant Zululand palm trees on the Highveld and don’t even consider Cape proteas for the bushveld.

Plants that are from one ecological region cannot support the diversity of wild creatures from an entirely different ecological region and therefore they contribute very little to the overall richness of biodiversity. Plants that are indigenous to the area are hardy, support the invertebrate life of the region and offer roosting and breeding areas to the birds, while supporting other organisms that should inhabit the area.
Article by Prof Gerhard H Verdoorn, director of Birdlife South Africa.