ZVT news pump: Pump Stations – Getting Pumped Up
In early August the rusting Clifton Road pump completely failed and Muizenberg Beach had be closed while Council fixed it and did its best to “honey suck” the fetid flow. You could smell the $#!% around there for days. Failing sewage pump stations have been the bane of lives for
When Dreams Come True
View from the Chair I arrived in Cape Town, green and eager to read for an environmental sciences degree. I had grown up swimming and fishing in the river where we lived (still a green belt somewhere north of Joburg). I was shocked to see kilometre after kilometre (between 200
Westlake Garden
After several years’ neglect we have focused efforts on cleaning up our Westlake garden. This indigenous garden was one of the first projects that brought the Trust together more than 30 years ago when the ground opposite the Lakeside shops was a rubbish dump and choked with alien invasive plants.
Vrygrond Sunbird Garden
After months of procrastinating (mainly about how to secure a garden space in an informal settlement where anything of material value that is not bolted down grows legs), Vrygrond resident Neville Williams’s dream of creating an indigenous garden in his hood materialised on what was previously a rubbish tip. Ground
The Quandary of the Pondweed
It is no secret that our beautiful vlei is facing serious challenges which appear to have increased rather drastically over the past few years. Sewage leaks (mainly) have caused an overload of nutrients into the system, resulting in murky water, a shift in aquatic plant growth and often leaving homes
Photo competition: Zandvlei in Focus – Give It Your Best Shot
Do you love photography and capturing the beauty of the Zandvlei Area and its surrounds? If so, we have a competition for you. First prize 1 x R2000 online printing voucher at ORMS Second prize 1 x R1000 online printing voucher at ORMS Third prize 1 x R500 online printing
Nature Notes And News: A New Species for the Vlei
With the long mouth opening and corresponding extremely low water levels in June, an exciting find was made in the mud flats adjacent to Night Heron Island (the small island due west of the Park Island bird hide). Reserve manager Kyran Wright came upon a species not previously recorded in
Litterers Never Sleep
The metal litter grille upstream of Marina da Gama: unfortunately theft of the surrounding traps results in overspill of trash that has to be caught downstream. The planned bio-filter will be situated between here and our current nets. Although we have not been so visible as in the
Litter Matters: In the Net
As we go to press the CoCT is installing channel-wide nets in the Lotus River canal to catch the storm of litter that washes down that neck of the Cape Flats and into Zeekoevlei. If you thought our litter problems were bad you’ve not seen what washes down the Big
How the “litter monsters” were born
Previous chair of the Trust, David Muller, spearheaded the move to create art-installation litterbins at the litter hot spot of Thesen’s Bridge across The Narrows near the estuary mouth. They were supposed to be otters, but turned out the artist-welder Innocent Kasanhayi had no idea what an otter looked like.
Help Care for the Vlei – Join the Trust
The Zandvlei Trust’s strives to enhance the benefits of the nature reserve for all and aid in its conservation. These objectives can only be achieved by means of your participation and involvement. We need your support and assistance to make things happen. Become a member, and join like-minded people in
FynbosLIFE: Where There’s Fynbos, There’s Life
By Caitlin Von Witt Wintertime means planting season and so it’s been all systems go for us these past few months. In March FynbosLIFE was contracted by the internationally funded “SOS Rapid Response” active restoration project run by Friends of Tokai Park, for the project’s revegetation component. Since then we
BoSSIES: People are Doing it for The Strandveld
The BoSSIES project was started in 2007 as a partnership between the Zandvlei Trust and the City of Cape Town. The idea was to plant indigenous species along local sidewalks with the aim of reconnecting people with – not just nature as it is, but nature as it once was