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ARID NEWS
Arbor Month and World Rivers Day celebrated at Augrabies Falls National Park
By Genevieve Maasdorp
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The SET department of Augrabies Falls National Park celebrated Arbor month this year at Vredesvallei Primary School by planting a local tree species, namely Searsia pendulina. The learners were excited to be part of this important day and promised to look after their own special tree which is also a local species found in the area surrounding their homes and the park.
South Africa celebrates Arbor Week in the first week of September every year and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), as the custodian of forestry in South Africa, is responsible for the campaign. September is also heritage month and as we celebrate Arbor Week, we also focus on the country’s champion trees which include some of the oldest, largest and culturally significant trees. These include the Sophia Town Oak Tree and the Sagole Baobab Tree in Limpopo, both of which are part of our heritage.
National Arbor Week is an opportune time to call on all South Africans to plant indigenous trees as a practical and symbolic gesture of sustainable environmental management. It affords the government, the private sector, non-governmental and community-based organisations, as well as the public to be involved in ’greening’ their communities, since planting trees and greening human settlements takes place in communities. It is therefore important for the public to join hands with partners in local government and communitybased organisations.
Greening refers to an integrated approach to the planting, care and management of all vegetation in urban and rural areas, to secure multiple benefits for communities. Greening in the South African context takes place in towns, townships and informal settlements, specifically because in the past, the latter mentioned areas were
Vredesvallei Primary School planting a tree in celebration of Arbor week
disadvantaged in terms of planning for parks and tree planting in streets and open spaces.
Augrabies Falls National Park also celebrated World Rivers Day with the Midstream College group. The group enjoyed an overnight stay at the park which was followed by a rowing excursion downstream from the park. The maintenance team participated in this celebration as well as they all live in a community that is situated right on the northern bank of the Orange river. The team were given an introduction of the protected trees and recycling awareness campaign, and to top this off, brand new baboon-proof bins will be distributed all over the rest camp and the staff village.
World Rivers Day is a celebration of the world’s waterways and it highlights the many values of our rivers, strives to increase public awareness, and encourages the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world. Rivers in virtually every country face an array of threats, and only through our active involvement can we ensure their health in the years ahead.
Learners experience fly fishing at Augrabies Falls National Park
By Christine du Plessis
Happy Fly fishers, Vredesvallei Primary School and the Perde Eiland Primary School
Despite all the challenges and uncertainty that the levels of lockdown bring, a fly fishing invitational was recently arranged and successfully held, which came as a first for the park. The Northern Cape Tourism Authority (NCTA) was the main sponsor, with GT Productions and Kalahari Adventures as the event organisers.
The NCTA Augrabies Falls Fly Fishing invitational attracted 24 anglers with two, unfortunately, having to withdraw due to COVID-19. The anglers came from Mpumalanga, KwaZuluNatal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, North-West and the Northern Cape. All were excited about being given the opportunity to fly fish in the Orange river in the Northern Cape, as well as inside the Augrabies Falls National Park itself.
Over a three-day period everyone rotated in pairs between three exceptional fishing sites, called beats, one inside the park in the gorge at Echo corner and two outside the park on private land. Typical of the current unpredictable winter weather, a cold front suddenly moved in, making it utterly uncomfortable to be outdoors, and a stiff climb to get out of the river gorge provided additional physical challenges. Yet, the anglers were not one bit deterred by the extreme conditions, but rather saw it as a great adventure. More than 117 fish were caught,released and data recorded. The largest catch was a largemouth yellowfish, weighing in at 6,5kg. A sharptooth catfish of 16kg was also caught. Other fish species that were caught were smallmouth yellowfish, common carp, mudfish, barb and tilapia.
The prize-giving evening was filled with good cheer and high spirits as all the participants received great mock prizes. The overall winners, Eddie Rall and Des Fourie, walked off with the floating trophy, an all-expenses paid fishing trip and two return Airlink tickets anywhere in South Africa. The cherry on top however, was that a development fund was initiated after the prize-giving and a local youth team (hopefully consisting of a male and female) will be given the opportunity to develop their skills and participate next year.
But the excitement was certainly not over. The park made arrangements with four local schools located close to the Orange river to give a total of 13 Grade 7 learners the opportunity to experience fly fishing and river conservation in the form of an open day. To minimise interference with the already complicated school schedule, the open day was split into two afternoon sessions. Unfortunately, two schools had to withdraw at the last minute due to COVID-19 complications, but the programme continued with ten learners from the two remaining schools.
On the first afternoon, in icy cold weather, they were taken on a game drive and down into the gorge at Echo corner inside the park to experience fly fishing first–hand, and to gain information on how such an event was structured. On the second afternoon they were taken down to the river on Vaalkop island outside the park. They were divided into three teams, which rotated between learning to how use a paddle boat coupled with river safety and conservation, how to cast fly lines and the intricate link between entomology and the flies/bait.
The learners were extremely excited and participated with great enthusiasm. The entomology and bait activity opened a whole new world to them and had them turning over rocks in the water, eagerly searching for insects at different larval stages to compare with the bait. The casting of the fly lines soon created a competition as each tried their hand at the rod. The paddling lesson and being able to finally navigate a small rapid was the ultimate joy.
They were rewarded with SANParks caps, masks, A Trail Through Nature books, NCTA branded hoody sweaters and lunch and picnic refreshments. Their introduction to the scientific and technical sport of fly fishing will certainly be long remembered, if not forever.
