Jill Reid, Knysna:
I am an author (Butterfly Gardening in South Africa), magazine journalist (Veld & Flora, SA Gardening, Country Life and others), a botanical artist exhibited widely, and media officer for the Grahamstown Settlers Monument (duties include staging exhibitions for the Grahamstown Festival, Young Artist Awards, and others). Above all, I am a gardener.
Approximately a year-and-a-half ago I was invited by Nanna Joubert, whom I had met some years ago in Oudtshoorn when she had purchased a botanical work from me, to join the Pledge alien-clearing group in Knysna.
This I did, and along with a lovely group like-minded volunteers, I spend a joyous hour-and-a-half each Wednesday morning helping to clear selected areas choked by invasive species, as well as collecting litter, discarded plastic, and broken glass, which we remove for recycling.
In the short time I've been with the group – which often includes botanists, environmentalists, horticulturists, students and teachers – the improvement of the land has been palpable.
I have also had the real pleasure of seeing for the first time in my life, and freeing from its clotting overgrowth, a rare Dioscorea burhelli, related to the well-known Dioscorea elephantipes or elephant's foot – one of South Africa's most strange and interesting plants, and which is a source of natural cortisone.
From time to time, and as an awareness exercise, groups of interested people such as ornithologists, foreign students, tourists, interested parties, and young people, are invited to join in with a weeding session, which is, of course, strictly monitored. Truly the green heart of Knysna! And I heartily commend Nanna and her "weeding warriors" for consciously making a difference.
