KNYSNA NEWS - Wessa Eden invites the public to visit Pledge Nature Reserve, Knysna which is healing after the fires and to celebrate the new growth.
Nanna Joubert and Pat Nurse will lead us around the reserve, located in the centre of town, from 10:00 to 12:00 on Saturday 18 November.
This is a fundraiser for the reserve with a participation fee of R50 per person, but larger donations will be most welcome.
Join in this special occasion by emailing Christine Ridge-Schnaufer at wessageorge@isat.co.za on or before 15 November for a reservation.
The fires of June virtually annihilated the reserve, but with the recent rains, regrowth has started, says Joubert
"I have an album dedicated to the new growth, one called New Growth – The Good and the other New Growth – The Bad (luckily the bad only have a few species!)
"We're very excited that our fynbos burnt, and already see some lovely resprouting and germination.
"Unfortunately we also have black wattle coming up by the millions and we've got our work for the next few years cut out for us," says Joubert.
In 2015, Deon Swart wrote the following about the history of Pledge: "This 10-hectare gem, tucked away in the heart of Knysna, is both relatively unknown and underutilised.
The healing power of nature has brought forth this bright little face.
"The result of sheer dedication and effort on the part of a band of exceptional individuals, Pledge offers visitors and residents a taste of the ecology and biodiversity that existed in the town prior to the major impact that human development had on the natural landscape.
"The evolution of Pledge, a mosaic of indigenous forest, fynbos and wetland, is a remarkable story.
"Unfortunately as Knysna further developed the watercourse silted up and flash floods further denuded and degraded the landscape, to the point that the land was abandoned and became an informal dumping ground where alien vegetation thrived.
"A far-sighted town councillor, Kitto Erasmus, proposed in 1988 that the public be enlisted to assist in eradicating alien vegetation from Bok-se-Kloof as an Arbor Day project.
New fynbos sprouts.
"Together with Margo Mackay of the local Wildlife Society, hacking parties were organised to tackle the 14 known invader species in Bok-se-Kloof. "
Another pivotal player in the evolution of Pledge was Margaret Addinal, an extraordinary woman who survived leukaemia.
"The Pledge Nature Reserve management committee was established in 1989 with Margaret as the reserve’s first curator and Kitto the first chairman.
A major turning point was the decision by the Wildlife Society (now named Wessa) to adopt Bok-se-Kloof as an environmental rehabilitation project for the branch – this resulted in a generous grant being awarded by SC Johnson & Son, a manufacturer of household products including the Pledge furniture care range.
Pledge Nature Reserve was thus named and established, the project receiving M-Net’s Nature Foundation Award in 1991.”
* For the full article and more information, see Facebook/Pledge Nature Reserve - Knysna.
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