The Village NEWS - May 8, 2019

Honouring the big cats of Africa. Rescue lion, Oliver, surveys his kingdom at sunset at the Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary near Stanford.

Photo: Panthera Africa

Working on Fire: working for Camphill, South Africa and the world

Writer Raphael da Silva

Whether battling infernos precariously on mountain slopes, marching triumphantly through towns after a successful day's work, completing mopping-up exercises or deploying the latest in home-grown advanced fire-fighting technology, the men and women in yellow shirts have become a familiar and welcome part of the Overberg landscape.

Many residents literally owe their lives and their homes to the determination, professionalism and fearlessness of Working on Fire (WoF). But, in one of their biggest challenges yet, their skills, expertise and fortitude are being put to the test in the Hemelen-Aarde Valley, where a 25-member team has set up a ‘base camp’, for the next three months, to put out the underground peat fires that have made it impossible for Camphill School children and personnel to return home.

Working in toxic gas conditions that are constantly monitored by meters, smouldering smoke, and ground that can give way under one’s feet at any time, WoF is employing a unique spike that they developed in Indonesia when they were asked, in 2015, to assist in fighting underground peat fires in South Sumatra.

Showing off the spike that was developed by Working on Fire are (from left to right) Lester Smith (Overstrand Fire Chief), Lauren Howard-Clayton (WoF Provincial Communications Officer), Shane Christian (WoF: National General Manager), Ray-Yaan Majiet (WoF: Ground Operations Manager), Angelo Aplon (Overstrand Assistant Fire Chief), Melany Duthie-Surtie (WoF: WC General Manager) and Tarron Dry (Overstrand Municipality: Environmental Officer). The spike was developed when WoF was asked to assist the Indonesian government in November 2015 in fighting destructive underground peat fires that had been raging for over six weeks in South Sumatra.

This is the first time that this spike is being used in South Africa. Focusing on an 800 m², WoF uses the power of the water that squirts out of holes along the spike to drill down into the ground and flood the peat from the bottom up. Nine 1.4 – 1.5 metre deep holes are drilled per square metre of land.

In their first day of operations on 1 May, WoF completed a 80 m² portion, but the land will need to be repeatedly flooded to extinguish the fires. While WoF normally operates on a 24-hour schedule, the dangerous conditions have forced them to only work during the day.

Wiseman Thulani Mbele, Type 2 Crew Leader from the Kleinmond base, is one of the members of the team. “This is the first time that we are doing this but so far, so good. The team just adapted, very easily and quickly.”

Part of the many challenges facing WoF is that the ground has fractured into honeycomb cracks through which a strong-smelling combination of sulphates, carbon dioxide and methane are seeping. Tarron Dry, Overstrand Municipality: Environmental Officer, says they have taken infrared photos to determine the surface temperatures but, in some places, the fire goes down four metres. In areas towards the centre of where WoF is working, temperatures of 330 degrees Celsius have been recorded. “It’s a very dangerous place to be working,” he adds.

Shane Christian, National General Manager, says, “The project in the Overstrand is just one of our day-today challenges that come along, and we have to adapt.”

Normally, WoF team members set up camp and make do in whatever environment they are put in. But this time, Camphill has donated its premises. “This is quite a luxury. We even have DStv,” jokes Shane.

Amid toxic gas and smouldering smoke, the Working on Fire team deploys their innovative spike technology to flood the underground with water to put out the peat fires.

Photo: Working on Fire

Angelo Aplon, Overstrand Assistant Fire Chief, says the subsurface fire along the section of the Onrus River at Camphill has been burning since 11 January 2019 and they were unable to extinguish it. This is why WoF has been asked to help. Even the recent rains in March and April have not had an effect in filling up the water table.

“This is not an ordinary fire,” says Overstrand Fire Chief, Lester Smith. “There were a lot of different options but this is the way we have decided to move forward.”

One of the crucial reasons for calling in WoF is the environmental sensitivity of the area.

A statement by the Overstrand Municipality says, “This wetland is characterised as the only remaining piece of palmiet vegetation wetland, which plays a critical role in the functioning of the Onrus River and the Onrus Estuary and is of considerable ecological importance and must, therefore, be protected.”

Simply put, this wetland, which WoF is fighting to save, is the only natural filtering system that keeps the Onrus Estuary in balance, which is important not only for the recreational and agricultural activities of the surrounding community, but also for the survival of its faunal and floral systems.

According to the Onrus River Estuary Forum (OREF), the peatland covers an extensive area of 33 hectares and is estimated to be 12 000 years old. The fire is burning in a nine-hectare area that is eroded and covered with aliens. WoF’s focus is on 800 m² in this area. The peat is 7.25 m deep, although, in the central channel, it is even deeper.

Along with Working of Fire, this Public-Private Partnership project involves Camphill, Overstrand Municipality, the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Enviro Wildfires, landowners, the Breede Gouritz Catchment Area (BGSMA) and more.

The job that Working on Fire is doing is DANGEROUS. Please AVOID the area and let the experts get on with their work. Apart from smoke, there are potentially toxic gases. This dynamic and dangerous fire has resulted in the ground becoming soft and unstable. There are places where it just sinks away and you could be trapped.

Working on Fire Facts

• Over 5 000 people, 94% of whom are youths, across 200 bases in South Africa

• Recruits are trained in fire awareness and education, prevention and fire suppression skills

• 31% of team members are women, the highest level in any comparable fire service in the world

• 3% are disabled

• A subsidiary of Kishugu Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Working on Fire is actually an example of providing a private sector solution to a state-owned entity. Since 2003, Kishugu has been re-awarded the Project WP9191 tender and the project has grown by 30% per annum. In 2013, WoF was awarded a seven-year contract by the Department of Environmental Affairs

• WoF is widely regarded as the best performing Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in South Africa

• WoF South Africa has partnerships with Indonesia, Canada, and Mexico

Wiseman Thulani Mbele, Type 2 Crew Leader from the Kleinmond Team, is one of the 25-member team tackling the underground peat fire at Camphill School. He was also one of the unsung heroes who fought the Knysna fire in June 2017.

Originally from Lady Frere in the Eastern Cape where he was raised by his grandmother, Working on Fire Crew Leader, Wiseman Thulani Mbele, moved to Villiersdorp in 2009 to stay with his parents.

“While growing up, I pushed very hard to make sure I made my parents very proud. In 2013, my matric year was very difficult for me as a lot happened in my family that pushed my confidence and motivation down. I pressed through and matriculated in 2013. After school, I joined Working on Fire (WoF) in March 2014 at the Kleinmond base.”

A father of two sons and a daughter, the 25-year-old has been selected over the years for additional leadership training by his Regional Manager, Shantell Frans. “My aim is always to make my RM proud and to be a strong leader for my team. Outside of work I am a boxer, hip hop artist and a vocalist, and most importantly, I am a very caring father to my children and aim to be a good example in their lives,” says Wiseman.

Panthera Africa – ‘The One to Watch’

Cathrine S Cornwall-Nyquist and Lizaene Cornwall-Nyquist, the founders of the Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary.

Writer Elaine Davie

In the four short years of its existence, the Panthera Africa Big Cat Sanctuary near Stanford has begun to stamp its paw print on both the local and international big cat industry and responsible tourism platforms. Its two founders Lizaene Cornwall-Nyquist and Cathrine S Cornwall-Nyquist are a personification of Mahatma Gandhi’s exhortation to ‘be the change that you wish to see in the world’.

Their passionate belief that we are all one – nature, people and animals – and that we as humans have a responsibility to care for both nature and animals, if for no other reason than that our own survival depends on it, led them to establish the big cat sanctuary.

The 23 animals which currently live there in peace and dignity – lions, tigers, leopards, cheetah, caracals and jackals – have all been rescued from cruel and abusive conditions in circuses and zoos or on petting, breeding or canned hunting farms. Some of them were literally snatched from the jaws of death. Because they have all been brought up in captivity, it is not possible to rehabilitate them to a life in the wild.

However, giving a home to these orphans – some of which have heart-wrenching stories to tell – is only part of a much wider and more ambitious goal for Panthera Africa, which is to put a stop to these cruel practices altogether. The best way of doing this, they believe, is to create wide-spread public awareness of the problem and to focus on the education of children and young people in particular. Through visits from local and foreign tourists, they aim to spread the message even further afield.

Cathrine points out that one of the greatest challenges they face in keeping their animals happy is the enrichment they require to remain mentally alert and spiritually at peace. This is why they have intro-

duced enrichment visits for members of the public. “Visitors participate in making objects which will stimulate the animals – that might mean providing opportunities for them to explore different plant scents, like lavender or buchu; or spices, like cinnamon. Or it could be creating activities from cardboard boxes, papier maché or hessian sacks; or even vegetables like pumpkins or watermelons.

“Imagine what it would be like for you as a human being to be shut up in a small, bare room, torn from your social structure, never touched, never talked to in a friendly voice; nothing to occupy your brain, not a pen, or a book… nothing. That’s what it’s like for these highly intelligent animals in breeding facilities, zoos or circuses. And that’s what we don’t want for them here.”

Instead, each animal’s individual personality and needs are catered for in terms of its environmental and lifestyle preferences; for example, tigers love water, so pools are provided for them, as well as high platforms to lie on. As in the wild, there are also no structured times or schedules for feeding. Lions do not need to be fed every day, whereas the smaller cats do.

Educational tours for children from local schools emphasise the importance of treating these magnificent animals with the respect they deserve and the need to stop their rapid decline in the wild through rampant poaching for bones and other body parts, as well as the destruction of their habitat.

One of their most immediate goals for the future is to create a permanent education centre at the sanctuary and to advocate for the introduction of a structured course on nature, wildlife and human interdependence into the school curriculum.

Another project will shortly be introduced at Panthera Africa: A Conscious Walk through the Kingdom, will comprise two-and-a-half to three-hour sessions with a group of no more than 15 people. Cathrine elaborates: “Through this new walk, we connect with the spiritual side of the big cats and share their wisdom and guidance with our visitors, instead of projecting our own emotions on them.

By exploring their stories, their personalities, we may learn valuable life lessons for ourselves. Through our own experience with these amazing animals, we have learnt that they want to reach out to humans, to teach them how to love – not a self-centred love, but a reciprocal one. Perhaps participants may find a greater purpose for their lives in these interactions, a personal message that touches them deeply.”

Baguira

Bella

Jampa

For more information, visit the Panthera Africa website: www.pantheraafrica.com and to download the We are One song, search for ‘We are One Beverley Knight’ on iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify or Google Play.

MY WELLNESS

Youthful Living

Cannabis: The healing power of cannabinoids

Writer: Dr Arien van der Merwe

After writing about the benefits of cannabis in maintaining a healthy body and mind, there has been a lot of discussion around this issue.

To further demystify the topic, it is important for patients to know how cannabis works in conjunction with other ingredients from nature and what conditions it can be effectively used for.

As stated in my previous column, the human body produces its own endogenous cannabinoids that are equivalent to the compounds found in the cannabis plant, such as THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol).

It is important for us to understand the benefit we derive from boosting and balancing our own endocannabinoid system (ECS). An imbalanced ECS could explain the onset of many conditions such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and migraines. ECS is a complex network of cannabinoid receptors found throughout the entire body: brain, organs, connective tissues, glands, immune cells.

Our ECS is made up of several integrated mechanisms. Enzymes create and destroy cannabinoids, receptor sites on cells receive cannabinoids, and the endocannabinoids themselves are small molecules that activate the cannabinoid receptors. Endocannabinoids are like the body’s own THC – the cannabis plant’s most well-known and psychoactive compound.

While raw cannabis, cannabis oils and tablets can be used effectively as treatment for a myriad of conditions, there are other foods and herbs rich in cannabinoids that also bind to our ECS receptors.

These include:

• Black pepper. This common household spice has important anti-inflammatory properties and contains the terpenes that give some cannabis strains their familiar black pepper taste.

• Dark chocolate. Pure chocolate made with raw cacao affects anandamide levels in two ways. Anandamide is a cannabinoid compound produced naturally by

the body and is named after the sanskrit word ananda, meaning bliss. Dark chocolate increases the number of available endocannabinoid receptors and it slows down the enzyme that breaks anandamide down.

• Black truffles. These plants have anandamide in them, and when eaten they directly increase the levels of this endocannabinoid in our bodies.

• Kaempferol. This is a compound found in many fruits and vegetables like apples, grapes, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and broccoli. Besides being a powerful antioxidant and reducing oxidative stress, kaempferol also inhibits the breakdown of anandamide, thus prolonging its effects.

• Rosemary, Maca, and flax seeds also enrich our ECS.

• Echinacea purpurea & angustifolia mimic the effects of cannabis by acting on the CB2 receptor specifically regulating the immune system and inflammation.

• Helichrysum umbraculigerum (daisy from SA used as mood lifter, for depression and as anti-inflammatory), Radula marginata (liverwort), and Acmella oleracea (electric daisy) also assist in regulating the ECS.

Taking our health into our own hands by learning about health-enhancing remedies from nature’s own pharmacy, is something I consider a personal responsibility to teach my patients, especially when the medicine in question is something completely natural and existed on this planet long before humans did.

Small and carefully calibrated dosages (called micro dosing) of medical cannabis encourage our bodies to produce more of its endogenous cannabinoids like anandamide and 2-AG, and at the same time increase the concentration of cannabinoid receptors in our bodies.

This is very valuable to people whose endocannabinoid system is not functioning properly, but more importantly it demonstrates that cannabinoids from cannabis aren’t just a simple cure – they are a tool that helps our body increase the production of its own internal health regulators.

Besides THC and CBD, each strain of cannabis has a vast number of accompanying compounds that add to the synergistic effect of cannabis as a whole plant, called the entourage effect. In the meantime, support your own endocannabinoid production: eat or drink some dark chocolate!