10
www.thevillagenews.co.za
MY ENVIRONMENT During lockdown, more and more of our readers have been using our website, social media, ISSUU and PressReader to get their fix of The NEWS. ISSUU is an online platform which allows publishers to upload their newspapers or magazines in an e-format for those who like to read online. Apart from being easy to use, ISSUU also allows its creators to add website links, as well as video links to adverts and photos, allowing for an even more exciting read online. Why don't you try it out? Go to issuu.com, search for The Village News, and select a newspaper to read. When paging through the paper on ISSUU, keep an eye out for this "play" icon on adverts and photos and click on it to watch a video. Interactive newspapers not only allow our advertisers to show more of their products that are on offer, but also allow our readers to watch videos taken during events without having to search for them on Facebook. The video links work on both desktop and mobile, so no matter what device you are using to get The NEWS, you will be able to watch them.
www.pressreader.com www.issuu.com/dwaal 083 700 3319
admin@thevillagenews.co.za
VILL GE Insider NEWS
Welcome to the VILLAGE INSIDER family! Let’s keep independent positive community journalism alive in the Overberg! Although our online readership has grown exponentially since the lockdown, we have also been inundated with calls and messages from people who want to know where they can get access to a printed copy of our weekly newspaper. We are printing as many as we can afford to at the moment, but to keep up with the demand we need your help to print and distribute even more. Together we can do this! Become a VILLAGE INSIDER from as little as R50 per month and help your proudly-local newspaper to continue bringing you the Good News every week. Visit www.thevillagenews.co.za and search for 'Dear Village NEWS reader'.
062 837 3122 raphael@thevillagenews.co.za
Tip-toeing through the wildflowers By Dr Anina Lee
I
t has been a delight and pleasure to share vicariously in the spectacular flower show on the West Coast this year. Spring came just as people were throwing off the shackles of the hard lockdown and many enthusiasts made the trip up the coast to revel in the extraordinary show this year. Yes, despite the freezing weather and snow-capped mountains, the Namaqualand flowers were in full bloom. If that seems strange, remember that the trigger for flowering is not the temperature, but rather the length of the day. Biedouw Valley And what a show! Social media were awash with spectacular photographs (thanks to everyone!). It's hard to see such beauty and not want to share it with others. So I was delighted that one of my favourite conservation photographers, Jean Tesfon, shared his photos of the Biedouw Valley for the rest of us to enjoy. Pretty awesome, wouldn't you say? So I was intrigued by a response in the comments to Jean's photograph by Andrew Baxter. Andrew pointed out something that is not immediately obvious – unless you are an ecologist. You have so elegantly captured, in the beauty of these flower carpets, a subtle underlying ecological tragedy that few would readily recognize. The profusion of Asteraceous flowers does not represent a healthily diverse landscape but rather a denuded veld that has suffered previous repetitive clearing (for marginal production of winter wheat, potatoes, grazing etc). The flowers are pioneer species (weeds, some might call them), and they neatly correspond to the fence lines, valleys and former fallow fields. They represent ecological disturbance, not diversity and certainly not a healthy ecosystem. The steeper slopes, which are predominantly green scrub inter-fused with diverse flowers, are what the landscape should look like. Interestingly, one can see the impact of colonial farming in the pollen records. As the widespread practice of dragging old railway tracks behind a tractor (to stimulate grazing) and the ploughing of marginal lands became more common, so the profusion of flowers began, and there is a significant increase in Asteraceous pollen in the sediments from around these areas from 1700 onward. I'm not sure this is something we should celebrate in the way we do (a whole industry is built around the 'flowers') although I can't argue that visual displays are impressive to behold.
What we should be seeing is Winecups, Sparaxis, Lachenalia, and Babiana flowers. We should see annuals as well as geophytes in a rich diversity of colour. The annuals include the delicate white Cotula nudicaulis, different species of Nemesia, but especially the striking Nemesia cheiranthus, and mauve-flowered ‘basterpershongerblom’, Senecio cakilefolius. The geophytes include many Romuleas, Lachenalias, Ornithogalums, some Hesperanthas and many more genera. Most spectacular are the brilliant, deep blue Pride-of-Nieuwoudtville, Geissorhiza splendidissima, sky blue bloukalossie, Ixia rapunculoides and the two finest Sparaxis species, the coppery pink Sparaxis elegans and damp loving Sparaxis pillansii. Rocherpan Nature Reserve Rocherpan is another top-rated West Coast tourist attraction that is the fortuitous consequence of uninformed meddling with nature. CapeNature describes it thus: Rocherpan is a coastal nature reserve teeming with birds and colourful wildflowers. The reserve, which lies 25 km north of Velddrif on the Cape West Coast, consists largely of a seasonal vlei that is usually dry between March and June. Rocherpan was established as a nature reserve (930 hectares in size) in 1966, and the adjacent section of the Atlantic Ocean was declared a marine reserve in 1988 (150 hectares in size). Rocherpan had a fortuitous start when farmer Pierre Rocher (pronounced Roché) arrived in this area in 1839 looking for improved summer grazing for his livestock. Rocher and his workers closed off the mouth of Papkuils River, forcing it to flow behind the dunes that separate the sandveld from the sea. This inadvertently created a perfect habitat for waterbirds, and the local species have thrived ever since. Along the coast, you'll see the endangered black oystercatcher, the kelp gull and the Cape Shoveller. So this time, meddling with nature had a beneficial consequence for birdlife and avi-tourism. Just as well, as otherwise I would have been covered in embarrassment. You see, Pierre Rocher was my ancestor. 1. The Biedouw Valley near Clanwilliam is transformed into a floral wonderland in early spring. PHOTO: Jean Tresfon
2 & 3. Rocherpan is a coastal nature reserve teeming with birds and colourful wildflowers. PHOTOS: Pinterest & Travel Triangle
4. Carpets of spring flowers can also be seen in the West Coast National Park. PHOTO: Russells on the Port
9 September 2020
