The Princess Vlei Forum's 10th AGM provided a wonderful opportunity for old and new Princess Vlei champions to come together and plot out the future of the organisation.
     Thirty-four people attended the meeting at St Stephen's church in Bergvliet, after the water problems led to a last minute shift in venue. At the front of the hall was the hand-painted Save Princess Vlei banner - a good reminder of how this organisation began in 2012.
      The organisation only elects a management committee every two years. As this was not an election year, we could focus on engaging participants in discussing practical suggestions for some of the challenges facing us.
      After attending to the treasurer's report, Chairperson Gary Stewart invited members of the management committee to briefly reflect on gains and challenges over the past ten years. Denisha Anand spoke about the ups and downs of being the first site manager at Princess Vlei, and then the project manager. She reflected on the progress made by the restoration project, with nearly 4 hectares now under active restoration or rehabilitation, and said that one of the highlights of her work at Princess Vlei was discovering a resident family of otters.
    Bridget Pitt spoke about the schools work. She discussed photograph of a school child on a bare shore in 2013 - the learner said she was hoping to see gardens at Princess Vlei. Nine years later, that shoreline is a blaze of colour with flowering fynbos, showing the power of imagination and community effort. Gary Steward reflected on the gains made such as getting an MOA with the CIty, and the creation of a full-time supervisor's post at Princess Vlei, and gaining provincial heritage status for the GPVCA.

   Robin Oaks from the Community Think Tank spoke about the market at Princess Vlei. The organisation is running the market, which provides an opportunity to generate revenue to use on improvements at Princess Vlei. Robin said his organisation was dedicated to promoting local crafts, Cultural heritage, and community spirit. About 250 vendors are registered with the market, which has been successfully trading every Saturday providing livelihoods and a range of offerings for local visitors. Clarina De freitas spoke about the contributions made by the De Freitas family and the Jacobs family to the fish market and fruit and veg market held at PV historically, and all agreed that they would discuss ways to be part of the market going forward.

Participants then divided into interest groups to discuss the environmetn & infrastructure at Princess Vlei; Fundraising; and Community engagement; The groups were encouraged to focus on coming up with concrete proposals. These were then presented, and put up on the wall. Members were invited to put a dot next to proposals they strongly supported.
      Some of the well supported proposals include:  Creating a covered space  on eastern shore for eco activities;  lobbying to have the GPVCA relocated under management of the Biodiversity Branch; Revive the Princess Vlei Forum heritage committee and exploring how to reflect heritage elements including Khoe history; Raising fees from resourced schools, a Forum stall at the market, and using digital marketing aids such as snapscan & crowdfunding. There were also suggestions to stage the ballet of the Legend of Princess Vlei, which was first performed in the 1952.

    An important resolution taken at the AGM was the decision to charge membership fees. This is partly to raise much needed funds, as well as to avoid having inactive members on the books. The fee of R100 per member and R200 per organisation was proposed, with the management committee to resolve how this should be implemented.
    The 2022 AGM was testimony once again to the power of community engagement in bringing fresh perspectives to ongoing issues. The Forum would like to thank all of those who made the effort to come and share their ideas.

The presentations were really excellent. I took out valuable insights from all three addresses. I really appreciated meeting other people working in the field…I have new fundraising ideas…
This was some of the feedback from the twenty six people from twelve community conservation organisations who attended the Princess Vlei Forum’s Growing Community Conservation Workshop held at Zandvlei on 27 August. The workshop was organised in partnership with Friends of the Liesbeek.

, and Zandvlei Trust for the The workshop began with an address from Dr Kevin Winter urban waterway specialist and lecturer in Environmental and Geographical Sciences at UCT, who spoke on  building partnerships and working with the City.
      Dr Winter reflected that working with the City on the Liesbeek River had often been fraught, but the water crisis in 2016 had brought about a significant shift in attitude. The City had realised that Day Zero could only be averted by the City working in partnership with the community, leading to their slogan changing from This City works for you to Making progress together.
      He spoke about the importance of having a theory of change in formulating the strategy for an organisation. He said that for change to come about you needed a partnership of four critical elements: Local government, Civil society, Academia and industry. He praised the recently  established Mayoral Advisory committee on water ways and wetlands as a significant ship in facilitating this partnership.
      Dr Winter also reflected on the changes in Cape Town over the past 50 years, with the population quadrupling in size. The provision of housing had been driven by a 40X40X40’ model - 40m2 in size; build 40 km from places of work and amenities, and costing the residents R40 in transport fees.  This short-sighted approach to ow income housing has largely expanded into the Cape Flats - it has reinforced poverty, and damaged biodiversity and water ways - it has come at a considerable environmental cost as well as a heavy social cost. Poverty is a major threat to the environment.
     Nick Fordyce, Chairperson of Friends of the Liesbeek, introduced Denisha Anand as an ethnobotanist who turns into a giant plant when the moon is full. Anand spoke about the history of the struggle to save Princess Vlei from the shopping mall, and the work done since to restore and revitalise the site. She described the overwhelming issues facing her when the Forum employed her to manage the GPVCA in 2016. ‘I just cleaned, for a year. There was so much littering, pollution and mess on site.’ She described how, after consultation with City officials in the biodiversity branch,  she realised that the site needed a proper restoration plan, and encouraged the Forum to raise funds to contract Alex Lansdowne to create a five year plan, which the Forum is rolling out.
     Lansdowne described five essential ingredients for a good restoration plan: A technical appreciation and knowledge of the process, drawing on the expertise of academics and professionals as necessary;  Healthy conflict and debate to facilitate creative problem solving; Money and good fundraising strategies; Networking to get recognition of the project, which would help bring in funds; People - involve the community in every aspect of the project, and have fun doing it.
     After a delicious spread of fynbos tea and edibles provided by Zayaan Khan, participants split into focus groups to discuss partnerships with the City; community engagement; fundraising; and restoration.
     In the plenary session, it became clear that poverty is indeed a major challenge to all the groups present, most of whom were grappling with how to deal with informal dwellers moving into conservation areas. It became very clear from the discussion that conservation cannot happen in a bubble, and that the struggle for ecological and social justice are inextricably intertwined. Fundraising is an ongoing problem, and negotiating relationships with City officials.
     Most participants felt that it had been a valuable experience, and that they would welcome further workshops, perhaps focussing more narrowly on this and other issues that were identified.  The Forum looks forward to hosting such engagements in the future.
     We would like to thank Dr Kevin Winter, Denisha Anand and Alex Lansdowne for their inputs, Nick Fordyce for chairing the workshop, Zayaan Khan for the catering, and  Zandvlei Trust for the venue. A big thanks as always to Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private Wealth for funding this work.

On August 9 th , Women’s Day, women and men, young and old and from diverse backgrounds
gathered to plant 1000 seedlings or ‘plugs’ in the seep on the west side of the Vlei. The eastern
shore of the Princess Vlei is often said to resemble a young woman’s profile, although to me the
shape of the viei more closely resembles a pregnant emu. The long-term vision of the Princess Vlei
Forum is to restore the rich biodiversity of the two unique plant kingdoms that once thrived there
around the whole of the ‘emu’. The vision is also to engage willing hands from the surrounding
communities to get involved with this work.

   Alex Lansdowne, the consultant botanist to the Forum, explained to the group that Princess Vlei has two vegetation types: Cape Flats Sand Fynbos and Cape Flats Dune Strandveld. Both are endemic to Cape Town, and both contain species under threat due to loss of areas where they can thrive. Much of the vegetation around the Vlei is degraded due to urban creep, dumping, litter, neglect, and uncontrolled invasives taking over.   ‘Our restoration project is in the process of undoing this degradation, and restoring a self-sustaining thriving eco-system.  Today we will be planting 6 species - pelargonium capitatum, athanasia crithmifolia, anthospernum aethiopicum, Elegia nuda ,penisteum mucronatum, and leonotus leonurus. They are all species which do well as start up plants in a recovering area.'
    The area is also benefitting from the removal of alien plants by volunteers from the Princess Vlei Forum and Kirstenbosch Branch of the Botanical Society last year. This enabled indigenous vegetation in the area to re-emerge, and flourish. One of the recovered species that was spotted there is Coriander Storksbill (Pelargonium myrrhifolium var. coriandrifolium).
    The group got to work, and, with focus and care, planted out the 1000 newly rooting seedlings. The group included Botanical Society members from Noordhoek and Strandfontein; student conservationists from Khayelitsha; Mothers, fathers, daughters, and friends; stalwarts and new faces, each making their contribution.  Amongst our regulars were three high school students, volunteering  to fill their ‘community service hours’. These girls have volunteered with us over the last few years, and we hope the experience is giving them a lasting sense of connection to the place.
   Mary Jansen, one of the volunteers and organisers of the local Khoe group is keen for us to reach a stage in the restoration work when we will again see the diversity of plants present that she remembers from her childhood. Those were the days when plants with medicinal properties were more plentiful and could be collected and used for healing common ailments in the home. The knowledge of it all is still carried in her generation.
    Lucille Luckhoff, together with Cllr Kevin Southgate had a quiz for people to answer. What were we all celebrating and remembering on Women’s Day? How many women marched and to where? Why did they march? Correct answers were rewarded with a warm red shweshwe cloth heart to pin on the sleeve.
   The weather was kind. Our hearts felt good and there was a sense that those long since passed, ancestors of Princess Vlei, were smiling on our efforts. We were united in our quiet shared hope that the mornings’ activity would help the planet, in its own tiny but powerful way.