Our local learners are blessed with highly creative teachers, as we discovered at the Princess Vlei Forum/Peter Clarke Art Centre workshop on 2 February. The workshop was held in honour of World Wetland’s Day, and aimed to show teachers creative ideas for using totem poles to teach learners about the food webs of common Princess Vlei animal and plant species.

Introducing the workshop, Bridget Pitt from the PVF explained that the Forum was dedicated to using Princess Vlei to give kids a chance to experience and learn about nature, and to awaken their passion for it. ‘This is our best investment to ensure that places like Princess Vlei are cared for in the future. The Forum works actively with the PCAC’s outreach project, Ibhabhathane, as art is a powerful aid to instil an appreciation of nature.’
 
The site manager, Denisha Anand, spoke about the Forum’s programme to develop learners into young nature guardians, and about how they can become active nature conservationists by helping to capture data about endangered species such as the Western Leopard Toad.
 
Fabian Hartzenberg, from the PCAC, facilitated the workshop. He explained that the totem uses symmetry and balance, perfectly reinforcing lessons about how foodwebs need to be balanced to enable a healthy eco-system. The project can be used when teaching both the art and science curriculum.
 
Under his guidance, teachers explored different ways to construct the totem poles to using recycled and found materials. The teachers threw themselves into the task, and the results were spectacular.
 
This event marks the beginning of the Forum’s annual programme to use creative activities to excite children about the nature on their doorstep. A highlight will be our annual parade, this year scheduled on September 14. Any interested teachers can contact us on imagine@princessvlei.org.
 
Thanks to the Peter Clarke Art Centre for hosting the workshop, and to the Ibhabhathane project and Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private Wealth for supporting our environmental conservation programmes.

Denisha Anand has been employed by Princess Vlei Forum to manage the Greater Princess Vlei Conservation Area. This is a huge site, with both great rewards - and great challenges. In this post, Denisha looks back at some of the challenges and rewards of her first year as manager of GPVCA

Challenges
 
Workforce
There is much to do on the site, both to restore it's ecological integrity, and to manage it. Getting enough hands on ground to do this work has been one of our biggest challenges this year. Even though we were allocated EPWP contracts for most of the year, our work load on site has been backlogged for quite a few years. We have made a lot of progress on site but encourage the public to participate in clean-ups and alien species removal events hosted by either the CoCT or PVF.

The tragic loss of our team member
Losing one of our first contract workers, Neville De Koker, was a devastating tragedy. Neville was part of the first CoCT EPWP team on site. He was shot near his home in Retreat and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Neville’s passing had a huge impact on the team and on myself as a manager. His family came together to plant a tree with the PVF at Princess Vlei and continues to visit and water his tree in memory of him.

Theft and vandalism
This year we have attempted to do some rehabilitative planting on site. We planted a healing garden in the shape of a spiral. But over the past few months since the planting people have been stealing the river stones that have been set out to mark the garden and create the pathway. This has been extremely disappointing. We have also had wooden edging stolen from one of our planting projects done by High School learners. Stealing  plants, rocks and infrastructure from the site is stealing from the children and community members who come to enjoy Princess Vlei. It is very discouraging for our learners, who take great pride in the gardens they create on site, to see their work destroyed like this.   We urge the public to report any theft or vandalism seen on site. Please don't buy any plants or garden features which you suspect may have been stolen from this or any other nature site.

Litter
We have experienced large amounts of litter being left behind by visitors, particularly near at the braai facilities such as alcohol bottles, chips packets, meat packaging and so on. There are black bins available for refuse on site. If the bins are full or you can not access them then please take your packaging home and discard it there- if you managed to bring it to the Vlei, it should not be difficult to take it away. The wind blows a lot of the rubbish in to the water and has a negative impact on aquatic and bird life at the vlei.
 
Water harvesting
During the worst phase of Cape Town’s drought, we experienced quite a number of people attempting to harvest water from the Greater and Little Princess Vleis. This is illegal and fines can and will be issued on site. We have also seen  people collecting water from the ablution block  near the old fish market on Prince George Drive.  While we know water has become a scarce resource in the City, we cannot allow this on site - it would quickly grow out of hand, with a devastating impact on the plants and animals which rely on the water. The traffic to get the water is also very destructive.

Gains

Princess Vlei Guardians
Having a full-time manager has enabled us to take our relationship with the schools to a new level. In addition to the  regular creative art and eco- awareness activities,  such as the Flight of Dreams parade, they manager has been co-ordinating a group of high school learners, who have formed a club called the Lotus Princess Guardians. These learners visit the vlei, do clean-ups, observations, planting and other hands on activities that feeds in to the science curriculum. The Lotus Princess Guardians has been our first guardian school and has done exceptionally well this year. Next year, we plan to involve other high schools, and to have a junior guardian school programme with the primary schools as well. Altogether, we have involved nearly 200 children in over 20 events this year.
 
Western Leopard Toad Workbook
Management and the PVF co-created an amazing workbook for young scientists to facilitate the collection of  baseline data for the Princess Vlei endangered Western Leopard Toad population. The workbook will be completed by high school learners who are part of our guardian project, and the data they collect will be logged by management. This will help us understand where the toads travel to when they’re not on site, where they call from, where they’re breeding and if there are any new risks and threats that we need to be aware of. It will also raise awareness of these magical creatures, and encourage all community members to help look after them. Click on the image to download the workbook. This can be freely used for non-profit educational purposes, but please email us if you want to reproduce it.

Restoration Management Plan
Princess Vlei will have a full Restoration Management Plan in 2019. An expert consultant, Alex Lansdowne,  was brought in by management and funded by PVF to create a plan to guide the restoration and rehabilitation process of the vegetation on site. This plan will guide alien invasive clearing, fynbos and Strandveld restoration and rehabilitation etc. Alex Lansdowne has been putting this document together for Princess Vlei over the course of 2018. As management, we’re excited to  be following a set plan that aims to see species and habitat recovery over a period of 5 years plus. We plan to raise further funds for an exciting community project to re-establish signature endemic species on site such as Serruria Foeniculacea and Erica verticillata. This beautiful Erica was once abundant in the area, but is now extinct in the wild. Serruria Foeniculacea was restricted to a 50km2 area around Princess Vlei, and is now critically endangered in nature.
 
Partnership with Platbos Forest
A beautiful partnership was fostered between Princess Vlei and the Platbos Forest Family. Platbos has donated over 30 trees to Princess Vlei this year which was used to create a memory thicket, in memory of those that we have lost and in memory of the plant species that have been lost too. An event honouring Neville De Koker was held to plant the trees, during which people were invited to dedicate trees to memory of loved ones. In 2019, PVF will partner with Platbos to take 15 to 20 young Princess Vlei Guardians to the Reforest Fest. We’re excited about this partnership and look forward to seeing it grow.
 
Water Hyacinth Eradication Plan
Management and relevant CoCT staff have created an Eradication Plan for water hyacinth at Princess Vlei. The Plan will be adjusted as we go along in order to establish what works and what does not. The plan hopes to have Water Hyacinth controlled within a space of 2 to 3 years on site.

Networking
In addition to management work on site, Denisha has represented PVF and Princess Vlei at various fora this year, in particular the National Wetlands Indaba, and the Fynbos Forum. She presented a poster at the Fynbos Forum this year, and will do a presentation on Princess Vlei next year. This has greatly boosted the profile of Princess Vlei in the conservation community, as well as providing Denisha with many exciting opportunities to share experiences and knowledge with others in the field.

 ‘The learners couldn’t stop talking about the event … they were in and out of my class wanting to talk and get pics.’
             
These words from Lotus Primary teacher, Priscilla de Wet, capture the excitement of the learners who attended the Princess Vlei Boats and Toads event on 29 November. The event was held in partnership with Gravity adventures, to raise awareness about and appreciation for our beautiful leopard toads.
 
Forty learners from Lotus and Harmony Primary attended. They were given worksheets about the leopard toad, completed and activity and answered questions about habitat, size, life cycle and threats. They then looked at photographs of a toad and modeled a clay toad based on these. This activity helped them get a real, sensory feel of how the toad looks and is shaped – particularly as the models were life size. The learners then visually decorate the ‘toad habitat’ on the bases for the toads to sit on.

While one group was busy with the toads, the others went onto the water. Gravity Adventure facilitators showed the learners how to paddle, and gave them some practice on land. They were strapped into life jackets, and off they went. A few learners had a good opportunity to study toad habitats and breeding grounds when they landed up in the reeds.
 
Western Leopard Toads have recently expanded their breeding grounds at Princess Vlei, and we hope that we will get more toad activity as we improve the environmental health of the area. The Forum is busy with a project with older learners to monitor toad movements at the vlei and in surrounding private gardens, and to raise awareness of the need to protect these animals. Toads are on the move, and we’d like to invite any local residents to inform us of toad sightings, or if you have heard them at night.
 
A huge thanks to Gravity for making their canoes, life jackets and facilitators available, and enabling the children to have such a wonderful time on the water.
 Thanks also to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust Managed by Nedbank Private Wealth for funding our conservation education programme.

The Princess Vlei Forum Annual General meeting was held on 20 September, 2018, at the League of Friends of the Blind in First Ave, Grassy Park.

A highlight of the AGM was the report by the Alex Lansdowne,  a fynbos restoration specialist who has been contracted to assist the Forum with mapping out the condition of the fynbos at Princess Vlei, and devising a long term plan to restore it. Alex gave us some fascinating insights into the ecological history of the vlei, and how we can work towards restoring some of its former glory. Alex's presentation can be downloaded here.

Cllr Kevin Southgate also spoke at the meeting. He reiterated the City's commitment to the project, and pledged further contributions from the ward allocation budget. He encouraged community members to be more active in caring for the space.

The chairperson, Gary Stewart, presented the annual report, with the help of Management committee and subcommittee members. Our 2018 Annual Report can be downloaded here. The Princess Vlei Manager, Denisha Anand has now been working for just over a year. She spoke about the challenges and highlights of her year.

As the management committee members stand for two years, no change was made to the management committee. However, there are two vacancies on the Management committee, and we urge members to put forward nominations to fill these. We are particularly in need of financial management skills, and someone to champion recreational activity, such as hiking, jogging and canoeing, at the vlei. We are also looking for volunteers to champion our proposed Park runs at Princess Vlei. Please follow this link if you would like to join this exciting project.

There were two amendments made to the constitution. The amended constitution can be downloaded here.

Thanks to all who attended, and to the  many contributors to the Princess Vlei family - without you we could achieve very little. Thanks also to our sponsors, in particular the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust Managed by Nedbank Private Wealth and the National Lotteries Commission.

‘We are nature and nature is us’
This was the message of the Lotus High rap, performed at the Princess Vlei Flight of Dreams parade on Saturday, 15 September. It was a day of old stories and young voices, of old and young dancers, of flying birds and flying dreams, and the boundless creativity of nature and of the youth who came together to celebrate it.
Over 150 children from a number of local school have been preparing for the parade for several months, observing and learning about the birds of Princess Vlei, to guide their creation of puppets and masks for the parade. Lotus High learners cut out and painted the wings for the eight giant puppets. The parade also featured the eMzantsi carnival Blokka band and eMzantsi carnival puppet chameleons, as well as the Fairmount High marching band.
The parade is a collaboration between the Princess Vlei Forum, The Peter Clarke Art Centre, the Jungle Theatre Company, and eMzantsi Carnival. It is held each year to raise awareness of the rich bird life and other nature at Princess Vlei, and to give our inspiring youth an opportunity to showcase their creative talents. Art works created in this process are also on display at the PVF/PCAC art exhibition at the Grassy Park Library until 21 September.

​The parade was followed by performances at Princess Vlei. The Jungle Theatre Company enacted an ancient Khoi legend “When Lion had Wings”, which recounts the story of how Lion once could fly and terrorized all the creatures. The clever vultures and an insubordinate frog steal the lion’s sky magic, so that now the vultures can fly and the lion has to creep on earth.
This was followed by a performance by the Lotus High Learners, recounting the ancient Khoi legend of the Great Bird Race, in which a sunbird outwits an eagle to become the leader of the birds. Their performance finished with a rap declaring that they are the guardians of the Vlei, and encouraging all to care for the fynbos and other living things. The Lotus High learners have formed a Lotus Princess Guardians club, which does planting and clean-ups at Princess Vlei. The Constantiaberg and elephant’s eye cave, visible across the waters of the vlei, provided a powerful backdrop for these old stories, imagined into being by the people who lived near the great wetlands around Princess Vlei thousands of years ago.
A highlight of the afternoon was Emile Jansen and Mixed Mense, who performed Hip Hop songs and dances. Emile pointed out the similarities between Hip Hop culture and the ancient Khoi culture, and encouraged the youth present to take pride in their Khoi heritage. He told them, ‘One day we will wear t-shirts with the characters of our own legends, like /Kaggen, instead of spiderman and superman.’ He also encouraged people to get involved and take ownership of their neighbourhoods, rather than letting the gangs have control.
Mixed Mense got everyone in the crowd dancing, although not no-one could quite match the moves of Mixed Mense dancers Charlie Eftha and Stefan Benting.
It was a beautiful way to celebrate our cultural and natural heritage – and the passion and dedication of these learners certainly gives us hope that this heritage will cherished in the future.
Huge thanks to Mixed Mense for performing, and Brent Roberts for doing the sound - both free of charge; to the Neighbourhood watch for marshalling; to the Calvin Protestant Church, to our amazing volunteers and especially to the teachers and learners who made this all possible.

Grassy Park library was atwitter last month as several bird inspired artworks were put on display. The works were created in workshops held by the Princess Vlei Forum to introduce local learners to the rich bird life at Princess Vlei; or they were produced through the Peter Clarke Art Centre's Ibhabhatane community outreach project. 

Learners were hard at work preparing for the Flight of Dreams parade. Here, learners from Floreat Primary and Harmony Primary create bird masks with some help from PCAC's Fabian Hartzenberg

Lotus Primary learners created colourful kingfishers on sticks

John Graham Learners worked with black paper to create some exotic kingfisher masks.

The learners around Princess Vlei know their coots from their kingfishers, thanks to Alice Ashwell's fabulous introduction to bird species around Princess Vlei. In these sessions, learners research their birds, get to know what food they like, where they prefer to live, how much the weigh. how big they are, and what sounds they make. First it was FLoreat Primary's turn

Then Harmony Primary learners came to meet our feathered friends

John Graham Science Club was next

Then the Lotus Princess Guardians from Lotus High - this was very useful when they came to perform the Great Bird Race on September 15. 

‘I want to thank everybody this morning who is here for Neville … we all feel each other’s pain, and this was a very good idea so when the days come that I miss him, I know I can go and sit by the tree that we are planting here today.’
 
These words, spoken by Marie Genniker, expressed the feelings of many who came to plant trees in memory of loved ones at the Princess Vlei Forum event on July 28 this year.
 
The event was dedicated to Neville de Koker, an EPWP worker at Princess Vlei, who was shot by gangsters in a drive-by shooting, while walking near his home in Retreat on July 4. He was accompanying a neighbor to the shops as she did not want to walk alone. He passed away later in hospital due to his injuries.

Marie Genniker spoke of the devastating loss and shock to the family, how difficult it was to come to terms with his passing, and to answer the questions of the children. ‘And the shooting is continuing… so let’s pray for each other, for each other’s family, so that God can strengthen us, and I know he is going to pull us through this because he is the only comforter that we know.’
                                                       
Neville’s sister, Carmen, spoke about the pain of losing her brother, and of the many questions the family faced about why such an innocent and loving person should have been so brutally killed. ‘I used to visit Princess Vlei with Neville when we were children, and when Denisha told us about the tree planting, I thought that is so awesome because by planting a tree here it as is if I was returning to that childhood with my brother … I really want to thank the person who donated these trees … we must be strong and we are trying to be strong as a family.’
 
Also at the ceremony were the EPWP workers who had worked closely with Neville in the last eight months of his life.
 
Another woman who lost a family member tragically was Leslie Wyngard, whose son Rory had been shot after he’d witnessed a crime. She said she was part of a movement called Moms for Justice, which counselled mothers who had lost their children to violence. ‘I miss him every day, but I know that he is in a safer place now, that he is free in Heaven.’
 
Charlene Houston spoke of her mother, Juanita Houston, who passed three years ago. ‘We all feel the loss but we feel for the family who lost most recently. I want to thank everyone involved in starting this project… our people have lived for so long in spaces that were not green, where trees have been cut down .. and just have a sandy, barren existence … so this is a very important, very symbolic, very significant gift. My mom was also part of the campaign to save the Princess Vlei so that makes this also very special for us this morning to honour her, along with you, and to see the project growing from strength to strength.’
 
Sarah Oliver spoke of her father John Oliver, a founding member of the Princess Vlei Forum, who died five years ago of a heart attack.
 
Ebrahim Abrahams planted a tree on behalf of Beverley Johnson the principal of John Graham Primary, a school that has greatly supported the campaign to save and beautify Princess Vlei. Beverley lost her mother, Daisy Hermanus, earlier this month.
 
Susan de Vos planted a tree in memory of her mother Marie Leeman Hoorn. Susan told the gathering that her mother had always wished for her family, the Leeman family, to come together. After her death, the family resolved to honour her wish and gather at Princess Vlei every year on Heritage Day. So the Vlei has a special significance for the family.
 
After planting the tree for Neville, the family sang together a hymn “Count on me through thick and thin, His strength will never end.” They had first sung this song at the birthday celebrations of Neville’s cousin in April this Year. They then presented a beautiful photograph of Neville with Denisha to the Princess Vlei Forum.
 
Thirty trees were donated to the Forum by the Platbos Indigenous Forest reserve, and are all indigenous species –Olea europaea, Sideroxylon inerme, Maurocina frangula, Chionanthus faveolatus as well as a few Sersia. They were planted in a thicket – a tight circle so that the trees can support each other and draw nourishment from rotting stumps that were buried in the centre of the circle.
 
Cllr Kevin Southgate extended deep condolences to all those who had lost family members. ‘But its such an honour to be part of this gathering and to know that we are going to be establishing a little sanctuary here at Princess Vlei … Princess Vlei has sometimes been reknown for all the wrong reasons but today we are part of that turn around strategy of creating a good space, a beautiful space for the community of this area. We are a sanctuary and hope all will feel welcome to visit the sanctuary.’
 
In his closing prayer, Philip Bam of the Princess Vlei Forum said that ‘as the tree grows its roots deep in the soil let us be reminded that all things are possible if we are rooted in the deep and all-embracing love of God.’ He called on God to heal the suffering of those present, and to ‘bless and Sanctify these trees that it may serve as a sign of hope and a reminder of the good of those that came before us…’
 
What was clear in this event was that every tree was planted with great love. The trees bring together people of all ages, from all walks of life - the remarkable extended family that is held by the nature, history and presence of Princess Vlei. What was also evident was that while the community around Princess Vlei is torn apart by the tremendous pain caused by economic hardship and crime, it is also held together by generosity, kindness and love. We hope that the Vlei can truly be a place of comfort and sanctuary to all.
 
We would like to thank Francois Krige for facilitating the donation of the trees, and providing guidance and support in their planting. Thanks also go to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust Managed by Nedbank Private Wealth, for supporting our work in rehabilitating and replanting Princess Vlei.
 
Neville De Koker was born in 1979, and attended Sibelius High School. His wife, Charlene Stroebel De Koker said that he was passionate about helping his community and neighbourhood, and hoped for a full time job at the City so he could continue doing this work and support his family. He also loved soccer, singing and pool.  ‘He was really one amazing guy who got along with everyone. A friend of his told me how the kids miss him in the area because on a Sunday he always played games with them.
 
‘All he wanted was to be together with his family, and to be the best husband and dad. He was the best, but he didn’t always see that.’
 
Neville leaves his wife, Charlene, three daughters, Tiara, Chyler and Chalia, and stepson Chadwin, as well as his sister Carmen and his father. His mother passed away last year.  

At the end of 2017, nine EPWP workers were deployed to Princess Vlei under the supervision of the manager, Denisha Anand. The workers have added huge value to the site through clearing aliens, removing litter, preparing soil for planting and helping with the restoration of fynbos. They have also prepared the ground for the planting projects by local school learners and other community members - including the spiral Healing Garden.

At the end of their time at Princess Vlei, the Princess Vlei Forum held a workshop with the workers to tell them about the history of the Princess Vlei campaign, and to ask them to share their insights gained by their work on the site, and explore their ideas of what they would like to see at Princess Vlei to make it a fabulous park for nature and the community.

​Their ideas included an amphitheatre, gym park, a mini-golf course, more spiral gardens, and a walkway around the vlei. Watch the video below to see their report back to the group on their ideas.
The Forum would like to thank  Shane Wilkinson, Fernando Petersen, Shafiek Louw, Clayton Mampies, Claudette Smith, Carl Oppelt, Sydney Clavert, Quintin Adams and Neville De Koker. We hope that they will come to enjoy Princess Vlei with their families, and will get an opportunity to work with us again in the future.