Princess Vlei has long been home to hundreds of Western leopard toads every year – but there was some unusual toad activity there in the past few days.
On November 28, forty children from Levana Primary and Primrose Primary stepped into the toad’s flippers and explored Princess Vlei from the perspective of a toad. 

The learners spent some time learning about  the life cycle of the toad, and discussing what kind of habitat toads need to  be happy and healthy and breed successfully. Learners discussed what belonged in a toad habitat. It was agreed that snakes belonged, but plastic pollution did not. Both are harmful to toads, but snakes are part of the eco-system and help to create the habitat that benefits the toads. For example, the snakes eat the moles, which helps the fynbos, and the fynbos attract pollinating insects which provide food for the toads. Children also learned why the western leopard toad is now endangered, as a result of habitat loss, domestic pets and being run over when they are crossing roads to return to their breeding sites.
Learners then explored the vlei from the perspective of a toad looking for a good breeding site. 
A highlight of the day was the opportunity to explore the vlei from the water as well as from the land. This was thanks to Andrew and team from Gravity Adventures, who taught the children how to manage a canoe, and provided boats for the children to experience the water themselves. For many, this was their first time in a boat. They were nervous, but exhilarated by the experience.
Afterwards, some learners were so inspired by the life of a toad that they decided to take to the water themselves. 
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​A  few days later, the Primrose Park learners returned to explore the life of a toad through art. They created wonderful toads from clay – each one with a great personality. They painted plates to create a habitat for their clay toads, and were careful to include everything a toad might need such as a water plants to hide their tadpoles from predators, and tasty dragon flies and other insects.
Thanks to this experience, we have forty new toad guardians who understand how and why to protect these wonderful creatures. 

​What came first - the pollinators or the plants?
We did not manage to answer this question at the Princess and the Pollinator event on 26 November – but the children of Buck Road Primary  made some wonderful discoveries about pollinators at Princess Vlei.
Armed with charts to help them identify flowers and pollinators, the Grade 5 learners spend an afternoon closely examining and recording pollinator activity on the fynbos that has been planted by school children in the past few years. 

​They discovered many pollinators busy gathering pollen or nectar, and helping the plants along the way. These included monkey beetles foraging in the vygies, butterflies, flies, ants, spiders, other beetles and sunbirds.
Keeping track of pollinator activity helps us to measure the health of the ecosystem at Princess Vlei. There can be no doubt that the Eastern shore of the vlei is unrecognisable from the sandy wasteland that was there five years ago.  This is a wonderful testimony of the hard work done to rehabilitate the area, much of it done by school children. 

​Collecting data about pollinators teaches the children valuable skills, gets them excited and absorbed, and helps us monitor the plants. The Princess is flourishing, thanks to the help of her pollinators and human friends.  

“This is the Great Sky Goddess.  She protects all the creatures of the sky such as sea birds, wetland birds, and flying insects. At Princess Vlei the Goddess protects wetland birds such as the Grey Heron, the African Fish Eagle and the weaver. We can help the Godess by minimizing air pollution and taking care of flying creatures.
   This is how Damica Fortuin (16)  from Lotus High introduced one of the Nature Guardian figures installed at Princess Vlei on Saturday 21 September.
     The installation was part of the Flight of Dreams Parade, which is held each year to create awareness of and to celebrate the wildlife at Princess Vlei, and to showcase the artistic talents of our youth.

    Due to the rain, the parade did not go through the streets this year ­- instead a shorter parade was held on Princess Vlei itself. However, this did not dampen the spirits of the 200 children who turned out to take part.  They were keen to showcase the Nature guardians, totem poles and puppets they had been making throughout the year, as part of the Forum’s work in using the Princess Vlei to instil a passion for nature amongst local youth.
     Also featured on the parade were young members of the Jungle Theatre Company’s drama club and the fabulous creations of eMzantsi Carnival. eMzantsi’s Blokka band provided a lively beat for the paraders.

The three nature guardians were created from natural biodegradable materials, and have been installed at Princess Vlei to remind us of our work as humans to care for the environment. The eland, introduced by 12 year old Julius Bolligelo from Harmony Primary, represents the earth plants and creatures, and the spirit of the animals that have been displaced by humans It helps to keep nature in balance. Speaking of the Water Guardian, Nicole Anthony (17) from Lotus High said, “This is the Fish guardian, guardian of all creatures of the sea and the water. At Princess Vlei it looks after the fish and wetland birds. We can help it by keeping the waters and the ocean free of pollution.”
   Children tied cloth around the poles to symbolize their promise to care for the planet. Xavier Anders and two other learners read out intentions written by Primrose Park Primary learners. They pledged to pick up littering, and keep wild creatures form harm and other pledges. The pledges which were written on sticks were suspended from nearby branches.
    The high poles are aimed at providing perches for raptors, as Princess Vlei has no tall trees. They have been placed in the semicircle of trees which were planted on 9 August in honour of strong women and our indigenous mothers.

After the parade, participants took shelter from the rain at the Jolly Carp, where they enjoyed a rap performance from Quan Michaels (16) from Grassdale High, who is a member of Heal the Hood; spectacular cultural dancing from the young Khayalitsha based 7784 Performers, and a play called the Mantis and the Bee by the JTC. This recounted a traditional Khoe creation myth, and reminded the audience of the need to care for the earth. The afternoon ended on a high note with performance by Emile Jansen and Mixed Mense.
     The event formed part of the African Climate Alliance’s week of Positive Action. Princess Vlei Forum supports the ACA’s work in urging government and business to take urgent and effective action to mitigate and limit the devastating impacts of climate change.

Special Thanks to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust for funding our rehabilitation and educational work at Princess Vlei; to Brent for so generously donating his time and sound equipment, which greatly cheered up the grey skies;  to the Jolly Carp team for taking us in out of the rain; to Sarah Oliver for taking the pics and to Siraaj Roomaney for donating juice. Thanks also to our organizing partners PCAC; eMzantsi and Jungle Theatre Company, especially Fabian from PCAC for late nights stitching Guardians; to all the Forum team, and to our amazing community of learners and teachers.

My name is wood fairie. I look after the woods and mother earth forest...
     This was one of the many nature guardians created by local school learners at Princess Vlei in the last few weeks.
       Learners from Levana Primary, Primrose Park Primary and Lotus High came to Princess Vlei to create the guardians: symbolic figures to express the children’s commitment to caring for nature and wild creatures. 
      The learners first explored Princess Vlei to observe what animals were living there, and to discuss what dangers threatened them, and what they needed to keep safe. Learners also gathered found natural material such as sticks, leaves and feathers. Our young naturalists were particularly inspired by a large crab spotted on the banks of the southern outlet canal.

The learners then used their natural materials to create small guardian figures to keep the wildlife safe at Princess Vlei.

Two weeks later, the children gathered at Lotus High school to begin work on large guardian figures. These large biodegradable figures will be installed at Princess Vlei at our annual Flight of Dreams parade on Saturday, September 21. Learners will be invited to inscribe their intentions on how to care for nature on wooden sticks to be incorporated into the guardian figures.

Several generations of strong women came together to Princess Vlei on August 9 to plant trees and to honour our women heroes, past and present.
The event was organized by the Princess Vlei Forum in celebration of National Women’s Day and the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. About 80 women from local communities came together to plant 30 indigenous trees, donated to Princess Vlei.
    The Princess Vlei has long been associated with women and the indigenous people, as expressed in the legend of the Princess. This is the story of a KhoeKhoe woman who was violated by Portuguese sailors from the d’Almeida party, in 1509. Her tears formed the vlei.
   Mary Jansen, a longstanding community and cultural activist was the MC for the event, and was presented with a book to honour her contribution to the fight for social justice and for the recognition of indigenous people’s rights.  Jansen is a Chief in the Cochoqua Tribal House.
Emma Oliver opened with a prayer, giving thanks for the women ‘of the past days who inspire us with their courageous lives’.

    The first tree planted was in honour of the unnamed Princess of Princess Vlei. This tree is a sapling of the ‘Treaty Tree’ ­- a 500 year old Milkwood still growing in Woodstock.  A battle between the KhoeKhoe and the Portuguese sailors under De Almeida  took place near by the tree in 1509 -  64 sailors were killed. Later slaves were sold under the tree, and the Blaauwberg Treaty granting the Cape to the British was signed there in 1806. The sapling was donated to Princess Vlei by fynbos consultant Alex Lansdowne.
    Princess Chantal Revell planted a tree in honour of Sarah Baartman, the KhoeKhoe women who was taken to England in 1810 and suffered horrific abuse, including being paraded as a spectacle in public. Revell described a recording of Baartman’s voice, in which she said, ‘Ek wil huis toe gaan’. She died aged 26 in France, but her body was kept and dissected. Her remains were finally returned to South Africa for a dignified burial in 2002.
   Tanyan Gradwell, an indigenous revivalist and social activist, planted a tree in honour of Krotoa. Krotoa was taken to the castle by Jan van Riebeeck as a young girl, and suffered abuse at the hands of the Dutch. She learnt Dutch and worked as a translator in negotiations with the KhoeKhoe. She later married and had children, but after a short, traumatic life died of alcoholism.
Gradwell spoke about the injustices suffered by the Cape’s indigenous people, which are still continuing. She read out a poem she had written to Krotoa, asking ‘There are so many truth and lies, do you know that your children have been marginalized…?‘

    Mary Jansen planted a tree in honour of Zubeida Jaffer, a long time activist for social justice and women’s rights. Jaffer spoke about the importance of giving our daughters a positive message, of helping them to heal from the intergenerational trauma that has been handed down over the centuries. ‘We need to tell them every day how beautiful they are, and that they deserve to be treated with respect’.
    Several other members of group spoke about women they were honouring by planting trees. Amongst them was Cheryl Jacobs, whose parents ran a fruit and vegetable stall at the Princess Vlei for many decades; and Clarina de Freitas, who planted a tree in honour of the De Freitas women who sold fish near Princess Vlei for several generations. ‘Our slogan was that no-on should ever go hungry’
Charlene Houston spoke about her grandmother, Winifred le Shauls, who was brought from the Congo to South Africa as a child servant. 
   The Princess Vlei is an appropriate space to honour strong women, as it holds a memory and energy going back thousands of years. There is much trauma in that memory, but also growth, connection, healing and support. Trees remind us of the power of community, the strength of diversity, and the importance of roots, and the trees planted today will endure as beautiful living monuments to honour the indigenous peoples and strong women of this land.

While some might not know their weaver from their wader, some learners of three local primary schools are experts on birds found at Princess Vlei. And pretty fabulous artists too!
These learners, from Harmony Primary, Muhammedeyah Primary and  Lotus River Primary had the privilege of attending one of Alice Ashwell's spectacular and informative interactive bird workshop during the second term this year. The workshops form part of the Princess Vlei Forum's annual Flight of Dreams Project, to raise awareness of the birds and other wildlife at Princess Vlei.
Below are Alice's comments on the workshops.

“Today, we are planting wolves”

This was the message from restoration consultant Alex Lansdowne at the Princess Vlei Forum “Bringing life to the Princess” planting event on 11 June.
 
Speaking to the one hundred and twenty children who had gathered to help with the planting, Alex explained that the difference between a cultivated plant in a garden and a wild plant is like the difference between a dog and a wolf.
 
“There used to be a community of about 500 different plants, and the work that we are doing, and you guys are helping us is real conservation work. You guys are helping to bring the habitat back…. The City of Cape Town has the most biodiversity of any city in the world, and you are helping to conserve that.”
 
The children came from Claremont High, Lotus High, Buck Rd Primary, Kannemeyer Primary, and Levana Primary. There were also a group of home schooled learners. The children enthusiastically followed Alex’s instructions to put more than 700 plants in the ground. Each child wrote their name on a stick to plant with the plants, and was given a thank you letter with colour photo cards of each species that was planted.

The planting was part of the Forum’s environmental education programme, but also an important part of a five-year restoration plant to revive the indigenous fynbos in the area. Lansdowne was contracted by the Forum to draw up the plan.
 
The schools planting event followed a community planting event in May. Between these two events

• More than doubled the area of habitat under active restoration from 699m2 to 2341m2.
• A total of 1025 plant units, and 16 trays were planted.
• 7Kgs of mixed seed were broadcast in the 2019 restoration areas.
• 26 species were planted or broadcast, of which 4 are on the RedList of endangered species.

The forum would like to thank Elzanne Singels and  CTEET volunteers, Nondumiso Myataza. Tevya Lotriet, Princess Mfekayi and Wanda Tshangela for their assistance, as well as all the learners and their teachers for making this a great afternoon. Thanks also to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust, managed by Nedbank Private Wealth, for funding our education programme and restoration work.
 

These were the instructions given to some young time travellers visiting Princess Vlei from the year 2219.  The visitors had come from a future where there were no birds or bugs. A world full of sounds - bleeps,  sirens,  robotic voices,  and machinery. But not a twitter, nor a chirp, nor a buzz could be heard, where all greenery had disappeared under concrete, and all rivers and vleis were swallowed by plastic  waste.  
     Forty time travellers, from Buck Road Primary, Harmony Primary, Floreat Primary and Levana Primary schools, were greeted by a Spirit Guide (Denisha Anand), who told them how the vlei had once looked in the time of the first humans who lived there, and how those humans lived harmoniously with the plants and animals. 
     Then the time travellers went out wearing with face masks to ensure that they did not catch virues from the past or pass on any viruses from the future. They carefully observed the birds and insects to see how they lived, what they need, and what might threaten them.  They were guided by the Time Lords, (who were sometimes their teachers).

When the time machine was ready to leave, the Chief Time Lord, Brendon Bussy, blew a horn to warn the children that the portal was closing, and they had to run to get back or risk being stuck in 2019.
 
Back in the time machine, the time travelers reported on their findings and shared their pictures and maps. They all agreed that birds and insects are awesome, but there are many things threatening them, in particular pollution. Here are some of their observations:
 
“Birds have feathers to keep them warm, they travel to different places, this is what we call migration. They use their beaks to get the nectar out, because unlike humans they can’t use their hands.”
 
“We want to make people aware that they shouldn’t pollute these areas because it is hurting the birds and insects.”
 
“We found that birds are in danger because humans don’t really care, they just care about technology and that and don’t really take care of nature … Nature don’t need us, we need nature. And there is lots of pollution and the wetlands are their habitat and then some people … want to clear the wetlands for farming or to build houses.”

​Piece by small piece the Princess Vlei Forum is working to restore and rehabilitate the land around Princess Vlei. On Saturday 18 May, thirty local residents, Stellenbosch University students, and various Lions’ Clubs came together on Saturday 18 May to restore the indigenous vegetation at Princess Vlei.
 
While this work has been ongoing for several years, the project gained new life when the Forum employed a manager for the site, and contracted the services of fynbos restoration expert Alex Lansdowne to draw up a five year rehabilitation plan. The aim of this is to help the damaged ecosystem at Princess Vlei recover and secure biodiversity on site.

Plants put in include five hundred Cape Flats fynbos  and dune strandveld plants that had been propagated locally from plants that are known to have occurred naturally  around the vlei.  The group also sowed seeds of flowering plants such as the rain daisies, to recreate a strandveld meadow – which hopefully will create a  carpet of colourful flowers this spring.
 
Once habitat condition, has been improved, the Forum will embark on species conservation. Erica verticillata (Extinct in the Wild), Leucadendron floridum (Critically Endangered) and Serruria foeniculacea (Critically Endangered) are three threatened species endemic to the city of Cape Town that once occurred at Princess Vlei.
 
This project is supported by the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust, managed by Nedbank Private Wealth