African Wildlife & Environment Issue 74

WESSA REGIONS / BRANCHES / FRIENDS

involvement. Richard Boon, whose Trees of Eastern South Africa is well known, has expertise beyond botany and has contributed invaluable advice. Steve Davis has given ongoing guidance on birds, as did the late Roy Cowgill, who also linked the work of the Friends to ongoing conservation and monitoring, and Steve Woodhall has advised on butterflies. Looking ahead Pigeon Valley has enjoyed the advantages of a small area, remarkable biodiversity and the presence of people who enjoy its riches and have the resources to advance its interests. There are though constant threats from being in an urban environment, such as sewage leaks, security fears, erosion and pollution, or the Polyphagous Shot-hole Borer. A different threat has become evident in 2019 – a sudden decline in the number of Spotted Ground- Thrushes, possibly because of habitat destruction in an area where birds have been coming from on their annual migration or because of high autumn temperatures. Another has been the growing frequency of extreme rainfall events that cause major erosion, intensified by the hardening of surfaces in the small catchment area. Despite such threats, much has been achieved. The Friends group has been an expression of the surrounding community’s commitment to the ongoing conservation of the reserve.

from an original four to an estimated 65 by 2017. In a major undertaking, six were moved to Umdoni Park reserve and more will be moved to New Germany Nature Reserve. This required the full support and participation of senior management, led by Kenneth Mabila of Natural Resources. Services to the public A monthly walk open to the public is used mainly by birdwatchers. Occasionally I am asked to lead another group. For example, a group of Muslim nature lovers, or children from schools on the Berea. The reserve provides people with a chance to learn from the connection with nature. WESSA has used it for environmental education, through inviting people simply to explore and reflect on what they see and hear. Since early 2019 I have written a weekly column for the local newspaper, the Berea Mail . This has been highly popular. It undoubtedly builds the sense of commitment to the reserve and increases the numbers of people seeking to enjoy the park. Since the newspaper has limited circulation, I send a downloaded version of the column to the Friends email group weekly. Organisation of the Friends From the outset of the Friends group, the structure has been informal. Our initial need to join WESSA was that we needed a fundraising number to sustain the alien clearing work. Since then, the Friends have been represented on the Durban Branch Committee by the leader of the Friends group, a mutually beneficial link. Members join the Friends through a membership form and a fee set at R120 for full membership. In 2019 we have had 31 paid-up members. What has greatly enlarged our income is the additional donations from members, in particular an annual donation of R30,000 from Telesa Comms, a telecoms expense management firm that has supported our alien clearing work. Instead of a formal structure, we have used social media as the means of communication amongst the Friends, such as a WhatsApp group for those most directly connected, mainly to report immediately an interesting sighting, a Facebook page (https://www. facebook.com/FriendsOfPigeonValley/) open to the public, with a constant record of sightings and images, an email list for whoever expresses an interest, and a Wikipedia page on Pigeon Valley that provides basic information.

Crispin Hemson Friends of Pigeon Valley hemsonc@gmail.com

A huge advantage in our work has been active expert

53 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 74 (2019)