African Wildlife and Environment Issue 64

FRIENDS & CLUBS

FRIENDS & CLUBS

Waterbirds with Stan Madden and Ernie & Rose Buric. In the 20th Newsletter in November 1997 (600 copies, 141 member families) an inundation was reported, the only one known to occur in October. Marion’s family spent Christmas at the reserve and it took 45 minutes to wade across the floodplain! FoN launched the Frog atlasing project for northern South Africa and with Dr Warwick Tarboton produced the first Bird List to hand out at the gate. On 2 February 1998 it was announced that Nylsvley had been designated as a RAMSAR site; funds were raised and the Kingfisher and Dabchick hides and Sasol Dragonfly walkway were built at Vogelfontein. At that time there was concern about damaging fires as the department budgets had been cut and there was no money to repair tractors, pumps or even purchase fuel, FoN then supplied much of the funding to keep the reserve going. Vice-Chairman Herman van Dijk had been responsible with the OiC Rudolf de Vos for the developments including the conversion of the notorious long drop toilets in the campsite, the ‘first flush’ occurred on 1 November 1998. The thatch on the ablution blocks now needs replacing and the Friends are investigating installing solar water heating and lighting as part of their 25 year celebrations. In November 1998 Friends of Nylsvley received their first award from the Mail and Guardian; since then they have received awards from the Habitat Council, BirdLife South Africa and WESSA. Roodepoort Hiking Club started work on developing the Nyl trail… maintenance continues! The first woodland bird census was hosted at Boekenhout Guest Farm (now Dinonyane) led by Dr Warwick Tarboton over the weekend 18-20 February 2000. The 18th census will be run from Nylsvley 3-5 February 2017.

‘Nylsvley is for the Birds’ appeared as the slogan in the 30th newsletter in November 2000. Brian Huntley was the guest speaker at the 10-year-celebration when the Nyl trail was officially opened with one of many good parties! The look-out tower was beautifully repaired by some Scouts during 2001, and again in 2009 when the ladder was replaced with generous sponsorship from Dawie Chamberlain. The Bittern Bridge and replacement Jacana hide walkway were constructed by Kobus Boshoff in the yard belonging to Sander Marasas and was in use by March 2003. That was a huge job for Kobus who spent every weekend for months welding! It paid off because when ‘The great fire’ went through in 2013 the walkway happily survived! Herman van Dijk worked on keeping the boreholes around the reserve in good order. Herman died on 21 August 2007, we still miss him. 2004 was the year of rice and we featured Oryza longistaminata the unique rice grass that only grows on the Nyl floodplain. Ten years ago in 2006 there was a huge outcry about the rock concerts being held on neighbouring land at Shumba’s Rest. Our investigations revealed that the whole facility had been developed without proper permission. The rock concerts soon ceased! In 2007 the upgrading of the old farmhouses and cottages took place. Although there were doubts if due process took place, the work was done very sensitively and included a restaurant and gatehouse. The Spoonbill Restaurant has been a great boon to visitors. One of the Friends’ projects for their 25 year anniversary is to donate 2 x 8 seater picnic benches to the Spoonbill restaurant. A German student with us at a work party at Mosdene Private Nature Reserve described how he had a ‘special kind of smile on his face’ the whole weekend, having seen ostriches, black rhino, impala and giraffe in the wild

hospitality manageress. We enjoy working with both of them. Although Marion Mengell has been the principle ‘push, puller and puncher’ in this project you will have noticed how many other people have been involved to name a few more: Her husband, Ron Mengell, President: Dr Warwick Tarboton, Chairman: Trevor Cowie, Dr Salomon Joubert and committee members, artist Julia Davies, frequent trainers Ulrich Oberprieler and Geoff Lockwood, treasurers, cooks and the reserve staff. Nylsvley and the Nyl floodplain are under constant threat from sewage spills and raw sewage entering the system, inappropriate farming practices (most of the floodplain is privately owned), housing developments in the catchment areas and worst of all, potential coal and

for the first time. We are happy to report that we have very good working relationships with our neighbours especially Deelkraal, Sandfields & Forests and Mosdene. During 2011, the 20th year, money was raised to install a solar-powered pump at a faraway water point and the constitution was completely revised according to the ‘other’ ‘Roberts’ Book of Rules. We supplied appropriate traps to catch feral cats for euthanasia; which is on going. Other examples of the Friends’ help is when a JoJo tank blew off its stand the Friends paid to have a spare installed. They recently arranged for a major overhaul of the tractor and installed a bird migration signpost near the Jacana hide bridge. During the September 2013 work party Marion Poole repainted the road signs, within days they had been

platinum mining. In May 2015 a horrific acid spill in Modimolle ‘killed’ the river for two kilometres. Friends of Nylsvley endeavour to be aware of all the EIA processes that impact on the entire Nyl floodplain. Nylsvley Nature Reserve lies to the east of the Waterberg Mountain range between Modimolle in the south and Makopane 70km further north. The Nyl floodplain is the largest, least disturbed, ephemeral floodplain in South Africa and can reach seven kilometres wide when fully inundated. The aim of Friends of Nylsvley and Nyl floodplain is to conserve the unique biodiversity of Nylsvley Nature Reserve

and the Nyl floodplain by encouraging stakeholders to promote the conservation and sustainability of the entire floodplain and its catchment.

destroyed by the most damaging fire on the floodplain for 50 years. The Jacana, Stemmers, Crake and Kingfisher hides, enviro loo and Dragonfly walkway at Vogelfontein were destroyed. The Jacana hide was rebuilt by LEDET in August 2015 and an EIA needs to be carried out for the replacement Crake hide, the Friends are recommending that it should be placed on a more open site on the same dyke. The fire exposed the bridge across the river near the Jacana hide; we are concerned as it was falling apart. As an organisation Friends of Nylsvley have run over 100 work party weekends providing support for five different reserve managers. The present incumbent is Natasha Möller du Plessis and Sinkie Masekwameng is

Marion Mengell 021 667 2183 friendsnylsvley@mweb.co.za

46 | African Wildlife & Environment | 64 (2017)

47 | African Wildlife & Environment | 64 (2017)