| World
Wetlands Day -
2nd February
2012 |
| The World
Wetlands Day
theme for 2012
is
Wetlands and
Tourism
and is linked to
the theme for
the next meeting
of the
Conference of
the Parties,
COP11: Wetlands,
Tourism and
Recreation,
which will take
place in July
2012, in
Bucharest,
Romania. |
| Wetland
tourism has
benefits both
locally and
nationally for
people and
wildlife –
benefits such as
stronger
economies,
sustainable
livelihoods,
healthy people
and thriving
ecosystems. At
least 35% of
Ramsar Sites
around the world
record some
level of tourism
activity and
this percentage
is consistent
throughout all
regions. Of
course it is
important to
consider tourism
in all wetlands
– not just those
designated as
Ramsar Sites –
since the
Contracting
Parties to the
Convention are
committed to
managing all
wetlands. |
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| It is worth
noting that
tourism is only
one of the
services that
wetlands
deliver.
Ensuring
well-managed
tourism
practices in and
around wetlands
and educating
tourists on the
value of
wetlands
contributes to
the health of
the world's
wetlands and the
long-term
benefits that
wetlands provide
to people,
wildlife,
economics, and
biodiversity. |
| To date, the
Ramsar
Convention has
not had a
specific focus
on wetlands,
tourism and
recreation. |
 |
| The
Convention
today: |
| Number of
Contracting
Parties: 160. |
| Number of
designated
sites: 1971. |
| Total area
of designated
sites:
190,737,919 ha. |
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| »
Click here
to read more
about the Ramsar
Convention « |
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EVENING TALK: THE WONDERFUL
WORLD OF WETLAND INSECTS |
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On Thursday, 2 February 2012,
our Wetlands Day Evening Talk
will be about the Wetland
Insects. Niel van Wyk, who has a
degree in Entomology, will be
telling us about the fascinating
insects that inhabit our
wetlands. |
Venue: Rietvlei Education
Centre, Rietvlei Wetland Reserve
off Grey Ave, Table View.
Date: Thursday 2 February 2012.
Time: 19h30 for 20h00.
Enquiries: Pauline on 083 255
2537 |
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NOTE THE DATE FOR OUR AGM |
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We know it is still early days,
but please enter Thursday 20 May
2012 in your diaries for our
AGM. |
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WALK IN THE DIEP RIVER AREA |
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We will be walking in the Diep
River area again on Sunday 18
March. This time the walk will
be in the area just north of
Blaauwberg Road Bridge. Please
note this date, we’ll send out
more details later. |
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RAINFALL AT RIETVLEI |
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The annual rainfall data for
Rietvlei has been released by
the Reserve management; two
graphs comparing the 2011
rainfall to those of previous
years show some interesting
results. |
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Fig 1: Annual Rainfall
at Rietvlei – 2002-2011
(2002 data incomplete) |
Fig 2: 2011 Rainfall vs
Monthly average
2000-2010 |
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Figure 1 shows that total
rainfall at Rietvlei in 2011 was
300mm; while higher than in
2010, this was still very much
lower than in most of the
previous ten years. Figure 2
compares the monthly rainfall
for 2011 (solid black line) with
the monthly averages for the
years 2000-2010 – this shows
that in June and December the
rainfall was considerably higher
than the average, but during
most of the other 10 months it
was lower than the average for
those months. The higher
rainfall in December means that
there is still water in the
central pans, thus reducing the
chances of early dust problems
developing. |
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NEW ADDITION TO OUR ANIMAL
COLLECTION |
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We have acquired a new member of
our collection of animals in the
Education Centre – this time a
Hadeda. The hadeda was knocked
down by a car in Royal Ascot,
but the carcase was still very
fresh when we picked it up. It
went straight into the
deepfreeze and in October we
took it up to Buck ‘n Bass
Taxidermy on Marienthal Farm
north of Durbanville for
mounting. Just before Christmas
we were told that it had been
mounted and that we can collect
the bird. |
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The hadeda now joins other
recent members of our
collection, a few months ago a
Fiery-necked Nightjar was
mounted on our wall, earlier we
had received the little dolphin
and in 2010 the large new otter
became a permanent resident.
There is still a dune mole-rat
waiting at the taxidermist for
stuffing and mounting. |
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Our thanks to Buck ‘n Bass
Taxidermy, not only for the
great taxidermy work they do on
these animals, but also for the
special discount we get from
them for the work they do for
us. |
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IMPACT ASSESSMENTS |
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As always we are involved with
several impact assessments of
developments in the area. In the
previous newsletter we reported
on the response to our appeal
against the expansion of Potsdam
WWTW. We have since had a very
fruitful discussion with the
chairperson of the Blaauwberg
Subcouncil, Cllr Heather
Brenner, and officials of
Wastewater Management regarding
specific recommendations we made
to decrease the impact of the
expansion on the Diep River and
estuary. We will keep you
informed when we have more
information available. |
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OUR INDIGENOUS GARDEN |
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You will have noticed the
improvement in our indigenous
garden at the bottom end of Grey
Ave just before the entrance to
the reserve. Gail McDonald has
been responsible for this –
great work, Gail! |
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However, she needs assistance –
donations of suitable plants or
slips will be most welcome.
These have to be indigenous
plants suitable for the area, if
you can help please contact Gail
on 082 937 8759 to find out
which plants are suitable. She
is also looking for volunteers
to help with weeding and other
tasks. |
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RIETVLEI CONTACT NUMBERS:
Environmental Education Centre – 021 521 9900
Entrance Gate – no number currently available due to
construction work.
Emergencies and standby number 071 268 9637
Rietvlei Manager office number - 021 550 1086 |
