March 2012 MONTHLY REPORT

Compliance Management

Roland and Stefan checked 39 recreational fishing and bait collectors permits during March. Of the 39 permits checked 5 did not have valid permits on them and were given friendly warnings. There were no fines issued this month however all three rangers attended a peace officers course at the Goukamma Marine Protected Area.

The peace officers course was held on the 27th, 28th and 29th and presented by Dr. FJW Herbig. As it currently stands, the rangers cannot issue any J534 fines as they do not have those powers. If the rangers encounter any serious offences, Dept. of Fisheries has to be contacted in Mossel Bay to come out and write the necessary fines. This often takes a while, complicating the fining process.

Once the rangers have received their certificates, they need to apply to be appointed as peace officers by the Station Commander at the nearest Police Station. They then need to approach Dept. of Fisheries to be appointed as Fisheries Control Officers, that can enforce the Marine Living Resources Act.

Once this has been completed the rangers will have the powers to fine people on the spot for any contraventions of the Marine Living Resources Act.

On the 30th, the rangers attended a one day self defense course. The instructor focused on key elements during a confrontational situation and how one can deal with them in the best manner.

A big thank you to Wayne Meyer (Ex Fransmanshoek Senior Ranger), who now works at Goukamma Marine Protected Area, for organizing both short courses mainly for the Cape Nature staff but managed to slot the Fransmanshoek Conservancy rangers in the program.

Voelvlei Vroue Landbou Unie

On the 7th Roland attended the VVLU Annual General Meeting in order to give a presentation about the value and importance of healthy river systems and wetlands. Roland was asked approximately six months prior to the meeting to do a talk on Oystercatchers. Roland requested that the topic be changed as every year the same presentation was being delivered and Oystercatchers were surely starting to get a little bit tiring. The ladies agreed, and Roland started preparing.

As it was their AGM, representatives from all over the southern Cape were present making up an audience of approximately 100 ladies. Roland spoke to the ladies for about 20-30min highlighting the threats posed to wetlands and river systems, but at the same time understanding that there needs to be a balance between utilization and protection. As many of the women present were farmers wives, Roland tried to make the topics discussed relevant to the threats agriculture pose on wetlands, as well as highlighting possible alternatives to the threats.

The ladies seemed to enjoy the information that was shared, and Roland left with a large parcel of goodies.

Pinnacle Point Student Rangers Visit FMH

On the 8th, Roland, Stefan and Marcel hosted the new student rangers and community rangers from Pinnacle Point’s Conservation Trust. The idea was to educate the new staff at Pinnacle Point as to what duties are carried out by the rangers on a regular coastal foot patrol. Marcel conducted a roving creel survey at the same time to give them an idea as to the basics of collecting roving creel data.

As the Pinnacle point staff do not work on weekends, a weekday had to be organized to do the patrol. Everyone met at the Cape Vacca parking lot, and headed off toward Fransmanshoek. Chris-Marie Dorfling, was unfortunately suffering from a medical condition and therefore missed the walk, but offered to drive to the other side in order to fetch the group at the end.

Removing litter from the beach is one of the rangers duties and Roland took the opportunity of so many hands to get a serious amount of litter removed. Along the walk, the Pinnacle Point rangers were also shown how to collect SOB data, Oystercatcher breeding success data and conduct roving creel interviews. Roland took the time to share information and knowledge of tides, sea conditions, fishing legislation and marine legislation along the walk as well.

The first batch of litter collected on the patrol, all these bags were collected between Cape Vacca parking lot and the Cape Vacca point house. Three more sections of beach between Kanon and Fransmanshoek were also cleared.

Weeds Forum

On the 9th, Roland, Stefan and Marcel attended the Weeds Forum near Albertinia. The forum seeks to create a platform where private landowners, conservation bodies and government bodies can communicate over issues arising from alien

and invasive vegetation. Landowners are faced by legislation that imposes on them the expensive task of having to remove certain category invasive from their property and having a forum where information and experience can be shared, often helps.

This time the forum was hosted by Andre and Elaine Du Preez on their farm, Eagles Rest, just outside of Albertinia. The day started off with a presentation by Fiona Impson from the Protection Research Institute. The presentation specifically focused on biological control agents, including aspects such as the history of biological control agents, the processes followed, reasons for release, public opinion and future of biological control agent programs.

To clarify, a biological control agent is often an insect from the native country of an invasive plant, that has been brought to the country where the invasive plant is a problem, in order to assist with the control and eradication of the problem plant. The topic is still indeed controversial even though close to 100 biological control agents have been released in South to curb the spread of invasive vegetation. The control agents go through rigorous testing (often for years) and be kept in quarantine until approval has been given for their release. Even so, the risk of problems arising later on is still present, however has to date no record of any negative effect or problems arising from any released biological control agents.

Andres wife then gave a background to the alien vegetation management on the farm, after which the rangers had to unfortunately leave (as they had to get back to Kleinbos for their first management meeting of the year). Those who attended were then shown around Eagles Rest in order to visually see the changes that were spoken of.

Eagles Rest lies in fossil that are naturally covered with and limestone fynbos. The farm was heavily infested with Port Jackson and Rooikranz. The Du Preez’ have tried various methods from bulldozing to custom built bossi-kappers, and have managed rid their farm of the two species of invasive plants for the most part. Water has returned with a number of wetlands becoming functional again, however the area has not been rehabilitated toward the originally occurring fynbos, rather kweek (Cynodon dactylon) grazing lands have been created or thatching reed (Thamnochortus insignis) lands. So while the invasive have been removed, the land has been utilized for agronomic purposes rather than biodiversity.

Dolphin Stranding

On the 12th, Roland received a report of a dolphin that had washed out at Boggomsbaai. On the 13th the rangers went to sample the carcass and take photos and GPS points. As per protocol Roland contacted Mike Meyer (Head of Marine Mammals for the Dept. of Fisheries), informing him of the stranding.

Roland showed the student rangers where skin samples were to be taken from, and what basic measurements to take. All the data has been sent to Mike and his team, while the skin samples will be picked up the next time anyone from Fisheries is coming past.

The dolphin was a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), which makes an interesting find as they rarely come close to the shore. Striped dolphins mainly occur in the Indian Ocean, off the south east coast of South Africa, in deeper waters mainly off the edge of the continental shelf. Like most dolphins it feeds mainly on fish and squid.

Roland busy removing a skin sample from the stranded Striped Dolphin.

Sourfig Experimental Plots Springerbaai

For two years now some speculation has arisen within Springerbaai so as what to do with the increase in ground cover by sourfig (Carpobrotus deliciosus and C. edulis). Springerbaai consists of some relatively pristine dune vegetation together with some remnant patches of Herbertsdale Renoster/Thicket, while the rest is made up of fallow agriculture lands. On a small piece of these fallow lands some reseeding of pioneer species such as bietou (Osteospermum monilifera) has been attempted by Fred Orban with limited success, however up until now no monitoring has been done to measure the rate of recovery, if any.

Mainly in these fallow lands and where rehabilitation was attempted, sourfig has formed large mats, seemingly taking over. While this may just be a step in the vegetation succession that needs to take place, it is also possible that sourfig is limiting and outcompeting any other indigenous renoster/thicket species from establishing.

In order to determine the best management action for the perceived problem, the conservancy has set up three study blocks. Each block will receive a different treatment while re-growth and succession will be monitored. The third

treatment, being the use of a strong herbicide, is still in debate. The idea of spraying hundreds of liters of poison is possibly not the best idea, even if it is effective in killing Sourfig. The second treatment is the physical removal of the sourfig. This treatment was carried out from the 13th to the 19th of March by Steven Prins and his team together with the rangers. Rob Bass (Springerbaai Trustee) organized the funding for the removal and gave the go ahead. The removed sourfig was driven to a plant material dumpsite, where any re-sprouting can be treated with a herbicide. On commencement of the work everyone realized that this was a labour intensive exercise and would take a very long time to clear significantly large areas. Therefore the rangers decided to scale down their plot size, but agreed to clear the sourfig for a week and see how far they got.

A fairly neat block has been cleared, with everyone taking extra special care to remove all the little bits of sourfig that break off as they are easily able to root and re-sprout. The area will be carefully monitored in order to measure the effect of physical removal on a site.

The other treatment is of course to leave the vegetation as is. As previously mentioned, it is quite possible that the expanse of sourfig is just a step in the succession of indigenous vegetation as it recovers from agriculture.

The first day of sourfig removal at Springerbaai.

Acacia cyclops Mapping

For the past three months Marcel has been mapping the distribution of rooikranz (Acacia cyclops) on the conservancy. This map can be used as a tool for the management of rooikranz as a resource and to determine priority areas for future clearing efforts.

Roland completed the first draft of the Alien Vegetation Management Plan toward the end of last year. The management plan highlights the need for accurate mapping of alien vegetation as one of the primary objectives in alien vegetation

management. It is in this department that Marcel has been able to take things forward within the conservancy.

Rooikranz was mapped by means of remote sensing and ground truthed on foot with a GPS, the GPS data was then captured in a Geographical Information System. By using GIS the rangers can interpret large amounts of data such as dates of clearing, the methods used and how many hectares were cleared, this can then be displayed visually with maps over aerial photos. During the mapping process the areas with rooikranz were identified and divided into six different management units. This allows the rangers to adapt the management strategy according to the characteristic and degree of infestation.

As mapping helps to focus efforts to control rooikranz, it can also play a role in monitoring the changes on a larger scale. It does not however show how the vegetation is recovering on an ecological level. For this different types of data needs to be collected. Fix point photo monitoring will be set up on representative clearing sights in the next month which will be used to record responses in re- growth of vegetation to different clearing methods.

Garden Route Conservancy Forum

On the 31st of March the two student rangers attended the Garden Route Conservancy forum in Wilderness. The forum acts as a platform for conservancies to meet and share information, successes and challenges that one may be exposed to in private conservation initiatives

Alien invasive plants are a problem for most, if not all conservancies. Paul Rixom gave a presentation on the efforts to clear black wattle, Acacia mearnsii, from the Touw river catchment area. Even though invasive plants are generally seen in an extremely negative light by conservation, certain initiatives have turned invasive plants into a resource. Paul highlighted how they had linked up with the Farleigh Eco Furniture factory to make school desks among other furniture out of the black wattle wood that was harvested from the Touw river catchment areas.

During the meeting an announcement was made that the Avifaunal Demography Unit (ADU) has asked for public assistance to look out for the southern bald ibis, secretary bird and white-bellied korhaan. If any of these species are observed please log onto http://sabap2.adu.org.za, where you can record your observation. It is important to note the number of individuals, behavior of the bird as well as the habitat within which it was seen. On the website there is a Google map where you can pinpoint your sighting.

The forum was again a great success, with new connections being made between different conservancies and conservation initiatives.

Stone Tool Making

On the 22nd, Roland and Marcel joined Kyle Brown and his father for a couple of hours of sourcing stone tool material. Kyle is working with a large team of Archaeologists, and other scientists looking at modern human occupation of the southern Cape during the middle stone age. The project is one of the largest archaeological projects on the planet, with different scientists focusing on

different pieces of the puzzle, such as diet, social structure and their responses to climate change and sea level fluctuation.

Kyle is specifically looking at sites within the southern Cape and parts of the Little Karoo, where the raw materials that were used in making middle stone age stone tools are available. The first part of their day in our area started at Fransmanshoek, where Kyle had already selected a few larger rocks he requested be allowed to travel back to the lab with him. We then moved down to Stilbaaitjie, where he chose a spot in the corner of the bay where enough suitable cobble shaped rocks that could be used for knapping (flaking stone tools) could be found. There he set out a one square meter block; marked each rock with a black dot and then proceeded (with the help of his dad/research assistant) to measure and weigh each rock within the square. This enables Kyle to quantify the amount of available material within an area.

Roland suggested Kyle have a look at the Fonteintjies bay before moving off to Kanon. Upon arrival Kyle was very pleased to see so many cobble shaped rocks. Fonteintjies has a stretch of +/-200m of cobbles, which according to Kyle is like finding a pot of gold if your into making stone tools. Kyle and his dad set up another sample site at Fonteintjies while Marcel and Roland tended to other appointments.

During the course of the morning Kyle demonstrated his amazing talent for flaking stone tools, something he had developed over his years of studying the prehistoric use of stone tool making and use. He pointed out which rocks would most probably have been chosen, while effortlessly flaking off the most amazingly sharp stone tools. He also showed the rangers how one would set up the flaking of an arrow head, setting up the bulb of percussion so that when the flake breaks off it is sharp on both sides with a sharp tip.

Marcel joined Kyle and his dad later at Kanon for something even more interesting. Kyle has discovered that small pieces from a band of rock known as chert, near Prince Albert in the Karoo wash out on the exposed coast of Cape Vacca. It seems that the pieces of rock are transported by the Gouritz river hundreds of kilometers from inland to wash out on the shore of the conservancy. Chert, it seems, was especially sought after by modern humans at the time as it is one of the best materials for making stone tools. It’s properties allow it to flake extremely sharp but at the same time maintain its sharpness. While Kyle and his dad measured and weighed the rocks of the sample site, Marcel was shown what chert looks like and set off toward Cape Vacca and back to see how many samples he could find. Marcel did well returning with a number of chert samples for Kyle to take back to the lab with him. Kyle explains that although the pieces of chert that wash out here are small, almost too small to be used, evidence from the pinnacle point caves show that they would make tiny scrapers from the chert, hereby displaying its value as a raw material.

Both rangers thoroughly enjoyed the day with Kyle and his dad, who had so much interesting knowledge to share. Marcel and Stefan will hopefully be assisting Kyle and his team in the future, by mapping sites in the mobile dunes where the historical layer of vegetation is exposed. These site are of great value to archaeologists.

Kyle and his dad measuring and weighing rocks, something they have done over a hundred times in the last few months.

An array of suitable stone tool material, with a small piece of chert on the right.

ROLAND SCHOLTZ FRANSMANSHOEK CONSERVANCY 082 084 2791 [email protected]