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FOTP Newsletter Quarter 3
The Friends of Tokai Park (FOTP) have had a busy first half of the year, with our IUCN SOS project and regular volunteer hacks in full swing. Tokai Park is in it's winter glory at the moment, with the waterways full of water, which is great fun for children and dogs! In this newsletter we have some exciting upcoming events to share, as well as some news and our latest blog posts. Please note that today's hack will be in honor of Mandela Day, so please feel free to join us to do your 67 minutes! We hope to see you out there soon at a hack or walk :)
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Winter is here and our seasonal waterways are flowing again, to the delight of children and pets alike! Our FOTP IUCN SOS Project team enjoyed a walk at lower Tokai Park on Friday to learn more about the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos (Photo: Alanna Rebelo)
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1. Volunteer Opportunities: Hacks
We have three types of hacks: our Tuesday hacks (easy), our Arboretum hacks and our Saturday hacks (more strenuous). Our hacks are a great way to join the efforts for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The best way to be involved is to sign up with the respective convener (you can use the button below), to get the notices about hacks. Please note that for the Tuesday hacks, rain will cancel.
Tuesday Hacks
Convener: Margaret
July: 19 (3-5pm) - Mandela Day Hack! Join us to do your 67 mins!
August: 2, 16, 30 (3-5pm)
September: 6, 20 (3-5pm)
Arboretum Hacks
Convener: Berta
Arboretum hacks continue on Mondays and Fridays weekly, from 8:30-11:30.
Saturday Hacks
Convener: Tony
None scheduled at present, please keep your eyes on our social media pages or our website: https://tokaipark.com/events/.
Please note that our Covid-19 Regulations will apply to our hacks and walks.
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2. Volunteer Opportunities: Spring Surveys
Our spring surveys will be starting up again in September, so if you are interested in participating, please diarise this! The surveys will take place once a month, and we will be focusing on middle Tokai this year.
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3. Events:
Spring Flower Walk
We will be hosting a spring flower walk sometime in September, depending on the rains and the start of the season. We will send an announcement and invitation to sign up closer to the time.
The Great Southern Bioblitz
This exciting global event is set for 28-31 October 2022. You can find out more on the official website: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/great-southern-bioblitz-2022-umbrella. Cape Town will be participating, and we will host some events at Tokai Park to join in the fun!
Night Walk
Our night walks will start up in October again, coinciding with the Great Southern Bioblitz. Watch this space!
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There is always a lot of news to share at FOTP, and this time we would like to report news on the following:
- FOTP IUCN SOS project wrapping up
- Strategic Biodiversity Draft White Paper is open for public participation
- The Tokai-Cecilia Management Framework Review Process: Update
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1. IUCN SOS Project Wrapping up
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Our FOTP IUCN SOS project ran from February to July 2022 with the aim to restore the habitat of the endangered Western Leopard Toad at Tokai Park, South Africa. Funding was granted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the European Union through the Save Our Species Rapid Action Grant, which hopes to address delays in conservation-related work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read more about our project here, or see a brief summary below. |
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Our six month project is almost at it's end, and is due to wrap up at the end of July 2022. We hired 12 interns, and you can meet our interns on our website where their bios are posted, our Facebook page, by looking at our #InspiringInterns series, and you can explore their observations on iNaturalist here.
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These are the alien clearing FOTP IUCN SOS Project sites around the Fairy Wetland at Upper Tokai Park. View the interactive map here (Map: Alanna Rebelo).
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The FOTP IUCN SOS Project team held a closing workshop at the CRC in Tokai on Thursday 14 July 2022 (Photo: Byron-Mahieu van der Linde).
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The FOTP IUCN SOS Project closing workshop included a site visit to the Fairy Wetland alien clearing sites (Photo: Byron-Mahieu van der Linde)
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The Western Leopard Toads are on the move again! One of our project mascots popped up at our site at Upper Tokai Park last week! (Photo: Dandi Kritzinger)
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The FOTP IUCN SOS Project team enjoyed a hike to Kirstenbosch to see critically endangered Peninsula Granite Fynbos in better condition along the contour path between Cecilia and the gardens (Photo: Byron-Mahieu van der Linde)
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These are the results of the alien clearing as part of the FOTP IUCN SOS Project.
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There have also been some stacked burns by SANParks and NCC to reduce the piles of slash at Upper Tokai Park (Photo Liezl Knight).
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2. Strategic Biodiversity Draft White Paper
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The Draft White Paper on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in South Africa has been published by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy, for public comment. Comments are due by 8 September 2022.
There are concerns that this policy reflects no sense of the crisis our biodiversity faces. The Friends of Tokai Park will be preparing comments. If you would like to participate, please let us know on TokaiFynbosFriends@gmail.com. We will share our submission with all our members, so that you can submit it as well if you would like to support it.
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3. The Tokai-Cecilia Management Framework Review Process: Update
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On Friday 1 July 2022 SANParks sent an email to all stakeholders stating the following:
"Upon the closing date (31 May 2022) for public comment on Draft Tokai Cecilia Implementation Plan, a wide and diverse assortment of submissions were received resulting in over 600 submissions and a multitude of comments to respond to. Beside those speaking directly to the Draft Implementation Plan, many of these submissions included comments in support of stakeholder organisation’s positions, re-stated issues and references were made to statements made by SANParks officials in the engagement process."
We have had no further news, but once SANParks has "fully appreciated and considered" all the comments, we should receive an update. No date has been given for this.
Friends of Tokai Park also submitted a letter, supported by many of our members (thank you!) to object to the change in TCMF Process. We received a response from Prof Wendy Foden on 23 June 2022, stating: "w e acknowledge receipt of your objection, which is being considered as part of the current review".
You can download a copy of the Friends of Tokai Park's statement here, and see a summary here. |
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We have two new blog posts on our FOTP website, with more to follow this quarter. We have one very exciting article currently being written about a new population of an extremely rare plant species which was discovered through our IUCN SOS project. It will be published soon :)
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Use the buttons below to find our website or follow us on social media :)
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