by SFT | Aug 12, 2024 | FOSTER
Pictured from left to right are Matt Gennrich from FOSTER and Dave Bowmer, Errol Burman from Rotary and Dane Shaw from the CSF Civics.
Dave Bowmer’s vision for a comprehensive shipwreck display in the Anchor Garden in Cape St Francis reached its culmination. This came just in time for Women’s Day with the completion of the Elke M exhibit last Thursday.
The Shipwreck Display at the entrance to the FOSTER Managed Irma Booysen Nature Reserve in Cape St Francis was opened by Mayor Bornman last October. Since then, several enhancements and new artefacts have been added. Recently, a cannon donated by the Cheetham family was incorporated, and now the Elke M display has been completed. This display was made possible through the donation of the rear mast, anchor, and nameplate by salvors from Extreme Projects and Nick Sloane.
Elke M
The Elke M, which ran aground at Shark Point on January 6th of this year, is the latest casualty in a long history of shipwrecks along our coastline. The first recorded shipwreck in the area was the Noord, which went aground 334 years ago on January 16, 1690.
Dave and his team, working on behalf of the Cape St Francis Civics, prepared the rear mast—complete with its original lights—by cutting it to an appropriate size. This work was supported by an anonymous donation, additional funds from the St Francis Rotary Club, and the support of FOSTER. This initiative, driven by numerous individuals and organizations, benefits the greater St Francis community and boosts local tourism.
Support FOSTER
A visit to the shipwreck museum is highly recommended, and it can be complemented by a walk in the Irma Booysen Nature Reserve, which has an entrance nearby. You can choose your trail by consulting the map at the entrance. We trust that you will consider becoming a member of FOSTER. This is to support our efforts in preserving biodiversity and maintaining the reserves and trails. Membership is R350 per year and can be arranged by visiting our website at foster.org.za.
See also: FOSTER Update July 2024
by SFT | Jul 29, 2024 | FOSTER
The FOSTER Reserve Management team has quietly continued their essential work in the FOSTER-managed reserves, focusing on eradicating invasive species, maintaining the many paths and trails, and keeping the reserves pristine. Whenever possible, they are also repairing storm-damaged trails.
Currently, the team is deployed at the lighthouse, clearing invasive bitou. As hoped, this has exposed numerous bulbs and other plants that will soon thrive and showcase our rich biodiversity in the Seal Point Nature Reserve. An aerial photo of the reserve around the lighthouse, taken by Jal Rigard, illustrates the recovery of the wetlands, demonstrating that due to our alien clearing efforts, the stream has begun to flow again.
Nevermind
Many visitors to Nevermind or the lighthouse may not realize they are within the Seal Point Nature Reserve. I often wonder if they consider how the paths remain well-maintained and repaired after damage. Perhaps if they did, they would be more inclined to become members of FOSTER at foster.org.za for just R350 per year—certainly less than the cost of the breakfast they just enjoyed.
Trying to solicit new members at The Backyard 67 charity trail run last Sunday felt akin to pulling teeth despite the run traversing many of the FOSTER trails. We encourage you to join us and contribute to conservation efforts; we won’t ask for anything more unless you want to assist.
On a positive note, it’s wonderful to see dedicated community members wanting to contribute, such as committee members Malcolm Devine and Antoinette Grundlingh, who braved the elements at the FOSTER gazebo for exposure at the Pig and Rooster at the trail run. Additionally, Anita Lennox from the CSF Resort and her team have always been eager to help.
Wild Flower Chase
They suggested that this year’s “Wild Flower Chase” be integrated into the larger Calamari Festival, resulting in the inception of the “Wild Flower and Shipwreck Experience,” set to take place from September 23 to 25. We are grateful to Terri Hutchins from Ocean Peak Design for quickly creating a fantastic poster for this event.
Many others selflessly contribute to making the “Wild Flower and Shipwreck Experience“ memorable, including Margie Middelton, Caryl Logie, Colleen Smith, Malcolm Turner, and, of course, Dave Bowmer, as well as Malcolm and Antoinette from FOSTER.
FOSTER Update July 2024
I would also like to extend a huge thank you to Cath and Clint Hempel for their outstanding work repairing the severely damaged section of the path from Queen of the West to Sunset Rocks. FOSTER had decided that we could no longer afford to keep repairing this path and would declare it a wild path, allowing visitors to navigate the damaged section as best as possible. They have graciously agreed to continue maintaining the trail and the sections closer to Sunset Rocks—thank you!
There is always a lot happening with FOSTER as we strive to conserve, maintain, protect, and provide access to the biodiversity of the FOSTER-managed reserves, all while promoting active stewardship of the environment and our heritage.
see also: FOSTER to clear invasive Bitou in the Seal Point Nature Reserve around the lighthouse to reestablish the natural habitat.
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by SFT | Jul 7, 2024 | FOSTER
The shipwreck display at the Irma Booysen Nature Reserve entrance in Cape St Francis features a cannon from the 1800s. Bobby Cheetam, long-time motoring editor of the Herald from Port Elizabeth, donated the cannon. His family was originally from Cannonville, a small village on the banks of the Sunday River.
“Admittedly, the cannon does not come from an actual shipwreck but is of significant historical value, from the Eastern Cape and is what people expect to see at a shipwreck display”, said Matt Gennrich, local CSF resident and Chairman of FOSTER, a local NPO looking after the 4 nature reserves surrounding Cape St Francis. “Since opening the display with sponsorship and support from the Civics, Rotary and Lighthouse Construction, we started looking around for a cannon to enhance the display. These are difficult to find, and people who own them tend to keep them. One day, I remembered that Bobby Cheetam had shown me his cannon some years ago whilst he lived in Summerstrand, and I took a chance and phoned him to ask if he still had it.
Bobby, now retired in George, said that he had sent it to his son Clive in Johannesburg without knowing what to do with his cannon. If Clive agreed, Bobby would be happy to donate it to the shipwreck display in Cape St Francis if it added value and gave pleasure to more people.
I then called Clive, who readily agreed with his father and confirmed that we could have it as long as we could get it back to the Eastern Cape, where it belonged. It was large and weighed an estimated 3-4 tons.
I mentioned our dilemma to Miles Japhet of St Francis Bay, one of FOSTERS’ generous donors, and he said he might be able to help. On Monday, Ryan from Milltrans called to ask where he could collect the cannon and said it would be delivered on Thursday. Dave Bowmer, our reserve manager and custodian of the display, sprang into action and prepared the display site in time for the delivery.” Said Matt.
There are a number of amateur shipwreck fundis in our area, but we also have one of South Africa’s foremost authorities on shipwrecks living in St Francis Bay: Malcolm Turner, a professional diver turned historian and author of the book Shipwrecks and Salvage in South Africa, published in 1988.
When asked, Malcolm gave his advice freely. He sent me an article from the Herald of the 11th of December 1968, which tells the history of two cannons from Cannonville, which Malcolm positively identified as one of them. The exact history is unclear, but as these are not military canons, it is likely that they were used to initially protect private property. According to the Herald article, though, the 18-pounder guns were used to salute dignitaries, such as when the Prince of Wales visited in August 1860 and Lord Charles Somerset when they crossed the Sunday’s River on the Pont in use then. Both the article and Malcolm stress that these are assumptions and remain so until proven otherwise.
Whatever the real story is, a huge thank you to the Cheetam family for this generous donation to our town, then Miles and Milltrans for helping to get the canon relocated to Cape St Francis.
Before long with the support of the Civics and Rotary the shipwreck display will hopefully be further enhanced with artifacts from our latest shipwreck the Elke M, including its anchor and sections of the rear mast and its nameplate. FOSTER, whilst happy to host the display at the entrance of the Irma Booysen Reserve will not use funds raised for conservation to contribute financially to the display.
Please stop and visit the display when next in Cape St Francis. Then why not take a walk while there in one of our reserves, kept pristine by the team with funding from memberships and generous donors? If you are not already a paid-up member, please consider becoming one at foster.org.za to help preserve the incredible biodiversity around us.
by SFT | Jun 11, 2024 | FOSTER
What a Jol!
After having to postpone the Jol by a week due to the severe winter storm, Saturday turned into a beautiful day and evening which saw some 130 cowboys and cowgirls come and support FOSTER and give the night away to our two local bands Ghost Riders and On the Rocks after enjoying some sumptuous potjie’s prepared by the resort chefs. A big thank to Anita and Jason from the Cape St Francis Resort for sponsoring the venue and as always supporting FOSTER, the staff as usual also went out of their way to ensure that a fun evening was had by all
Dave, Zep, Dylan and Jeff set the tone with their instrumental country and western songs which they had practiced to good effect in Dave’s cold garage. Thanks for giving your time freely to FOSTER. Chris, Ryan, Margo, Ralph and Rudelle- you guys’ literally rock and the dance floor was packed once you guys got started, encore after encore was requested until you eventually packed up. Rob did a great job as sound engineer too.
The FOSTER Jol has again become a Cape St Francis tradition and huge thank you to all those who attended helping FOSTER’s funds used to keep the reserves and trails in the condition they are in. The money raised has already in part been earmarked for repairing sections of our trails that have been damaged by the heavy rains in the Seal Point Nature reserve.
See also: FOSTER to clear invasive Bitou in the Seal Point Nature Reserve around the lighthouse to reestablish the natural habitat.
by SFT | Jun 5, 2024 | FOSTER
FOSTER plans to embark on a project in the Seal Point Nature Reserve around the lighthouse to remove the invasive plant – bitou, that has taken over large areas that were previously covered by fynbos and indigenous plants including grasses. The attached photographs clearly illustrate how this area looked in 1976 and 1978 prior to the take over of bitou and then in 2003 and finally in 2020, which is what it still looks like today.
Bitou is an indigenous plant, however it is very much a weed and tends to proliferate in areas disturbed usually by man. It is very fast growing and quickly develops a thick canopy which then destroys the naturally occurring vegetation as this is starved of sunlight and nutrients. Fortunately, many of the seeds and bulbs lie dormant in the soil and as has been seen in other areas where FOSTER has cleared bitou return to life and begin to flourish in the newly restored environment.
Ensuring that the bitou is removed properly in larger areas requires mechanical intervention such as tractors with brush cullers and the use of a front loader. Due to the high visibility and usage by the community of the area around the lighthouse the uprooted bitou will be removed and disposed of correctly at the Humansdorp dump site.
Once the project is complete it will take some months for the original plant life to return, though FOSTER will assist this by planting the correct indigenous bulbs etc. where practical.
Earlier this year FOSTER cleared a large area of bitou off the Hope Crescent and the positive spin off can already be seen with the spring having started to flow again and o whole host of new plants emerging.
We look forward to restoring this area and recreating the natural environment that existed here before the invasive bitou took over.
(For those interested in the scientific description of what is happening, here it is. The invasion of shrub (Osteospermum monoliferum mid- and foreground) into a species-rich community dominated by fynbos shrubs (Helichrysum teretifolium, Achyranthemum sordescens) and forbs (Indigofera tomentosa, Cotula discolor). The indigofera and everlasting (A. sordescens) are classified as endangered. Original photograph taken by R.M. Cowling in Sep 2003; repeat by Hoffman and Cowling in Feb 2020. Seal Point Nature Reserve, Cape St Francis).
It is planned to commence with this project within the next two weeks.
see also: The FOSTER Jol Incoming – The best party of the year is happening on Saturday
by SFT | May 27, 2024 | FOSTER
The best party or Jol of the year is happening on Saturday when local bands the Ghost Riders and On the Rocks take to the stage at the Cape St Francis Resort as our local Cowboys and Cowgirls rev it up whilst enjoying some fine western fare all for a good cause (FOSTER). Come and join the fun, come rain or shine, for just R300 per person or R150 for the young uns from 18h00 onwards. Tickets are available through Quicket or at the Cape St Francis Resort’s reception and at the door for latecomers.
We will also have tables set up in the hall for those wanting to make up tables in a more relaxed environment. This is one event of the year you don’t want to miss out on.
FOSTER – Our Story
The Friends of the St Francis Nature Areas – FOSTER – was established 35 years ago. This voluntary organisation shoulders the bulk of the management role for the Seal Bay, Cape St Francis, Irma Booysen & Seal Point Nature Areas. These wonderful green gems offer a choice of hiking trails through various coastal habitats from rocky shores, beaches, and salt-stunted vegetation to dune fynbos, thickets, and small patches of true dune forests.
A brief history:
Mid 1980s: “Friends” group started under leadership of Gwen and Henry Brown with guidance by Richard and Shirley Cowling.
In the late 1980s, Dave Bowmer initiated alien clearance in the Irma Booysen reserve.
Mid 1990s: Lawrence Kruger and Richard Cowling produced a report to guide the establishment of the St Francis Coastal Open Space System, an interlinked system of conservation-worthy state land in the Greater St Francis region. This initiative was championed by Des Green and has remained the FOSTER blueprint since then. Des made excellent progress with the proclamation of the Irma Booysen reserve.
2000s: Considerable investment in alien plant clearance, trail establishment and signage, all implemented by Dave Bowmer and his team. Much progress has been made in proclaiming the reserves in the past five years, thanks to the superb effort of Wentzel Coetzer of Conservation Outcomes.
The use of natural areas has grown steadily over the years. It is no exaggeration to say that over the past 35 years, FOSTER has created a 330-hectare network of natural areas that is now the pride and joy of residents and visitors alike.
Vision
To conserve, maintain, protect, and provide access to the biodiversity of the FOSTER–managed nature areas whilst promoting active stewardship of the environment and heritage.
Mission
FOSTER’s primary role is to nurture (foster) and preserve the biodiversity in the Irma Booysen, Seal Point, Seal Bay and Cape St Francis Nature Areas. Its secondary role is to ensure that the nature areas are accessible to the greater community and visitors.
FOSTER aims to achieve this mission through the following:
The FOSTER-managed nature areas will be proclaimed and legally protected.
The trails will be properly maintained, with interpretative features, i.e. mapping and signage.
There will be few seed-bearing alien woody plants in the nature areas.
Our membership numbers will support our annual maintenance costs. Other funding will be sourced for ad hoc projects through appeals and events.
The nature areas management includes:
Trail maintenance & management – erosion control, clearing of paths & erecting signage
The control of alien vegetation to reduce fire risks
Management & maintenance of fire breaks around the village
Monitor animal movements & numbers through a system of trail cameras
Marketing & public awareness campaigns about the importance of these areas of critical biodiversity
Liaising with authorities
How do we fund our reserve management program?
The only source of funding for FOSTER is the contributions made by residents, property owners , and conservation-minded people.
Operational costs are about R100 000 per annum, amounting to R330 per hectare.
How do these costs compare to those incurred by government-run reserves with similar management challenges and objectives?
The annual management costs per hectare for a similar-sized, dune veld reserve situated in a major metropolitan area with large visitor volumes is approximately R7 000. This is 28 TIMES more per hectare than the FOSTER-managed reserves.
Another candidate reserve for comparison, also in dune veld and within a major metropolitan area but having visitation rates like the FOSTER reserves, costs – at approximately R1 750 per hectare – SEVEN TIMES more to manage despite being about three times bigger than our combined reserves (costs per hectare decline with increasing reserve size).
* We have excluded salaries from these operational cost comparisons as FOSTER is supported by volunteers and pays only for contracted services. Salaries comprise between 30% and 50% of operational costs for government-managed reserves.
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