FRIENDS OF SILVERMINE NATURE AREA

Corinne Merry, the manager of the FOSNA database of flowers photographed on the Cape Peninsula over many years, is delighted to inform FOSNA members that the long-awaited Android app of the database is now available for downloading. The Apple version has been available for some time from the AppStore. Those of you who bought the CD/DVD versions of the database in the last nine years will be familiar with it. It now shows photos of more than 1500 species. There are over 4500 photos as well as descriptions from the literature of all 2250+ peninsula species. The app resides on the cell phone therefore no internet or phone reception is required.   A basic knowledge of plant Families and Genera will help you to quickly find a plant for comparison with the one you are seeing in the field; or scroll through photos. Buy the app from PlayStore – an easy process : When you have opened PlayStore on your phone, search for FloraDoc and follow instructions.   The app sells for R269.99 (VA

Members are invited to attend the   ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Date : Wednesday 20 May 2020 Time : 18h30 for 19h00 Venue :   The Methodist Church The Gateway Room, 1st Ave, Fish Hoek A G E N D A   1.    Welcome and Apologies   2.   Minutes of Previous AGM Wednesday, 22 May 2019 and M atters Arising   3.   Chairman's Report 4.   Treasurer's Report 5.   Nominations of New Committee Members 2020 for next two years 6.   Question Time 7.  A ny other business Tea will be served at 19h45 Presentation by Dr Anthony Roberts of CTEET (Cape Town Environmental Education Trust) - "Changing Lives Through Nature" The meeting will end at approximately 22h00

The Silvermine Wetlands Source to Sea Hike took place on 11 May 2019. Terry Rothwell (Chairman Riverine Rovers) reported that it had been a successful hike with several groups starting at different points and different times and in total, so far, R9190 has been raised. Thank you to everybody who participated and made donations. We now have enough for about 9 months, so we still need to continue raising money to support the River warden in the wetlands. There is a SnapScan QR code on some of the posters in the wetlands if you wish to make a donation, or you ... can contact Terry Rothwell (Chairman Riverine Rovers) at Tel: +27 (0) 21 787 0376 Mobile: +27 (0) 84 711 5416. Photo: Caron Auret

Terry Rothwell reports that so far R5638.29 has been raised through the Source to Sea Walk organized by the Riverine Rovers to fund Albert, our River Warden who has been doing a fantastic job of looking after this very special stretch of the Silvermine River. He says that another R3000 was donated by somebody overseas who lives in Clovelly part of the year and this could also be put towards Albert's salary which means that there are sufficient funds to pay Albert until the end of the year. One person has also donated R20 per month. What happens after that is anybody's guess at this stage, particularly as Evanne and Terry would like to resign from the Riverine Rovers at the end of the year as they have been involved for 14 or more years and no longer live next to the wetlands. This makes supervision of Albert more and more difficult as they are not always available when he is there. My heartfelt thanks to Cathy for leading the walk without which we would have had a major prob

The Friends of Silvermine are having a sponsored walk to raise funds for the Riverine Rovers. This is a small band of enthusiastic members who care for the wetlands at the lower end of the Silvermine River. This is a large area to be looked after by the FOSNA (Friends of Silvermine Nature Area) sub group Riverine Rovers. Riverine Rovers are desperate to raise funds to pay for the river warden Albert as the City Council no longer employ him. Albert ensures that rubbish is picked up and aliens are cl ... eared where possible and accessible. Also any vegetation encroaching on the paths is cut back. The City stopped paying anything towards Albert in June 2017 and most of our funds have now been exhausted paying his wages for one day a week plus any other incidental expenses. The walk is scheduled to start at the reservoir, the main source of the river, and will end at the car park near the rail bridge in Clovelly. The walk can be divided into three sectors: 1. Reservoir to Gate 1/2.

The Riverine Rovers, who run the Friends Group at the Silvermine Wetlands have a crisis! Our Green Warden, Albert, is in danger of losing his job as the City is restructuring that Department and can no longer employ him. We have been paying his full pay since July last year and our funds are now exhausted. Albert plays an essential role in the Wetlands, although he only works one day a week. He pi cks up rubbish; removes any alien vegetation he can; keeps the paths clear of encroaching vegetation; reports on any vagrant sleeping places and removes their rubbish etc and can relate to the public on matters like snakes (he has done a basic snake ID course) and has a little knowledge of the birds etc. We manage to raise about R4000.00 a year with our annual sponsored Source to Sea walk, (next one scheduled for 12th May) but that is not enough. We are looking for someone who can sponsor his wages for him or make a donation. The amount is in the region of R1100.00 a month, depending on