A Day in Namaqualand

Hi Guys

I recently started working at Conservation South Africa and got the chance to meet some incredible people.

one of my colleagues recently came to Namaqualand for a Farmersday and it was amazing to see how someone else appreciate the beauty of our part of the world. I wanted to post a piece she wrote about what she experienced and how she was received.

Nolubabalo Kwayimani wrote:

 5am, In the morning the journey began to Namaqualand, spent the full 8 hours in the road , the exquisite Namaqualand kept my attention alive. I was fortunate to be driving with Tessa the Director of Communication, the first four hours was a full induction , which played a gigantic role  with regards to the understand of the CSA background,  I read a lot of material to try and understand Conservation South Africa, but she gave a clear understanding of the background and the vision. I had a note book with me, taking notes while she was taking me on the CSA journey. The first months are always the difficult one’s at a new job, trying to fit in and trying to understand and this is new venture specifically for me as I lack a background of the environmental sector, thus I always go an extra mile to actually find a way of absorbing any information that I can come across as a vital source. I understood the corridor that CSA created, the corridor from the mountains to the Sea and why and how CSA works with Farmers. CSA assists farmers to farm sustainably by providing them with incentives and education. In the same I acquired communication skills and that is where the Newsletter strategy was drafted. The last few hours I spent with Malinda, where she introduced me to Namaqualand species and history, the highlight was when I saw the different species in one areas, e.g Drosanthemum hispidum, androcymbium scabromargintum,Aloe dichotoma ,Ornithogalum secendum, Aizoon canariense and my favorite was the ihlenfeldia excavata which according to Malinda is called the baby bum. Today I know that the reptiles, plants and mammals have high endemism and birds have no endemism in Namaqualand.

Namaqualand Farmers Day

The 30^th of May 2013, an exquisite day under the mountains of Namaqualand. The Farmers day in Namaqualand was a successful day, to understand the work that CSA does is amazing and to actually experience the work they do in the ground with the famers is an incredibly experience that every CSA employee should be exposed to regardless of the different roles they play within the organization .This allows every employee to understand the vision and mission of CSA at large.  To see how people gather for the same vision was an astonishing experience, The Farmers day in Namaqualand was a practical evidence of one of CSA successes and to be part of such event was a privilege that enhanced my knowledge of CSA at large.

 CSA is known for their involvement in working with Landscape specifically the 3 Biodiversity Hotpots in South Africa which one of it, is the Succulent Karoo in the Northern Cape. This is basically how the Conservation South Africa can be distinguishable, for its uniqueness with regards to the area that their work is based on. Namaqualand is full of life and the life of so many species that are adapted in a very cold weather of the Northern Cape, so many species that are endemic in the same area and to see those species was a life changing experience, the beauty of the species and how they adapt to such weather was an incredible eye opener.

There were several speakers that contributed to the success of the day.The first session was directed by Elvene and the second session was directed by Auther from CSA Northern Cape Offices. Ds. Basson and Elvene,Rufus, Arthur and Elmarisa  Introduced the CSA staff members, gave a brief overview of the different programmes that they involved in, they gave a brief overview  of the NGED Program (BRI; Climate Change Skeppies and  Eco Rangers ,Charles Schreuder  Introduced the honor guest . Travor Xivuri from SANBI gave a presentation of Emerging Weeds: Early detective Rapid Response where he spoke about Alien plants that can destroy the livestock of many farmers. Rassie Erasmus Spilhaus gave a presentation on Irrigation of olive groves Water treatment and power needs: Solar panels and lastly Pierre Albertyn (Dalmark) & Poen van der Westhuizen gave the last presentation of the day on Pest and plague control.

The highlight of the day was  when three ladies presented their work in front of everyone, the confidence they had, sharing their stories might have inspired so many people and they played a vital role in highlighting some of the work that CSA is involve in and how CSA has played a huge role into their lives, as much as CSA vision is to assist farmers to farm sustainably and conserve the environment by protecting other endangered species , Namaqualand people are developing skills in Leadership and Entrepreneur Areas as well and lastly I got  warm welcome in Namaqualand regardless of the Language barrier, Namaqualand people are friendly and I got to experience the Namaqualand food, one of my favorites was the Potjikoes. It was also a great pleasure to meet the lovely CSA team that is based in Namaqualand.