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Kultur
DSK Eco-Rangers
At the beginning of 2009 I took up the
challenge to run the Eco-Rangers. It has
been a wonderful year in which the Eco-
Rangers have been involved in many
environmental projects and have been on
several informative outings.
Our very first outing for the year was a
visit to the “Full Cycle” earthworm farm at
Noordhoek. We learned a lot about the value
of earthworms and how we can use them to
create compost for our school’s gardens. We
have, as yet, not embarked on actually doing
so, but would like to start doing so in 2010.
A beach clean-up outing for the Grade 7
learners was initiated by the Eco-Rangers. It
was spearheaded by the City of Cape Town
in their “Blue Beach” drive. A Blue Beach is
a beach that has been recognized as a safe
and clean beach on a world-wide scale. The
NSRI demonstrated to the learners how to
save a person from drowning, the Sharks
Board gave a talk on endangered sharks,
and an environmental drama group did a
play on cleaning up beaches. Afterwards,
the learners participated in a beach clean-up
at Camp’s Bay beach.
Our second outing was a visit to the SPCA
in Grassy Park. We took a donation to
them which had been willingly given by the
DSK learners. The Eco-Rangers watched
a dvd about what the SPCA does and the
Rangers were then given an opportunity
to play with the puppies and kittens, which
they really enjoyed. Before we left, we
made a commitment to help the SPCA with
fundraising as far as possible. We have
sold ribbons and chocolates as part of our
commitment to the SPCA. This drive was in
recognition of Animal Welfare Day.
The really exciting venture that we embarked
on was re-establishing barn owls in the school
136
grounds, and thus in the greater Kloofnek
area. There were owl houses in several
of the tall trees on the school grounds, but
they had never been inhabited by any owls.
We fetched two barn owls from the Giraffe
House at Klapmuts and brought them back
to school. They were placed in one of the
owl houses in the front of the school where
they remained “captive” for 2 weeks until
they had become accustomed to their new
surroundings. During this time they had to
be fed – quite a mission every day – climbing
up a very tall ladder, precariously hanging
over a gorge! We would like to thank the
school’s groundsmen for their willingness
to assist in this very difficult task! The owls
were released just before a weekend, and
immediately flew away. To our delight, they
have settled into an owl house up against the
mountainside behind the hostel. We aim to
get another 2 owls after the current breeding
season.
As part of the follow-up to the owls, the bird
specialist from Ratanga Junction brought
some of his live birds to the school to do a
talk about wild and endangered birds. His
visit was hugely enjoyed by all the learners
and teachers, and much was learned from
him.
During the 2nd term, the Rangers became
involved in sponsoring 2 breeding nests for
the African Penguins at Boulders Beach.
One Friday morning, Mr Fölscher and 2 of
the Rangers went to the penguin colony at
Boulders, to participate in the launch of the
new breeding nests. It was a very informative
outing and the school’s contribution is
acknowledged on a plaque at the penguin
colony. We also received a certificate to
thank us for our contribution to saving the
penguins.
The Eco-Rangers have regular meetings
on Tuesday afternoons. During these
meetings, we have done many things
including watching environmental dvd’s and
videos, making marketing posters for all our
activities and projects, and discussing new
ideas and ventures. We had planned a visit
to SANCCOB, but this was not possible
during the 3rd term. Hopefully this outing can
be combined with an outing to the Rietvlei
Wetland Conservation Area in the 4th term.
Pierre Fölscher