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AN UNUSUAL re-forestation and carbon sequestration project is underway in the heart of the old Transkei, where savage erosion is a common feature. The R7600000 project is being run as a partnership between the Congress of Traditional Leaders’ of South Africa (Contralesa), the national department of environmental affairs and a Johannesburg-based company called Carbon Worx.
It comprises the re-forestation of six 2ha sites in six administrative areas in the district of Ngqungqu, where Contralesa president Chief Phatekile Holomisa lives.
Speaking to The Herald last night (June 13 2011), Phatekile said the project was initiated when Contralesa was approached by Carbon Worx and it got properly underway in 2009 with funding by the department.
“The aim is that a total of 70 people will be employed on the project. The work will involve planting indigenous trees to form forests on each of these sites.”
The land used to be ploughed for crops and was most recently used for grazing cattle but it has become degraded, he said.
“The aim is that once the forests have matured then they will help to absorb carbon and therefore help to fight climate change.”
Also, under a controlled programme, the people will be able to harvest for traditional medicine bark and plants that will grow as part of the forest. Under the programme, they will also be able to harvest wood for fuel and building, he said.
“The project was initiated in 2009 and planting has now started on the first site.”
News of the project was revealed by Nokonwaba Matikinca, head of rural development programmes and land use with Contralesa. Matinkinca was speaking last week at a climate change conference in East London.
In her speech at the conference, Matikinca started disarmingly by admitting that there are some who would be surprised that Contralesa could be progressive enough to be consulted on an issue like climate change.
Thanking conference host economic development and environmental affairs department MEC Mcedisi Jonas for the opportunity, she focused first on the related issue of land degradation, which is both causing and being caused by climate change. She described how when she was a girl in the Transkei town of Willowvale, there were always lots of fruit available for free on the trees growing around the town.
"Now we must go to the Spar. Something is wrong."
She said there was a need for a programme to change mindsets to encourage people to appreciate their natural resources and think about issues like transport and how burning fossil fuels results in CO2 emissions which drive climate change, she said.
"We need to speak to people about the richness that is around them. We need to move away from the mindset that, ‘people will look down on me if I travel by public transport’."
Also at the conference,
Harold Dendela, Nafcoc provincial chairman said, "you can't think about environment unless you have money in the bank.
"Government must give incentives to companies that heed the call to go green, and shame those that do not."
Popular TV weatherman and an anchor on the SABC environment programme 50/50 Simon Gear, who co-ordinated debate during part of the conference, said arguably the best and most immediate way to tackle climate change was for local government to “just do its job properly".
Taking care of parks, planting food gardens, helping poor people access solar water geyser technology and making sure sewage does not flow into our rivers will all create resilience against climate change at the same time as helping communities not contribute to it, he said.
He contended that possibly therefore there was in fact no need for the conference or an Eastern Cape Climate Change Response Strategy, the underpinning document presented at the event.
His statements sparked lively debate and it was an example, delegates said afterwards, of the sincerity of the conference and the commitment of Jonas' department to facing up honestly to the climate change conundrum.
One speaker from the floor argued that formulating a strategy is vital as while for example everyone agrees that rural communities need to get electrificity, "the question is do we drag huge transmission lines across pristine areas, as we have been doing, or do we go for local energy generation?
“We need a strategy to ensure that we're all going in the same direction, and aiming for the same outcome.”
Another speaker said that while this kind of strategising makes sense on one level, the problem is that such a drastic reduction in CO2 is needed. The only way to really tackle the problem, therefore, is to change the economic paradigm in SA, which accepts and even promotes energy-hungry development. “We have to move away from a modern economy."
Div de Villiers, the head of the Green Scorpions in the Eastern Cape and a senior manager in Jonas' department said several positive steps had been taken in the Eastern Cape recently related to combating climate change.
He highlighted the withdrawal of the minerals’ exploration license that had been awarded to Australia-owned Transworld on the Wild Coast, following on determined opposition from the Xolobeni community, and said Minerals Minister Susan Shabangu should be hailed for her decision.
The announcement has been swiftly followed by commitment from the UN to sponsor development that will strengthen resilience against climate change, by securing the Wild Coast from sea level rise, and by promoting biodiversity protection.
Western Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Arno Lamoer says reported absenteeism levels at the Maitland, Cape Town, police station are incorrect, according to a report on Thursday (16/02/2012).
SA’s 'worst car' impounded, owner finedNorthern Cape police in Kimberley have impounded a 1976 Toyota bakkie whose only roadworthy part was its windscreen, Beeld reported on Thursday (16/02/2012).
R47m electricity unaccounted forTHE Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is investigating why, over the past six months, it has been unable to account for more than R47-million spent on electricity.
Rescue bid a failure - MotshekgaBASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has admitted her department has failed in its intervention to solve the crisis in Eastern Cape education, citing an impasse with the provincial department as the reason.
Bay family tells of terror at hands of copsPORT Elizabeth police admitted yesterday they could not deny torture allegations by a Joe Slovo family who were dragged from their beds, assaulted and held at gunpoint while the house was searched for an illegal weapon - which was never found.
Toilet spy camera scandalAN angry Port Elizabeth father has turned to the police and the Education Department after learning that closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras had been installed in the toilet at Dr Viljoen Primary School in Sydenham.
Pillay denies offer to quitTHE Eastern Cape Health Department yesterday dismissed claims that superintendent-general Siva Pillay offered to quit in a letter to premier Noxolo Kiviet. It was reported the health boss delivered a letter of resignation to the premier - triggered by Cosatu’s call for his head.
Telescope could earn SA billionsBILLIONS of rands will flow into South Africa if it and eight African partner countries win the bid to host the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope.
I'm coming to finish you off'A FORMER Umkhonto weSizwe veteran is free to walk the streets after he shot the mother of his children at her workplace before handing himself over to the police.
DA wants probe into police sick leaveThe DA will ask the Public Service Commission (PSC) to do a full investigation into the widespread abuse of sick leave by police officers, MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard said on Wednesday (15/02/2012).
ANC, COSATU relationship needs debateThe debate on whether the ANC is leading Cosatu in the right direction needs to continue, the trade union federation’s Gauteng chairman Phutas Tseki said on Wednesday. (15/02/2012)
Cellphone evidence in Henning caseThe former Nigerian Olympic athlete accused of hiring the killers of a Pretoria mother phoned her estranged husband’s best friend 55 times the week before the murder, the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday (15/02/2012).
View moreECO-TOURISM is set to bring more jobs and revenue to the Garden Route, with the planned relocation and expansion of a small Mossel Bay wildlife sanctuary. The proposed R6-7 million move follows on the acquisition of Jukani Sanctuary by the respected Primate Resort company, which already owns Monkeyland and Birds of Eden in The Crags, near Plettenberg Bay.
ANC councillors killed in crashTHREE ANC councillors died instantly and others were seriously injured when the minibus taxi they were travelling in overturned on the R72 road in Alexandria at the weekend.
Sports Minister in sex scandalMarried Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula - who last night celebrated his 40th birthday with a lavish party in Pretoria - is embroiled in a nasty spat with a former lover.
Kabuso report: Why heads should rollHERALD reporter Brian Hayward explains in a nutshell the most controversial issues exposed in the 175-page forensic report.
Secrets brought to light from lettersTWO projects singled out by Local Government MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane when he finally made public the Kabuso report yesterday are laid bare in secret letters to political bigwigs and confidential special investigations attached in the report’s annexures.
MEC vows to 'clean up the rot'AFTER a turbulent fortnight in Nelson Mandela Bay politics, mayor Zanoxolo Wayile and his boss, Local Goverment MEC Mlibo Qoboshiyane, came out guns blazing yesterday, vowing to clean up the rot which has pushed the city’s administration to the brink of collapse.
Another attack at festering ArlingtonANOTHER knife attack has occurred at Arlington Waste Disposal Site. The attack, which took place on Saturday afternoon, comes amid calls by the DA for an investigation into the chaotic state of the site and questionable swopping of contractors.
Schoenies otter takes fishing lessonsIT’S one of the iconic wild animals of the metro’s open spaces, but it’s not often seen - certainly not clambering onto the rocks right under your feet. But that was the experience of fishing buddies Gavin Curtis and Stuart Duckenfield who were trying their luck with light tackle and pilchards at Schoenies yesterday (August 10 2011).
Cause and effect of climate change explainedSO HOW to communicate the complexity and magnitude of climate change to youngsters from a little school in Zwide? The kids, in grades six and seven at Mzimhlophe Primary School, were given the answer to this question during their visit to the SA Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (Samrec) yesterday (August 03 2011).
R1.5-million farming venture will fit Eastern Cape to a teaTHE Eastern Cape government has set aside R1.5-million to kick-start an expanded honeybush tea industry that could be ramped up to produce a turnover of R100-million a year and hundreds of new jobs. The good news follows on the results that have emerged from a study of the honeybush industry, commissioned by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) on behalf of the provincial economic development and environmental affairs department.
Snowed-in guards airlifted to safetyNINETEEN stock-theft guards stationed on the top of the Drakensberg have been plucked to safety as heavy snow presses in on their lonely outposts. The guards are housed alone or in pairs in 10 shipping containers, at key points along the Lesotho border with the north-eastern Eastern Cape, in the Rhodes area.
Algoa Bay the best monitored in all of AfricaALGOA Bay is now “the best monitored bay in Africa” with millions of rands worth of equipment installed below the surface measuring a wide range of environmental conditions. That was the proud revelation yesterday (July 28 2011) from SA Environmental Observation Network (Saeon) co-ordinator Shaun Deyzel, who was speaking at a marine science symposium hosted by SA National Parks, at the Addo Elephant National Parks.
Mantis in new Nigeria dealPORT Elizabeth based tourism group Mantis Collection has announced a bold expansion into West Africa with a landmark, multi-million US dollar deal signed in PE yesterday (July 25 2011) to roll out a sumptuous suite of boutique hotels in Nigeria. Mantis founder Adrian Gardiner signed the deal at Shamwari Townhouse in Summerstrand with highly respected Nigerian businessman Nze Chidi Duru, who is the chairman of Abuja-based Grand Towers Plc. The Nigerian company has interests in the pension, banking, retail, communications, IT and hospitality sectors.
Surf event sets greening benchmarkBILLABONG Pro J-Bay is setting a benchmark for international surfing contests with a comprehensive programme to protect the local environment and combat global climate change.
Karoo farmers take their fracking probe to Jo'burg oil summitA SMALL Karoo farmers’ association is so concerned about fracking, and damning new evidence out of the US, it is funding the R10000 bill demanded for a four-day oil and gas conference in Johannesburg, to allow one of its members to attend.
Swell job for man with decades of experienceWITH the small waves prevailing yesterday (Sunday July 17 2011) for the Billabong Pro J-Bay, all surfing mojos are focused on the second week of the contest and the swell that, it is hoped, will still set things on fire. The man with un-paralleled expertise in this department is contest director Eric Stedman, 54, who has been scanning synoptic charts, fiddling with barometers and assessing wind direction since he was a grommit back in East London in the 1960s. It also helps that he began surfing Jeffreys Bay 43 years ago.
New official whale watching operator launch in the bayALGOA Bay’s first boat-based boat-based whale-watching operation in a decade has been officially launched - and already some exciting sightings are being reported. Lloyd Edwards of Raggy Charters, the company awarded the boat-based whale watching (BBWW) license for Algoa Bay, said yesterday (July 14 2011) he spotted the cow and calf pair of southern right whales off Algorax earlier this week.
Super surf contest starts at J-BayTHE latest edition of one of the great global surfing contests, built around an iconic right-hand point break, was launched in Jeffreys Bay last night (Wednesday July 14 2011).
Unique source of Bay waterHOW many cities in the world can say they get their water from a World Heritage Site? Very few, I bet. Yet, that’s the case with Port Elizabeth and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and in fact the Gamtoos River Valley vege farmers.
Bayworld raggies returned to the oceanTHE biggest baddest pair from Bayworld’s de-commissioned aquarium, two bulky raggedtooth sharks, were released yesterday (July 26 2011) back into the sea. It was a sad day for the oceanarium, where they have lived for nearly two decades, inspiring awe in hundreds of thousands of visitors - but it is good news for the species, as the pair are now part of a research project aimed at securing our waters as one of the few safe havens in the world for raggies.
Dairy farm could close soonBUSHY Park Dairy Farm, a flagship “proudly Port Elizabeth” business and a much-loved feature of the metro for the past 20 years, is facing closure. The shock news was confirmed yesterday (June 21 2011) by managing trustee Puffer Hartzenberg, who was responding to unconfirmed reports about the matter.
Unique study of great whitesA UNIQUE study into the abundance, distribution and movement of great white sharks in Algoa Bay, sponsored by the metro, has been launched. There has never been a fatal shark attack in Algoa Bay, but the metro has committed the R800000 grant as a pro-active step, taken in line with their marketing of Port Elizabeth as “the watersports’ capital of Africa”, researcher Dr Matt Dicken explained yesterday (June 21 2011).
Refurbished Skead book publishedA NEW book aimed at celebrating our natural heritage and guiding sound future conservation policy has been published in Port Elizabeth. Historical Incidence of the Larger Land Mammals in the Broader Western and Northern Cape (including the Eastern Cape as far east as Sundays River) is a complete re-furbishment - with summaries, maps, illustrations and two new chapters - of the original work of the same name by legendary naturalist Dr Jack Skead, who died in 2006.
Co-op sponsors two farmers on US missionTWO Karoo farmers have flown out of PE on a ground-breaking mission to the US, to get the low-down on fracking, in the country where it all began.
Link Refit to electric cars proposalIF WE CAN link Refit with electrical motorcars - then we could really be onto something. Speaking to The Herald yesterday (June 14 2011), department of environmental affairs deputy-director general for climate change, Peter Lukey, said the scheduled launch this month of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (Refit), will likely lead to significant positive change.
Green electricity programme set to launch this monthGOVERNMENT will this month launch the long-awaited Refit programme that will make funding available to pay private energy entrepreneurs who will generate their own green electricity and sell it to the grid.
EC investment boost to counter climate changeEASTERN Cape economic environment MEC Mcebisi Jonas yesterday announced significant new green economy investment to boost green economy skills in the province.
Branch recalls fascinating careerFOR world-renowned reptile and amphibian expert Dr Bill Branch, who retired this week from Bayworld after 32 years employment there - it all began in 1969, on the shores of a lake in East Africa.
EC leads climate change battleTHE Eastern Cape government has declared its intention to lead from the front in the war against climate change, with a landmark multi-benefit project agreement signed at the Eastern Cape Climate Change Conference in East London yesterday (June 08 2011).
Climate change conferenceEVERYONE change - a milestone Eastern Cape climate change conference, featuring senior political leaders and climate change experts, is set to start in East London today (Wednesday May 8). The Eastern Cape Climate Change Conference will focus on the strategy document that has been prepared by local role-players, and will look towards the UN’s Cop17 summit, the international climate change indaba in Durban in December
'Plenty of power for smelter,' says CDCBLACK-out fears notwithstanding, there is more than enough electricity for the megawatt-hungry Coega manganese smelter, according to the Coega Development Corporation (CDC). CDC communications’ chief Senzeni Ndebele was responding this week to concerns expressed about the power demands of the smelter and how this will affect Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality residents and existing businesses.
Motherwell eco-schools big recipientsTWO Motherwell “eco-schools” were the recipients this week of tens of thousands of rands worth of equipment and furniture to help them learn better. The 26 maths and reading software packages, 100 desks and 200 chairs were donated by ABB after the power and automation giant participated last year in a Wessa eco-schools’ workshop in PE.
Pollution plume off the beachfront raises concernsA STRANGE-looking plume of discoloured water has been appearing sporadically in the bay between Shark Rock Pier and Humewood Beach, resulting in a number of calls from concerned residents, Following an initial report on May 20 by Humewood resident Elize Pretorius, and then disappearing for several days, it reappeared again this week, prompting further calls.
Put the environment on agenda of new councils Concerns over Ngqura oil leak 'unfounded'CONCERNS have been raised that the oil and gas exploration rig in Port of Ngqura could be leaking oil into the bay. Both the Norwegian company that owns the ultra-deepwater drilling rig and the harbour authorities have rejected as unfounded the concerns raised by environmental group Ocean Messengers.
Ball of fire not the beginning of the end.Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Was it a comet hurtling to Earth in delayed fulfillment of Harold Campling’s doomsday prophesy? Well, no. In fact, it was the International Space Station (ISS) and space shuttle Endeavour, catching the last rays of the setting sun.
Ngqura a fish magnetTHE Port of Ngqura has become an extraordinary magnet for marine life, and could point the way to an important new role for harbours, according to Bayworld marine biologist and shark specialist Dr Matt Dicken.
Stately emperor pays family a flying visitTHERE are moths and there are moths - and then there is the pine tree emperor, one of the giants of the insect world. Gorgeous yellow in colour and “easily the size of a man’s hand”, one of these moths swooped into a Seaview home the other night.
Endangered forest clearing probedA SWATHE of critically endangered forest and new generation legislation formulated to combat climate change are at the centre of a confrontation in Deer Park. The forestry department has slammed as “reckless and malicious” the clearing of the area, which is over 100m long by on average 4m wide.
Male in search of good life turns up at beachfrontHE WAS a prickly customer - but in the end he came quietly. It was Patrick Mange, the cleaner and gardener at beachfront flatblock Bandle, next to the Beach Hotel, who found him.
EC operators performs strongly at IndabaTHE Eastern Cape has fared well at the Indaba tourism conference and expo in Durban, taking gold in two different categories in the main Welcome awards and only just falling short in the Eteya emerging tourism operators’ awards. The Welcome Awards winners are both from PE and are both family-owned businesses: the Plantation, the wedding, functions’ and accommodation venue on the Sardinia Bay road, and Economic Cars and Bakkies, the 20-year-old Walmer-based car rental firm.
NMMU microscope a global break-throughNMMU has been catapulted into the forefront of nanoscience research with the arrival of a state-of-the-art custom-built microscope from Japan. The high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) is the first of its kind that has been sold commercially outside of Japan and the last of a suite of four electron microscopes, costing a total R90-million, that have arrived in the past week from Tokyo manufacturer JEOL and a second manufacturer in The Netherlands.
'Port guards like the Stasi'FOREIGN tourists yesterday compared guards at the Port Elizabeth Harbour to the dreaded Stazi security police of East Germany, following an incident in which their driver was manhandled, forcibly detained and then bundled off to Humewood Police Station. The incident happened yesterday morning as the tourists, a group of five Russians and a Belgian, were about to enter the harbour at its southern entrance, headed for a day diving excursion in Algoa Bay with local dive company Expert-Tours.
How to rejuvenate Baakens River ValleyI WAS chatting to permaculture activist and leading member of Transition Network PE Naomi Suzane the other day, and she came with a great idea of how to secure, rejuvenate and celebrate the Baakens Valley. We kicked her idea around, and this is how it turned out.
Dad's call following son's deathSIMON Swart started drugging in his early teens and he had been through 15 rehabilitation centres before he died, alone in his room in a backpacker lodge in Central, a fortnight ago. But there was much more to this young man.
Nuclear moratorium callTHE concern group challenging the Thyspunt nuclear reactor has called on government to place a moratorium on all nuclear development in South Africa until the full extent of the Fukushima disaster is known. The call by the Thyspunt Alliance - a broad coalition of residential, cultural, environmental, tourism, fisheries, business and surfing interests in the Oyster Bay, St Francis, Humansdorp and Jeffrey’s Bay area - co-incides with the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, the historic nuclear melt-down in Ukraine.
Major show jumping event scheduled for PEPORT Elizabeth has been named as a host city for a world show-jumping championship qualifier event, sparking great excitement in the show-jumping fraternity, and the promise of an energising mid-Winter injection of tourist revenue. The event will be attracting the country’s top jumpers, so it is being celebrated in horsey circles - but it is much more than that, event co-ordinator Tanya Radke said yesterday.
Oceanarium seals readied for departureHOW do you transport eight seals to Pretoria? That’s the preoccupation right now of Bayworld’s oceanarium team, as the relocation of their animals moves ahead.
Chumming fines co-incide with issuing of whale permitNELSON Mandela Bay Municipality has issued four fines to marine tourism operator Lloyd Edwards related to the controversial chumming incident off Humewood Beach last month. The issuing of the fines at the Port Elizabeth beach office on Friday co-incides with the issuing this week of the long-awaited boat-based whale watching (BBWW) license for Algoa Bay - to Edwards.
Farewell (for now) to Bayworld oceanariumBAYWORLD’S oceanarium is set to close at the end of this month to prepare for the de-commissioning of the 43-year-old dolphin pool and the transfer of 24 penguins and nine seals to Pretoria Zoo. It’s all part of “operation stop the bleed” in which Port Elizabeth’s much loved museum and oceanarium complex has had to make some tough decisions in order to deliver, hopefully, long-term bounty.
Get out the Karoo, farmers tell ShellANGRY residents of the Middleburg area have called for Shell to “get out the Karoo” after the company failed to guarantee the security of their water if fracking goes ahead. Addressing Shell representatives at a hall in Middelburg’s Grootfontein Agricultural College in a hall packed with farmers in T-shirts saying “Don’t Frack with our Karoo,” members of the audience asked repeatedly if the multi-national could “guarantee no risk to our water”.
Radio activity comtamination concern surfaces around fracking planKAROO anti-frackers are calling for the authorities to take note of the latest findings in America that fracking could be contaminating drinking water supplies with radio activity. The findings stem from an investigation by the New York Times and were reported in that newspaper on Friday. The findings include that waste water produced by fracking wells often absorbs radio activity from naturally occurring minerals underground like uranium.
Nieu Bethesda farmers count flood costsIT COULD take some farmers in Nieu Bethesda a decade to get back to where they were before the flood that hit them Saturday. That’s the word from the mountainous catchment area north of Graaff-Reinet, where well over 100mm of rain fell in 24 hours, flooding the Gats River and all its tributaries, flattening stock fences, stripping roads to bedrock and bursting farm dams.
Malema! playing the race card again? you are on a hiding to nothing and smokescreening the issues will not save you! Justice will be served,and if your`e guilty you will pay....
BrandGat 14 February 2012 11:17 amNow Athletics is in the financial 'dwang'!what is happening,money just disappears and no one seems to care,aren`t audits done on these bodys?some one must be responsible....
BrandGat 14 February 2012 5:36 amGood idea lets create a database in the Metro and start with the Municipal Setup,it could get us out of the financial dwang the Metro`s in!...
White Settler 13 February 2012 10:39 pmA database of corrupt officials? Will it not be a database of those officials who are too stupid and have been caught with their fingers in the till? Yes that is a good idea, we had better not employ ...
White Settler 13 February 2012 10:31 pmIs our Mayor not a modern day Robin hood? He takes from the rich who actually pay rates and taxes and gives to the poor school children. ...
Karen 13 February 2012 11:43 amI have to agree with BrandGat. Lloyd Edwards has been operating in the Bay area for a number of years, and I have used Raggy Charters on a personal and corporate basis on many occasions. I don't kno...
thirsty 13 February 2012 10:52 amLets just hope that this is just the start of the process of getting this Metro back to a financial dissipline, lets hope they have the conviction to finish the process required to clean up the histor...
vim 11 February 2012 9:54 amGwen Bisseker, would egg yolk remove the green tinge from blonde hair, or would it add some sparkle by producing pretty blue copper sulphate crystals?...
The Struggle 10 February 2012 2:03 pmClearly the ANC Nelson Mandela Bay Regional Chairman, Cde Nceba Faku ran the municipality as his own backyard. He has enriched himself. The ANC in the region cannot continue be led by a self-centere...
BrandGat 10 February 2012 10:47 amLooks like Lloyd Edwards is being set up here,and the someone is being lined up to get the required permit! dirty tricks again?...