WASH: a blessing for youth in the Soutpansberg
Dr Jenny Botha, EWT’s People in Conservation Manager, jennyb@ewt.org.za
“Such a blessing,” the young girl murmured as she received samples of reusable sanitary pads as part of a Water, Health, and Hygiene (WASH) project the EWT is implementing in Kutama, a vibrant area consisting of nine villages situated at the foot of the majestic Soutpansberg mountains in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. Despite most residents being innovative and self-driven, unemployment levels are high, and many families struggle financially, as is common throughout South Africa. Those who are fortunate enough to have a job often work far from home, leaving children in the care of grandparents or other caregivers. Despite progress in addressing global water and sanitation deficits, in 2017 approximately 1.6 million people died of diarrheal diseases. Many of these disease are spread through contaminated hands. Safe water, sanitation and hygiene underpin human, animal, and environmental health. Yet millions still lack access to clean water and basic hygiene products and information on germ transmission and risks to human and environmental health is often lacking or inaccurate.
Washing with soap is an effective and cost effective way to save lives. Moreover, by reducing exposure to a range of infectious diseases, it also reduces absenteeism through illness from work and school.With over 80% of households in Kutama deriving a monthly income of less than R3,200, purchasing basic necessities is challenging, and, as with many communities in South Africa, sanitary pads are unaffordable for many women and girls.
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) started the WASH project in 2019 as part of an integrated water conservation project in the Soutpansberg in partnership with the Coca-Cola Foundation’s Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN). In the first year, we developed and piloted interactive lessons and teaching aids on germ transmission and hand washing, which were implemented alongside primary school educators in the classroom, reaching over 700 learners.
Primary School Germ Transmission Activity in Kutama, Limpopo
The timing of this project was fortuitous, for, in March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa. Regular handwashing has always been critically important to reduce the spread of serious infections, diarrhoea, and other illnesses, especially in children. However, this simple activity and other stringent hygiene measures have become a global imperative. In 2020 we introduced additional curriculum-based learning materials to approximately 475 primary school learners to reinforce handwashing and related health messages in fun, interactive ways, and in 2021, we reached a further 800 learners and their teachers. Educators were provided with resource packs to enable them to continue implementing the germ transmission and handwashing lessons to learners on an ongoing basis.
To support secondary schools in Kutama, we developed educational resources on women’s health and hygiene and held focus group discussions with 440 girls from grades 8-11 in two secondary schools in collaboration with their Life Orientation educators. We also gave each learner and some educators and school staff reusable sanitary pads to try.
Apart from assisting families financially, quality reusable sanitary pads can last for up to three years. It has been estimated that the average woman will use approximately 11,000 sanitary pads during her lifetime. Globally, municipalities and sanitation personnel are grappling to cope with the waste generated from sanitary materials, which ends up in landfills or flushed into sewerage systems, where it causes major management headaches. Substituting disposable sanitary pads or tampons with reusable pads or menstrual cups costs far less and substantially reduces the impacts of waste on water and the environment.
Our aim going forward is to gradually roll out similar WASH projects in other primary and secondary schools across all the EWT’s project sites in South Africa. Through our Education for Sustainable Development project, the Guardians of the Future, we will continue working with educators to co-develop additional curriculum-aligned interactive teaching aids and educational resources to support teaching in subjects such as Natural Science and Technology, Life Orientation, Social Sciences, and other subjects. Through these and similar interventions, we aim to support schools in developing capable, confident, and scientifically literate youth who understand the interwoven connections between people and nature and the value of collective efforts to reduce our environmental footprints and live more sustainably.
Learners walking home from school in Kutama
Thank you to the Coca-cola Foundation for sponsoring this project under its Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) and to the Ford Foundation for ensuring that we can get to schools and other project sites easily, no matter where they are.
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A WORD FROM THE CEO
Yolan Friedmann, EWT CEO
yolanf@ewt.org.za The recent Durban floods made history for all the wrong reasons and the devastation and mayhem caused shocks to thousands of people, our economy, and our environment. Much has been said, and there is almost no room to say much else if it weren’t for us needing to take stock of how a significant amount of the impact could have been prevented. And I don’t only mean addressing the complexity of reducing human-induced climate change, as the jury is still out if this was a climate change-related event. It is tricky to attribute extreme weather events to climate change anywhere, but more so in KwaZulu-Natal, where the lack of comprehensive long-term rainfall records makes systematic climate analysis close to impossible. And given that extreme weather events do occur, to attribute them all to climate change requires much more robust record-keeping and scientific evaluation.
What we do know is that over the 24-hours on 11 April, more than 300 mm of rain fell over KZN, around 75% of South Africa’s annual precipitation. These rains were caused by a cold-weather system that seldom reaches South Africa but often causes large-scale destruction in Mozambique. Much of the havoc was unavoidable, but let’s focus on what should not have happened. Mass landslides triggered by destabilised ridges and embankments due to the removal of indigenous vegetation and land clearing for development could have been reduced, and some even prevented entirely. Stormwater drains that were clogged with litter or overgrown weeds could have cleared roads and infrastructure of lethal water levels, and well-maintained infrastructure dealing with sewage management and water provision may have withstood the floods or been offline for less time, thus reducing a human healthcare catastrophe. Fast-moving debris that killed people and destroyed homes, in many cases resulted from illegal dumping and poor construction, and the tons of plastic, waste and rubble that now litters beaches and riverbanks will be pillars paying tribute to the role of humans in this not-so-natural disaster after all.
Developers who insist on flouting environmental regulations to build into flood lines, strip vegetation, and ignore natural seams should be held accountable for at least a portion of the losses; regulators who sign off on these developments should shoulder a portion, too; and municipalities that ignore spatial planning principles and laws to authorise rampant urban creep should be held accountable for the balance. The lack of well-planned and properly constructed and maintained infrastructure along with reliable service delivery to the most vulnerable communities, combined with the overcrowded inhabitation by millions of vulnerable people in shacks built on steep hillsides, riverbanks and in valleys, played a big role in the increased death toll from the floods and mudslides.
As the floodwaters began to subside, stories of triumph and heroism emerged to bear testimony to human resilience and the spirit of survival. People came together to support, assist, and care for one another. The reality is that this spirit of common purpose, Ubuntu, and mutual dependence must prevail if we are to prevent similar devastation in the future. We may not be able to control weather systems and extreme rainfall, but we MUST prepare for it by taking heed of our reliance on intact habitats and our susceptibility to the power of nature; our vulnerability to natural processes that we cannot control and, therefore our need to protect the natural systems designed to protect us from those very events. The KZN floods demonstrated the dire need for entrenching sustainability into our development plans and paying due regard to the integration of intact natural systems into spatial planning as opposed to the removal thereof as an obstacle to progress. The adherence to environmental regulations, and the promotion of climate education, robust monitoring, functional early warning systems, maintained and functioning infrastructure, and equitable social development should all underpin the rebuilding of KZN with resilience as the cornerstone of all rebuilding and planning in this province and its cities which are arguably the most vulnerable to weather events and climate change going forward. Without this, rest assured that this WILL happen again.
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Becoming a Conservation Canine
Mufassa, Conservation Canine Cadet
Hey guys! Thanks for all the attention – I know I’m super cute! So, I thought you might like to hear a bit about me. I joined the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s pack as a Conservation Canine Cadet in March 2022. Boy was I nervous! Here were all of my heroes and little old me – leaping after them to follow in their paw prints. But I was born to do this job! Join me on my adventure as I prove I have what it takes to become a canine defender of wildlife.
Becoming a Conservation Canine is a lot of work, takes a lot of time, and treats (and Sean’s shoes) aren’t cheap! And I can’t rush it. I think it’s because, if I skip steps, I won’t be ready for all the situations I might come across if I qualify one day (claws crossed). Well that’s what I’ve been told anyway – so far I’ve been playing and racing around meeting the staff at the EWT’s Conservation Campus – easy peasy! Apparently I don’t do any real work for the first few months. Tough life hey? I’m just supposed to go everywhere and see everything I possibly can so nothing scares me (as if!). I think I heard them say it’s also so I don’t get distracted too easily when I do start working.
Anyway, lots to see and smell but I’ll give you another update soon!
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How did the monkey cross the road?
Courtney Maiden, Endangered Wildlife Trust MSc Student
Over 750,000 km of roads crisscross South Africa, and the country’s natural habitats and wildlife are gravely threatened by further road development. Furthermore, with the anticipated increase of vehicles on the roads over the coming years, the likelihood of more wildlife-vehicle collisions is worrying. The Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) has adapted to thrive in human-altered landscapes. However, this also means they face many risks from humans and their activities. Vervet monkeys face daily challenges living in an urban environment due to increasing habitat loss and fragmentation. The clearing of treed areas for roads and other purposes forces monkeys to the ground, increasing their risk of being hit by vehicles. An important first step in reducing this outcome is the design of safe and cost-effective structures by which animals can safely cross the road.
Over the past two decades, wildlife crossing structures have been installed to facilitate wildlife movement over or under roads and railways to connect habitats and reduce roadkill. These structures are often custom-designed for each site and according to the needs of the targeted species. Yet, less than a handful of studies look at the effectiveness of different measures in reducing wildlife‐vehicle collisions in South Africa. Moreover, systematic assessments on designing safe and cost‐effective crossing structures for wildlife have not been carried out to date in our country, despite their importance in preventing Vervet Monkeys and other animals from becoming roadkill.
In March 2022, Courtney Maiden from the Endangered Wildlife Trust tested three different canopy bridge designs for Vervet Monkeys to identify one standardised design for the benefit of free‐ranging Vervet Monkey troops. The observational experiments took place at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) in Durban, where the three bridge designs were installed in two Vervet Monkey enclosures. Testing different canopy bridge designs in an ex-situ environment such as CROW allows us to establish design guidelines that can be used for free-ranging Vervet Monkeys in-situ (in their natural habitat). These ex-situ experiments are vital for understanding how Vervet Monkeys behave on different canopy bridge designs and identifying the most suitable bridge design to increase the likelihood of the bridges being used in the wild.
The bridges were made using polypropylene rope and recycled plastic. The design is adaptable to varying installation lengths, heights, and crossing environments. By observing the monkeys directly and using camera trap footage, we found that the ladder bridge was used most often and showed great potential for being the most suitable design.The positioning of any wildlife crossing structure is equally as important as its design. As the Vervet Monkey is a territorial species with daily foraging paths, installing canopy bridges along preferred movement pathways is vital for maximum benefit. Examining troop territories, crossing areas, and frequency of use can inform the best bridge location. Through the EWT-WTP student mentorship and with help from Wendy Collinson-Jonker (EWT) and Sandra Jacobson (US Forest Service Wildlife Biologist), Courtney has visited potential bridge installation sites in KwaZulu Natal and is currently studying road crossing hotspots to determine where bridges would be most likely to be used as intended.
Once suitable sites have been identified, we can begin the exciting part – testing the design identified as most suitable (the ladder bridge) on free-ranging monkeys. Watch this space for updates! All information and research updates can also be found on Instagram (@wildways_sa), Facebook (Wild Ways South Africa), and EWT platforms.
Provinces challenged to manage their land more sustainably
By Bonnie Schumann, EWT Drylands Conservation Programme, bonnies@ewt.org.za
The UNDP-GEF5 Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Project and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) recently brought Engineering Technicians and LandCare officials together for a unique SLM challenge. The officials, all experts in soil erosion control, represented four provincial departments of agriculture from the Western-, Eastern- and Northern Cape, and the Free State. The challenge was hosted by the Samara Private Game Reserve near Graaff Reinet, in the Mountain Zebra Camdeboo Protected Environment (MZCPE) in the Eastern Cape, from 7–10 February 2022.
The four teams were tasked to assess three sites on Samara with varying severities of soil erosion that are typically found in the region. The teams were challenged to develop practical, cost-effective and replicable technologies and approaches to addressing the soil erosion issues. The degradation is primarily caused by historical grazing practices that were not ideal and is compounded by continuous grazing by game. What makes veld regeneration in this landscape particularly challenging is the topography in the area. The catchments are large and consist of mostly steep slopes, which result in high volume, very erosive runoff directed towards the lower slopes, where soils are vulnerable to erosion. The protracted drought experienced in the Karoo over the last approximately eight years resulted in a loss of vegetation cover, leaving soils exposed and vulnerable to both wind and water erosion.
The spirit between the provincial teams was positive, open, and cooperative, with high levels of camaraderie. Teams shared survey results, advice, and suggestions. Training of younger technicians formed an integral component of this knowledge sharing initiative. The collective institutional experience of the team was around 400 years, which is really astonishing considering there were only 14 participants. The challenge was concluded with a knowledge-sharing workshop and seminar. Participants on the last day included the Samara Management Team, neighbouring farmers, and two senior government officials from the Western- and Northern Cape responsible for Sustainable Land Management. The provincial teams presented their suggested soil conservation plans, and some lively discussions followed. In summary, all the participants agreed that this wealth of technical knowledge is critically important for SLM and soil conservation in the drylands. We need to ensure that this hard-earned experience and “institutional” knowledge needs to be shared with the next generation of soil technicians.
The next step will entail compiling these case studies and sharing the information with all the stakeholders in the MZCPE and throughout the drylands to encourage soil conservation action. Watch this space!
This initiative formed part of the United Nations Development Programme’s GEF 5 SLM Project – Small Grants initiative. The EWT, through their Karoo Forever SLM project, is responsible for the implementation of small grants in the Karoo landscape.
www.karooforever.co.za
www.mzcpe.co.za
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