Welcome to September month. “Here’s what’s been happening—and what’s ahead—in our world of conservation.”
In this issue
- Our AGM is on Thursday 18 September at 17h00. Please save the date and note the earlier start time.
- Talk by Dylan Blake of Umvoto at 17h30 – immediately following the AGM. Dylan will analyse the water situation in Hermanus.
- WCC commented on a proposed housing development in Voëlklip
- Our Chameleon volunteers reach a milestone – and 125 594 aliens bite the dust.
- Two more school groups visited Stony Point.
- Still not good enough for Penguins
- Another round of Expos
- September means flower power
Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be held on Thursday 18 September at the GreenHouse at 17h00 (5pm). As in the past, the business part of the meeting will be short and sweet and followed immediately by our guest speaker, Dylan Blake.
Where will the Water come from?
Dylan will focus on the various aquifer types that occur within the Overstrand Local Municipality boundary (specifically the fractured aquifers of the Table Mountain Group and primary aquifers of the Bredasdorp Group), and how these important primary and fractured aquifer systems supply water to many towns within the municipality. Stanford and Baardskeerdersbos are 100% supplied by groundwater and around 20-40% of Hermanus’ water comes from groundwater.
Dylan will also discuss the importance of managing these aquifer systems (by the regulators, municipality and residents), to ensure groundwater is not over-abstracted and contaminated, and continues to play an important role in supplying water to the municipality in the future, especially during drought periods and a changing climate where surface water is becoming increasingly scarce.
Dylan Blake is a geologist at the groundwater research consultancy Umvoto. Umvoto has been involved with groundwater development in both the Hermanus and Stanford areas since the late 1990s.
Comment on Voëlklip development
Whale Coast Conservation (WCC) strongly objects to the proposed high-end retirement estate on Erf RE/4833, Voëlklip, citing severe and irreversible environmental harm. The project would destroy over 12 hectares of critically endangered indigenous vegetation, negatively impacting biodiversity and contravening municipal planning frameworks.
WCC argues that the draft Basic Assessment Report (BAR) is biased, selectively including findings that favour development while ignoring the Botanical Impact Assessment (BIA), which deemed most of the site a no-go area and identified wetlands. In contrast, the Freshwater Impact Assessment, with limited fieldwork, found no water on site and was uncritically accepted. Assertions that CapeNature approved a financial offset lack substantiating evidence.
Further concerns include boundary overlaps with Fernkloof Nature Reserve, inadequate and ineffective proposed buffer zones, and the omission of climate change risk analysis. The site’s natural vegetation mitigates flood and fire risks, which would be lost if developed—posing serious danger to future elderly residents. Water supply capacity is also questionable.
WCC concludes the erf should be rezoned for greater environmental protection, not development, and urges outright rejection of the BAR and stronger municipal commitment to conserving Hermanus’s irreplaceable natural environment.
Chameleon volunteers reach a milestone
Our Home School Chameleon Volunteers have now reached a milestone in chameleon conservation. They have been meeting once a week for five years to hand-pull alien invasive plants (mainly Port Jackson) that germinate from underground seed banks. To date they have removed more than 125 600 sprouting seedlings from the chameleon sanctuary on the Whale Coast Nature Reserve.
A round of applause for the intrepid alien busters!
More School visits to Stony Point
In recognition of schools’ participation in the WCC Penguin Art Competition, learners from Okkie Smuts and Die Bron in Stanford had the opportunity to visit the Stony Point African Penguin colony to see these threatened birds first hand.
Still not good enough for Penguins
BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB have raised serious concerns about newly signed Ship-to-Ship Transfer Regulations, touted by Minister Dion George as a conservation victory for the Critically Endangered African Penguin. The regulations, formalised on 22 August 2025 aboard the SA Agulhas II, govern offshore bunkering – the transfer of fuel between vessels at sea – and are currently only applied in Algoa Bay, home to the once-largest African Penguin colony on St Croix Island.
The organisations argue that while the Minister portrays the regulations as a “lifeline,” they fail to address core ecological threats and, in some cases, even weaken previous protections. Scientific evidence links bunkering to dramatic declines in the St Croix penguin colony – from 8,000 breeding pairs in 2015 to just 700 in 2025 – due to oil spills, underwater noise pollution, and increased vessel traffic. Notably, when bunkering operations were suspended in 2024, the colony’s numbers doubled, only to halve again when operations resumed.
Another round of Expos at Schools
In August WCC visited Okkie Smuts and Die Bron Primary in Stanford with an expo that illustrated fun features in nature. These were the first of seven schools that will be visited this term.
The expos at schools are all about stimulating interest in nature and encouraging the learners to become stewards of their natural heritage.
Whale Coast Conservation is privileged to have use of the amazing educational content of the Hanson Box. The aim was to show the learners the exciting books that will be lodged in the school library and to motivate them to read and use the books for assignments.
We thank the AVI Community Trust for funding WCC’s expo at the two schools.
September Flower Power
We are so privileged here in the Cape Floristic Region with the wealth of flowers to delight us.
As West Coast flowers fade, we look forward to the recreation in Stanford of SA’s gold-winning exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show. This amazing spectacle is on show from 10 to 24 September.
The Hermanus Botanical Society’s Flower Festival at Fernkloof will run from Friday 26 September to Sunday 28 September. If you ever wondered what that pretty flower was that you saw on you walk, you will find it at the show.
We thank our sponsors
