Editor’s Trip Down Memory Lane: Walking Korsman with its ‘boss’ Jane Trembath

A lot has changed and been achieved since I met Jane that November morning in 2018, in my sensible walking shoes. Korsman Bird Sanctuary and the work of the Conservancy continue to fly Benoni’s flag high. I think it is time for another educational mooch around with Jane. 

Korsman, which is around 50 hectares big, is a natural pan, on The Drive in Westdene, teeming with insects, reptiles and birdlife, and a few small mammals.

Jane is the chairperson of the Korsman Conservancy, a non-profit organisation of residents and “citizen conservationists” caring for the sanctuary and working closely with the Ekurhuleni metro to protect and preserve this jewel of nature in Benoni.

Korsman Conservancy was recently awarded a SANParks Kudu award in the Community Contribution Non-profit Making Institution category, so the timing could not have been better to venture into this natural gem and see for myself what makes it acclaimed and, of course, to meet Jane.

ALSO READ: Korsman committee takes top SANParks award

The contrasts of this self-made naturalist’s life are ironic.

Several days a week she spends hours thousands of feet in the air as a long-haul pilot for our national carrier, and on her off days, she spends hours on terra firma at Korsman Bird Sanctuary. She loves both – flying and Korsman – in equal measure.

She certainly has the paperwork to back her flying skills (she’s been a pilot for 30 years), but despite having had no formal training as an ecologist/conservationist, Jane is undoubtedly qualified to be heading up the Korsman Conservancy.

We met at the Kilfenora Gate early on a Friday morning, me in sensible shoes and camera around my neck and Jane in a pair of Wellington’s and camera around her neck.

“I never walk the sanctuary without my camera; you just never know what you’ll come across. I document everything that moves,” she said.

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She wasn’t joking. Two steps this way or that, through grass or over rocks or mud, some sort of amazing creature caught Jane’s eye.

Over a period of two hours these sightings added up to numerous, and I was excited to have quite quickly “caught the bug” myself, so to say, starting to spot a few marvellous little critters before Jane did.

I could by no means compete with her command of all these tiny creatures’ scientific names, which rolled off her tongue with fervour.

Everything she has learned as conservancy chair over the past four and a half years is self-taught, and the learning never ends.

“I’ve done some courses and consult Google a lot, where I’ve found wonderfully helpful people and sites when it comes to identifying species of fauna and flora. It is my greatest joy to walk the sanctuary.

“Every visit is like my first because there is always something new to discover, study under a microscope at home, investigate and document,” Jane said.

The identification of species isn’t all Jane and her conservancy team do though.

A major part of the SANParks recognition is for their work in the removal of invasive vegetation, an ecological burning programme and eliminating sewage spills into Korsman.

As we walked and talked and spotted interesting grasses, plants and insects, Jane also marked and made mental notes of problem patches or plants which need attention and together we picked up bits of litter (not many though during our two-hour walk, as the sanctuary is remarkably pristine in this respect).

“Clearing invasive vegetation is ongoing, as are litter clean-ups with volunteers,” Jane explained.

Not everyone will experience what I did as Korsman Bird Sanctuary is closed off with sturdy fencing – in fact, it has been fenced since the 1950s.

Jane said that while most of Westdene’s residents and visitors to the pan respect these boundaries, there are a few who choose to practice unsociable behaviour around the sanctuary, throwing litter over the fence, sometimes driving into and damaging the fence and speeding in the area, which is a threat to pedestrians.

“We really would like a proper walkway around the pan, which will be much safer, and hope we can achieve this sometime in the future,” she said.

My visit ended with Jane beaming about me having shown good “naturalist” qualities by the end of it.

It certainly was a great and invigorating start to my day, and I left in awe and very proud in the knowledge that Korsman Bird Sanctuary is Benoni’s.

Visit www.korsmanconservancy.com for more information, videos, photos and interesting facts.

ALSO READ: Korsman still under threat from sewage