COMMUNITY stalwart and long-time member of Riverside Trail, Buzz Bolton, hopes an upcoming trail run will raise enough funds to help rehabilitate and repair damaged sections of the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve.
The 38-hectare reserve, which is home to several ponds, was adversely affected by the floods earlier this year, resulting in wash-aways and damage to bridges and several trails in the area.
He also hopes the eThekwini Municipality will come on board to help in whatever capacity they can.
Members of the community, members of Riverside Trail, as well as local resident Michaela Geytenbeek, who runs the Kinship Programme, have been hard at work repairing and rehabilitating where they can.
Also Read: Rehabilitation project underway to revive Virginia Bush Nature Reserve
“I’ve actually created a wishlist of all the things I hope we can repair. I’ve also listed the work undertaken by the council, as well as the community, and what we’ve achieved since the floods in April and May. Right now, the main concern is to free the lower ponds of the reserve near Danville Avenue of alien invasive weeds. The floods also led to mudslides, and we lost two ponds in the upper bush. We want to preserve these ponds as best we can.
“There has been a concerted effort by residents, but this problem is bigger than us at this point. After meeting with the staff at the reserve and members of the eThekwini Municipality, I’m encouraged that there is a commitment to clear these ponds of the alien invasives. All they asked was for more manpower, which we will certainly provide, and we will also put a call out to residents when that project gets underway,” he said.
The ponds in the lower bush are covered by aquatic, mat-forming Kariba weed.
“The mats clog the ponds and reduce waterflow. They also reduce oxygen levels, which threatens our wildlife. This is a large-scale infestation, and our hope is to completely clear the ponds of them to bring them back to their original state. We hope to use the trail run that both David Ward (Ward Events) and Riverside Trail are hosting in December as a catalyst for change in the reserve,” he said.
