Scout tackles environmental service project

Members of the First Discovery Scout Group took a day out from their school holiday to support one of their own in her quest to complete her environmental service project.

Andrei Pretorius, a learner at Hoërskool Florida, is working toward her Discoverer badge, and with a dedicated group of friends and fellow scouts – and her mother – in tow, she visited the Kloofendal Nature Reserve on Wednesday, July 3, as part of her quest to become a Discoverer.

Scouts earn their Discoverer, or Assistant Patrol Leader badges by completing a series of projects – the Environmental Service project being the last of these.

According to Andrei, she was looking for an environmental service project and found one after a visit to Karin Spottiswoode from the Friends of Kloofendal (FRoK).

“As it happens, I had the perfect project for the young scouts,” says Karin, who was in the process of planning a tour for a school group that is set to visit the reserve soon.

“We offer educational nature walks for school groups along routes that are not usually open to the public,” she says. “It just so happened that the paths along that particular route had become a little overgrown, and needed some clearing.

“Since this route has not been in use for some time, it also requires some route markers, and the scouts were very excited at the prospect of erecting some beautiful cairns to show the way.”

Andrei was supported by three fellow scouts, LJ Venables, Mia Goyns, Layla van Rooyen, and mom Anne-Mari.

The small group of well-prepared scouts ventured into the veld armed with strong walking boots and gloves, saws, secateurs, a tree popper borrowed from FRoK, and determination to get the job done, under the watchful eye of Karin, who was on hand to help plot the route, offer advice, and make sure that safety protocols were adhered to.

After a hard day’s work, the exhausted but satisfied troop took their leave having cleared a significant stretch of the route.