Catchment covers 125 square
A photo of the Waikanae River from the Alexander Turnbull Library, taken in the 1890s. Much of the riverbank falls into protected zones identified by the regional council as “Key Native Ecosystem” (KNE) sites along the river. They are some of the best examples of lowland riparian forest in the region with hugely diverse ecosystems. Regional council biodiversity management team leader Richard Romijn said these were home to nine plant and five freshwater fish species listed as nationally threatened, and two plant and one bird species listed as regionally threatened. Chair of Friends of Waikanae River Russell Bell pointed out it wouldn’t take much to see the whole length of the river’s course protected in this way.
Marizka Coetzer Soweto-based tour guide Bongani Ndlovu says the temporary closure of the museum meant a major blow to the tourism industry. Pupils from Johannesburg Secondary School participating in an excursion on 26 September 2017 in Johannesburg. Picture: Gallo Images/Daily Sun/Trevor Kunene The iconic Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City theme park in Joburg might have been dealt a blow by the Covid-19 pandemic – but the show will go on, says management. Last week, the museum announced via social media that it was closing but director Christopher Till told The Citizen on Monday it wasn’t shutting its doors for good. “It is not the case. Yes the museum is temporarily closed but it has been brought on by Covid-19,” Till said. He said the museum had two sources of funding which it ordinarily relied on to cove
The Hutt River gets a health check everyday, monitoring for E.coli, toxic algae and nutrients.
A person can survive three weeks without food, but only three days without water. With climate change a looming certainty, there will be nothing more crucial to our survival. But the source of our water is increasingly tainted. In the first of a series on the Wellington region’s waterways,
Kate Green reports on the health of Hutt River. Māori wisdom likens a river to a taniwha’s tail. It whips side to side, changing its course on a whim, unpredictable – you don’t want to get too close.
Plans to restore Magnolia Dell to former glory
By Liam Ngobeni
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Pretoria - The community is rallying behind efforts to end vandalism, theft and lack of maintenance at the historic Magnolia Dell Park.
Among them are business owners, city councillors, ratepayers association members and museum managers.
They met at Magnolia Dell on Tuesday to discuss the rehabilitation of the facility.
Huckleberry’s Restaurant owner Dylan Brewers said he was confident that he and other activists could re-energise enthusiasm behind the action and underscore the importance of looking ahead.
Preserving the area that was full of history and holds nostalgic memories for citizens who grew up visiting the park was key, he said.
Since the company, based in Miramar, Wellington, was launched in 2019 it had increased the number of samples it processed by 700 per cent – to around 200-300 each week. Their testing kits, which started at $10, were designed to be easy to use, and contained everything needed to take a single sample, including a preservative which kept the filtered DNA fresh at room temperature until it arrived at the lab.
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Wilderlab scientist Megan Shaffer collects an underwater eDNA sample from Tītahi Bay this past weekend. (Mar 6-7). A sample of water was syringed into a tube and pushed through a filter, leaving the molecules stuck to the other side. Once at the lab, in a process perhaps familiar to anyone who had read about the sequencing of Covid-19, the molecules were submerged in a substance which broke open the cells and let out the DNA.