Volunteer group established to maintain bird sanctuary
"The sanctuary is close to our hearts and that was the main decision to elect a volunteer group."
The Friends of Austin Roberts Node, a volunteer group to restore the Blue Crane bird sanctuary, was officially established on Tuesday, 4 May.
The sanctuary was proclaimed as a nature reserve on 26 February 1985.
Lourens Diedericks was elected as chairperson of the volunteer group with Helga Roper as vice-chairperson, Johan Billman as treasurer and Anne-Marie Sparg. They will play a vital role to exert themselves for the conservation of the fauna and flora of the sanctuary.
Austin Roberts bird sanctuary was named after South Africa’s greatest ornithologist, J Austin Roberts.
The University of Pretoria presented the self-taught Roberts with an honorary doctorate for his many achievements, which included the standard South African reference books on birds and mammals.
The sanctuary is located in the Walker Spruit open space system in Groenkloof.
Two streams, the Walker and the Argo feed water into wetland basins, of which nine are small perennial dams that attract water birds such as Egyptian geese, white-breasted cormorant and hadeda ibis.
“The sanctuary is close to our hearts and that was the main decision to elect a volunteer group,” Diedericks said.
He said that they want to implement various programmes to restore the sanctuary.
“Our mission is to save and maintain the Austin Roberts birds sanctuary and its immediate surroundings.
“The Friends of the Austin Roberts Node is a registered non-profit organisation which endeavours to promote co-operation between the resident ratepayers and interest groups,” he said.
Their aim is to make a positive contribution towards the survival of the group and immediate surroundings against degradation and pollution.
“We want to generate public awareness, participation and education regarding the value, beauty and sensitivity of this unique nature reserve in our midst.
“The group wants to generate funds to help with the maintenance of the infrastructure of the sanctuary.
“We also want to implement reasonable measures to ensure the public’s safety when visiting the sanctuary,” he said.
Other species which was a great attraction to visitors, included South Africa’s national bird, the blue crane.
However, since a few years ago, the blue crane has not been part of the sanctuary due to the fact that it is not suitable habitat.
Volunteer Mari Joubert said they wanted to restore the beauty of the sanctuary.
READ MORE:Join Friends of Austin Roberts bird sanctuary
“The community needs to stand together and have the same vision in mind to be able to look after the reserve.
“We need to be active members to make the sanctuary a tourism hotspot again,” she said.
The group are busy setting up a social media page where volunteers who are interested can join.
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