Kogelberg BotSoc AGM Annual Report

Botanical Society of South Africa : Kogelberg Branch AGM 21 July 2018 Annual Report - By Tim Attwell, Chairman  It is more than appropriate to begin this Annual Report by paying tribute to our former Chairman, Merrilee Berrisford. (Merrilee correctly insists that the word is indeed ‘Chairman’ and not the neologism ‘Chairperson’, since the ‘man’ in the word ‘Chairman’ refers to the Latin manus, a hand, and not to the male gender of Homo sapiens.) Merrilee has guided, inspired and managed the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society with a vigour and enthusiasm that is impossible…
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Walk Report

- Tim Attwell Oudebos, the relict patch of Afrotemperate forest in the ravine between Platberg and the back of Elephant Rock Mountain that gives its name to the offices of the Kogelberg Nature Reserve, did not disappoint us. We went looking for a spot under the forest canopy, next to a bubbling mountain stream to have our tea or coffee and the goodies we had brought with us. After all, the whole purpose of mountain or, for that matter, fynbos walking is ‘to find a good spot to have tea.’ We allowed ourselves an hour…
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KOGELBERG GOES TO LONDON

Merrilee Berrisford The wonderful landscapes, plants and animals of the Kogelberg will be seen by tens of thousands of visitors to this year’s Chelsea Flower Show in May. The South African exhibit was formally launched at a function in the Conservatory at Kirstenbosch on 21 April. Exciting news for the villages of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve is that the twin themes are the Reserve and Harold Porter NBG. We’d had clues that Kogelberg would feature when designer David Davidson wanted a copy of our book, Your Place in the Kogelberg. It was a great surprise…
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THIRTIETH BIRTHDAY OF THE KOGELBERG BRANCH – A CELEBRATORY PICNIC

By Merrilee Berrisford Kogelberg Branch is thirty years old. In 1985, under the chairmanship of the late Avril Nunn, the Betty’s Bay Wild Flower Society became an official branch of the Botanical Society of South Africa. We are celebrating by having a family picnic after the December talk which will take place on Saturday 12 December at 10 am. We have a very special venue, Stroompie, an unspoilt bit of land with milkwoods and a stream on the coast beyond Betty’s Bay towards Palmiet River. Christine Dreyer, representing the owners, has given us permission to…
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YOUR PLACE IN THE KOGELBERG BY TIM ATTWELL

By Merrilee Berrisford Three months after our launch we have sold just over 380 copies (1000 were printed) and donated 105 to worthy causes in our area. When Johan West of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve Company read his complimentary copy, he ordered 100 more, of these 20 copies have found their way to the University of Stellenbosch via Dr John Hanks and Professor Michael Samways (both have given talks to our branch). The Cape Peninsula University of Technology has also bought 20 copies for the Conservation students. There have been favourable reviews in publications from…
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