{"id":8103,"date":"2021-03-26T05:39:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T03:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/?p=8103"},"modified":"2021-03-29T07:08:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T05:08:45","slug":"wetlands-weekend-march-12-14-2021-at-kagswane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/?p=8103","title":{"rendered":"Wetlands weekend March 12 \u2013 14 2021 at Kgaswane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_01-e1616730307637.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_01-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8095\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A short two weeks since out grasses weekend, we were off to Kgaswane for the wetlands, catchments and rivers weekend. On arrival we were greeted by the beautiful scenery at Kgaswane and for a lucky few, a wonderful sighting of a large heard of Eland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_02.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_02-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8096\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone managed to set up tents without the rain interfering and our joy was further amplified by the fact that we did not have the usual Friday night written test to study for, instead we went through our assignment criteria before dinner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_03.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_03-1024x767.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8097\" width=\"768\" height=\"575\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On Saturday we woke up early and exchanged stories of scops owls and jackals calling during the night and even a spotted genet sighting. We then headed to a very engaging lecture on wetlands catchments and rivers, presented by Maria Cazzavillan. We also utilized walks between lectures to identify grasses that we were becoming more familiar with and took notes of which grasses and trees occurred in our assignment ecosystem (wetlands, rocky slopes or grasslands). &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_04.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_04-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8098\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_05.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"725\" height=\"967\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_05.jpg 725w, https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_05-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_05-672x896.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 725px) 100vw, 725px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The afternoon was spent doing practical assessments which included, among others, testing the pH, nitrates, turbidity of the water. We ended the day with sundowners near \u2018mushroom rock\u2019 which provided a wonderful view of the reserve, followed by an evening braai.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_06.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_06-1024x769.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8100\" width=\"768\" height=\"577\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Sunday continued with more hands-on practical\u2019s as we trawled the riverbeds for macro-organisms to identify. As we waded through the wetlands of Kgaswane it was difficult to reconcile that wetlands are some of the most threatened and fastest disappearing inland waters in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_07.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_07-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8101\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_07-768x1023.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_07-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_07-672x895.jpg 672w, https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_07.jpg 797w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_08.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_08-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8102\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Living is urban societies and being so far removed from nature, it is easy to forget how dependent we are on it to survive and so the weekend outdoors allowed us to appreciate the nature around us and as Maria emphasized, it is through education that we will be able to conserve these rich habitats.<br><br>As we headed home, we already looked forward the next module where we will be learning about trees at Borakalalo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_09.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Wetland_09-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8094\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Editors Note:<\/strong> Thanks to student Megan Griffiths for this account of the wetlands weekend, a first visit to Kgaswane for most of our students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A short two weeks since out grasses weekend, we were off to Kgaswane for the wetlands, catchments and rivers weekend. On arrival we were greeted by the beautiful scenery at Kgaswane and for a lucky few, a wonderful sighting of a large heard of Eland. Everyone managed to set up tents without the rain interfering<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/?p=8103\">Read more  &#10230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-module-feedback"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8103"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8113,"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8103\/revisions\/8113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bushveld-mosaic.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}