FOSTER – OUR STORY

The Friends of the St Francis Nature Areas – FOSTER – was established 35 years ago. This voluntary organisation shoulders the bulk of the management role for the Seal Bay, Cape St Francis, Irma Booysen & Seal Point Nature Areas. These wonderful green gems offer a choice of hiking trails through various coastal habitats from rocky shores, beaches, and salt-stunted vegetation to dune fynbos, thickets, and small patches of true dune forests.

A brief history:

• Mid 1980s: “Friends” group started under leadership of Gwen and Henry Brown with guidance by Richard and Shirley Cowling.
• Late 1980s: Dave Bowmer initiated alien clearance in the Irma Booysen reserve.
• Mid 1990s: Lawrence Kruger and Richard Cowling produced a report to guide the establishment of the St Francis Coastal Open Space System, an interlinked system of conservation-worthy state land in the Greater St Francis region. This initiative was championed by Des Green and has remained the FOSTER blueprint since then. Des made excellent progress with the proclamation of the Irma Booysen reserve.
• 2000s: Considerable investment in alien plant clearance, trail establishment and signage, all implemented by Dave Bowmer and his team. Much progress has been made in proclaiming the reserves in the past five years, thanks to the superb effort of Wentzel Coetzer of Conservation Outcomes

The use of the nature areas has grown steadily over the years. It is no exaggeration to say the over the past 35 years, FOSTER has created a 330-hectare network of nature areas that is now the pride and joy of residents and visitors alike.

The customary role of “Friends” groups is to provide support to the responsible statutory authority. In the case of the different nature areas, the responsible bodies are the Kouga Municipality, the Eastern Cape Department of Development, Economic Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) and/or Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism (ECPT), and Transnet.  Currently none are able or willing to provide the necessary support for the management of the reserves.

Vision

To conserve, maintain, protect, and provide access to the biodiversity of the FOSTER – managed nature areas, whilst promoting active stewardship of the environment and heritage.

Mission

FOSTER’s primary role is to nurture (foster) and preserve the biodiversity in the Irma Booysen, Seal Point, Seal Bay and Cape St Francis Nature Areas. Its secondary role is to ensure that the nature areas are accessible to the greater community and visitors.

FOSTER aims to achieve this mission through the following:

• The FOSTER-managed nature areas are legally proclaimed and protected.
• The trails are properly maintained, with interpretative features, i.e. mapping and signage.
• There are few seed-bearing alien woody plants in the nature areas.
• Our membership numbers will support our annual maintenance costs. Other funding will be sourced for ad hoc projects through appeals and events.

The nature areas management includes:

• Trail maintenance & management – erosion control, clearing of paths & erecting signage
• The control of alien vegetation to reduce fire risks
• Management & maintenance of fire breaks around the village
• Monitor animal movements & numbers through a system of trail cameras
• Marketing & public awareness campaigns about the importance of these areas of critical biodiversity
• Liaising with authorities

How do we fund our reserve management program?

The only source of funding for FOSTER is through the contributions made by residents, property owners and conservation minded people and by fundraising events and talks arranged by FOSTER.

Operational costs are about R500 000 per annum.