Grahamstown residents have a fish to thank for the fact that someone's been keeping watch over the quality of our water.
Grahamstown residents have a fish to thank for the fact that someone's been keeping watch over the quality of our water.
Retiring chairperson of the Kowie Catchment Campaign, Dr Jim Cambray, said his involvement with the organisation, now in its 10th year, had begun with his work on endangered freshwater fish, the Eastern Cape Rocky.
Until October, he was a senior specialist scientist at the Albany Museum and he has led the Kowie Catchment Campaign for the past eight years. Cambray said the campaign began at a Makana Environmental Forum meeting in the Town Hall in late 2002.
The forum was looking for projects and a water-focused project was proposed for 2003, the International Year of Freshwater. "I thought that it would be for one year, but working with an enthusiastic committee, we decided to carry on," Cambray said.
"From the start we were up and running, because we worked as a team. Many of the original team are still committee members. I would like to thank all of them for their support since 2003," he said, particularly highlighting the contribution of local environmental activist, Angela Barberton.
Cambray also highlighted the contributions of Kevin Bates, of Parks and Recreation, Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart and former councillors Michael Whisson and Julie Wells (also a current councillor). "The main problem was interacting with the municipality's Directorate of Technical and Infrastructural Services," Cambray said.
Cambray has put forward current secretary and founding member Nikki Kohly for the position of chairperson. The new chairperson will be elected next month. Cambray's advice to the new committee was to "come up with several do-able projects a year and keep after the municipality to deliver high-quality drinking water to the citizens of Makana, as well as high quality water to the downstream environment".
He says he has always had the support of his family in his work. "My wife Eve has always been very supportive of all my conservation activities. My sons, Garth and Conrad, were also supportive," Cambray said.
Cambray says that since his retirement, one of his hobbies that he's been able to enjoy more is birding. "I take way to many digital photos of them," he said.
