Echo Champs Bergville Report
Introducon
The Bergville Echo Champs began their work in November in the Ezibomvini area, focusing on
clearing alien plants, parcularly Lantana camara, rehabilitang gullies, and packing stone
lines toprevent soil erosion. This month, their eorts were directed towards planng grasses,
including Tall Fescue and Ngongoni. This report outlines the work completed, progress made,
challenges faced, and proposed soluons.
Progress and Work Done
The team completed 14 stone line packings within seven days. They planted grass at the
base of the gully to stabilize the soil. However, one of the main challenges is uncontrolled
livestock grazing. Community members allow cale to roam freely, leading to further gully
development.
The pictures above showingMajali demonstrang planng aer catchment has occurs
Planng Update:
At the Ezibomnvini site, we planted tall fescue on four stone-line packings, starng from the
top. These areas were planted due to soil catchment observed over me. Other sites were
not planted as no soil catchment occurred there. The decision to start with four areas was to
assess whether the plants would grow under three days of irrigaon, given the current lack
of rainfall. We did not want to plant all sites without certainty, especially as the weather has
been extremely hot, with no rainfall at all.
To address this, the team experimented by planng grasson four of the stone line packings,
starng at thetop. They used Tall Fescue,an annual grass thatgrowsquickly and self-seeds,
enabling it to expand. Unfortunately, due to insucient rainfall, three of the planted areas
have dried out completely. Tomigate this, they irrigated the four stoneline packings for three
days to ensure the grass could establish itself.
Addionally, theteam worked on a large gully near the Sibiya homestead in Ezibomvini, which
connues to erode. Their goal is to use poplar branches to construct brush packs to trap soil
at the topand middle secons of the gully. Later, they plan to plant grass overthese brush
packs. Over me, as the poplars establish and receive adequate water, itwill contribute to
erosion control and land restoraon, even under current dry condions.
The pictures above showingplanng of lespedeza
Community Meeng Discussion – 5th December 2024
Locaon: Ezibomvini Village, under the largest tree used for community gatherings
Facilitators: Nomvelo and Luck Hlongwane
Purpose: Addressing the control of livestock grazing in rehabilitated areas
The meeng aimed to update the community and encourage collaboraon in the
rehabilitaon eorts, including gully restoraon, erosion control, and alien plant clearing.
The pictures above showingthe meeng at Ezibomnvini under the tree
Regarding the meeng held at Ezibomnvini, hosted by Echo Champs, there were not many
details shared.The meeng addressed one primary issue: livestock interfering with their
work. This occurs as people use the area as a pathway to grazing land.
Unfortunately, the meeng lasted only 10 minutes due to poor aendance, with only six
community members present. The Echo Champs raised concerns about livestock trampling
the stone-line packing as they pass through to the grazing land. They requested community
members to cooperate by keeping livestock away from the areas where they are working.
Addionally, the Echo Champs plan to arrange a larger meeng next year, ensuring everyone
is invited. This will allow the community to learn more about the work being done in the
mountains and how they can contribute to protecng it. During this meeng, the
community members acknowledged the issue and agreed to change the livestock pathway
to avoid interfering with Echo Champs' eorts.
Key Points Discussed:
•Luck Hlongwane: Emphasized the importance of community cooperaon in
protecng the rehabilitated areas. Livestock owners were urged to avoid allowing
cale to grazein areas under restoraon, as this hampers progress and exacerbates
erosion issues. He suggested creang alternave pathways for livestock to access
grazing areas without interfering with the rehabilitated sites. The goal is to restore
indigenous plants and grasses, ensuring sustainable grazing resources for livestock,
especially during winter.
•Nomvelo: Highlighted the team’s eorts to plant grasses aimed at replenishing
grazing lands with fresh, healthy vegetaon. She encouraged community members to
take collecve responsibility for environmental stewardshipand share ideas for
achieving long-term sustainability.
•Mr. Madondo: Commended the team's dedicaon and stressed the value of
collecve acon in rehabilitang the land. He urged the community to support these
eorts, emphasizing that the posive results would benet everyone.
Conclusion
The Bergville Echo Champs have made commendable progress despite the challengesposed
by uncontrolled livestock grazing and limited rainfall. The meeng demonstratedthe
importance of community involvement in achieving sustainable environmental goals. Moving
forward, collaboraon between the team and the community will be crical to the success of
the land rehabilitaon project.
The picture above showing brush pack blocking the wall of the galley
