ABOUT US
PAST AND PRESENT
Friends of Rietvlei is based in Cape Town, South Africa. We support Rietvlei and the Table Bay Nature Reserve in Cape Town only. We are not associated with other Rietvlei water bodies in South Africa.
The Friends of Rietvlei was formed in 1988. Residents of Table View and Milnerton were becoming concerned about increasing development in the Rietvlei Wetland Area.
At the same time the Wildlife Society was beginning to promote the idea of Friends Groups affiliated to themselves and it was decided to form a Friends of Rietvlei group to raise funds for the purchase of land at Rietvlei to prevent any further development.
In 1990 a master plan was developed and WWF and the Mazda Wildlife Fund donated a Mazda to raffle for Project Rietvlei. This raised about R100,000 and became the first amount in the Municipal Rietvlei Fund.
Caltex had been approached about joining as Corporate Members and they were interested in becoming more involved, so they decided to fund WWF to buy Milnerton Estates land, and this was acquired in 1993. Lobbying for Transnet owned land went ahead until 1996 when the land was donated to WWF. The Friends of Rietvlei had been instrumental in all these negotiations.
Friends of Rietvlei is now focusing on adult education, school groups, guided tours, assisting the Blaauwberg Administration in the management of Rietvlei, and advising on various other environmental Committees in the area. We also constructed the first bird hide at Rietvlei. We are still affiliated to the Wildlife and Environmental Society (WESSA) and have 150 members.
If you have an interest in your environment, wetlands, birds or just a love for nature and walking outdoors, please consider joining the Friends of Rietvlei. You will receive a membership card which entitles you to free entry into Rietvlei for yourself, or your family if you take out family membership, a monthly newsletter, as well as regular evening talks and slide shows by experts on local environmental issues.
Friends of Rietvlei is a registered Non-Profit Organisation; Reg No 067-504-NPO.