… projects done
Wheel-chair friendly Nature Reserve for Cape Nature in Rooisand
New nature Reserve in Western Cape
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Wheel-chair friendly Nature Reserve for Cape Nature in Rooisand
We spent five months building tourism infrastructure and creating employment for local unskilled residents of the informal settlement in Kleinmond.
Pictured above: Three of the seven interpretive panels (2m x .9m wide) done by Touching the Earth Lightly.
All new developments where built using local un-skilled labor from the Kleinmond informal settlement. In total this resulted in 980 person work-days to.
So it’s not just about the Fynbos – it’s also about the fyn-mense!
In total we built over 400 meters of wheelchair-friendly access boardwalks, a viewing decks, two lunch decks for hiking trails, a bird-hide and the walkway entrance structure. We also designed and produced all the interpretive and instructional signage within the Reserve.
All of the timber used in locally sourced alien invasive timber and includes includes Pine trees (Pinus pinaster), Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii), Australian Wattle (Leptospermum laevigatum) and River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis).
Localy sourced alien pinus pinaster (SA Pine)
The rational for this is simple. All these species currently choke our water catchment systems country-wide. Clearing invasive alien timber from within our local nature reserves supports Fynbos restoration in previously infested “high-value” conservation areas and increases water run-off in our local catchment systems to adjacent communities. The new Rooisand development supports this principle.
The entrance walkway was design by Stephen Lamb, and build by local artisans. It is the gateway between the arrival car park area and nature reserve.
The design attempts to address the following notions:
· An experiential journey of 9-12 meters. We placed four x 1.2 meter long interpretation panels on either side of the length of the internal structure
· An experiment in typically indoor entrance spaces, corridors, human traffic flow and movement - in a well-known wide open, wilderness, wind-swept, vulnerable, outdoor “conservation-space”
· A departure from traditional local-government tourism infrastructure design and construction
· Colors, moods, “sense of place” as relevant to the site and the birds, the local vegetation, the mountains, the sea, the wild horses, the wetland system, the tides
· An experiment in perspective, focus points, open/closing of areas, views, in a windswept rugged open outdoor space
· An unpretentious and basic example of best practice, low embedded energy materials, alien timer extracted from local nature reserve, by local unemployed people (job creation)
· Low-tech “found” building materials
· Rugged, rough, long lines, bold statements – yet beautiful, humble and functional (wheel-chair access, signage, permit box, ergonomics etc)
· Signage down either side of the corridor, building up a context, relevance, a sense of meaning, a sense of anticipation
· Exiting into/onto the Rooisand 400m boardwalk, wide spaces, wild horses, bird-watching, wind, sun, fynbos, sea, sea air
· Decomposing/returning back into the earth from where it came, as humans do
The entrance walkway consists of two 9 meter logs that have been moon-phase harvested in the Helderburg Nature Reserve in Stellenbosch. From here the logs have been cut flat on three of their four sides, with 5 degree downward-facing angle on their top side, allowing water to run off on the "seat" side. These logs have been placed using a special crane to position them on stone packed gabions (these act as the padding foundations for the main structure).
The logs and gabion footings provide the anchors for the wany gum-pole uprights. These run vertically along the outside length of the 9 meter logs and provide the anchors for the horizontal roof poles. These are clad with Australian Myrtle, running horizontally down the length. These are fixed at wide intervals starting at 1.2 meters above the ground (to enable scenic views when seated) going to narrow intervals to enable shading for visitors in the mid-day hours.
The walkway entrance tapers from 3.5 meters wide to 1.2 meters wide and connects seamlessly to the Rooisand walkways - for hikers and hikers in wheel-chairs!
The bird-hide was specifically located in the position that would afford birders the best bird viewing opportunities in terms of both quantities but also in terms of numbers. Visitors to the hide enter via a 60m walkway covered on both sides with alien timber latte, thus obscuring human traffic from birds’ view.
Once inside, visitors have a choice of four seated angles to view from, all through discrete viewing slots that open and close from the inside. Below these are well position arm rests all-round that also provide space for birding books, binoculars, water bottles and personal belongings. Above the viewing slots are a selection of just a few of the birds one might find, along with their names and general habits.
Each winter the bird hide will be either fully or partially surrounded by water, attracting more birds to the area. It will thus create somewhat of an island at times. From inside the hide, one can enjoy the full scenic vistas of the Rooisand Estuary, including the breathtaking skyline of the Kogelburg Nature Reserve.
This is appropriate, as the Kogelburg plays an important “big-brother” mentorship role to the Rooisand Reserve in that Cape Nature’s offices its associated conservation resources are based there.
The external cladding of the bird-hide was fixed horizontally with its original wany-edge showing on the underside to reflect the waves of the sea pushing onto the shore-line a few hundred meters away.
The 400 meters walkways are wheel-chair friendly and enable access to the physically challenged, so there’s something to be seen and enjoyed by everybody.
The over 400 meters of wheel-chair friendly walkways
The walkway from the car park area meanders through the reserve to a viewing deck, were 360 degree landscape vistas of the dunes, mountains and lagoon can be enjoyed.
There is also a pleasant and easy-going one or two hour hike along the water’s edge to two simple and rustic lunch deck’s 600m and 1.2 km away.
This starts at the entrance walkway and is perfect for families and those looking for a picnic and a stroll.
It also affords excellent bird-viewing opportunities, particularly for those wanting to get closer to the impressive flocks of flamingos resident to the Rooisand Reserve.
We were commissioned by Cape Nature Conservation, with funding from the Arabella Country Estate (Western Cape, South Africa)
Take only pictures leave only footprints and enjoy this newly proclaimed Nature Reserve
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