Resources

Ground Truth Biomonitoring Services and Environmental Consultants have already researched the educational aspect of rivers and this is available for use by teachers and scholars alike.

The educational aspect is dealt with in a series of integrated lesson plans which have river health as a central theme and use miniSASS as a central tool for these lessons. Grades five, seven, nine and eleven have each been provided with five different activities which cover a range of subjects, including geography and life sciences.

The miniSASS was originally developed as an easy to use scientifically reliable and robust technique to monitor water quality in rivers and streams. It is used to identify a few invertebrate groupings which are good indicators of water quality.

A fully downloadable version of the miniSASS and the integrated lesson plans can be found on the Ground Truth website http//ground-truth.co.za or from miniSASS@ground-truth.co.za.

A comprehensive guide (link to pdf) to the frog species found in the area has been developed by local scientist, Jeanne Terrant. Like invertebrates frogs are good indicators of aquatic health and monitoring both the presence and condition of different species can provide useful insights into river and wetland condition.

Visit our photo galleries (link) for examples of the many plant and animal species found in Giba. For more comprehensive lists of different taxa, go to this section in the Management Plan (link to pdf).