Another thoughtful summary from our journalist, Sofia, on Tracey’s visit to talk about our macroinvertebrate excursion.  Great job, Sofia!  🙂

On Tuesday the 6th of September we had another visit from Tracey from the Cape To Cape Catchment Group. First Tracey talked to us about macroinvertebrates. Macroinvertebrates are not microscopic, but they are small; small as in you can just see them with your own eyes. Macroinvertebrates are insects without a spine and they keep the wetlands healthy.

After that Tracey told us about some of the things we need to keep our wetlands healthy. Some of the things she suggested were things that gave macroinvertebrates homes or food. I would like to list some of the things that we need in our wetlands to keep them healthy. Here they are:

• Trees (to give shade and block out the sun) • Sticks (so the animals can make their homes) • Sedges and Rushes (provide food) • Rocks (give homes)        

The reason these things are needed is what these things do.  For example, the trees give shade and block the sun. It’s good to have a healthy environment in the wetlands because they are very important for the environment. Wetlands are important because they provide water sources for animals. Animals like fish and birds need the wetlands to survive. They also prevent flooding by holding water. In my opinion, I say wetlands are good to have because they keep lots of things like the macroinvertebrates healthy. We should do something about keeping our wetlands like they are. It’s best if you keep the environment how it is and not add anything to it or take away anything from it. We should keep our wetlands and macroinvertebrates healthy forever.  Everyone enjoyed Tracey’s visit and learned a lot.

Sofia