The worlds largest antelope have been gone for two centuries but they are back in Cape Town at Rondevlei Nature Reserve. Five young Eland have been reintroduced to the Cape Flats, all in a bid to manage vegetation in local nature reserves. It’s an area they roamed 200 years ago, and can now make the scenic Rondevlei Nature Reserve their new home.
The initiative rests with the Cape Town Environmental Education Trust and the City of Cape Town. Dalton Gibbs a member at Christ Church Kenilworth had a dream to reintroduce the Eland and has worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality. They are being reintroduced to combat the bush encroachment that happens when there are no large herbivores.
What a beautiful church in creation we experienced at Rondevlei, as the rainbow came forth in between the rain showers. In this wetland, life flourishes in the heart of the city, from fish to birds to hippos. And now the mighty Eland are making this wetland their home. The wetland is truly a source of life.
God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters. Let it separate water from water.” And that’s exactly what happened. God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water that was under the space from the water that was above it. God called the huge space “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning. It was day two.” Gen 1:6-8
Water is like the womb of life. The waters of Gen 1 are interpreted as the dark mystery of God that enfolds all things. Just as in human birth the waters break so that life can come forth, in God’s water all that is to be created will appear. St Paul speaks of the one “in whom, we live and move and have our being.” Creation is planted in the waters of God’s life. The wetland cleanses water and provides a home for new life. What a beautiful symbol of Gods creative water.
“May the water of the wetland remind us of the vitality and vibrancy of the Divine Presence in us – in whom we live and move and have our being”
