Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT)
PO Box 78
7220 Gansbaai
South Africa
Contact person: Brenda Walters
+27 (0) 82 9075607
+27 (0) 28 384 2739
info@dict.org.za
brenda@dict.org.za
http://www.dict.org.za
Topics
- Environmental organization
- Educational policy/project
- Volunteers are welcome.
About us
The Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) has been established for the conservation, rehabilitation and protection of the natural environment, including flora, fauna or the biosphere, the care of the wild animals, the promotion of, and the conducting of educational and training programs relating to environmental awareness, greening and clean-up projects, and conservation research.
We are involved with the following projects on our Marine Big 5.
• Penguins: Our Faces of Need project, which aims to provide artificial nests to the endangered African Penguin to improve their breeding success on Dyer Island and other colonies.
• Sharks: Through the efforts of the Marine Dynamics Crew, including an onboard marine biologist, a large database of fin identification has been established, and patterns of behaviour established. Ongoing studies are planned to discover more about their habits in the shallows during the summer months. Acquiring new knowledge and creating awareness through education is vital to conserving this species.
• Seals: The Trust was instrumental in assisting Marine & Coastal Management with a seal-tagging project, which will provide critical information on cow and pup relationships.
• Whales: Studies are being undertaken on the feeding habits of the whale and the crew of Dyer Island Cruises actively collects faeces samples for the Mammal Research Institute.
• Dolphins: We have various species of dolphins in the Overstrand area and dolphin population research is undertaken by a PhD student, who has successfully identified the same dolphins returning to the area.
Programs:
Fishing Line Bins: DICT in association with Overstrand Municipality, Gansbaai Administration has established the Fishing Line Recovery and Recycling Program (FLRRP) along the Gansbaai shoreline, with specially designed disposal bins. This innovative project aims to reduce the severe environmental damage caused by discarded fishing line on our coastline.
Operations Manager, Brenda Walters, can be contacted at brenda@dict.org.za for any further information.
For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.