Katot Meyer
KING OF CATCHMENTS
“A healthy catchment is a healthy river,” says Katot Meyer. For 50 years he has cleared invasive aliens from the catchment of the Keurbooms river that keeps the small coastal town of Plettenberg Bay, in South Africa’s Western Cape, supplied with water. The invasives – predominantly Australian wattles and European pines – are greedy drinkers. They disrupt the natural water flow and crowd out the indigenous fynbos vegetation. “If you clear 1000 square metres of the catchment, you free up 20 cubic litres of water per month.”
Since Katot started clearing, the volume of water in the river has doubled. Even more amazing is that Katot – whose nickname means ‘billycan’ in his native Afrikaans – is 77 years old and does most of the clearing work on his own. Even so, he believes in living in reciprocity, and is happy to share his wisdom and experience with anyone who hikes and hacks alongside him.
The land over which Katot is custodian is part of the Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative. Katot doesn’t do social media – “People should come out and do the job and see for themselves.” To find out more, or join a weekend hack, you can contact the Plett Enviro Forum via their website or Facebook page.
