​SASS5 (pronounced "Sass Five") stands for the South African Scoring System. But what does it score and why? It’s a framework – a way of thinking and observation – centred around understanding how micro-invertebrates, nestled within rivers, influence the health and function of those ecosystems. Recently, Philip Dairies and Jessi Venter had the opportunity to attend the SASS5 training course offered by the Freshwater Research Centre in Cape Town. 

​On March 20th, the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy hosted a workshop focused on the conservation of the Tradouw redfin (also called the Barrydale Redfin) (Pseudobarbus burchelli) a freshwater fish species endemic to the Barrydale region. The species faces significant threats from habitat degradation, water abstraction, and alien invasive species. It was listed as Critically Endangered during the most recent IUCN Red List Assessment for all freshwater fishes done of South Africa. The workshop is part of a process to develop a Biodiversity Management Plan for the Species (BMP-S) and strategies to ensure the species survival while also addressing the broader issue of water security for the Barrydale community. The process is funded by the IUCN Species Survival Commission and also aligns with a new WWF Nedbank Green Trust on water security in the Huis Tradouw Catchment and the IUCN Save Our Species Conservation Action Grant. The workshop brought together key decision makers in the catchment, including the Swellendam Municipality, CapeNature, the Western Cape Government, the Department of Agriculture, and the Breede-Olifants Catchment Management Agency.

Key discussions centred on the ecological status of the Tradouw redfin, the main threats to its survival, and the critical role of the Huis-Tradouw River system in sustaining both the species and the surrounding community. Issues such as invasive species, water abstraction, and pollution were examined, emphasising the need for sustainable water use practices and river health restoration. Participants also reviewed previous conservation and restoration projects within the system and the ongoing development of the BMP-S, identifying areas for improvement and refining strategies for greater impact.
​
Practical solutions were explored, including habitat restoration, controlling invasive species, water use monitoring and utilising tax incentives for conservation actions. The workshop concluded with a collaborative session where stakeholders worked together to refine an action plan, ensuring that conservation strategies align with the ecological needs of the species and the water security requirements of the local community.

​Our Restoration Manager, Corné Brink, provided a guided tour of the nursery where plants are propagated and later planted back into the Barrydale area. Most of these species are water-wise plants, meaning they have characteristics that help filter and retain water beneath the surface. This ensures more water availability during droughts and reduces the risk of extreme flooding along the river. 

​We also visited several sites to better understand the system and assess potential methods and tools for monitoring water flow. This will help inform how the system can be monitored more accurately to determine water allocation and ensure adequate environmental flow. 

It is important to note that the BMP-S is still in its early phase, and further workshops are planned to engage more stakeholders in the development and refinement of the plan, including assigning roles and responsibilities. This plan will ensure that moving forward, stakeholders remain committed to implementing effective conservation measures and bringing together key partners to carry out agreed-upon interventions. This will not only help enhance the survival of this threatened species but also ensure ongoing water security for the Barrydale community.
​
This project would not have been possible without the support of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, IUCN Save Our Species Conservation Action Grant, WWF Nedbank Green Trust, our implementing partners Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve, and participating organisations, including the Freshwater Research Centre, CapeNature, Swellendam Municipality, the Western Cape Government, the Department of Agriculture, and the Breede-Olifants Catchment Management Agency.

​Have you ever wondered what tiny creatures call our rivers home? This month, junior high school students in De Waaville (Heidelberg) and Olyfkrans (Swellendam) explored this fascinating question while learning about freshwater ecosystems. Freshwater ecosystems are vital for sustaining life on Earth, providing drinking water and habitats for countless species, and rivers play a critical role in maintaining this balance. Educating young people about the health of these ecosystems fosters a sense of responsibility and empowers them to take action. 

​At both schools, we were able to do a mini-SASS using samples collected from Koringlands River in Swellendam and Duiwenhoks in Heidelberg. The samples were collected in upstream and downstream locations to illustrate how human habitation can impact our river health. 

​A SASS (South African Scoring System) is a tool used by scientists to monitor river health by identifying benthic macroinvertebrates, small aquatic animals that live in riverbeds. Each species is assigned a score, with more environmentally sensitive species having higher scores. These scores are then averaged, with higher averages signalling a better overall river health. The GVB conservancy does SASS at various river locations twice a year to understand the river ecosystem health in the region. It is important for us at the conservancy to identify ways to work with the community to keep our rivers healthy. This includes doing mini-SASS sessions with students living around many of the rivers we sample. 

​ 
While standard SASS requires specialised training, the simplified mini-SASS makes this process accessible to citizens, especially school-aged children. Much of the methods for sample collection and score production is simplified, while also maintaining a comparable overall standard of assessment. This makes mini-SASS ideal for our environmental education days. Some students from Olyfkrans had the opportunity to watch how samples were collected. A GVB conservancy member went into the river with waders and a net. We placed the net on the bed of the river and began kicking the rocks below. Additionally, we made sure to sample on gravel riverbed and near spots of the river with vegetation. Samples are placed in a white tray containing freshwater from the river, and students are given info sheets to help identify the species within the tray.

​Although the species within the tray are visible to the naked eye, students were also given a hand lens and magnifying glass to look for distinct features to help with identification. Students from both schools were eager and excited to identify the macroinvertebrate species. Many species look similar, so students also had a poster that illustrated the different species to help draw conclusions. The posters were then donated to the schools with big thanks to Christian Fry, whose incredible book A Field Guide to Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of South Africa is an amazing resource for freshwater macroinvertebrate identification.

​We love to see our students engage in discussion about what they are seeing! After calculating the scores for river health, students were given an opportunity to brainstorm ways they could help improve river health, including limiting their own pollution. Many of them stated the importance of planting indigenous plant species in their home gardens, especially if they live near a river. Indigenous plant species near a river can help improve water quality, limit erosion, and help reduce the risk of floods. 

Students from Olyfkrans also had the opportunity to put what they learned into practice by planting indigenous trees on their school grounds. They demonstrated a great deal of care with the trees they planted. Way to go, guys! These environmental education days remind us of the power of young minds to inspire change. We can’t wait to continue fostering this enthusiasm in future projects and encourage everyone to take small steps—like planting a tree or reducing pollution—it all adds up to healthier rivers and ecosystems for all. A big thank you to Table Mountain Fund for funding this work and to the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve who are our project partners. 

​The Grootvadersbosch Conservancy is dedicated to preserving the health of our rivers, particularly those flowing through the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy. Recently, we had the opportunity to visit the Barrydale Wastewater Treatment Works, engaging with the Swellendam Municipality, Zutari, and Breede-Olifants Catchment Management Agency.

​The visit allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced in managing wastewater systems.

​Our mission is to raise awareness and educate our communities about the critical links between wastewater treatment and river protection. We learned that while wastewater treatment facilities play a crucial role in managing the water we use, every individual can contribute to reducing the strain on these systems and, in turn, protect our rivers and oceans.

​Exploring Nature-Based Solutions
We are excited to collaborate with the municipality on innovative, nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment. These include bioremediation techniques, constructed wetlands, and biofiltration systems. Constructed polishing wetlands mimic natural ecosystems, leveraging plants and microorganisms to remove pollutants through biological, physical, and chemical processes. Not only do these systems treat wastewater, but they also enhance biodiversity, provide habitats, and improve water quality in surrounding areas.

Stay tuned as we continue to explore and implement these promising solutions.

Your efforts, combined with these advanced methods, will play a vital role in safeguarding our rivers and ensuring a healthier environment for all.

From The Grootvadersbosch Conservancy Team:
​
For more tips on eco-friendly cleaning alternatives, visit: Water Stories - Take Action

​Over the last few months, we've been delighted to welcome some exceptional guests, and we're thrilled to share the highlights of their visits along with a plethora of photos!
 
Firstly, we had the honour of hosting the South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), led by Dr. Albert Chakona, Chief Scientist and Senior Research Associate from the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science at Rhodes University. Aileen Anderson, our esteemed General Manager and SASS Guru, joined forces with them for monitoring and DNA sampling of aquatic species in the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Region (GCBR) and partnered with friends in the Elim area to sample fish in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area. This collaboration was both enlightening and memorable, enabling us to address various inquiries, document previously unrecorded aquatic species, and forge new partnerships. For more insights into our partnership with GCBR, check out their article on GCBR Fish Monitoring. Additionally, delve into the SAIAB article for a deeper understanding of our discoveries in Unveiling Nature's Jewel: Exploring the Enigmatic World of the Translucent Goukou Galaxias. And be sure to immerse yourself in the captivating pictures from our expedition!

​Our second visit was from Landcare (Department of Agriculture), during which we had the pleasure of meeting with Rudolph Röscher, District Manager of the Cape Winelands and Hannes Muller District Manager of Eden SRUM. These annual visits entail inspections of our activities, during which Ricardo Januarie (Alien Clearing Manager) and Mzomhle Mtshintshi (Quality Controller) showcased our progress in alien-clearing activities, while Corné Brink (Restoration Manager) talked about our restoration efforts. We also visited our impressive alien clearing project in the Korente Poort Dam area, that we are implementing in partnership with the Korente-Vette Irrigation Board.

​The Grootbos Foundation marked our fourth visit, allowing us to showcase our valley and its fauna and flora species. It was a rewarding experience, during which we also fine-tuned our camera trap system, providing Jessi Venter (Conservation Officer) with invaluable insights (as demonstrated in the pictures) and capturing the magnificent specimens in the valley.

​Our fifth visit welcomed students from The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), where international honours students engaged in multiple activities within the conservancy. These activities included monitoring the restoration site near the office to track species regrowth and timing processes within the nursery itself. It was quite an experience for our GVB staff members, and we have learned a lot from this visit! 

​And finally, our last visit was from IKI GRANT themselves. Their visit allowed us to present and showcase our project's progress, achievements, and upcoming goals.

​In a transformative project, we've joined forces to clear the natural river gorge below the Korentepoort Dam. This collaborative effort enhances water supply to the town of Riversdale and supports agriculture by meticulously removing invasive plants with complex rope access teams, a strategically important project, achieved in partnership with Landcare and the Korente Vette Irrigation Board.

​GASPP stands for Grootvadersbosch Aquatic Species Project and is a project that supports long-term monitoring of data (such as river flow, fish sampling, water quality, SASS) of the Grootvadersbosch rivers, which include the Tradouw and other smaller tributaries, Grootvadersbosch rivers, and Buffeljags River. 

We've been working on this project for three years, and we're grateful to our funder, Table Mountain Fund  for supporting this work. CapeNature has also been an important partner as they have offered important assistance through input from aquatic scientists Dr Martine Jordaan and Jeanne Gouws. They have both been very willing to help us with monitoring and training.

Freshwater river systems have a high level of biodiversity, and our river systems are truly unique. The Cape Fold Mountains Region (CFR) has clear cool temperate acid water streams in general, and some of our freshwater fish and other residents are highly endemic and distinct. The conservancy is monitoring sites, connected to the Tradouw river and other smaller tributaries, Grootvadersbosch river and Buffeljags river.
​
One of the key goals of the project was to build capacity for long term monitoring. This has been a resounding success as all four of our staff who undertook training for SASS are now accredited. The South African Scoring System (SASS) is a rapid bioassessment technique based on one component of riverine biotas, the benthic macroinvertebrates. Each taxon is assigned a tolerance/sensitivity score, which are summed to provide a Total Score. This allows us to measure the health of our rivers. Well done to Aileen Anderson, Goliath Highburg, Ricardo Januarie and Zaniel April who completed the training and are now SASS accredited.
​
Click here to Read the SASS training blog that we did at sass-5-training.html Read our previous blog about the adventures we had last year with this entire project at busy-times-fun-times-with-gaspp-week.html . 

Human activity has altered our natural environments. In our Valley and surrounding areas, we have committed ourselves to protect endangered wildlife that we cherish. Other factors such as climate change, population growth, alien invasive species, and water abstraction have all had a negative impact on our river systems and the species in them. We are doing all we can to work with partners, as well as other conservation organizations such as CapeNature, to protect our resources and biodiversity.

Environmental education is also one of the aspects of GASPP. We work with the communities of Suurbraak, Barrydale, Buffeljagsrivier, and Heidelberg to promote awarness. Donnovan Julius, a local artist, assisted in painting a series of murals in Barrydale at Net vir Pret, Mullersrus Primary School, Klein-pikkewyne preschool in Heidelberg, and at the Suurbraak camping site, involving many children in the community. These murals were painted to raise awareness of our freshwater fishes and to protect them, as well as to emphasise the importance of biodiversity and the harm that pollution causes to our beautiful environments. With such initiative, we hope that our local community will also take on the challenge of protecting and respecting their natural resources.
​
We've done some other activities with the kids, such as miniSASS and talks about freshwater fish. read a blog that we covered on that at environmental-education.html. 

SASS 5

SASS 5 provides a means to assess the quality of a river at a specific time. Some of our rivers are impacted by land use changes and abstraction but many are still in a very good condition. Many are home to very sensitive species. The sites in more natural environments house sensitive macroinvertebrates. We have also found many SWC endemic insect families that thrive in the naturally acidic and tannin-stained waters of our rivers. We are now planning to do regular SASS monitoring, especially in sites where we are planning to do alien clearing to see the impacts and to see if there is any change over time. We already have three years of data across over 30 sites so we have a very interesting picture of our river systems. 

Freshwater fish
​
Most indigenous fish have had their distribution ranges severely reduced over the years. The indigenous freshwater fish that we usually see in our rivers are mainly the Cape galaxias (Galaxias zebratus), Cape kurper (Sandelia capensis) and the Breede River redfin (Pseudobarbus burchelli). These are just the indigenous fish that we have encountered while doing our river monitoring. 

Habitat destruction and water abstraction are the most serious threats facing freshwater fish. However, alien invasive plant and invasive animal species are also a serious problem for our freshwater habitats. Alien fish invasion is a massive threat that is difficult to reverse.
​
The invasive fish that we see in our rivers systems include the Banded tilapia (Tilapia sparmanni), The Sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus). We also see the Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque) as well as our Longfin eel (Anguilla mossambica) these are the invasive fish that we have encountered while doing monitoring at our sites. 

Freshwater scientists from SAIAB (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity) visited us in April this year, to do a talk in the community of Barrydale to discuss what is found in our rivers as well as the importance of safeguarding the Breede river redfin. We also enjoyed the opportunity to do monitoring with these leading freshwater scientists. We had a wonderful time and it was such an intriguing conversation.
​
We are continuing with our monitoring to better understand the distribution of fish in our systems and the main impacts that they face. 

FBIS (Freshwater Biodiversity Information system)
​
Reliable information is needed for the management of our freshwater systems. At the conservancy we have adopted FBIS (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) which we were introduced to by Helen Dallas from the freshwater research centre. FBIS is used to host, visualize, and share freshwater biodiversity for South African Rivers. We have integrated the data we previously collected, such as SASS and freshwater fish data, into FBIS in order to generate graphs, compare, and evaluate the quality of our rivers. It is a very helpful database. We greatly appreciate the assistance from Helen Dallas in using FBIS.  

FBIS provides a dashboard that indicates when SASS is complete and includes graphs that demonstrate how the water quality has changed over time. With the fish data there are also graphs which shows the fish that we found throughout the years.

We did not know much about FBIS until Helen showed us where we can store our data and share it on one platform. We found it quite challenging to get used to the platform and to combine all the data from three years of monitoring into one platform. However, we are very pleased that we have been able to integrate all the data so that we know we have one integrated platform to share and analyse data.

References

Dallas, H. and Rivers-Moore, N., 2022. A protocol and tools for setting environmental water temperature guidelines for perennial rivers in South Africa. African Journal of Aquatic Science, pp.1-16.

Ellender, B.R., Wasserman, R.J., Chakona, A., Skelton, P.H. and Weyl, O.L., 2017. A review of the biology and status of Cape Fold Ecoregion freshwater fishes. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 27(4), pp.867-879.

Skelton, P.H., 1993. A complete guide to the freshwater fishes of southern Africa.

​Christian Fry has recently released an incredible freshwater field guide called the “Field Guide to the Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Southern Africa.” We love the guide and it is really helping us as we try and become SASS accredited. We recently obtained two signed copies and a poster from Christian, which we are so grateful for so we decided to interview him to promote this incredible piece of work. 

Where did you grow up and how did you get into this field?.
​
Christian grew up on a farm near the Elands River in Mpumalanga. He is extremely grateful for his upbringing, According to Christian, the Elands River was once relatively pristine, but it has degraded over time.
​
As a child, Christian spent a lot of time down at the river, playing, fishing, tubing, and exploring. This is how he first learned about the river and developed an interest in freshwater systems. He mentioned that he had a very basic understanding of what lives in the river, which basically meant flipping a rock and seeing all the bugs crawling around, which was interesting, but he didn't look closely at them. He didn't realize what they were or what they meant until he started studying them.

So, spending so much time in the river sort of imprinted that passion in him but it wasn't until later in life that this passion developed into a possible career. This happened when he met some researchers from the University of Johannesburg who were conducting research in the area and came to stay on his family farm. The students did different assessments on the river. Among them was a post graduate student that was doing his PHD. This student made Christian aware that it is possible to do this as a career, which Christian found very inspiring. 

What is your favourite macroinvertebrate family?
​
Many of the macro invertebrate’s appeal to Christian. He admits that it is difficult for him to choose a specific family, but he enjoys the freshwater shrimp (Crustacea family). We shared with him our recent finding in the Tradouw River where we found a freshwater shrimp. He explained that the shrimps from Grootvadersbosch are not as dark as the ones found in Mpumalanga.

How did you come up with the cover of the book?

Christian started out the book on a PowerPoint document. He showed his friend (Colleen Murray) who is graphic designer, what he was doing, and asked if she could help him out a bit. She said that everything that he had done was wrong so he started the process over.

She explained how to do deep edge and edit photographs. She also chose the book's cover. He is grateful for her talent as a graphic designer. Colleen created the book's aesthetic and clean style, which Christian appreciates. He wishes he could take credit for the front cover, but it was Colleen's idea. He truly appreciates her help. Her creativity has resulted in a book that stands out from the rest.

What else did you do differently with this guide?

Instead of utilizing the dichotomous key for identification, Christian used the identifying features in the family tree. Instead of going through the step-by-step process of identifying down to the family level, Christian used the identifying futures. As a result, he concentrated on bringing the last step to the front so that the identifying trait could be seen first. He tried something new and only time will tell if it works. Christian is still waiting for comments, and while he knows that people enjoy the way the book appears, he also wants the book to be practical in the field.

What were some surprising things that you learnt in the process of writing the book?

The most surprising experience to Christian was how little he really knew about macroinvertebrates. He started the book to educate himself. He failed his second SASS accreditation because he got confused with a clam (Cyrenidae) and a pill clam (Pisidiidae). He was frustrated and he wanted more resources on how to distinguish between them. The existing guides were limited and not  practical. As Christian researched further, he started to compile his own library with photos to identifying the macroinvertebrates.

He later became aware of the diversity of the macro invertebrates. For example, you look at an Elmidae and you see another one and another one but you don’t slow down to look at them carefully. When you look closely, you see the diversity. For Christian, the diversity is incredible and surprising.

What were some of the challenges of putting this guide together?
​
The guide took nearly six years to complete. One challenge was processing all the photos. There were thousands of photos. He processed a lot of the photos, but some were used, and others were not. He also did the work outside of his work hours -on was weekends, nights and holidays. He would sit at family gatherings with his laptop and edit photos The deep edging to process all the photos was endless.

What were the highlights of writing the guide?
​
The rewarding part was collecting the new taxa for the book, that was very exciting. Going out into the field and collecting taxa is fun, and it's nice to find specimens for photos in his area. Traveling to the Cape and sampling all those different taxa, was also rewarding. Sometimes they were holidays or family events, such as weddings and his in-laws had to drive him quickly to a river. But in the end, it was very rewarding to explore new areas.
​
He found it rewarding to find some of the taxa that haven’t been seen by other experts, such as Helen Dallas, who have been in the field for twenty years. (At this point, we had to proudly interject and tell him that when Helen came to train the conservancy for SASS, we found a caddisfly (Goeridae) that she had never seen before. Christian admitted that he had not seen it either, so he promised to visit soon.)  

He loves hunting for taxa and then finding them after years. For example, the Limnichidae (Minute Marsh-loving Beetle) are vaguely described in other SASS guides. In some guides it says that you might find a certain taxon in an area but when one looks and looks and then you find one in a completely different area, it’s very exciting. He found it so rewarding to look at river systems a lot closer.

What advice would you give other freshwater scientists?.

Christian said that you must not lose your passion and forget why you started in the field. Often with careers, when you turn a passion into a career, you lose the passion. As a passionate, young scientist myself, I couldn’t understand this, so I asked him to explain. He explained that when you turn something that you love into a job, it can become tiresome. Sometimes in the consulting field, you do the same thing over and over and you get burnt out. For him, writing the book and taking on this project, reignited his passion for freshwater ecology.

He also advised that people look more closely at species, beyond their families which is what is required in SASS. He hopes that the book will help with this exploration. He wants people to start to try to identify to genus level and discover the diversity of species in our rivers.

What’s next for your career?

He said that he was going to take a break. I was surprised and laughed, but I understand that he has really worked hard on the book. He is now enjoying some time off and not sure what direction he’ll go next.

We just hope that he’ll come and visit us in the conservancy soon so that we can explore our amazing macroinvertebrate diversity together (and show him that special Goeridae for his next edition of the book!).

Thank you, Christian. Your book is beautiful and very practical indeed. If you would like to obtain a copy of the book, email [email protected].
​

The book is also now available at Jacana and Takealot.
jacana.co.za/product/freshwater-macroinvertebrates/

​We gave ourselves nicknames like Piet-my-vrou, FreshwaterFreak, and Porifera when we first started studying for our SASS training. We used the Kahoot! educational game app (which requires nicknames for the games) to study for SASS as we got pumped up, supported one another, and committed to the upcoming training. We tried for a long time to do this training, and now we're here. We were ecstatic because, if we worked hard, we would be accredited and able to conduct SASS on a regular basis and record the results. Thank you to the Table Mountain Fund for funding this training.
 

​SASS (South African Scoring System) is a quick bio evaluation technique. It is based on a single component, benthic macroinvertebrates. Each taxon is assigned a tolerance or sensitivity score, which is then added together to provide a total score.

SASS is performed to determine the health of the river (Dickens and Graham, 2002). Dickens and Grahams (2002) explains that Bentic macroinvertebrates are what we use for the assessment because they are visible to the naked eye and thus easier to identify. SASS is an appropriate tool for assessing the ecological state of our aquatic ecosystems. To assess emerging problems and set goals for emerging problems. To predict changes within the ecosystem, it is necessary to assess the effects of developments and contribute to the establishment of the ecological reserve.

SASS must be performed in low/moderate flow conditions and not in flood conditions. It is also not possible in wetlands or other lentic habitats. The method works best with high biotope diversity, including riffles or rapids.
​
These are some of the protocols from the paper that we needed to be familiar with throughout the training.

​The SASS 5 assessment is included in our GASPP (Grootvadersbosch Species Protection Program) project. During GASPP we are assisted by two freshwater ecologists from Cape Nature one is a fish expert and the other a SASS guru. Jeanne Gouws is the SASS master and the person who usually assists us with SASS but she is busy all over the Western Cape, so we wanted to have people in our organization that are accredited to do this work. The team had previously assisted with SASS under the supervision of Jeanne Gouws (Freshwater ecologist), so we had a few basic theories but now we had to become the gurus. 

​Helen Dallas, who works under the Freshwater Research Center, provided the SASS training. Helen Dallas (Executive Director and Researcher) has over 30 years of experience in Southern African research projects for aquatic ecosystem ecology, conservation, and management. Helen played a key role in the development of aquatic biomonitoring protocols and databases in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zambia.

​The training was a combination of theory (lectures) that provided us with a foundation, as well as fieldwork. We practiced sampling methods and protocols, as well as identifications, in the field. The theory was founded on Dickens and Graham's (2002) paper, which we had to be very familiar with. For the sampling, we needed to be completely familiar with the SASS 5 protocol. And we'd need to be able to conduct a full SASS assessment in the river.

​Helen did the welcome and introductions in the morning on November 23rd, followed by a biomonitoring introduction. We then moved on to SASS VERSION 5, where Helen provided an overview of the sampling method (the practical application). We then moved on to the introduction of aquatic invertebrates, after which we went out to the field to do some sampling.

​We also had the opportunity to do field sampling on November 24th, and we did individual SASS sampling and practiced field identifications. We dealt with the SASS scores from the fieldwork. Helen also guided us through the FBIS System (The Freshwater Biodiversity Information system). 

During the training, Helen went through the sampling methods steps. As a result, when we arrived at our locations, we had to thoroughly inspect it. You can examine the various biotopes to see if there is enough variety, biodiversity, and biotopes to sample. Stones, vegetation, sand/gravel, and mud (GSM) are the biotopes that must be sampled.
​
Helen would ask us which biotope we wanted to sample first during our one-on-one sampling sessions. One would than start to by sampling the rocky biotope. You will then have time to examine your stones and ensure that they are diverse, and you will be able to sample where there are riffles and rapids, in and out of the current, and where the water is fast or slow.
​
You can then check to see if you have both stones in current (SIC) as well as stones out of current (SOOC) at that location. One must kick stones in current for 2 minutes and if there are large bedrock than sampling may last over 5 minutes. Stones out of current should be kicked for one minute. The sampling of the stones in current and out of should be combined when one is ready to identify.

There are two types of vegetation: marginal vegetation and aquatic vegetation. Marginal vegetation is overhanging vegetation, but it is necessary to sample both marginal vegetation in current (MVegIC) and marginal vegetation out of current (MVegOOC). MVegIC is sampled over 2 meters in total, while MVegOOC is sampled over 1 meter.
One minute of sand/gravel/mud (GSM) sampling is required. This sample is taken in such a way that it can be taken anywhere there is sand, gravel, or mud. You can sample gravel or sand if there is no mud, and vice versa.
Visual observation is also required, which entails taking one minute throughout the sampling process to hand-pick any specimens that may have been overlooked.

​The SASS 5 score sheet includes the macroinvertebrate taxon as well as the sensitivity scores. The sheet also includes the relevant date, site code, river name, and site description. The HANNA meter is used to record the temperature, pH, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen. On the SASS score sheet, you must also write down the coordinates. Coordinates are important, and it can help you if you do it first when you arrive at a site. You can make a note of your riparian and instream disturbances. The sheet also includes a rating that you must complete, which consists of numbers 0-5 and is for the person sampling to rate each of the biotope’s samples in terms of biodiversity as well as how much of the biotope was on the site to be sampled.

​Visual observation is also required, which entails taking one minute throughout the sampling process to hand-pick any specimens that may have been overlooked.

​The identification takes 15 minutes in total. The way in which you estimate the abundances is 1=1 which means that you have found one of that specific species. A = 2-10 species  and B=10-100, C= 100-1000 species and  D=>1000. 

​FBIS is a program that can be used to record SASS DATA. FBIS is a tool that serves as a community platform for the inventory and maintenance of freshwater biodiversity data, with the goal of assisting in the assessment of long-term changes in river biodiversity and ecosystem conditions in South Africa. 

​We are currently preparing and practicing for our accreditation. Making certain that we are confident and prepared to provide high-quality data. 

​What stood out for the trainees.

This training taught some of the trainees that the higher you go up the mountain, the greater the variety and sensitivity of your macroinvertebrates. Invertebrates that are less sensitive and more tolerant to things like pollution can be found in more impacted areas.
The interesting macro-invertebrate species stood out for some of the trainees as well. The macroinvertebrates are small and look the same sometimes but it’s interesting work and fascinating to learn this important skill.
​
We also took with us the incredible fact that there are incredible tools available for conservation planning such as SASS 5, miniSASS (that we can conduct with school learners and community members). This is meaningful data that we will share with the landowners so that they are also aware of what is going on within the rivers.

​We are having a wonderful adventure with this work, and we are excited to share our findings in the future.