conservation

On the 7th of June 2024 Conservation at Work hosted a Landowner Day in the Garden Route, Wilderness. With almost 50 participating landowners, the day was bound to be a success. The day consisted of educational presentations aimed at informing landowners about conservation corridors, poaching, wildfires, and invasive alien plant management. Thereafter the participants visited a beautiful property in the area that is putting a strong focus on invasive alien plant management. The Landowner Day acted as an opportunity for showcasing local successes and challenges and stimulating valuable discussions among landowners – Dr Zanri Strydom

The most important message that came from the day is that conservation on this scale is a collective effort that isn’t possible without 100% buy in from landowners, collaboration with other conservation organizations, municipalities such as the OBM, and dedicated contracting teams that prosper from doing the work on the ground.
”Collaboration – the ultimate intertwining of skills, passions, and knowledge- is what concocts the most shatterproof forms of changemaking” – Ian Somerhalder

The Western Cape region faced quite a year in 2023, with extreme weather events leaving a lasting impact. Among the areas hit was the Botriver region in the Overberg. The river’s relentless force eroded its banks, wreaking havoc on infrastructure, croplands, riverbanks and triggering landslides along the hillsides. These natural events pose significant challenges for local communities, leaving landowners grappling with the aftermath and seeking assistance.

Conservation at Work in collaboration with CapeNature, Jobs 4 Carbon, Table Mountain Fund, Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Landcare, Rooiberg Breede River Conservancy, and VanWyksdorp Development Institute (VDI) hosted a successful Landowners Day investigating the practical implementation of erosion control measures in the field. The Jobs 4 Carbon project launched in 2014 and has a remarkable impact on the lives of the local community creating 60 jobs while restoring degraded veld in the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve by planting spekboom, clearing alien invasive species and preventing soil erosion through ponding. A total of 312702 spekboom plants were planted between 2018-2023 as part of the restoration of degraded spekboom thicket.