A Kouga conservation organisation is celebrating the declaration of five new “wind and wilderness” nature reserves in the Kouga area.
Listed in a provincial government gazette last week, the declarations were achieved through a partnership between the Greater Kromme Stewardship (GKS) group and five wind energy companies, working in conjunction with private landowners, the Kouga Local Municipality and the Eastern Cape government.
The “little five” are not extensive in terms of hectares but are priceless as far as their number of rare plants is concerned, their benefit to tourism and, GKS argues, their value for human wellbeing.
A sliver of the municipal Irma Booysen Nature Reserve in Cape St Francis was proclaimed in 1990 but, after years of hard work by the GKS team, the October 24 declaration celebrates a much-expanded reserve.
The provincial Kabeljous Nature Reserve adjacent to Jeffreys Bay has been earmarked for declaration for 35 years but only now has this been achieved.
The three new private reserves declared — Mostertshoek, Rebels and St Francis Sands — were farmland before the landowners committed to GKS’s conservation strategy.
The Jeffreys Bay, Tsitsikamma, Oyster Bay, Gibson Bay and Impofu Wind Farms stepped in to help fund the nature reserves declaration project, and they look set to continue their support for this “winds of change” conservation drive.
GKS conservation manager Dr Wentzel Coetzer said on Tuesday all the project partners were proud and excited.
“It is a big win, and proof that progress and protection can exist side by side.
“We see these reserves as building blocks of a living legacy of stewardship, biodiversity and hope.
“They are important for the healthy functioning of the environment and also for tourism, which rests on this eco-benefit, and which is a key economic driver in St Francis.
“Furthermore, the benefit of human wellbeing stems from the vast range of services that an intact environment delivers to human communities.”
He said in Cape St Francis and St Francis Bay especially, one of the most important services was the protection of the local sandy beaches.
“These nature reserves will help ensure our dunes are not artificially stabilised, so they can move and nourish our beaches as they are naturally supposed to do, and prevent them from eroding, as they have been doing.”
Coetzer said declaration of a nature reserve was a key step to fulfil the conservation potential of a piece of land.
“Formal declaration means conservation for the land and its wild plant and animal life, into perpetuity.”
He said the new 98ha Irma Booysen Nature Reserve lay at the heart of the Cape St Francis dune landscape, which included an exceptional 402 plant species.
“Of that number, 40% are endemic to the region, meaning they don’t occur anywhere else on the planet, and 31 species are of special concern, ranging from rare to critically endangered.”
He said efforts to have the Irma Booysen Nature Reserve formally declared started 30 years ago and when GKS was formed a decade ago, it resolved to prioritise the matter.
“Missing documents were traced, ownership issues were resolved, and funding was sourced from the Table Mountain Fund to cover conveyancing processes.
“The Irma Booysen reserve is now owned and managed by the Kouga municipality, but it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the public benefit organisation Foster [the Friends of St Francis Nature Areas].”
Coetzer said the unusually diverse terrain straddled by the new reserves supported a range of animals and birds including threatened species such as the black harrier, martial eagle, jackal buzzard and secretary bird.
“Besides the benefits of tourism and human wellbeing, the Irma Booysen reserve will serve as an environmental education hub for schools.”
Coetzer said GKS’s aim was to continue to grow Kouga’s network of nature reserves.
“Over the past decade we have declared 11 new protected areas, including the five from last week, covering over 1,000ha of high-priority biodiversity.”
He said they were now focusing on the area between Jeffreys Bay and the Gamtoos River and were feeling upbeat after the positive response of environment minister Dr Dion George when he visited the site with GKS in September.
“The parallel aim is to link these new protected areas so they become a network rather than conservation islands.
“It is a work in process, but we believe we are transforming conservation in the Eastern Cape — one partnership, one landowner and one protected area at a time.”
GKS’s Maggie Langlands lauded the role played by the wind farms.
“Our wind farm partners are walking the talk. They recognise that it’s not enough for us to take from the land — we must give back.
“Together, we’re investing in a sustainable future for all life, ensuring that the puzzle pieces of energy, ecology and community fit together perfectly.”
The Herald
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