We are VERY excited to announce that WWF-SA has purchased the first piece of renosterveld in the Overberg and we, the OLCT, will be managing this land as a nature reserve. We also hope to establish a research centre on the land. This is the result of nearly five years of collaborative efforts between us and WWF and finally, we have our first piece of land, secured forever for conservation.
Author archive for: Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust
New Mazda Wildlife Vehicle for the OLCT!!
Mazda has treated us to a brand new vehicle and replaced the 'old' one with the new BT50 double-cab, 2.5 diesel bakkie. It is awesome!! Much lighter on fuel and a pleasure to drive. And it's beautiful :) Thank you Mazda!!
Overberg Lowlands Conservation Trust: our first newsletter!
Please go to www.overbergrenosterveld.org.za and sign up to receive our quarterly newsletters if you would like to do so! :)
Evan Eifler’s Blog
Evan is our American volunteer, who will be working with us for the year. He is photographing as many plants and animals in renosterveld as he can over this period and uploading many of these images onto I-Spot (www.ispot.org.za) for adding to the central database, as well as getting assistance with IDs.
Spring Surveys
In our spring surveys, we have found new populations of several threatened species, which is very exciting!! For example, this is Gladiolus vandermerwei, Endangered.
Hit the Ground Running
Just thought I'd kick this blog off with a brief recap of my first few weeks on the project. In the future, this will primarily be a photo blog aimed at sharing photos of my project and experiences with those interested as well as... making less work for me than a standard blog - this way I can spend more time on the veld instead of writing about it.
The remains of the renosterveld
Overberg Lowlands Conservation Trust director Odette Curtis talks about the value of fragments in this threatened ecosystem and the exciting discovery of six previously unknown botanical species. Fertile, low-lying habitats of the world have always been the most suitable for cultivation...
South African Journal of Botany
Quartz fields are islands of distinct vegetation in southern Africa. Such habitats differ from surrounding shale substrate in geomorphological and climatic attributes, and are dominated by a predominantly succulent flora with between 14% and 91% endemism. Previous studies have identified and surveyed quartz fields within the Succulent Karoo biome, but little is known about the Overberg quartz–silcrete fields located in the Renosterveld vegetation (Fynbos biome).
Kickstarter project – 30 days to raise $10 000!!
The Overberg Lowlands Conservation Trust needs your help!! We are working with an American student on a project for which we need to raise $10 000 within 30 days (and it's all or nothing!) to make it happen. This project forms a critical component of what we are doing as a Trust and this is a real opportunity for you to help us achieve our objectives towards saving renosterveld. Please take 5 minutes and follow the link below and see how YOU can make an enormous difference to our cause!!
Camera traps in renosterveld
We have started setting out camera traps in renosterveld remnants and here is what we have found so far.... caracal, African Wild Cat, Egyptian Mongoose (also known as Large Grey Mongoose) and Porcupine. This is all from one site. Watch this space for more, as we have just set two cameras up on a new farm...