Archive for category: Renosterveld News

From the 5 – 8 August this year’s Fynbos Forum took place at Baardskeederbos in the southern Overberg. The Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust’s (ORCT) Director, Dr Odette Curtis-Scott, was invited to give a keynote

Research findings revealed that grazing by sheep caused a reduction in plant species richness and diversity and vegetation cover in comparison to sites with no grazing.

The main aim of the ORCT’s extension work is to work with farmers across the Overberg to support them in conserving the Renosterveld on their farms as part of a productive agricultural landscape.

There’s a reason why farmer, Nico Neethling, chose to sign his conservation easement HERE. It not only overlooks the patch of Renosterveld he’ll be protecting forever. It’s also next to the grave of his father, on their family farm, Keykas, close to Klipdale in the Overberg.

When I started the ORCT in 2012, my dream was that we would be the voice for Renosterveld in the Overberg and that we would encourage more landowners every year towards conserving, rather than mistreating this biodiversity gem.

So what is a conservation easement? Essentially it equates to a conservation servitude, registered over the whole property in favour of a particular NGO.

The majority of Renosterveld occurs in small fragments with the largest area remaining just 500 ha in size. Most fragments are far smaller than that, surviving only because they are too steep or too rocky to plough.

Caledon farmer, MG Lötter, signed the first conservation easement in Renosterveld. This signing served as the blueprint on which future conservation easements in Renosterveld were...