OVERBERG RENOSTERVELD CONSERVATION TRUST NEWS
Newsletter 28 | Aug 2022
by Dr Odette Curtis-Scott.
Your overwhelming response to protect Black Harriers, and other ORCT news
It has been an eventful year for the ORCT – as it should be, given that this is a particularly special year for us! Not only are we celebrating a decade of being in existence and conserving Renosterveld, we are also celebrating some exciting achievements for 2022! Topping that list, we have just signed a new and very big easement – we’ve got the details below. We also launched an education programme for local farm children at our new development at our Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve, launched our Bequest Programme for our Endowment fund, and we just concluded a very successful crowdfunder for Black Harriers! I hope you will enjoy the news that we have to share with you, as we feedback on what the first half of this important year has meant for Renosterveld conservation. Thank you, once again, for your continued support of the work we do…. Without our supporters and donors, and the farmers with whom we work, none of this would be possible.
An invisible crisis in renosterveld
The tiny relationships holding everything together. Together with fire, these animals drove the structure of the renosterveld ecosystem and the constantly changing ratios of shrubs to grasses.
Tracking young Black Harriers reveals a harsh reality
Every young Black Harrier that leaves the nest faces an uncertain future. For this endangered raptor, the first year of life is the most dangerous – a time when hunger, predators and wildfire can all prove fatal.
Quartz islands in renosterveld: Small, specialised – and under threat
When walking through renosterveld, your eye may suddenly catch bright white patches shimmering among the green-grey vegetation. These patches look like small islands surrounded by typical renosterveld vegetation – and that is exactly why they are called quartz islands.