OVERBERG RENOSTERVELD CONSERVATION TRUST NEWS
Newsletter 39 | April 2026
by Dr Odette Curtis-Scott
Less than 5% of renosterveld remains today.
Much of what survives exists on privately owned farmland, making partnerships with landowners one of the most important tools we have to protect this globally significant ecosystem.
Over the past few months, we’ve been reminded again of just how important our renosterveld partnerships are. From new conservation easements and expanding ecological networks, to research revealing the hidden challenges facing renosterveld species, our work continues to show that conservation at landscape scale is essential – and urgent.
At the heart of this work are people: landowners who choose to conserve, researchers helping us better understand these landscapes and supporters and donors who make this work possible.
What’s coming up
In our latest newsletter, we share a new conservation easement that protects a large, connected landscape, explore the invisible crisis facing pollinators in renosterveld and reveal new and worrying insights from tracking young Black Harriers.
You’ll also find opportunities to visit our Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve this winter, and join us for one of our Wild & Wise retreats.
Thank you for being part of this journey – and for helping us build a more secure future for renosterveld.
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.
A birding weekend not to be missed
Bird lovers and conservation enthusiasts, eager to deepen their birding knowledge and bird with a purpose, converged on our Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve in November, to learn from one of the country’s top conservation biologists.