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.
‘Rooting’ for renosterveld: Here’s what happens underground
You can learn much more on the roots, species and animals of renosterveld in the ‘Field Guide to Renosterveld of the Overberg’. This guide is packed with info allowing you to identify species.
Latest Renosterveld News
Restoration explained: To prevent, halt and reverse degradation
Restoration of ecosystems is needed globally. Historically, restoration focused on the recovery of transformed areas like old agricultural lands or decommissioned mines. These would include activities to help the system regenerate and create suitable conditions for macro and micro-organisms to return and the abiotic process to ‘restart’.