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.
Young birders discover renosterveld’s feathered wonders
Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve isn’t only the perfect place to see birds – it’s also the place to learn about them.
Where art and nature meet: Our botanical art retreat
Two Wild & Wise Retreats held at the Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve in October offered something truly exceptional.
The fynbos fish of the Kars River officially recognised at last
It began with a surprise discovery in the murky waters of the Kars River, in the heart of the Overberg renosterveld. Seven years later, that unexpected find has officially been named and described: the Agulhas redfin (𝘗𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘩𝘢𝘴).