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.
Nature comes alive for farm kids on Haarwegskloof
Our Environmental Education programme, called the Veld School, offers hands-on learning experiences that connect children to the land. It’s held on our Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve.
Over 1,000 specimens strong: Growing our renosterveld herbarium
Herbarium specimens are only as good as their collection, pressing and curation; and these have been of the highest quality.
A test for new tech: SA’s largest wind farm comes to the Overberg
A new wind farm approved near Swellendam is set to be the biggest in South Africa. But in the heart of the Overberg, this also means an added layer of risk for our indigenous species.