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.
Pedals, plants & peace: A renosterveld stop on the Overberg Meander
How does a week of gravel cycling through the Overberg’s rolling hills and secret valleys sound? If you’re drawn to quiet back roads, big skies, and even bigger adventures, cyclist Brenda Silberbauer and her crew have a tip for you: make sure the Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve is on your route.
Haarwegskloof declared a Nature Reserve: A win for renosterveld conservation
In a victory for biodiversity conservation, Haarwegskloof – which includes the largest remaining connected stretch of renosterveld left on Earth – has officially been declared a Nature Reserve.
A fire photoblog: How Haarwegskloof’s renosterveld responds to burning
Renosterveld, like fynbos, is a fire-adapted ecosystem – but one with its own distinct rhythms and responses.


