Major Renosterveld conservation win secures habitat for Endangered Black Harriers

A 270-hectare stretch of renosterveld - one of South Africa's most threatened vegetation types - has been secured for long-term conservation in the Overberg. The Overberg Renosterveld Trust (ORT), in partnership with the UK-based World Land Trust (WLT) and a philanthropic trust, the Mapula Trust, has purchased a portion of a property called Goereesoe situated between Bredasdorp and Swellendam.

This site safeguards some of the last remaining fragments of Endangered Eastern Rûens Shale Renosterveld - home to a wealth of endemic plant species. It is also a crucial stronghold for the Endangered Black Harrier, which has fewer than 500 breeding pairs left in the wild. Only around 5% of the Overberg's renosterveld remains, much of it lost in past decades to agriculture. Each patch that survives is vital, not only for rare and endemic plants but for the wildlife that depends on it.

Verging on extinction

“This is a significant win for Renosterveld and the Black Harrier,” says Dr Odette Curtis-Scott, CEO of the Overberg Renosterveld Trust. “Goereesoe is one of the most important breeding sites for Black Harriers, with the highest known density of nests in a given year. By securing this land, we are protecting critical habitat and species whose futures are teetering on a knife-edge.” The property supports up to 20 pairs of breeding Black Harriers. Together with the neighbouring Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve (a recently-declared Nature Reserve) and Plaatjieskraal, which are both also managed by the ORT, around 30 pairs of breeding Black Harriers rely on this cluster of renosterveld, equating to at least 6% of the global population of breeding pairs of this endemic raptor.

According to Dr Catherine Barnard, CEO of World Land Trust, “This acquisition will play an important role in renosterveld conservation. Protecting this site means safeguarding one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth, and the species that depend on it. It's a culmination of a lot of hard work from Odette and the ORT team.”

In addition to purchasing land in this biodiversity hotspot, the ORT is also working with farming neighbours, such as the adjacent Muurkraal Conservation Easement site, to grow this conservation corridor. She says, “It means that wildlife, especially our precious pollinators and invertebrates, can move freely and safely across these natural remnant patches in this highly transformed landscape. Our ultimate goal being to protect as much of the remaining biodiversity as possible, building ecological resilience to future land-use and climate change.”

(Article shortened: Hardus Botha)

(Drone picture - Grant Forbes; Other - Odette Curtis-Scott).

Heather D'Alton: Communication officer - NWSMA.

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