Marianne Merten
Nature conservation in the Western Cape gets a new face from April 1 when an independent statutory board takes over from the provincial government and the old Cape Nature Conservation ceases to exist.
It has taken more than five years to transfer responsibility for two million hectares of protected land, water catchment areas and conservancies from civil servants to those with nature protection close to heart.
“It’s not the same again under a different name,” says Western Cape Nature Conservation Board chief executive officer David Daitz.
Among the first initiatives by the new nine-strong board are outreach and education programmes and local tourism- based economic development projects.
“So long as conservation is identified in the minds of the majority as something for white people to have some fun, it won’t work,” says Daitz.
It is a pragmatic approach; nature conservation will be almost impossible unless local communities are involved and can benefit economically from preserving the environment.
Some ideas have already been generated and the first pilot projects should start within six months. For example, one community near the Hottentots Holland reserve asked whether they could provide overnight accommodation for hikers.
Also high on the agenda is the protection of the unique Cape floral kingdom.
There are around 8 800 species, of which three-quarters do not occur anywhere else. “It’s a biodiversity asset of global proportions,” Daitz says.
Following the fires across the peninsula in January, the board wants to launch an integrated fire-fighting structure together with its national parks counterparts like the Cape of Good Hope reserve at Cape Point and the Cape Peninsula National Park.
The board receives around R47-million from the provincial budget. Another R55- million from the national Working for Water programme will be used to manage water catchment areas and clear land of invasive alien species in conjunction with other conservation authorities.
Tourist facilities in proclaimed areas like the De Hoop nature reserve along the south coast and elsewhere generate another R5-million. In addition the board can now also raise its own funds.
But starting from scratch also means many other changes.
An expansion of the board by another three members is contemplated to ensure representivity, as there is only one black member at present. The cumbersome name, Western Cape Nature Conservation Board, is likely to become the more user-friendly Cape Nature.
Getting rid of the militaristic khaki uniforms of nature conservation and a new logo are up for discussion.