Sean Zintl

A bloody fight to the death is being waged on the slopes of Cape Town’s Table Mountain. At stake are the lives of about 100 Himalayan tahrs – an exotic species of mountain goat that has lived on the mountain for about 70 years – and the right of the public to be informed and consulted on conservation management practices.

Close to one of Cape Town’s most popular beaches lies a wetland area that some claim is even more important than South Africa’s better-known wetlands — such as St Lucia, Langebaan and De Hoop Vlei — because it supports a higher number of endangered bird and plant species. But balancing Cape Town’s urban needs with the fragile biodiversity in the proposed False Bay Ecology Park is becoming increasingly tricky.

In the arid mountain ranges of the Little Karoo in the Western Cape, a remarkable vision is quickly becoming reality. In an area where the last big game was wiped out more than 150 years ago, a dedicated team of conservationists is reintroducing animals that once ranged across the vast plains in great numbers. <i>Earthyear</i> reports on an ambitious rehabilitation project with a big vision.

Of all birds, the albatross is perhaps the most enigmatic – mystical even. Sean Zintl talks to a crusty seaman who has taken to the high seas for a year to raise awareness about the dire plight of the world’s albatrosses — and how easy it could be to save them from extinction

The greatest threat to biodiversity is urban expansion. Agriculture, industry, invasive alien vegetation, runaway fires, increasing numbers of tourists and recreational visitors, as well as impoverished communities, further threaten the fragile ecosystem. But now a quiet revolution is happening in Cape Town.