How a group of landowners brought the Agulhas Plain back to life
A group of landowners sat around a table in August 2003 and signed a Statement of Intent, binding them to work together for a new, environmentally healthy and sustainable future for the Agulhas Plain.
Source: John Yeld. Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area conservation manager Erica Brink and operations manager Ross Kettles. In the background is part of the wetlands where hippos were reintroduced after being shot out more than 150 years ago.
Collectively, the properties of the original 11 signatories and subsequent additional associates now cover about 47,000ha of cultivated farmland, wetlands, river systems and pockets of natural vegetation that make up this unique region at the southern tip of Africa.
Their decision is bringing benefits to an even bigger area and touching a new generation of people in the region.
The agreement committed the signatories to develop and promote “best practice” sustainable farming methods on the cultivated sections of their properties – roughly half of the total area – while also working to conserve and reconnect the remaining 23,000-odd hectares of indigenous vegetation and natural ecosystems across their lands.
It was a tough decision that required a sharp break with traditional farm practices based on extensive fences and self-focused management decisions.
The agreement also meant the landowners would commit to new restrictive clauses in perpetuity in the title deeds to their properties, many of which had been family-owned for generations.
They were under no illusion that the restoration of the severely degraded areas would be difficult and expensive, particularly in the wetlands and riparian areas that are the lifeblood of the region but were being choked by massive alien invasive plant infestations.
One of the original 11 signatories, Dirk Human, recalled that the group’s early conversations “felt both daring and necessary”. It took courage to try something new and unproven, he wrote later in an annual report.
Building shared futures
“We also made a commitment to each other to ask what we want our landscape to look like 100 years from now, and then build plans to make that a reality,” he says. Human, the owner and founder of Black Oystercatcher Wines in the Nuwejaars region, is the elected chairman.
Their accord held and their vision for the area gained traction, leading to the non-profit Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area (NWSMA). It was formalised five years later in December 2008, with an expanded group of 26 landowners, one of which was the Moravian mission village of Elim, signing the new association’s constitution and title-deed restrictions on their properties.
These restrictions bind members to the association’s vision: “To protect and manage the consolidated core and buffer area of the NWSMA and its interface into one functioning ecosystem. Forming an innovative system for conservation on private land, while providing environmental education, and sustainable socio-economic activity and tourism opportunities”.
Biodiversity under siege
Over the past 17 years, the NWSMA has become a role model for responsible custodianship and co-operative conservation action on private properties.
But the agreement was forged at a time when ecological damage on the Agulhas Plain was severe.
In the early 1990s, just 4% of this huge area was under any form of formal conservation. Too-frequent fires, invasive plants and habitat transformation were taking their toll on the land. In particular, the vital wetland system that threads through the area was under major threat.
One of the biggest of its kind in South Africa, the Nuwejaars wetlands are an irreplaceable water resource for people and wildlife. The wetlands were being severely damaged by 69 alien invasive plants – woody species including Australian Acacia trees like Port Jackson and Long-leaf Wattle – that clogged the river and streams, consumed vast quantities of water and choked indigenous vegetation.
Close to 1,800 indigenous plant species have been identified in the region. Among these, 160 were classified as being of “Conservation Concern”.
Saving indigenous ecosystems
In this bird paradise, where the Agulhas Plains birding project has identified more than 300 species, monitoring showed that many of the wetland specialist birds were being forced out.
Erica Brink, the conservation manager of the Nuwejaars River Nature Reserve – the non-profit implementing agent of the NWSMA – has been in her post for eight years.
She recalls looking out across the valley to what should have been a beautiful view of the Nuwejaars River soon after starting her new job. “But all we could see was wall-to-wall aliens. You couldn’t see anything past that,” she says.
Restoration work in the special management area started in September 2009, with alien invasive plant-clearing operations targeting wetlands and riparian areas.
First-phase clearing, subsequent follow-ups and associated rehabilitation such as indigenous tree planting have continued on a project basis, although not all exclusively by the NWSMA. Funding has come from various sources and work has also been co-ordinated by other implementing agencies, including local and national government.
Jobs through restoration
Last year alone, 3,470ha were cleared of invasive plants, 118ha of the wetland system was burnt for ecological restoration, and water quality testing was performed at 168 sites.
Through clearing programmes, an estimated 300 jobs have been created, directly affecting about 5% of all people living in the Cape Agulhas Municipal area. One such project is funded by WWF South Africa from a bequest by avid bird-lover Elizabeth Harding.
Initially set up as a three-year project to clear a 440ha section in the Nuwejaars River wetlands, this has since been rolled over twice, and clearing has now reached about 960ha.
“That project was catalytic. That’s where we really started and it put us on the map. It completely transformed this whole Nuwejaars wetland,” says Brink.
“After the initial clearing we found all sorts of different things, including the critically endangered micro frog and a new indigenous Cyrtanthus lily called the Nuwejaars Lily.
“Because the funding stipulation was for improving bird habitats, we did a lot of bird monitoring, and found different birds as well as mammals and plants coming back. Wetlands are quite resilient, and it showed what can happen if you just remove the aliens.”
Over the years, large indigenous mammals have been reintroduced into the NWSMA – including buffalo, hippo, eland, hartebeest, bontebok and the “Rau quagga”. These serve natural ecological functions as grazers and increase the tourism potential of the region.
Education driving conservation
Environmental education is another important component of the NWSMA work.
“We started this programme during the WWF alien-clearing project and added it to the outcomes we wanted to achieve because it’s so important in conservation,” Brink explains. “Passing on knowledge and making children aware and giving them passion for the natural world.”
During the last financial year, more than 450 learners from surrounding schools took part, including learners from Elim Primary, Mispah School for Learners with Special Educational Needs in Elim, Zoetendal Academy in L’Agulhas, Bredasdorp Primary and the Khula Learning Centre in Bredasdorp.
Operations Manager Ross Kettles says they’re proud of the NWSMA’s conservation model. “It remains our dream to come up with a model that is replicable in other areas, encouraging the restoration of ecosystems,” he says.
Human also speaks of his pride in helping shape a new landscape on the Agulhas Plain “where animals that became locally extinct here once again roam, where rivers flow as they should, cleared of the threat of invasive alien plants, and where wetlands that were once degraded are now alive with bird calls and teeming with life”.
“None of this happened overnight,” he says.
Brink describes the project as being “remarkable” and says she is thankful to be part of it. The environmental education programme, in which her own daughter has been a participant, is particularly close to her heart.
“It’s been such a hit! Just getting them out of the school and into nature, watching them touch birds that are being ringed or helping to catch frogs and indigenous fish … We’ve realised that we have to carry on with this and so it’s a priority for us now,” she says.
Published originally on GroundUp.
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