By Guy Rogers

A NEW public-private initiative has been launched to help protect the “exceptional conservation value” of the Van Stadens River gorge.

Funded by the Cape Action Plan for People and the Environment, the project involves the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality (NMBM), local landowners and the Wildlife and Environment Society (Wessa).

Project manager Wesley Berrington, who is the manager of the municipal Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve, said the aim was to “galvanise the support of property owners to create a corridor of natural vegetation from the Van Stadens River Mouth up the gorge into the Van Stadens mountains”.

The project was premised on the findings of the metropolitan open space system (Moss) designed by a group of scientists co-ordinated by Wessa and endorsed by the NMBM.

“Moss identified areas of critical eco-system and exceptional conservation value. The Van Stadens corridor is one of these areas.”

There are 11 plant species in the corridor which are endemic – meaning they occur in the Van Stadens area and nowhere else on earth.

Among these species is Aster leavigatus, a little white or mauve daisy first discovered in the early 1900s. A single specimen was taken to London and preserved in the Kew Gardens herbarium.

The species then disappeared from the wild until three years ago, when it was rediscovered in large numbers in the Van Stadens mountains by Berrington, after the fires which swept the area.

It has since disappeared again, but its seeds were clearly in the area waiting for the right fire trigger, Berrington said.

The core nodes of the envisaged 20km corridor already under conservation are the municipality‘s Van Stadens Wild Flower and Lady‘s Slipper nature reserves.

The land is generally not only of high conservation value, but also of low agricultural value. A variety of low-key enterprises, notably grass farming, are interspersed with large tracts of uncultivated land either still covered in indigenous vegetation or invaded by alien bush.

The project is aimed at encouraging especially the owners of unspoiled natural land to set their properties aside for conservation purposes.

“Benefits to those who sign on include management support from the municipality, provision of biological details pertaining to their properties and possible eco-tourism opportunities like hiking trails or tea gardens that capitalise on natural scenery.

“Alternative agricultural enterprises underpinned by the conservation commitment like olive, protea or fruit farming could be developed.”

Aided by Wessa, the NMBM is presently shaping a model whereby landowners who commit to conservation can be offered a tax rebate. Once finalised, this could also be a substantial benefit for signatories to the Van Stadens stewardship deal.

The Van Stadens conservation corridor includes about 23 private landowners and of these six have already signed on and four more have committed themselves verbally.

The agreement calls for signatories to work in conjunction with the NMBM‘s environment unit to “retain and protect the natural state of their land”.

Berrington said the aim of protecting a contiguous corridor of land was key as it allowed for the movement of animals and plants via seed dispersal.

“Plants disperse their seed via wind, water, insects and birds and mammals that eat their fruit. If populations of a species are cut off by agricultural land, their numbers can dwindle. Animals like leopards and baboons rely on uninterrupted access to get to different food sources.”

The corridor could be extended in conjunction with the Cacadu district municipality once the first target was achieved, he said.