A New Protected Area

The end, they say, is just another beginning in disguise.

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We hope this will be the case as we celebrate the recent completion of the Verlorenvlei Protected Areas Project after more than four years of active engagement on behalf of this estuary IBA and its principal water catchment, the Moutonshoek Valley.

Thanks to Samantha Schröder’s hard work, the declaration of the Moutonshoek Protected Environment was gazetted early in 2018, leading to the safeguarding of approximately 9000 hectares of high-value biodiversity and agricultural land. The accompanying management plan has been drafted and subsequently approved by government. The declaration signals the end of this particular project, but hopefully the beginning of a long future of sound environmental management for this important site.